New Generation of IP based Telephony – the technology has now arrived...
What is business VoIP?
(Voice over Internet Protocol) is a way to make phone calls using the internet as the transmission method, rather than a landline. The integration between PSTN and VoIP is complete, and undetectable to callers.
With the increasing popularity of Skype, Voipcheap, Voiptalk and many other home services that enable low cost communications, VoIP for Business has also become feasible. It provides extended functionality that matches or exceeds expensive and sophisticated Telephone Systems - without the high cost of capital investment and maintenance.
Why use it?
The most immediate reason is to cut business telephony costs. All calls you make to other VoIP phones are free, and calls to other lines are competitively priced.
Secondly, you get a fully-featured telephone system for a modest rental. Many features such as Voice menu, extensions for specific people, hunt groups, call forwarding, etc. are all included.
A major advantage is that you can configure your system to give whatever impression you want to customers. For example: If you have employees in multiple locations or even abroad, you can give them all extensions on the same number, or their own numbers with the same area code as your head office. No-one need know whether you have city centre offices or a virtual office! Small and medium-sized businesses, and especially those with distributed offices and teleworkers, are likely to get immediate benefits.
Plus VoIP can be used anywhere there is a broadband connection, so employees can make free calls on a VoIP phone at home, on the train or even the beach, using WiFi. VoIP is the medium of the future and the opportunities are endless.
Business grade support is essential
A good business-grade Voip system will maintain control and be reliable. Would you buy from a supplier that only provides support by email? In business, the key factors to assess are:
- Customer support: Is efficient and responsive telephone support available?
- Business grade quality: What will be the quality of the call, and the impression on customers if it deteriorates or drops during an important conversation?
- Mainstream telephony features and integration: Do features support business requirements in a wider sense?
- Management control: Can the service/supplier be formally managed or is it a simple pre-pay service?
Advantages of installing a Voip system
- For your Business
- Free ‘on-net’ calls – create your own VoIP business network with colleagues, clients and suppliers and call free within that VoIP network, regardless of location
- Substantially reduced rates – the cost of making calls outside your VoIP business network, particularly to overseas locations, is greatly reduced
- Enhanced connectivity - connect home users, sales teams and clients at a touch of a button
- Best-of-breed Business VoIP solutions – provide a fast and reliable IP backbone
- Minimal investment – no need to purchase an expensive, cumbersome phone system
- Multi-site operation – seamlessly connecting resources at different
- Automation of call handling – many advanced telephony features only available at extra cost or in high-end systems are included free, allowing manual taks to be eliminated
- Integration with customer databases - improved call handling
- Integration with mobiles (using WiFi or 3G) - eliminate office telephones altogether or be connected to your office telephone system while away from your desk
- No support or maintenance charges - only handsets are on-site, and support is usually included in the rental
- Hosted VoIP – no maintenance costs, problems are resolved remotely
- Secure VoIP - Session Border Controller Security – ensuring every call reaches its destination safely, without affecting your firewall
- Scalability and flexibility – employees connected to the network can be increased, decreased or moved instantaneously at no extra cost
- Disaster recovery options – quickly set up another site in the event of a major disruption
- Quick to install – can be ready within a few days or even hours.
Each employee will also notice the difference.
- For employees
- Reduce costs – connect to the business phone system with any broadband connection (including WiFi), employees can make free on-net calls and make great savings on off-net calls, wherever business takes them.
- Greater efficiency – as more employees can work smarter anywhere, efficiency and mobility of your business will increase
- Choice of soft and hard VoIP Phones - laptops or desktop computers can be used with soft-phones, or you can use an IP handset and control its functions anywhere online
- Online phone management - every number has its own online management site
- Ongoing support – help available via customer services or maintenance teams.
The many shades of VoIP...
VoIP is available in may forms and the right system will depend on your current infrastructure, cost costraints and new business requirements.
Consider the alternatives: new generation of IP enabled telephone systems for complete control and flexibility, combining landlines, VoIP lines and other possibilities such as Premicells; VoIP-enabling your existing system using SIP trunking to minimise changes, extend its life and still achieve most of the benefits; software based VoIP system which still gives you control; fully hosted telephony for simplicity and ease of install.
Are there risks?
Yes, like any major project things can go wrong!
VoIP spans a number of disciplines. Proper care and diligence are required in planning, technical installation, network security and capacity management, Broadband sizing, user training, co-ordination between departments and support functions, claimed uptime (99.999% is possible but some may only provide 98%), service level agreement from the supplier, back up and resilience options, financial control and, not least, benefit realisation.
Practical examples
Temporary driver agency
With only 3 staff, all at different locations (Barking, Gravesend and New Zealand) and operating around the clock, the company needed an affordable communications system for multi site operation. The company was using a software based VoIP system with two channels of ISDN2; teething issues with the software had continued since Day 1 and support charges were expensive. Tconsult identified a leading, fully hosted VoIP system for £15 per month and free calls to UK landlines.
“Telecommunicatons was a key point to resolve as were need to answer all calls quickly, at any time. We also had broadband limitations at our site due to distance from the exchange. The system now allows us to focus on handling our business and using mobiles when were are away from the office gives us the flexibility. We transferred our Office and Fax numbers to Voip and we now have fully backed-up telephone and IT systems that allow us to work from several locations. We are no longer dependent on BT lines and the cost savings have been substantial. We have since added a new division to the Voip service and are pleased that VoIP is able to deliver low cost telephony.” Jeff Jerome, Director
Firm of solicitors
They were using Centrex type service but costs were high and functionality limited. The partners wanted a future-proof telephone system that could expand rapidly as the practice grew and meet requirements like integration with a client database. Tconsult identified a leading system that met all their requirements. The transfer of numbers to VoIP was completd with minimal downtime and additional lines have since been added for new staff at short notice.
“The growth in our business meant that the previous Featureline telephones were inadequate for the needs of the practice. Having reviewed several options including a new digital system and factored in future expansion, we chose a hosted VoIP solution, with capability to integrate with our client database. On the day of installation, all our existing BT numbers were transferred with hardly any downtime. Adding additional users was quick and easy, we just requested extra extensions and connected the new telephones into the switch. Support from Tconsult has been excellent and any remaining issues were professionally resolved. At one point our BT Broadband service, which has generally been trouble-free, failed and we thought our telephone lines would also go down. However they continued to work as normal and this has given us much confidence in the advice we had been given.” Hernak Singh, Partner