As a business you look at all your communication tools and somewhere on your list appears the telephone system. The device that is your main gateway to the outside world and your customers’ main route for communicating with you. A tool which you certainly could not run a business without. You install a system which you believe fits your exact requirements. As your business grows or things change or there are new technological advancements that you would like to utilise, you find yourself having to address the capability or suitability of your telephone system against your new requirements. There are still perfectly adequate options available to you such as upgrading your system via hardware replacements or via software license codes or you can always replace the whole system and start again. However, with Hosted VoIP telephony there are a number of distinct advantages, both from a financial and technological point of view, which are designed to minimise financial exposure and to reduce maintenance and ‘keeping up with the technology’ headaches.
THE HOSTED VoIP TELEPHONY ROUTE FOR BUSINESS
With Hosted VoIP Telephony the first thing you will notice is that you do not have a physical telephone system sitting in your office. The second big change is you will not be making calls down an analogue or digital line. Instead you will be making VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) calls. This is when you use a broadband connection to make Voice over Internet Protocol calls. Traditional voice is encapsulated into an IP packet and delivered across the network.
We use Cisco VoIP phones which connect via a dataswitch to a suitable broadband connection which in turn accesses the system infrastructure which is housed at our £3M facility in London, Docklands with back-up in Texas, USA .
You can also access all the features of the system via a website portal which gives you a softphone capability along with access to your phonebook, voicemail, call management, conferencing facilities and many other features.
THE FUTURE IS VoIP
In a competitive marketplace, companies that are forward-thinking look at their competitors. The move towards VoIP has already begun but if your company has not yet made that strategic decision, it could be at a disadvantage.
VoIP is a must-have for any business aiming to reduce operating costs. The flexibility of being contactable 24/7 enables companies to respond more quickly, encouraging greater customer satisfaction and increased productivity, throughout the organisation.
Before VoIP, the PBX (Private Branch Exchange) was the mainframe of corporate telephony. A PBX (also known as a PABX) is a telephone exchange that is owned by a private business, as opposed to one owned by a common carrier or by a telephone company. Many VoIP services fit into the CENTREX model as does our Datasharp solution. CENTREX stands for CENTRal EXchange and is a phone service where a central server at a remote Internet hosting centre performs the central call control and switching.
Our Hosted VoIP service benefits include:
* Ease of deployment – phones simply plug into an Internet connection
* Reduced capital expenditure – no need to purchase expensive phone switches
* Reduced operational expenditure – maintenance of the phone service is typically done via the web
* Reduced internal phone costs – particularly for inter-site calls, e.g. between offices and home workers
* Increased flexibility and new ways of working – e.g. home working
WHY SWITCH TO VoIP?
The telecoms industry is facing significant change. Over the next ten years there will be an increasing level of migration of equipment and carrier services to support IP telephony and VoIP.
BT is leading the drive to change. Its 21st Century Network (21CN) is due for completion in 2012. 21CN is an end-to-end IP based network that will consolidate BT’s complex network and systems infrastructure.
This flexible and intelligent network will enable BT to deliver VoIP as well as many other communication services at a cost-effective fixed charge. BT realise that, over time, VoIP will replace circuit switched communications as the preferred method of communication and that this poses a significant threat to telecoms operators, itself included. BT’s 21CN vision is designed to empower the end-user with control, choice and flexibility to offer communications from anywhere, to any device.
For further information about all our VoIP telephony solutions please visit our specially dedicated VoIP website: www.voipphone-systems.co.uk
DATASHARP TELECOM (Chiltern)
Linton House, The Rowans,
Gerrards Cross, Bucks SL9 8SE
Tel: 0870 770 2670
Fax: 0870 770 2680
Email: info@ds-telecom.co.uk
Main Web: www.ds-telecom.co.uk
VoIP Web: www.voipphone-systems.co.uk
