Cloudy with a chance of phone calls !
It’s not every day that you can report savings thanks to a cloud, but that’s exactly what’s possible if you look into various new phone systems technologies for your workplace.
One of the most popular methods of making savings on existing phone systems is by reducing revenue costs on multiple analogue exchange lines and replacing this requirement with a single data link into each office that requires telephony.
How to use just digital links
Within the UK, many businesses and public sector organizations such as schools and hospitals run on archaic equipment that is dependent on analogue copper lines into the building. One of the main reasons why so many organizations still use these analogue phone systems is due to their reliability; however, many analogue phone switches are now finally approaching their end of life, and a lot of organizations are being forced into looking for alternatives.
Phone systems providers such as Siemens Enterprise Communications, Meridian and Mitel have all produced PABXs, Hi-Paths and other analogue phone switches that used to rely on multiple analogue lines to handle high volumes of incoming calls into a single phone number.
With the introduction of multi-channel fibre ISDN lines, the associated high revenue costs can now be safely reduced by replacing 30 analogue lines with a single fiber line instead.
What system is best placed to use a digital link?
Whilst existing analogue phone switches can be upgraded to accept incoming multi-channel ISDN connections, with the support of these switches approaching their expiration (2017 for Siemens PABX switches) and the reliability of the systems also being called into question, an IP based phone system is clearly the way to go.
So how can you make use of the cloud?
Firstly, for those that don’t know, the cloud is a term used for something which is stored online. Cloud based technologies can be lent to anything related to IT – not just phone systems – and all have a common theme, data/services aren’t stored in your local office, but are accessed online, via an internet connection and therefore, a data link.
Once you’ve decommissioned those thousands of pounds worth of analogue phone lines, you’ll have plenty of spare revenue to invest in IPT Telephony systems capable of contacting cloud based services such as virtual operators, call recording, voice mail facilities, call usage stats etc.
Whilst the majority of IPT technologies rely on a locally based phone switch for many of the aforementioned functions, the cloud can save you money by effectively leasing these services over your data link.
Read more: Cloudy with a chance of phone calls !
Story added 26. September 2012, content source with full text you can find at link above.