Hosted Telephony Guide

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1 Guide Telephone: Web:

2 What is Hosted telephony? Hosted telephony is literally a hosted PBX telephone service provided to the customer through the internet. It is similar to cloud computing in as much as there are no on-premise servers but in this case you don t require a traditional PBX system in house - it is held centrally and accessed via the internet through your broadband it is also known as Hosted VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol. Future Proofed The hosted solution is piped by a service provider to the user. Hardware and software upgrades are all done centrally, so costs are shared between many customers. The customer is effectively future proofed i.e. always having an up to date system versus the high cost of continuously upgrading on premise equipment. The customer gets a lower total cost of ownership with an always current, leading edge phone system without the high upfront financial outlay, thus holding on to vital cash reserves and reducing capital expenditure. The UK stats Over the last three years the uptake of hosted VoIP has been considerable. There are very few statistics available on UK usage and uptake but some say that over 40% of UK businesses are already using the service and there could be more than 25% of the remainder considering reviewing or implementing it in the next 12 months. Mid-sized enterprises in the employee sector are adopting the system even faster because of the efficiencies and cost savings to be made. Those who are still undecided appear to be under the false impression that the quality is poor and unreliable and yet those who are using it claim the opposite. According to research by Wainhouse Research in 2010, the market for hosted communications is set to overtake on site equipment sales by Flexibility, Scalability and Ease of Use Flexible because it s so easy to add and subtract users, add new sites and allow users to switch from site to site, work remotely or from home. The ease through which a user can connect to the service, immediately commence making and receiving calls regardless of their geographical location explains why so many see it as flexible and scalable. Redeploying the service by closing one site and reopening in another location is easily achieved. Users connect via a traditional desktop phone or using soft-clients installed on PC s, laptops, Mac s or smart phones and manage their system through a self-service web portal. As long as there is internet access users can connect to the phone network and users on the same network can connect to each other using a 4 digit extension number at zero call cost! In the event of line failure, a traditional ISDN phone line can only be re-routed to a single number but with the hosted PBX any individual DDI s can be re-routed to any working number, home number, soft device or mobile. Essex CM12 0DU Telephone: Page 1

3 Cost One monthly subscription Pay for what you use Cost is the another reason to switch. Reduced call costs are unlikely to be the main driver. In reality most businesses will see it as the low capital investment in equipment, installation and maintenance. All costs are wrapped into one on-going monthly subscription, so you only pay for what you use. Many businesses do however save on calls through reducing spend on remote office connections as no matter where staff are located the internal call cost is nil. What line do I need? A good quality line is essential to call quality and like any business critical service it should be adequately resourced. Choosing ADSL as the connectivity option may be cheaper but it can be technologically less effective. ADSL is simply not voice-ready, and therefore voice quality can t be guaranteed. Voice calls travelling over IP don t like to be mixed directly with data traffic and service can be affected in some cases. A dedicated, un-contended data circuit is always installed to carry voice traffic. If voice and data traffic are to be mixed over a single circuit then ensure that the service provider is able to offer Class of Service options that will prioritise voice traffic over data traffic. Third Party Applications Mobile communication technology such as SMS, Mobile , Conferencing and Voic services have been rapidly converging with standard landline communications in the recent past, but integrating them and making them work together has proved difficult with on-premise PBX systems, often involving high upgrade costs and complex cofiguration. With the hosted model all that has been undertaken centrally giving easy access to integration with many third party systems such as Microsoft Outlook, Exchange and Communication Server which add further rich functionality like audio and web conferencing platforms, on-screen dialling and receiving voic s to . Add to this integration with mobiles through Blackberry VMS and with desktop and mobile CRM systems, the advantages to office efficiency is immense. Essex CM12 0DU Telephone: Page 2

4 Features and benefits of the Worksmart Hosted Auto Attendant The Worksmart auto attendant service helps organise call flow into your business, so callers are routed to the right person or department first time. For smaller businesses, it can give the perception of a much larger company to potential new customers. Call Routing By organising call overflow patterns with hunt groups and call pick-up groups, you can direct calls to where you have resources and never miss an important customer call. Calling Line Identification See who is calling before you pick up the telephone and greet important customers appropriately by having calling numbers displayed on the telephone. This helps greatly with prioritising calls and managing call lists, particularly when used with stored names. Computer Telephony Integration If your organisation relies on customer databases to look up details of callers or customers you are calling out to, then talk to us about the Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) applications that can pop caller records onto your computer screen as they call. Handsets We offer a range of Mitel IP Phones with our hosted communications services to ensure the best speech quality, ease of use and robust build that will withstand use in the busiest of office environments. Mitel 5312 IP Phone The dual-mode Mitel 5312 IP Phone is a full duplex handsfree speakerphone with multiline backlit display and programmable feature keys. Mitel 5320 IP Phone Prioritise Messages The Mitel 5320 IP Phone is a, self-labelling enterprise phone that is specifically designed for communications-intensive companies that require productivity enhancing applications and services to the user desktop. Unified messaging combines traditional voic functionality with your business , delivering notification of a new voic message, with information about the caller s number (if available) and the time of the call, allowing you to prioritise the messages you listen to. Essex CM12 0DU Telephone: Page 3

5 Review and Save Messages The contains an attached audio (.wav) file allowing you to access and listen to your voic message remotely and save the file if necessary. You can also forward the , with the attachment, to a colleague if they are better placed to respond to the message. Retrieve Messages Remotely When used in conjunction with a specified mobile smart phone, you can receive notification on new voic messages remotely by and listen to the messages using your mobile device. Improve Productivity Unified messaging greatly increases productivity and responsiveness and provides a level of business continuity should there be any interruption to the voic server, with the ability to send, receive, forward, save, and sort voice messages from your PC. Enhance Customer Service Unified messaging improves customer service levels and offloads the company receptionist from routine calls and messages when used in conjunction with an auto-attendant. Work Anywhere Our Teleworking and Hot-desking solutions allow employees to work on multiple floors, in multiple buildings and multiple countries, as if they were at a single desk. Sign in anywhere using your extension number and PIN and all your personal settings and softkeys are downloaded into the phone you are using and all calls to your direct dial number or office extension are automatically routed to your current telephone. Home Working You can enjoy the same functionality at home by simply plugging a Mitel IP Phone into your home office broadband connection and it automatically finds your corporate network and asks you to login with a secure PIN. You then have complete office network functionality from home. Untether employees from a single desk Bring dynamic flexible working to your office Attract and retain high calibre staff Reduce the pressure on office space Allow employees to work from anywhere Reduce commuting pollution Call Logging The advanced Call Logging service shows you how efficiently and effectively you are dealing with your customers and provides you with the information you need to drive constant improvement. Our reporting capabilities are unrivalled and are so comprehensive, flexible and easy to use that you will soon see measurable results in productivity improvements and cost savings, throughout your business. Call Recording Capture important call information and order details for future reference with the Worksmart call recording service. Whether for training purposes or as back up for disputed calls, call recording can prove useful in a number of situations. All recordings are date and time-stamped for easy reference and are available online via our secure partner portal. Essex CM12 0DU Telephone: Page 4