VOIP (IP Telephony) Services

All companies have a telephony need - and most already have a data network to allow their PCs to communicate with their servers. With IP Telephony (sometimes referred to as VoIP or voice over IP) these two technologies become one bringing huge advantages and cost savings. 

An IP Telephony system can be seamlessly integrated into your current systems and offer a wealth of features and benefits conventional digital systems could never offer. Similarly, functionality which was the preserve of large enterprises - such as call tracking, monitoring and flexible call routing are available at literally a fraction of the cost. IP Telephony is the telephony of the future because it is inexpensive relative to digital systems and is, by its nature, capable of giving you real business advantages. 

The cost savings come from the reduced need for infrastructure - you don't need to have specific cables routed to each desk for the phone as its uses your existing network. In fact you don't even need a phone as it can all be run from your desktop! For those preferring traditional handsets, these are available so there are no disadvantages from moving from a traditional phone system. 

You've heard the hype about VoIP but exactly what is it?

Well, VoIP or Voice over IP is a set of rules, often called protocols, which describe the steps required for sending voice over an IP network or more accurately, a network which uses TCP/IP for communication.

Due to the proliferation of the Internet, TCP/IP (Transmission control protocol / Internet Protocol) has become common place in both the business, home network and International networks. Originally designed by the military to provide a robust communications network, it now affects everyone, whether they know it or not. Obviously there are many protocols that utilise the Internet - email uses one, browsing the web is another and VoIP is a new addition for voice.

So why do we need it? You've probably benefited from plugging your laptop in at a customers office and everything works, or plugging it in at home and accessing office emails. Now you can do the same with telephony!

Firstly, you no longer need extensive cabling in your office to support your phone systems, just use your existing network. Because it uses standard protocols it now can integrate with your other applications like Outlook or CRM packages - so when you receive a call you can see the associated contact details of the person calling, or click on a name to call the person.

Also you can seamlessly work from home. If someone calls your office extension your VoIP phone rings next to your home computer - and because your computer uses a VPN (virtual private network) to access your office you can bring up all the required documents while conversing with your client, and they will never know you are sitting at home!

The total-cost-of-ownership comes right down. You can backup your telephone system to allow quick recovery should failure occur. And because it runs on a server you can quickly install it on another machine and your up and running again. Support becomes easier because it is managed via a standard Windows interface. And for the first time you can get your phone system to do exactly what you need it to. 

If you are a 5 user company it is still the solution for you because the costs are license based, where with 'old fashioned' phone systems you need to buy a system which can go up to 20 users but you only need it for 5, VoIP systems can still scale far beyond that, but up front costs for small businesses are small - the cost of a low-specification server and 5 licenses. 

Those with multiple offices can dramatically bring down their intra-office communications by using the Internet or leased lines for their voice data. 

In fact, as far as we know, there is no advantages to the 'old fashioned' box on the wall telephone systems.

Why not call us to arrange for us to visit you to demonstrate what is available, or alternatively come to our offices and see just how far you can go with a VoIP telephony system.

Free inter-office calls (multiple sites). If you have many offices, these can be linked over the Internet providing you with free inter-office calls. 

On-screen dialling. Click on an outlook contact and the number is automatically dialed. 

Voicemail. You can have unlimited voicemail boxes, and have various rules which determine which message is played to which caller. 

Auto-attendant. You can have unlimited auto-attendants, one speaking to you while you pick up your messages, another one to a user while they make a choice which extensioin they wish.

Screen popping. See who is calling you when they call. 

Home working. Plug in a phone at home, and automatically receive you work bound calls. 

Integration with Microsoft Outlook. Use your contacts, no need to maintain multiple phone lists. 

Scripting. Handle a call any way you like.

Database integration. Already have a customer database? Get your internal applications to provide you key information when a call is received. 

On-screen consoles and monitoring. Record calls, see who is on the phone, who is talking, who is not in the office. 

Flexible console. Make you on-screen phone look however you like. 

Use a single cable to each desk for both telephone and data.