What you need to know....about IP communications

As Kevin Werbachwrote stated in an article for the Harvard Business Review, September 2005: “The important dividing line won’t be between those who deploy it and those who do not. It will be between those who see VoIP as just a new way to do the same old things and those who use it to rethink their entire business.”

Andy Elliot, Marketing Director EMEA, Mitel, answers some of the most commonly asked questions by companies looking to implement IP communications.

Q. What is behind the increased up-take of IP?

A. IP has revolutionised traditional phone systems by adding the capability to manage all information (data) and communications (voice) on one single network. When organisations move to IP communications they undergo a paradigm shift and both the organisation and end users have more control over their communications than ever before. This enables them to improve the way they do business.

The main advantage of IP communications solutions is that they will grow with your business and applications can be added on to improve business processes and customer service as and when you need them.

Q. Sounds great, but I don’t want to rip out all my phone systems and start again?

A. It isn’t necessary to rip out existing phone systems and replace everything with IP. Organisations can still retain existing phone systems and protect their investment by having a hybrid system of TDM and IP where sites and users can be migrated seamlessly over to IP at the organisation’s own pace.

Q. My business is growing and we’ve added new branch office. But the existing phone system is all over the place and can’t cope with the volume of calls. How will IP help us?

A. An IP phone system can improve customer service by connecting branch offices together on one seamless network. This means customers can call one number and be transferred to the relevant department or person they want to reach. Instead of calling different numbers for different branch offices, which is of course irritating for the customer.

Scalability is crucial for a growing business and an IP communications solution extends call capacity, ensuring that all calls are taken and business is not lost.

Q. How will IP help customer service in a contact centre?
A. It is essential that calls are routed to the correct agent and the customer’s request is fulfilled as quickly as possible. With IP, contact centres can be geographically dispersed, creating distributed agent groups, and agents can be set up to work at home with a teleworker solution. This enables the organisation to extend business hours, offer flexible working to employees helping to recruit and retain talented staff and of course improve customer service.

With multi-media desktop applications such as the Microsoft Communications Gateway and the Mitel Live Business Gateway, agents around the world can be connected using real-time communications combined with real data to answer customer queries instantly.

Q. My sales team generates a huge mobile phone bill. Any ideas on how we can reduce it?
A. Sales managers often have business cards with a variety of telephone numbers on them and they may also be bogged down with a number of communication devices. This makes it difficult for customers to get hold of them. As they will often have to leave a number of different voicemails and call different numbers, it also gives the impression of an inefficient and unprofessional organisation.

However, this situation can be resolved by investing in an IP twinning solution, which transfers calls from mobiles to desk phones and vice versa. How many times have you or your sales team been sitting at your desk next to a desk phone, but still used a mobile? Or walked into the office still on a call on your mobile and sat down at your desk and carried on the call for the next hour or so?

Twinning solutions saves huge costs off your mobile phone bill and also give the sales team more space on their business card, as the advantage of the application is that you only require one number, which follows you everywhere, simplifying communications and improving customer service.

Q. How can I provide my employees with the tools they need to do their job anywhere?
A. ‘Hot desking’ is a standard embedded application and enables employees to work from any branch office and simply log onto a desk phone to access their speed dials, voicemail and corporate directory, again ensuring they can be contacted on one number.

Teleworking also gives employees the flexibility to work from home, having the same access to the corporate network and features that they do in the office. This is valuable for the sales team, who may spend their days on the road and in meetings, but who can then go home to catch up on their work and e-mails rather than driving to the nearest branch office. It also helps organisations retain and recruit talented employees.

Desktop collaboration applications enable employees to work from anywhere with broadband access using a laptop and still gain access to the corporate network and have the flexibility to use the soft phone on the computer. These applications are a lot more than just a device to access your email and make a call on; video and voice conference calls can be set-up, real-time communication with secure instant messaging, presence and availability feature plus document sharing.

Q. My business was forced to close for one week recently due to floods, which cost me a lot of money. Could IP have assisted us?
A. People assume that in the event of a disaster a business can still carry on with the use of mobiles. In some instances, however, such as in a terrorist attack, all mobile networks would be blocked for security reasons meaning that isn’t a viable option. With teleworker solutions, employees can work from home without the customers noticing any difference.

Employees can also work from another branch office, ‘log into’ a hot desk phone and carry on as normal.

For more information read the online editorial at www.cxo.eu.com or visit www.mitel.com