There are so many ways to reduce your business communications costs these days with VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Services and so many ways to access them. What if you could roll up as many of these services as you wanted into one so that you got the best rate on the market every time you made a phone call? Sound difficult? Guess again
Unifying Your Communications
With telecommunications a large portion of the expense of running many businesses, many are looking for better phone deals. In the search for value, scalability and flexibility, installing an IP PBX to replace their older systems can open a new world of communications opportunities. The old PSTN style office system was pretty much like having a miniature telephone exchange in your building that does little else than connect your extensions to each other as well as the outside world. Just about all the extra functions like message banks, redial and so forth are usually hard-wired into your mini-exchange. Today's IP PBX's can be cleverly programmed to "unify your communications" in many ways that can seriously enhance your business processes. Using affordable communications hardware, you can integrate your communications tools with your business applications like Customer Relationship Management systems, billing and much more. Welcome to the world of Unified Communications technology: the new frontier in telecommunications.
This leads me back to the very clever new way of getting the best possible value from your telecommunications requirements. Phone plans can be very tricky to navigate and most plans have a weak spot that doesn't match or beat their competitors on calls to certain countries, yet the competitor is more expensive for SMS or calls to mobiles. Some telcos have better rates at certain times of the day or "free time" credits with different conditions on use. If you make a large volume of outbound calls to different networks and locations, why shouldn't you get the best rate every time?
Win Against the Telcos on Every Call
Here is a strategy that can let you have it your own way with the telcos. If you are still on one of those old hardware PBXs that splits a traditional phone line into extensions, replace it with an IP PBX setup. If you already use an IP PBX in your office, its software can be configured to control what telecommunications network to switch the call to.
Let's say you want to pay the least amount whenever you call a mobile phone from any of your office phones, your IP PBX can make sure you access your Pennytel plan at 10.5 cents per minute while calls to local landlines get switched out through Freshtel or MyNetFone service, rather than get charged for a timed call through Pennytel. Or let's say that you have call credits on a plan or two that you lose each month if you don't use it, you can program your phone system to count the call value and switch providers once the credits are used up. If one provider gives you several numbers that you can allocate to call for free, even at set times of the day, this can be programmed in to make sure you take advantage of it. The possibilities for taking advantage of special rates are quite endless with a well programmed IP PBX machine.
You can also integrate landlines to be controlled by your IP PBX, so you can also take as much advantage of any special offer rates as you would with your VoIP providers. There is no need to sign up to any of the extra features that cost you either, any or all of them can be created on the PBX. If you a special rate or a number of free calls to other landlines on your physical phone providers plan, this can be accounted for and used when an outbound number is identified as being on the same network. The IP PBX can also automatically switch to a landline service if no Internet connection is detected.
Better Utilise Your Inbound Numbers
This can also work the other way around in the case of inbound 1300, 1800 or 13 numbers. Because inbound services like 1300 charge you for the call, it makes sense to reduce those costs as much as possible. These inbound services can be routed by your IP PBX to another office location or wherever is appropriate at the cheapest possible price. The call can be automatically routed to the nearest office or shop location, the caller could even be given different voice menu options or receive different hold music depending on their location, if you so desired, with a web portal available to you to make dynamic changes.
Sounds Hard, What Kind of Wizardry is This?
It's not wizardry, but good software and clever configuration. An IP PBX can be set up to be clever enough to dynamically select the most appropriate carrier for each outbound calls, as well as inbound 13, 1300 and 1800 calls to save you money. Unified Communications can also incorporate countless other features when integrated with desktop applications and web portals. But who can make it happen for you? The answer is to use a Unified Communications consultant or firm who can help you to take full advantage of the voice carrier offerings in the market, build your ultimate business communications tool and get the best outcome for your operations as well as your budget.
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
AWD are a full service business IT company in Melbourne, Australia