Big phones for small business

• Seamus Byrne
• 24 September 2008
• Page 1 of 2 : single page

When a business is starting out as a few desks in a small room, or tucked away in a home office, phones demand little thought as a ‘system’. But (hopefully) the time comes when expansion drives the need to acquire phones that are more than your average household handset. The big question is, when is the right time to update? How can you ensure you are choosing the right phones, at the right price, with the right technology?

According to industry experts, 2008 has seen voice over IP (VoIP), or IP telephony, achieve the maturity to become the best solution for any business.

“In a broadband world, IP telephony is a trivial decision,” says Geoff Johnson, research vice president for enterprise communications applications at analyst firm Gartner. “Large-business functionality is now available to small business.”

While many may believe a PABX is synonymous with serious business telephony, Johnson argues only those companies that have already invested in one have a reason to be working with this kind of traditional infrastructure.

“If you use a system like PABX, there is no good business case to move to IP telephony unless you have run out of capacity. The size of your organisation is not the issue anymore, only how stuck with the more expensive and slower solution you are.”

IP telephony systems offer all PABX functionality and a host of additional services, so any business with the opportunity to build from scratch should choose an IP solution, he says.

These new business-grade IP telephony solutions are not like the poor-quality VoIP services you may have encountered in the home-user market.

“Basically you want to work out your IT and communications plan first,” says Johnson. “Then you think about which way to go.”

Costs of IP telephony

The cost to install such systems is almost identical to PABX: anywhere from $300 to $700+ per seat, and you will also need a true business-grade internet connection. You will need to have an internet service that delivers voice traffic as a priority (referred to as Quality of Service, or QoS) and to make sure the phones are always connected. This is essential in keeping your business online and enforced through a service level agreement with the provider. Most small businesses can handle brief interruptions to internet connectivity, but phone system downtime can easily lead to lost sales or dissatisfied customers.

IP telephony firmly ties in with the need to scale your technology solutions with company growth. Choosing the right time to step up from SOHO to more genuine small business services is key.

Paul Scanlan, managing director of IPL Communications, believes small businesses must be careful not to go too big too early. “It becomes a matter of bandwidth and IT management, which often is a pressure a small business owner does not need to deal with. Once a company has a dedicated IT department, it becomes a more viable proposition.”

Other vendors suggest user numbers as a good indicator. Nortel channels manager Neville James says his company has products that “scale down to five users, but 10 users or more would be a good starting point”.
Likewise with companies like 3Com, Siemens, NEC, Fonality and Avaya, suggested points of entry range from five to 20 users.

Save money and work smarter

Stepping up to IP telephony demands a number of considerations and a lot of preparation, but don’t be put off too quickly. The benefits certainly outweigh the effort, not least of which is the savings on your monthly bills.

'Large-business functionality is now available to small business'

“VoIP and IP telephony should be way cheaper than regular call costs…around 10–20% of traditional phone system prices,” says Johnson.

Even if calls were the same price, the competitive advantage and readiness for an ongoing communications evolution make IP a powerful choice.

“It’s just not about commodity pricing anymore,” says Tony Warhurst, managing director for southeast Asia at ShoreTel. “It’s about adding value to the entire business.”

These added values include productivity-boosting features such as presence, single-number dialling, wireless network handover and voice as an application.

Presence grants you the ability to see staff availability and activity. If they are unavailable, it gives you an idea of when they will return — or routes messages to wherever they are. This capability is particularly useful when team members can set their presence remotely.

“This is the electronic equivalent of standing up and looking over the partition,” says Marc Englaro, director of Fonality. “It removes the effect of cold calling someone, as well as the worry you might be interrupting them.”

Rob Vanyal, training certification manager at Siemens Enterprise Communications, points out you can even be ‘in office’ in your hotel room on the other side of the world, without wearing outrageous hotel phone charges.

“As long as you have internet access to your system, you can set up a number. You can start a call online, which then rings your room phone before dialling the contact you wish to speak to. It’s like a conference call where the office phone is the originating caller.”

Single number is the next step after presence, where all calls are automatically routed to you based on your presence and location status. Whether you are on the mobile, at the office desk or telecommuting from a home office, you can have rules in place to automatically direct your number based on time of day or where their mobile handset is located.

Wi-Fi handover is a capability of some mobile phone handsets with wireless network (Wi-Fi) connections. These phones can switch calls from more expensive mobile networks to a VoIP call over the local wireless network, managing cost and call performance without the user’s active involvement.

Voice as an application involves managing voice communications the same way as a document.

“When a customer calls, their last order can show up on the screen,” says Steve Woff, unified communications business manager at NEC. “A new order can be instantly prepared, or a re-order for their favourite items. This helps core business functions — and that is where unified communications delivers real value.”

Solutions for the commitment-phobic

Even if you are not ready to commit to the full IP experience, you can gain many benefits through simpler solutions. Companies such as Skype, GoTalk, MyNetFone and the major telcos have options that bridge home and business services. These are solid ways to test VoIP before making a serious investment.