The increasing need for businesses to provide a flexible workspace for their employees means there is also the need for versatile internet coverage. Traditionally, businesses stayed connected through a wired network, using cables upon cables to connect devices, such as laptops and desktop computers to the internet. Nowadays, businesses are opting for a wireless network, allowing their employees to roam unchained to any restrictive wires or plug sockets. This ability to stay connected whilst away from a router is probably the most important advantage of a wireless network, and with no cables involved, installation is generally quick, easy, and cost-effective. Using a wireless network is a great way to boost employee productivity and collaboration. The ability to connect multiple devices through the same internet connection remotely, means documents, applications, and other resources can be accessed and shared almost instantaneously. The benefits of having a wireless network can be felt no matter the sector or the size of the organisation. For the customer service industry, businesses want to be able to answer customer queries as quickly and effectively as possible and a wireless network can make this straightforward, as staff will not have to be at their desk to gain access to the information they need. Businesses should also be aware that wireless networking may give them the opportunity to offer new products or services to their customers. For example, today, the majority of cafes, restaurants, hotels, airports, and even train stations have ‘hot spot’ WiFi available, something which is of great value in a world where people desire to be connected to the internet at all times, no matter where they are. Businesses that are quickly expanding, or those that regularly reconfigure their workspace, will greatly benefit from the flexibility provided by wireless networking. The office layout can be rearranged without disrupting any cables, and new...
Investing in a new business phone system can feel like a difficult decision, such is the myriad of options available. These vary depending on the nature of the company. For example, a small business operating from a single premises site and where staff members rarely work outside the office walls, may be best suited to a simple landline system. However, larger companies can have a dispersed workforce, spread over several premises and perhaps even different countries. The systems employed by such firms will still need to act like single telephone operations but in reality, communications will likely be across landline and mobile phones and via voice call, texting, instant messaging, and social media. A cloud-based solution may be the answer in such cases. These have been enhanced significantly over recent years as data connectivity solutions have become faster, making them more secure and able to handle a full range of communication tools. Cost, as with every business decision, can be a major factor. An on-premises voice communication system is typically more expensive to set up than a cloud-based solution when installation and maintenance costs are taken into consideration. A hosted system will cost less to set up but may require more effort on the part of the business to configure the network. Whichever system is chosen, ongoing maintenance will be required, and the occasional upgrade, which for those sited on business premises, will require a technician to physically visit the site. Cloud-based solutions meanwhile may be more likely to be upgraded automatically. However, this may remove an element of control from the company using the system, and could pose a significant risk...
A Belfast Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system, which has witnessed remarkable growth since it was launched 18 months ago, has been shortlisted in two categories at the UK’s most prestigious ICT awards. VoIP system, byphone, which was developed by Belfast engineers, Voxbit, a subsidiary of Clarity Telecom, is a simple to use phone system for businesses, that substantially improves inbound and outbound call handling. Byphone, has created such waves in the industry that it’s challenging global players in the ‘Hosted Platform’ and ‘Ones to Watch’ categories at the upcoming Comms Business Awards in London. James Wells, Head of Channel Sales at Voxbit which develops internet communications services, said: “The success of byphone is that it is an end-to-end service managed in its entirety by us and provides businesses with more control over their calls resulting in a significantly improved customer service. “Through visualising the call flow and with our innovative drag and drop system, users can essentially develop their own phone system. This enables organisations, for the first time, to see who is using the phones, when people are calling, and if any calls are unanswered. “This insight into call activity presents businesses with the opportunity to identify where improvements can be made to the benefit of their customers. “To have byphone recognised and challenging leaders in this field is hugely exciting for the Voxbit team, whose engineers have developed the product from concept to market. “With more product development in the pipeline, Voxbit has the potential to disrupt the industry through intelligent, easy-to-use products that simplify telecommunications for businesses.” Voxbit, received funding from Invest Northern Ireland...
Sammy Mellon and Sons limited Sammy Mellon and Sons are a reputable Hyundai car dealership based in Bangor for over 45 years. Specialising in both New and Used car sales they have evolved into one of the main Hyundai dealerships in Northern Ireland, priding themselves on delivering the highest of customer service and after-sales support. The great benefits of a family run business. The Situation: Sammy Mellon’s used their phone system in a very traditional way, throughout their business. One of their main challenges was customers hanging up before the staff on the showroom floor had time to pick up. This should have been an easy one. However, lack of system features made this difficult and they were missingcalls. Furthermore, customer service and after-sales support has been critical to the heightened success of this business and they are always looking at innovative ways to improve. They wanted a way to understand their busiest periods of the day to ensure they had the relevant staffing levels, ensuring that they never miss a call.They didn’t have this capability within their current phone system, nor didn’t wish to pay for expensive third-party software. Solution: Knowing the current system and equipment was not up to their business requirements, we began to assess the options. One of our traditional PBX engineers removed the old system, while a hosted services engineer began the work on their new cloud-based hosted system, giving them all the features they required. Now when a call comes through to any phone, any member of staff can pick that call up from their own device, and if this doesn’t happen the...
Mid and East Antrim Borough Councils The merging of Ballymena, Carrickfergus and Larne Borough Councils formed the new and fresh Mid and East Antrim Borough Councils in April 2015. The most significant change in over 40 years. They are responsible for all Council related duties such as recycling, tourism and planning for over 138,000 people in their district. The Situation: With the newly reformed Councils throughout the province a complete new inbound call routing plan across 26 sites required creation, including a fresh streamlined call flow for over 600 unique phone numbers. The Council had three main sites, each with their own traditional phone system. They had two main goals, the merging of the three existing phone systems and collecting data from their phone systems to improve their service levels. They wanted things such as, missed call reports, average wait times, total outbound calls. This was our challenge; how can we give granular reports over three sites that are not linked in any way, while capturing the data of over 600 phone numbers. Solution: We decided to start with how we can streamline the 600 phone numbers, we thought if the council only had one number, eventually they would no longer need so many. So, we began with a 0300 number that we host in our cloud and filtered all old numbers into it to ensure no calls where missed. We were then able to start looking at collecting data as and when a call came into our number. Once a call came into the 0300-cloud based number, we could implement several features also in the cloud, such as an IVR and announcements. This way customers can now select which office they wish to speak with and we can filter...
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