In the telecommunications space, we talk a lot about how VoIP can save businesses money, give their overall productivity a boost and help streamline processes. However, VoIP goes far beyond helping companies—ranging from small businesses all the way to the enterprise level. It’s a solution that has benefited residential customers and, yes, even government agencies across the globe.
In Ireland, the Fingal County Council made the switch to a unified communications platform to keep costs down and make improvements on its connectivity.
The organization has 22 sites comprised of 1,200 staff members, so staying connected was important for the Council, in addition to keeping the bottom line in check. According to reports, Stephen Peppard of Fingal County Council said the move marks the final phase of a four-year project "to replace technology that was both end of life and outdated."
VoIP enables a range of applications not previously made available, such as the multimedia contact center and integrated Web and audio conferencing. Converged applications such as UC can take advantage of IP and enable companies to not only increase revenue and decrease costs, but enhance productivity and improve customer service.
"The completeness of the solution offered and its compatibility with the services being provided by [other companies means] that the project can be implemented from within current resources with a medium term return on capital investment," said Peppard.
The key to getting the most out of UC and a VoIP solution is applications. Apps allow users to manage content across multiple platforms, utilizing the best of all worlds – VoIP, voice mail, video, SMS and email. Well-developed VoIP solutions and UC applications – from the network core to the end-user interface – help users roll out applications quickly.
VoIP makes call routing easy as well. Clients and customers can dial the same number they always have and get the person they are trying to reach despite their location. Calls can be forwarded to landlines or mobile phones and clients or colleagues never need to know.
For the Fingal County Council, employees are now able to use their mobile devices as mobile VoIP solutions, which means they can take calls while on the go or in the field.
The growing adoption of VoIP makes it easier for companies to employ unified communications, and the increasing recognition of a need for UC within the organization is an influence that's helping to drive the acceptance of VoIP in the business world.
Edited by Alisen Downey