The days when all a business needed – and had to manage – was a switchboard per branch, some landlines and a contract with a mobile network operator are over.
Today, says Graeme Victor, CEO of voice-based telecommunications solutions company Du Pont Telecoms, the implementation and management of everything a business needs for its telecommunications requirements is often more complex, and potentially more expensive, than meeting its IT (data) needs.
“Businesses have to contend with an array of technologies that range from VoIP and Least Cost Routing to mobile voice and mobile data, as well as a bewildering assortment of bundles and options offered by tier one and tier two network providers. Many of these are often structured in such a way that comparing features and prices is all but impossible.
“All this makes it extremely difficult for the average business to know which technology to invest in, to compare service offerings and their costs and to choose the solution that best fits its requirements at the best price,” he says.
In addition, with the rate at which changes are being made in the telecoms sector – falling interconnect rates, the introduction of Geographic Number Portability (GNP), the real possibility of last mile (local loop) unbundling and more – businesses will find it even more difficult to ensure that they remain abreast of all developments.
Even acquiring a PBX (switchboard) is not as simple a decision as it used to be. Should you rent it or buy it? Which brand is best? Should you purchase a PBX for each branch or have a single, centralised switch? Or should you opt for a virtual PBX and outsource the whole thing to a telecoms service provider?
“The growing complexity of the telecommunications sector is likely to result in more and more businesses outsourcing the management of their telecoms to service providers like Du Pont just as they do with their IT. This could make a tangible difference to improving the business’s productivity while boosting savings,” Victor adds.
According to Victor, Du Pont assists its customers to choose the telecoms decision that best meets their needs and budget – and then helps them to implement it within their businesses.
This ranges from installing a PBX solution and integrating the various services that are provided by the fixed and mobile network operators to providing an outsourced or hosted BlackBerry Exchange solution.
“In addition, because we keep a close watch on developments in the market, we are ideally placed to identify where additional savings can be made. We can quickly pass on benefits that that may arise from, for example, a change in the way the network operators structure their packages and services.
“And once the so-called last mile from an exchange to the business’s premises is opened to competition, we will be even better positioned to negotiate savings and pass these on to customers,” Victor concludes.