During the past few days, we have been getting exiting over our Mobile SIM cards. We are now able to provide mobile phone related services as well as our VOIP based switchboards. Or should I say a mobile phone service with a difference...
Our phone package is very unique. The phone can tag on as an internal extension to your switchboard, have the ability to transfer calls to and from the mobile phone, you can choose a landline direct number as well as make calls from your main office number.
During our testing I tagged our handset on to the Firbanks switchboard. I initially had to purchase a basic unlocked handset for testing purposes. The Nokia 2730 was perfect for the job as it has 3G capabilities (3G is required for our SIMS). I provisions our handset in a similar way to that of a traditional mobile phone operater, assigned it a phone number and tariff.
I had to say that initially I was anxious over the coverage. You see, our phones use the 3G part of the three and t-mobile networks. The coverage checkers explained that our office post-code did not have coverage. From field testing the phone, all locations have had superb coverage and the system has functioned every time. I am able to send and receive text messages, add the mobile to our office hunt group with the ability to answer remotely and then transfer the call to a colleague's extension. Call quality has been top-notch too. The mobile data can function at speeds of up to 14.4mbs and the cost of the service is also very reasonable.
If you are interested in this type of service or require a demonstration then please contact us at http://www.firbanks.com to arrange a visit. I'm sure that this product can assist a lot of users and fills a huge gap in the market. I am exited that Firbanks IT are able to provide such a product and training directly and for such a reasonable price.
Thursday 23 September 2010
Monday 20 September 2010
VOIP explanation and Case Study
Voice over IP is often mis-interpreted as requiring computer equipment to function in a way similar to that of Skype. This is wrong. VOIP is a method of utilising the Internet to carry telephone calls rather than the standard telephone network. Calls can be VOIP to VOIP number (free) or VOIP to landline, mobile, international which means the Internet carries your voice data and then the call simply terminates at the standard telephone network and then routed to the destination.
Recently a recruitment company downsized from a staffed office to a home office. Firbanks were approached to handle the IT move. When BT were called to explain the situation the customer was told by BT that the customer would need a new phone number when moving to the home office as the Exchanges were in different locations.
Mark Banks of Firbanks IT explained an alternative to the customer. You do not need to process this through BT but you could move your number in to our online telephone system and then practically use the telephone anywhere with an internet connection. Mark Banks signed the customer up to a single number telephone system at a cost of £5 per month, for this the customer received the usual call divert, caller display, call waiting at no additional cost and all that was required to keep the phone number was to fill out a number porting form. This gives us permission to approach BT and gain control of the telephone number. During the transfer process it was possible to set the outbound caller ID to that of the customer's main number, use call diversion until the number had fully ported to our IP telephone system.
The customer now owns a Siemens DECT handset very similar to that of a standard cordless handset with a base that plugs in to his home broadband router. The customer now has a 2nd phone line that he can use for work at home without making an impact on his home phone line and no high installation fees or long wait times and all provided for £5 per month!
As a comparison, previously the customer used an ISDN based switchboard with average quarterly phone bills averaging £500.
Recently a recruitment company downsized from a staffed office to a home office. Firbanks were approached to handle the IT move. When BT were called to explain the situation the customer was told by BT that the customer would need a new phone number when moving to the home office as the Exchanges were in different locations.
Mark Banks of Firbanks IT explained an alternative to the customer. You do not need to process this through BT but you could move your number in to our online telephone system and then practically use the telephone anywhere with an internet connection. Mark Banks signed the customer up to a single number telephone system at a cost of £5 per month, for this the customer received the usual call divert, caller display, call waiting at no additional cost and all that was required to keep the phone number was to fill out a number porting form. This gives us permission to approach BT and gain control of the telephone number. During the transfer process it was possible to set the outbound caller ID to that of the customer's main number, use call diversion until the number had fully ported to our IP telephone system.
The customer now owns a Siemens DECT handset very similar to that of a standard cordless handset with a base that plugs in to his home broadband router. The customer now has a 2nd phone line that he can use for work at home without making an impact on his home phone line and no high installation fees or long wait times and all provided for £5 per month!
As a comparison, previously the customer used an ISDN based switchboard with average quarterly phone bills averaging £500.
Is there such thing as a mobile landline?
Yes there is! Today, we received our first batch of SIM cards that compliment our IP telephone systems. Now, not only can you have extensions at home or office but now the extension can be carried in your back pocket in the form of a mobile phone! You can also benefit from mobile data and text messages in the same way as a mobile phone except they can orginate from your landline number.
This is a huge milestone for Firbanks and our communications. Have you ever encountered a problem whereby you leave the office but feel that you should divert your desk phone only to find that where you are visiting is in a basement and has lousy mobile coverage? This can have an impact on your main number if your main line includes your desk phone within your hunt group as your mobile voicemail will be sucking in those messages and not allowing your colleagues to attend the calls.
Now that the switchboard integrates directly with a mobile SIM, there is also an element of intelligence that can route calls correctly and prevent things such as this from occuring. We will keep you updated with our testing and we hope to be able to provide our VOIP customers with the service very shortly.
This is a huge milestone for Firbanks and our communications. Have you ever encountered a problem whereby you leave the office but feel that you should divert your desk phone only to find that where you are visiting is in a basement and has lousy mobile coverage? This can have an impact on your main number if your main line includes your desk phone within your hunt group as your mobile voicemail will be sucking in those messages and not allowing your colleagues to attend the calls.
Now that the switchboard integrates directly with a mobile SIM, there is also an element of intelligence that can route calls correctly and prevent things such as this from occuring. We will keep you updated with our testing and we hope to be able to provide our VOIP customers with the service very shortly.
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