Hosted IP-PBX Ready for Prime Time

10 Must Have Features and Capabilities for Any Business

1645 West Chester Pike West Chester, PA 19382 www.linesystems.com

Hosted IP-PBX Ready for Prime Time: 10 Must Have Features and Capabilities for Every Business

A Dawning of a New Era

Business Communications systems have come a long way over the last five to seven years. This is
especially true with IP-based Hosted PBX (H-PBX) space. There are several reasons for this change primarily social reasons. The world has evolved into a community-based workforce with decisions being made faster, information presented more quickly, and people needing to collaborate real-time via voice, data, and audio/video conferencing. There are three technological enhancements causing these rapid changes: 1. Traditional digital Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) system architectures have been replaced by Internet Protocol (IP) server-based architectures. 2. Fast processors, affordable storage, and ubiquitous connectivity options offer todays businesses hosted (read: cloud-based) communication solutions options. 3. Virtualization technologies, and the promise of cloud computing, are delivering dramatic productivity, efficiency, and cost savings to organizations of all sizes. IP Communications are here and the hype has been replaced by adoption. This paper will define some of the must have H-PBX features that organizations of all sizes need to stay ahead of competition while highlighting the way IP communications solutions are changing the business landscape forever.

10 Must Have H-PBX Features and Capabilities for Any Business

When performing due diligence on an H-PBX provider make sure the solution has the following ten features, functions and capabilities: 1. Standards-based Flexible and Scalable Architecture A consolidated enterprise voice and data network aids in reducing the operational footprint of two formally disparate networking environments. IP-based infrastructure is built for growth of IP voice, data, and video. Robust IP networks are able to handle 10s of 1000s of users per instance and are often deployed in an active-active configuration for elegant failover and redundancy in the event of an outage. This consistent approach allows for expedient turn-ups in new and remote locations and integrated security best practices across the entire technology infrastructure. 2. Built-in Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery Various business locations can be rapidly reinstated from alternative (redundant) locations to ensure minimal downtime and little to no loss of business. This allows for voice traffic to seamlessly and quickly be moved from the failed platform to a live platform instantaneously. 3. Simplified Implementation, Management, and Maintenance With the existence of a fullymeshed, converged architecture, a singular common interface can be used to implement, manage and maintain the platform. Users and remote locations should be able to be turned up in a fraction of the time due to the same configuration being used for all locations. The
Line Systems | 1645 West Chester Pike | West Chester, PA 19382 | 855.733.1000 | info@linesystems.com
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Hosted IP-PBX Ready for Prime Time: 10 Must Have Features and Capabilities for Every Business

entire technology infrastructure should be able to be managed and maintained via an intuitive browser-based graphical user interface (GUI) portal. The integrated infrastructure also requires less data center space, less heating and cooling, and has reduced carbon emissions due to having less overall equipment. Less equipment also means less to dispose of at the end of its useful life. 4. Auto Attendant / Receptionist & Administrative Packages An Automated Attendant (AA), or virtual receptionist, allows callers to be automatically transferred to an extension without the intervention of a human operator. Many AAs will also offer a simple menu system for choosing departments (e.g., 1 for sales, 2 for billing, 0 for the operator). Modern AA services (which now overlap with more complicated interactive voice response or IVR systems) can route calls to smartphones, IP virtual phones, or other locations using traditional phone lines. 5. Conferencing IP-based audio and video conferencing, as part of H-PBX solutions, are becoming more and more prevalent in todays global collaborative workforce. Utilizing G.722 (for high definition audio) is being used by many organizations that require the latest in audio innovation. On the video side of the discussion, H.264 Scalable Video Coding has made IP-based video conferencing widely available and highly error resilient. 6. Application Integration It is critical for all leading H-PBX solutions to support a multitude of enterprise applications including: a. Microsoft Directory integration b. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) c. Billing Systems d. Microsoft Outlook (click to dial) e. Microsoft Outlook contacts f. High definition video conferencing

7. Unified Communications / Presence / Fixed Mobile Convergence Support a. Unified Communications This includes: Click-to-dial, Call History, Caller ID, and Voicemail. b. Presence This includes: Instant Messaging, Chat, and Audio and Web Conferencing. c. Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) The ability to have no perceptible break in a voice transmission when a handover occurs from a mobile (cellular) network to a fixed network on the same phone without interruption to the callers.

Line Systems | 1645 West Chester Pike | West Chester, PA 19382 | 855.733.1000 | info@linesystems.com

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Hosted IP-PBX Ready for Prime Time: 10 Must Have Features and Capabilities for Every Business

8. Mobility / Find Me-Follow Me Todays workforce requires being in contact with partners, customers, and vendors alike anywhere, anytime. H-PBXs can, and are, deployed to have the ability to reach you at your desk in the office, your phone at home, or your mobile smartphone all with the same enhanced features of the core PBX. Fine Me-Follow Me allows all of your communications devices to act as the phone in your office. You can have them all ring simultaneously, one after the other, or with different ring patterns and durations depending on your state of reachability. 9. Call Center / Contact Center Support / Call Recording The ability to support (via a software-based application) call/contact centers from 10s of users to 1,000s of users with management features that enhance control for managers by providing them deep, quantitative looks into the centers operations via an intuitive portal and series of dashboards. IP-based call recording, as a component of H-PBX solutions, is a subset of telephone recording or voice logging. It has traditionally been used by call centers, but is now being used by all types of businesses. There are a number of reasons for recording call traffic, including: reducing company vulnerability to lawsuits by maintaining recorded evidence, complying with industry regulations and laws, increasing security, employee training, verifying data, and customer satisfaction. 10. Quality of Service (QoS) / Class of Service (CoS) In todays collaborative global workplace, high bandwidth business applications constantly compete for the corporate network. QoS and CoS ensure that voice traffic receives top priority from the core network service provider, to the customer premise via the access network, all the way through to the installed routers and gateways at the customer site.

Summary
Remember, perform thorough due diligence and look at the cost benefits, as well as, the productivity and efficiency gains that an H-PBX solution will bring to your organization. Whether you make your choice due to budgetary constraints, lack of the appropriate skills, or a desire to focus your IT staff on core competencies it might be time your business embrace an H-PBX solution. Regardless of the path you choose, make sure that the products you select use standard protocols, have a well-documented application programming interface (API) to support future plans, and includes a list of interoperable equipment that has been fully tested and documented. Also, confirm that the vendor you are considering can demonstrate what they are selling, preferably outside of their demo lab, utilizing real-world scenarios that complement your environment. H-PBX solutions hold a great deal of promise. Be pragmatic when executing your communications plan and set realistic expectations about the economic benefits that will be realized, the
Line Systems | 1645 West Chester Pike | West Chester, PA 19382 | 855.733.1000 | info@linesystems.com
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Hosted IP-PBX Ready for Prime Time: 10 Must Have Features and Capabilities for Every Business

feature/function enhancements that will be gained, and the productivity and efficiency gains that will be achieved across the organization.

ABOUT LINE SYSTEMS

Line Systems, Inc. (LSI) is a full-service, integrated communications provider. With a complete line of voice, data and cloud services as well as national and international networking capabilities, LSI helps companies in the Mid-Atlantic region expand their presence and leverage their communications technologies as a competitive advantage. For more information, visit http://www.linesystems.com.

Line Systems | 1645 West Chester Pike | West Chester, PA 19382 | 855.733.1000 | info@linesystems.com

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