Landline business telephony continues its transition to All-IP

In Luxembourg, as everywhere else in Europe, the traditional (“analogue”) telephone network is gradually being decommissioned in favour of All-IP. This infrastructure transformation, which is being required by EU regulators, is expected to help support the country’s move to digital and meet society’s growing communication requirements. Many organisations whose telephone systems are still based on analogue technology are now being encouraged to move in this direction.

The change is also a great chance to rethink your telephone services, taking into account your needs and the new possibilities offered by technology. Some players, for example, are taking advantage of the opportunity to focus on mobile phone systems, abandoning landline services. For those who wish to keep a landline number and give their employees access to an extension and new collaboration features, several solutions are available.

Make the most of digital technology

The first advantage of an IP-based network telephony solution is the flexibility it offers. The company’s telephone exchange is fully digitised, managed at IT level, in-house or outsourced, whether the resources are managed on site or in the cloud. It’s no longer necessary to maintain a dedicated infrastructure. Above all, this gives the company greater agility. It has never been easier to add a line, roll out a service or monitor communications using integrated reporting solutions.

Now that workplaces are becoming increasingly hybrid, the new telephone solutions available also offer greater flexibility to each employee. As they become increasingly mobile, fixed-mobile convergence ensures that they can be easily reached, wherever they are, using a single number. By unifying all communication solutions (calls, instant messaging, video meetings, document sharing, etc.) on a single platform, organisations can considerably improve collaboration across their teams.

Depending on its needs and constraints, each organisation can choose from the three solutions currently available from POST.

Managed UC: a sturdy solution adapted to your needs

Organisations wishing to continue hosting their telephone exchange using their own IT resources, either on site or in a dedicated environment within a POST data centre, will prefer the Managed UC package, supported by CISCO technology. It allows your teams to benefit from a high-performance telephone solution based on Jabber/Cisco Webex to receive calls and fixed-mobile convergence. This solution makes it easy to set up and manage a switchboard at reception or a call centre. It also includes other advanced features such as the ability to record communications. For collaborative working, organisations can choose between CISCO Webex or MS Teams apps. Managed UC is the most robust solution in the range, with an availability rate of 99.8% and enhanced redundancy. It also offers the greatest scope for customisation.

CloudPBX: outsource management of your environment

Other players no longer wish to have to manage the resources on which the telephone exchange is hosted. They are turning to POST’s CloudPBX solution. This can be accessed from POST’s private cloud, enabling organisations to enjoy a high level of service without having to worry about infrastructure maintenance. The package includes the same telephone services as for Managed UC, with the exception (for the time being), of the ability to record communications. CISCO Webex is the joint collaboration application associated with this package, although integrations with MS Teams are under development.

CloudVoice: enjoy all the flexibility of a public cloud

The third solution, CloudVoice responds to the desire of organisations to host their telephone exchange in a public cloud. It’s the most dynamic solution. Depending on their needs, going beyond fixed-mobile convergence, businesses can choose whether or not to activate a range of advanced options: receptionist console, contact centre, reporting, recording communications. Telephone services and collaborative working are based on MS Teams and POST and Microsoft partners. The entire solution is accessed from the Microsoft cloud via a simple internet or data connection.

How do you choose the most suitable IP telephony solution?

It depends on your needs: the POST teams will guide you towards the right solution and help you implement it. To make the best choice, four main criteria need to be considered:

• First of all, you need to identify the features you require. A regulated entity, for example, will sometimes need to ensure that conversations are recorded.

• The service level is also an important consideration. Some companies will want to continue to host the telephony solution within their own environment, while others will want to outsource this management. Being able to access technical support may vary from one solution to another. While Managed UC and Cloud PBX allow voice traffic to be prioritised, this is not guaranteed with Cloud Voice.

• Collaboration features, between a CISCO or MS Teams environment, can be a decisive criterion in your choice, although it is always possible to envisage the implementation of hybrid solutions.

• Ultimately, you also need to consider all the equipment you’re going to need: phones, headsets, meeting rooms, analogue ports, etc.

Want to keep your current solution?

Already have a telephone exchange or collaboration solution? POST can help you make the transition to VoIP technology by connecting your telephone exchange to the public telephone network via an SIP Trunk. It’s also possible to connect your existing MS Teams environment to the public telephone network thanks to the Direct Routing solution.