Streamlining communications |
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| Technology | |
| Written by Phil Kingsland, director of communications and marketing at Nominet | |
| Thursday, 13 August 2009 | |
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The cost benefits of streamlining and understanding the Value of ENUM. In tough economic times, it is more important than ever to improve the operational efficiency that will help a business remain competitive. One potential large operating cost for a business relates to vital communications operations. Often smaller businesses or SMEs find it difficult to be constantly available because they run a tight ship and ultimately have smaller head counts. To this end, how can smaller businesses communicate with the same efficiency and effectiveness of their bigger brothers (those with dedicated customer care communications functions. An answer to this challenge is converged communications: it can ease the pressures of being constantly tied to a call centre destination, it can even save money.Some companies are tackling the costs of communications without reducing functionality by converting their conventional telephone system to a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system. A VoIP system enables its users to make free calls between people on the same network. This saving is increased when an organisation has multiple sites, remote or home workers connected to the same network, as their internal calls are also free. Many SMEs rely upon remote workers to keep down overheads. Ensuring your team is connected via VoIP means that there will be more operational savings and improved efficiency. Staff can take their ‘number’ everywhere because each person (rather than each number) is registered so it can be transferred to different locations and devices. Understanding the Value of ENUMWhilst VoIP has many cost-saving benefits, some charges still remain. If two companies have invested in different VoIP systems and wish to talk to each other they currently have to route the call through the traditional Public Switched Telephone Network. This incurs an associated call charge - adopting an ENUM can remove cost from this scenario. Public ENUM is a method for connecting telephone communications networks to the Internet. An ENUM is created when you register your telephone number in the Public ENUM directory. It differs from VoIP because it allows a company using a VoIP-enabled system to extend their network of free calling to their customers and suppliers that also have VoIP systems in place. The Public ENUM directory maps telephone numbers to Internet domain names, which in turn point to the Internet address of the called parties’ VoIP system. This cuts out the Public Switched Telephone Network and removes the extra costs. Another benefit of registering your number as an ENUM is your increased accessibility for your customers. It allows applications and services to be created that enable ‘follow me’ functions so a business can decide how (voice, fax, mobile, email, text-messaging, location-based services and web sites) and when its employees are contacted throughout the day. For example, users could direct everything to the office between 9am and 5pm and then re-direct to the mobile or email after 5pm. This allows staff members to be on the move yet always be accessible and enables organisations to provide the best possible service to customers and to respond quickly and dynamically to prospects. How do you get an ENUM?There are a few simple steps to getting an ENUM. The first step is to review your current equipment and identify any areas where you could make savings. After review, many SMEs will see the benefits of adopting a VoIP enabled system. It is relatively easy and cheap to set up. It can help reduce office overheads by lowering the cost of both internal and external calls. Once the company is VoIP-enabled, each telephone number and its associated VoIP address can be registered as an ENUM. The business also needs to ensure that it ENUM-enables its VoIP systems. Some systems have this functionality built in whereas others need to have a one-time change to their VoIP service architecture. All this can be done with the assistance of an ENUM registrar. The Future of TelecomsSMEs need their communications system to be cost-effective and reliable. This helps make a smaller workforce as readily accessible as their larger competitors. Of course, if they are more accessible, SMEs have a wider potential to generate revenue and be more profitable. Converging communications via ENUM and the Internet so that your number goes everywhere with you, allows a business and its staff to be more accessible, whilst reducing costs at the same time.
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