// Connect · business telephony
VoIP and modern business telephony
Telephony only gets noticed when a call fails to arrive. We switch you over without losing numbers — and settle beforehand who is reachable, when and where.
// Starting point
The system in the basement has lasted a long time
In many companies the phone system has stood in the plant room since the last refit and does its job. It becomes uncomfortable when a card fails and the supplier from back then no longer stocks the part — or when nobody remembers how to change a call diversion.
The second trigger is how people work. A system that ties extensions firmly to handsets on desks fits badly with teams who work from home two days a week or move between sites.
So a switch is rarely a purely technical matter. It is the right moment to rethink call distribution: who picks up when nobody in sales answers, what happens after closing time, and who actually listens to the voicemail.
// The switch
How numbers move without getting lost
Porting is the part with fixed dates. Everything else arranges itself around it.
Record numbers and routes
Which numbers belong to the company, which extensions are assigned, which special numbers and attachments hang off the old system.
Get network and devices ready
Check cabling, configure network equipment for voice, provide handsets and build the new call distribution — all before the porting date.
Switch on the agreed day
The numbers move on the agreed date. We are available that day and test every number with a live call, inbound and outbound.
Fine tuning in daily use
Over the first weeks we adjust call groups, announcements and cover arrangements wherever practice differs from the plan.
// Reachability
What this lets you govern
The real gain is not in the technology. It is that calls reliably land with somebody.
Call groups and cover
If purchasing rings out several times, the call moves on — by fixed rules rather than by chance.
Hours and announcements
Opening hours, public holidays and shutdown periods are held on file so nobody calls into silence outside them.
One number, several devices
Desk phone, computer and mobile ring together. A call can be handed on within the building.
Links into business systems
Where it makes sense, an incoming call opens the matching record — saving the search during the conversation.
Sites on one plan
Several branches share one internal numbering range. Internal calls stay internal.
// Before the switch
Points that have to be settled first
They sound unremarkable, but they are the most common reasons for trouble on the day.
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Power cuts and reachability
Without power in the building no IP phone works. For emergencies we settle in advance which mobile route applies.
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Emergency address per connection
The location is registered deliberately and updated when people move. It does not follow on its own.
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Special attachments in the building
Door intercoms, lift emergency calls, alarm systems or time recording often hang unnoticed off the old system.
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Who maintains it afterwards?
Changing call groups and announcements should be possible without an engineer. We agree who may do it and show them how.
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Protection against toll fraud
Phone connections are attacked deliberately. We restrict destination ranges and hours and watch for unusual behavior.
// Telephony questions
What gets asked most often before a switch
01 Can we keep our phone numbers?
As a rule, yes. Existing numbers can move to the new connection, usually including the whole extension block. We prepare the port, agree the date and keep the old connection live until the switch.
02 A system on site or a hosted connection?
A system in your own building pays off where many special cases have to be covered, or where door intercoms, alarm dialling and machinery are attached. A hosted connection saves maintenance and suits distributed sites. We recommend based on how you are set up, not on what is fashionable.
03 What do we need to watch for with emergency calls?
With internet-based telephony the location is not automatically correct, because a handset can stand anywhere. We register the address for each connection and point out that during a power cut in the building no phone will work — unlike some of the older kit.
04 What happens to our fax machine?
Fax machines get along poorly with voice carried over the network. The usual route is a service that drops incoming faxes into a mailbox as a file. Where a physical machine has to stay, we check beforehand whether the line will carry it.
05 Do we need new handsets?
Not necessarily. Newer desk phones can often be reused, older ones cannot. Many companies get by with a mix of a few desk phones, headsets and software on the computer — we decide that workplace by workplace.
06 How does the switch affect our network?
Voice reacts badly to fluctuation. So we check cabling, network equipment and the line beforehand and configure the network to give calls priority. Skip that step and any telephony becomes unreliable.
Related
How reachable are you really?
We look at your numbers, how calls are distributed today and the equipment in the building — and say what a switch needs by way of preparation and what it changes day to day.