|
INTERNET/WAN From the February 2005 issue of Communications News |
Firm taps into IP system What course of action is left for a business that faces the possibility of being forced to shut down its headquarters for an entire week? Infinity Consulting Group, an IT services firm, pondered this question in the months preceding last fall’s Republican National Convention (RNC) in New York City. With his organization located just steps away from the convention site at Madison Square Garden, Infinity CEO Lou Forino needed a solution that could keep operations intact for his 25 employees and especially for the global clients who rely on the firm as a strategic partner for consulting and integration services. “Rather than send my people on a week-long vacation, I wanted to find a way to maintain productivity during the convention,” Forino says. A year earlier, Infinity had switched from a premise-based Nortel phone system to an outsourced IP phone system provided by Manhattan-based M5 Networks. Unlike businesses in the surrounding area that did not have IP phone systems, Forino’s company was able to sidestep most of the chaos brought on by the RNC. Infinity employees were able to accomplish this feat through remote-usage capability, which allowed employees to set up and use phones from any location with broadband Internet access. They then were able to interact with the outside world just as if they were in the office, using features such as four-digit dialing between extensions, call transfer and personalized auto-attendants. “The technology definitely minimized the negative impact (of the convention),” offers Forino. “Without it, I would have lost tens of thousands of dollars.” Infinity Consulting Group’s Manhattan office is located right across the street from Madison Square Garden on West 31st Street. During the convention, employees worked from home, a few from the company’s New Jersey office, and others from a temporary space leased for the week. Using VoIP phones significantly minimized the impact of their temporary relocation. “It was just as if I were sitting at my office in New York City,” notes Forino, who worked from his home in the suburbs. To callers dialing Infinity’s main number that week, it was business as usual because the company receptionist was able to field and transfer calls appropriately using a Web-based tool provided by M5 Networks. Even when Infinity employees are not forced out of their usual accommodations, they still have the increased flexibility that an IP phone system affords. For instance, each staff member received a direct inward-dial number, allowing callers to reach them without going through a main switchboard. Employees now can set up ad hoc conference calls, place calls on “park” for others to pick up, transfer calls to one another and forward calls to cell phones.
By outsourcing the phone system to M5 Networks, Infinity avoided the setup and equipment charges associated with most premise-based systems. Forino estimates the firm would have spent $20,000 alone for a voice mail system that provides all the required functionality. Infinity also realizes an average of $500-$1,000 in savings each month on total telecom costs. “We have been able to save about 15% to 20%,” says Forino. While Infinity was able to increase productivity and save thousands by switching to VoIP, implementing an IP phone system can be costly and time-consuming for businesses if proper planning is not conducted beforehand. Rewiring, installation of additional power sources and network upgrades are all factors that can inflate the cost of implementing an in-house IP phone system, not to mention the additional equipment that must be purchased and the time and resources for someone to manage it and make any necessary upgrades. As Forino discovered, outsourced solutions like M5’s can often alleviate a lot of this pressure by assuming responsibility for installation, maintenance and upgrades to the phone system. For more information from M5 Networks: |