The new package TT-Zero – so called because there is zero connection charge – is a “Free” IP Extension that provides dial tone and PBX functionality, while calls are charged at TeleWare’s competitive tariff. According to TeleWare TT-Zero offers more than just IP connectivity. The package includes Hold / Transfer capabilities, just like a PBX, so you are able to hold and transfer calls to any short dial extension that is on-net. Other features include: Divert - to allow you to send your calls to another extension; Hunt Group - allowing “ring all” or “ring sequentially”; Music-on-Hold; plus a self- install Soft Phone application for a PC providing simple handset features.
“TT-Zero has been introduced to reduce the barriers to sale,” explained Lesley Hansen, Marketing Director for the TeleWare Group, “Market feedback from our recent end user surveys indicates that customers today are still reticent about the move to hosted IP and have been badly influenced by the number of poor quality solutions on the market which do not offer either the functionality or the call quality required for a business solution. By offering the TT-Zero package at zero cost, we are giving our customers the chance to deploy hosted telephony, try the services for themselves and satisfy themselves that it provides a business quality solution. All at no risk and with no restrictions on quantity or product functionality.” added Hansen.
The type of customer who will be interested in feature rich hosted IP services are small businesses wanting to avoid initial outlay for a PBX, large companies wanting to try pilot sites, businesses with limited in-house telecom skills and agile organisations needing quick and easy changes. For the home worker, the TT-Zero connection will work with any mobile handsets with WiFi capability linked to a local WiFi DSL router, immediately reducing call costs for calls made on the mobile when at home. TT-Zero is available to any business, regardless of size, and offers fast and easy implementation using the customer’s own router and DSL connection.
“I’ve been waiting for a serious hosted communications provider to come to market with a ‘FREE’ IP Centrex proposition for some time so it’s fantastic to see that TeleWare, one of our strategic partners, have bitten the bullet and launched TT-Zero,” commented Scott Dobson at Polycom distributor, VCOMM. “This is as disruptive as it gets and I fully expect to see a massive take-up for the service as soon as it’s launched. In fact, where do I sign?” added Dobson.
“Since we are supporting TT-Zero over the customer’s router and DSL connection, on a self-certification basis, we are offering the solution with a Best Endeavour Quality of Service,“ explained Hansen. “Typically, we provide our solutions with a Quality of Service Guarantee and support our applications only on tested and approved hardware and network connections. However, to enable this ‘Try Before You Buy’ approach, we are waving this requirement and managing the TT-Zero implementations on a Best Endeavour basis. Recent installations indicate that, in many cases, this quality will be sufficient to prove the voice quality and feature rich services available from our hosted communications services,” concluded Hansen.
The TT-Zero packages will be delivered from the standard TeleWare hosted service platform and will benefit from its multiple data centres providing security, redundancy and resilience, with a proven disaster recovery capability. TT-Zero is compatible with all the other hosted services in the portfolio and can be used in conjunction with applications such as voice and fax messaging or hosted Auto Attendant services.