Telstra offered CAS its Premium Hosted PBX service, which includes pre-configured desk phones and PC soft phones, enabling users to make calls via their office computers and laptops which, in particular, give remote workers greater communications mobility when working away from the office. The company says that upon installation by CAS of the pre-configured phones, the service was up and running immediately without the need for on-site engineer support.
All UK employees connected to the CAS Hosted PBX now make “on-net” calls for free. The service also includes features such as an operator console to manage multiple calls, geographic and non-geographic numbers, a “MyPBXService” online portal to carry out user profile amendments and to manage call traffic, call waiting and a separate online billing service. Through “virtual conference room” functionality, CAS is able to conduct fully interactive online meetings with colleagues around the world. 24/7 customer and technical support also comes as standard.
David Jones, Managing Director, CAS, said, “Telstra’s Hosted PBX service is enabling us to communicate more efficiently with clients and our colleagues around the world and drive our business costs down.”
“The quality of service is excellent and, as a converged voice and data solution, we have the flexibility to incorporate new services and add or amend users without incurring major equipment or technical support costs associated with a traditional PBX solution.”
He added, “Our colleagues in the US are also using their soft phones to connect to the CAS network via a VPN and enjoying cheaper internal and external calls. As the service is hosted at Telstra’s state of the art data centre in London we are confident that our mission critical communications are secure and that we have the service continuity we need.”
CAS adopted a tiered approach to implementation - it started with a LAN upgrade to ensure quality of service, then it transferred its fax and broadband service to Telstra, and finally installed the pre-configured IP phones.
Richard Gandon, Head of Product Management and Development at Telstra Europe, said, “All small and medium sized enterprises are looking for more cost effective and efficient communication solutions. Many now recognise the business benefits of converged voice and data communications which enable them to scale their communications infrastructure more cost effectively, whilst providing telecom functionality normally associated with much larger businesses. Our Hosted PBX service combines leading-edge technology with high levels of customer support to deliver a truly converged set of end to end services that help SMEs develop their businesses.”