telecomms

A single solution...

As an established Vodafone Business Partner for a number of years, we have great faith in their research and development of new products. One such product we are seeing real traction with at the moment is Vodafone One Net. One Net is suite of products that combines both landline and mobile infrastructure. This could be as simple as a one-man band receiving landline calls (possibly from multiple ‘geographic’ dialling codes) on a mobile and presenting a landline number when dialling from a mobile - or it could be a fully integrated phone system for an office with a large mobile workforce. So what does One Net actually do? In simplistic terms it integrates both mobiles and office based phones into a single solution. This means that mobiles become extensions of the phone system. Users are always contactable and calls can be directed more efficiently with the ability to put calls through from office to mobile users seamlessly and vice versa. It also brings together multisite companies. Said Gareth Steel, Commercial Director of TalkUK, “We truly believe in the One Net story and practice what we preach. We adopted the same system about two years ago now and it has been invaluable in linking up our Hertfordshire and Manchester offices seamlessly. We are one company and there is no ‘you need to call the Manchester office’ and we put calls straight through.” Importantly it also allows calls to be directed out of hours and there has been several anecdotes of companies winning orders and long term contracts where a company has been able to respond to a request at a weekend, whereas the incumbent supplier has not been available. So One Net is a tool which allows companies to respond to customers’ demands, which in our increasingly 24/7 ‘always available’ culture is essential in modern business. It also allows employees to work flexibly, where can work remotely and still be contactable. There are several other benefits as well: • One Net is a hosted phone system, meaning other than deskphones and a router no equipment is on-site. • No upfront investment, purely operational expenditure. • No costly maintenance contracts, this is covered in simple monthly rental. • Future proofed – benefit from all Vodafone’s product development as and when it goes live. • In built redundancy - calls routed seamlessly to mobiles in event of outage. • One single supplier, one bill, one point of contact. • You’re in control - easy to use feature management portal allows you to change call routing and settings in real time. • One Net Collaboration –integrate with Office 365 to allow calls to be answered on all devices, and video calling. The future proofed nature and inbuilt redundancy are particularly important to TalkUK. Gareth added, “A phone system may last 10 years. The customers we are taking to now… a hosted solution simply wasn’t viable when they were selecting their current solution. As systems go end of life and are no longer supported by manufacturers it is a constant headache for IT Managers and the ‘what if’ scenarios.” One Net underpins a philosophy, which Vodafone has coined this ‘better ways of working’. It has enthusiastically adopted the philosophy itself, at its offices there are far fewer desks than employees and by reducing employees’ travel time on increasingly congested roads it has improved work-life balance. Better ways of working has also allowed Vodafone to reduce its carbon footprint, furthering its corporate social responsibility goals. While other suppliers purport to offer similar solutions, Vodafone has invested significant sums of money into One Net, which had its first launch about ten years ago. As the first UK network to own both fixed and mobile networks (following the acquisition of Cable and Wireless in 2012) it has an early mover advantage and while undoubtedly the merger of BT and EE will provide stiff competition, they are years behind in product development. Other providers have an app that can be downloaded onto the mobile, allowing users to become part of the phone system. However, this relies on a mobile data or wifi connection to work to carry the call. With Vodafone we know it is one single supplier and a true end to end solution. Gareth concluded, “If I were purchasing a phone system now I can’t see why anyone would look beyond a hosted solution. With all the technological advancements over the last 10 years and all the benefits of an integrated fixed/mobile solution, you are not replacing like for like, it is a significant upgrade. And One Net is best in class so really you don’t need to look any further.”

Providing the perfect solution for your Business Communications

At TalkUK Telecom we understand the way business trends and economies play a major role in the way which companies look at telecommunications. TalkUK Telecom’s primary objective is to keep your telecommunications technology evolving. Our business solution consultants can advise you about what benefits and advantages it can bring to your business.

TalkUK Telecom Ltd, Osprey House, The Quays, MediaCityUK, M50 2UE info@talkuktelecom.co.uk www.talkuktelecom.co.uk