It has not been until recently that ‘APPLICATIONS’ have been used in the same sentence as ‘VOICE’. With the emergence of IP technology and more so with the stability of hosted VoiP services, the application has been more prevalent when looking at and deploying new voice solutions. Over the next few months I will be covering some of the applications I am seeing businesses deploy. These applications are being purchased as they have an immediate impact on how companies can communicate better as well as work more efficiently. Most of these applications are standard with the solutions Intervale provides. If not standard with the solution they are purchased with additional licensing.
CELL PHONE AS AN EXTENSION
Mobility has become one of the major topics of conversation in regards to deploying new voice technology. The reason being that companies want the mobile or remote work force to be as reachable as those that are in the office. Making an employees cell phone act as an extension is one way businesses are accomplishing that. This application allows a mobile device (iPhone, Blackberry, etc) to act as an extension of the phone system. The application is usually downloaded from a secure web site or emailed to the user to download directly to the mobile device. Once applied the user can take advantage of system features like conference calling and transferring calls. The user also can make calls so that the outbound caller ID is that of the business and all incoming calls can be sent to a main line and extension or direct inward dialing number. In both cases the user can be accessible without having to give out a cell phone number. This also allow businesses to keep some control as well as a view to a mobile extensions call flow and will help make transitioning contact information much easier in the case of turn over. The major advantage of this application is makes it so the mobile user can be part of the corporate voice solution without the need of a desk phone, in turn reducing the cost of ownership and increasing user availability.
