No matter what size your business you should be certain your business telecommunications products and services are perfectly suited to your everyday needs, whether you’re considering ISDN or VoIP with a hosted IP system. Making sure your systems, lines and products are the most appropriate can save you money and enhance your day to day operations. This article explains key issues for IDSN, hosted IP and VoIP itself, to help you understand some of their features before speaking to a specialist business telecommunications supplier.

Features of ISDN

ISDN can provide a very high level of performance at a low cost to you. In essence, it uses telephone wires to send telephone calls, video and data at very high speed. For smaller scale businesses, you may want to look into the innovative ISDN2e from BT. It is straightforward to install and you can usually connect up to eight digital devices and make two telephone calls simultaneously. It has a single line but two 64k channels, and you can add more circuits to the installation should you require a greater number of simultaneous connections. The same also applies to those who might wish for increased bandwith. Cost wise, with the better business telecommunications suppliers, it can be approximately equivalent to the cost of two analogue lines yet it offers the advantages of superior quality and technical possibilities.

For larger businesses, you may want to examine BTs ISDN30, which has the same features and benefits of the ISDN2e but in a larger ‘package’ suitable for your needs - at least eight channels. Again, if you require more, it is perfectly possible to take your installation up to hundreds of channels. It will require a compatible telephone system; often it will be connected to one of the Toshiba CIX range.

Features of VoIP and Hosted IP Systems

VoIP is a state of the art service which uses the Internet to route calls as though they were just another normal file or email. However, unlike some information sharing applications on the Internet your calls are always completely secure. The latest feature to harness its potential is the hosted IP system, offering a wider choice of systems to connect to here. You can gain important features without much initial outlay or even none at all sometimes. There is no need for cables to be laid and you can usually get started without a site visit by a telephone engineer. VoIP can be used with any broadband telephone lines and you will receive a geographical (or customised) telephone number. There are substantial savings to be made on initial outlay and call charges and plenty of low cost high benefit features, including Automatic Failover, Contact List Integration, Simultaneous Ringing, Disaster Recovery, Unified Messaging and more. Innovative services include Linksys IP Phone services; Mitel IP Phone services; Featureplus; and BT Wholesale IP Voice Services.