Traditional approach or state-of-the art?

Give your customers the best of both worlds with Hosted IP Telephony and Business Trunking.

Many companies have embraced IP Telephony by implementing brand new IPbased systems and so experiencing all of the business benefits which VoIP has to offer. But there are just as many companies out there who have taken the cautious option, preferring instead to ‘sit back and see what happens’ before making any seemingly radical changes to their communications strategy.

But what if there was a middle ground? Allow your customers to keep the system that they have already, but give it the ability to route calls over the IP network instead of via traditional telephone lines. Let them keep their existing analogue handsets - and have IP Telephony features whilst using these handsets – but also have the flexibility to add pure IP users whenever and wherever they want. The best of both worlds!

That middle ground is now a reality. Hipcom has launched a new Business Trunking service as a part of its overall Hosted IP Telephony offering, enabling you to sell Hosted VoIP into your existing customer base where traditional PBXs are still in place and where there is resistance to changing them. Even with the increase in take-up of IPbased systems over the last two years, there are still many organisations out there who have only relatively recently invested in a traditional telephony system. These companies are currently not willing to consider changing to a pure IP phone system or to a fully hosted VoIP solution – but they are now ideal customers for Hosted IP Telephony with Business Trunking.

Implementing a solution of this type gives your customer all the benefits of IP telephony - free inter-site calls anywhere in the world, vastlyimproved telecommunications features and the many other business advantages which these can offer – as well as reducing their call costs by around 20%. And yet at the same time whilst still generating stable and ongoing minutes revenue for your business.

How it works

Business Trunking works by linking your customer’s PBX to a Media Gateway. Outgoing calls can then be routed through the PBX and out via the gateway. From this point, the IP call is then routed over a QoS-enabled DSL service, giving guaranteed carrier-grade Quality of Service. Hipcom works with VegaStream for Media Gateways and with a number of providers for QoSenabled Managed Bandwidth services, delivering a complete migratory solution for you to resell to your customers.

VegaStream offers a range of dedicated VoIP gateways, collaborating with service providers, technology and channel partners to enable easy integration with existing

systems. VegaStream offers a range of dedicated VoIP gateways, collaborating with service providers, technology and channel partners to enable easy integration with existing systems. They have a number of award-winning products which are based on international communications standards – including both SIP and H.323.

These deliver an open and non-proprietary VoIP solution that can be seamlessly integrated alongside customer’s existing communications investments. Managed Bandwidth services consist of dedicated point-to-point connectivity available across a fully-redundant MPLS network, providing a number of features which enable high-capacity, high-quality networks to be deployed for a range of requirements. These include voice and data traffic of course, but also high volume LAN traffic, network infrastructure deployment, storage area networks, broadcast media and disaster recovery.

Business benefits

You can benefit from the ability to offer a new and highly-innovative service to customers who do not wish to remove their existing telecommunications equipment, whilst also generating ongoing, stable monthly revenue streams and additional margin on minutes. Meanwhile, customers benefit from the ability to take advantage of IP Telephony features at a pace that is right for them, whilst also protecting their existing telecoms investment and reducing call costs by around 20%.

The Hipcom Hosted IP Telephony solution with Business Trunking means that you can offer your customers all the advantages of retaining their existing equipment, whilst also giving them the additional features and benefits of IP Telephony. All for a minimal initial outlay and a cost-effective monthly charge. It really is the best of both worlds.