Voice logging - the recording of in and outbound telephone calls - has traditionally only been used in selected instances because of its high cost, but thanks to the Asterisk IP-ready PABX solution this security feature is now readily affordable for most businesses, says Allan Gee, managing director of Equation Business Solutions.
"And importantly, it's technology that can be added to your existing PABX. Many organisations have been reticent to take advantage of the recent liberalisation of telecoms in the belief that they will have to ditch their existing equipment, but this is not the case. New-generation tools, like the Asterisk open source solution, can be bolted on to an existing system to bring about an immediate increase in features and benefits."
Asterisk is a Linux-based product that has the ability to interact with all open standard IP PABX protocols, alleviating the problems often associated with proprietary brands.
"As an example, the increasing popularity of call centres has seen a dramatic shift in the need for voice logging and recording facilities," says Gee.
"Traditionally the costs of implementing such a feature were onerous or, in some cases, required replacement of the entire PABX. Not so with Asterisk. And, typically, Asterisk costs about 30% less to implement than conventional recording solutions!
"Because Asterisk is a software solution it's totally customisable for the specific application. Both in and outbound calls can be monitored, alternatively only certain lines. And reports can be drawn based on a host of pre-established criteria - date, time, number of calls, by operator, by project, etc. Recording capacity is based on the hard drive selected with backup to CD storage. Flexibility is the key word!"
In addition to the options offered by traditional PABX systems, Asterisk offers a host of value-added features such as IVR, voicemail by handset or via e-mail, video-phone support, least-cost routing and much more.
"Communications in SA is undergoing a revolution. And it makes sense to be a part of that process because there are already significant savings to be made, even for relatively small enterprises. So speak to your technology partner about how you can maximise the business benefits already on offer," says Gee.
Share
Editorial contacts