In South Africa, the basic cost of communication is among the highest in the world - telephone management is thus always a major point of organisational focus. To ensure effective management across an organisation, decision-makers need to master the mix of technology and reporting - and they also need to make sure their systems can perform when key infrastructure - such as Internet connection - fails.
“Managing the telephone costs and usage is very important in most organisations, where the goal is to keep operational structures and phone bills as lean as possible via a telephone management system (TMS),” says Smalberger, SS Telecoms MD.
“Ironically, in large corporations, attempts to streamline systems and usage can actually turn out to be time-consuming and expensive if there isn't a solid strategy and action plan in place, and one of the key factors is to ensure that whatever technology is being used, there are failovers in place.”
SS Telecoms has been designing and manufacturing telephony solutions in the South African market for over 21 years and develops a complete range of telephone management systems, IP PBXes, VOIP solutions, phones, peripherals, voice routing and surrounding services.
The SS Telecoms TMS Buffer captures, for example, the call detail records from a PBX system and transmits them to a central repository either via LAN, modem or GPRS network connection. The relevant software package then processes that information and delivers reports to decision-makers in their preferred format.
A well-implemented TMS gives company decision-makers the ability to assess incoming and outgoing call traffic at every level. Staff usage can be tracked and managed according to varying criteria, including time spent on personal calls and internal calls. Calls to cellphones can also be assessed according to various criteria, including the particular rate for each call.
“The reports are configured according to the company requirements using the data captured by the TMS Buffer,” says Smalberger. “The reports can even be displayed on smartphones or SIP phones and other devices, and the information they deliver is critical to ensuring the organisation is able to achieve really effective telephone management. They offer a high level view of all the significant components, from the total call cost to the company through to staff behaviour when it comes to personal and business calls.”
SS Telecoms TMS Buffers feature in organisations across the country, even those utilising new generation systems such as VOIP.
“It's often used as a backup solution for other systems, like VOIP,” says Smalberger. “Used this way it can ensure there is a full reporting and analytics failover in place that guarantees reliable information, regardless of what system is being used. So even when plan B is in place, when lines go down and so forth, the organisation is able to keep its TMS functioning at the desired level.”
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