IP Tel - FAQ

• Why a hosted voice solution?

  The main reasons are flexibility and cost savings. It removes the need for you to maintain your own phone system and the associated costs to maintain it. Plus, with a hosted solution you have the ability to treat all your locations as one network, scale up and down in days, not months and introduce a host of advanced features.

• Is the quality of hosted voice as good as a standard phone line?

  Yes, it's at least as good as the quality you'd experience across an ISDN connection. Your call will travel across a managed VoIP network, so it is not subject to the best-effort quality of services like Skype, where calls are carried across the open Internet.

• What are unified communications and are these included?

  Yes. Unified communications is just another way some companies refer to virtually any form of communication, including voice, video and text-based media. It may be best known for unified messaging capabilities, which allow users to access voice, email and other media from multiple devices or mailboxes, all part of the IPTel solutions we offer.

• Can a current PBX system be combined with an Amcom IP Tel hosted voice solution?

  Yes. We manage all call routing, call queuing and click-to-dial functionality across our network. That means the functionality exists whether you are connecting a phone directly or through a PBX.

• Can existing phones be used?

  Yes, but to enjoy the full benefits of an intelligent voice network we'd recommend you use an IP phone for an extended set of features.

• Can fax machines be included on a VoIP network?

  Yes, they can. For inbound faxes, we'd recommend you use Amcom's fax-to-email option, so faxes arrive direct to your inbox, increasing security and reducing environmental impact.

• Do the phone numbers need to be changed?

  No, you can port your existing phone numbers from your existing phone provider to Amcom’s Network. We can supplement these numbers should you wish to add more in-dial services.

• Can hosted voice reduce my phone bill?

  Yes. If you have multiple offices you'll enjoy free calls between offices in the same way that you make calls between extensions in a single office. You'll also enjoy competitive pricing on national, international and fixed-to-mobile phone calls.

• Will hosted voice reduce my internal IT resource requirements?

  A hosted voice solution will reduce the level of administration work, particularly when managing changes to your phone system. Moves are easy – the user takes the phone handset with them to the new work station. Changes to features and add-ons are handled through an intuitive web portal. Plus, all system upgrades are managed by Amcom.

• What are the advantages of an IP phone?

  IP phones offer a richer set of features than regular phones. For example, they give you access to a central company directory, making it easy to search for staff members and call them without referring to out dated paper lists. “Click to dial” then makes it easy for you to make a call without keying the full number.

  When you have your phone on “do not disturb” or “call forward” this is visible across the entire company, so everyone knows your status.

  A receptionist will be able to see the status of each user, irrespective of their office location. Rather than blindly passing calls on your callers can be informed that your line is busy and given the option to wait or leave a message.

  There are also huge benefits in the administration of your phone system, making it easier to manage add-ons, moves and changes.

• Can a hosted voice solution help manage peak call loads?

  Yes, calls can be allocated or queued according to available capacity at each location. Callers to a local office can also be redirected to another location on your network if there are no staff available to take a call.

• What happens if there's a power failure?

  If you lose power, your phone handset won't work unless you connect it to a UPS. This equally applies to a conventional PBX. With an IP Tel system you can manage the network through a web interface and quickly apply disaster-recovery routing. So if an office loses its power all calls can be directed to another location, or be forwarded to each worker's individual mobile or home phone number.

• What happens if the data connection goes down?

  The Amcom network is carrier-grade, with redundancy built in across the network. That means if a router fails or a link goes down we can always re-route on-net traffic. We recommend that customers have at least two links to our network to extend this redundancy across your own network. If a particular location on the network loses its link for a period of time voice calls can be routed to other locations, or calls can be forwarded to mobile or staff home numbers.