Answer the Call Two companies ring in much-needed new phone systems.
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Switching to a new form of technology can be exciting for agrowing business, but the road is rarely smooth. We caught up withtwo very different businesses as they shed their old telephonesystems and got onboard with some of the latest technology.
In 2001, Mary Heather Hanley, 28, founded PR and advertisingfirm 525Communications in Atlanta. At first, her landline was her mainphone. Now, with eight employees working remotely and a lot ofbusiness travel happening, everyone uses cell phones, mostlyBlackberry-enabled models.
Giving up the landline has required some adjustments. At onetime or another, everyone has accidentally racked up big monthlyoverage charges. Hanley covers her employees the first time ithappens, but they're responsible after that. Unlimited-minuteplans help keep costs in check. Hanley also keeps a backup batterywith her and has a half-dozen chargers. For this'round-the-clock business, the switch to cell phones madesense. "No one has to wait for me to get back to them unlessI'm on an airplane," she says.
FirstCentury Bank, based in Bluefield, West Virginia, balances about180 employees in 10 branches in a largely rural area. When theydecided to upgrade their leased digital PBX phone system, they wentwith VoIP. The VoIP project was part of a larger upgrade to a newIP network with T1 connections.
Senior vice president Bill Albert and IT manager James Farmeroversaw the project. Along with Advanced Logic Industries, an ITconsulting company, they selected a Cisco-based system. "Wewere already using Cisco equipment for our data, so it made senseto run the voice and data across the same equipment," saysFarmer.
The major overhaul took about a year to complete. With VoIP inplace, First Century saw monthly long distance bills drop fromaround $4,000 to $300. Conference calling, voice mail, caller IDand music on hold are no longer extra costs. "The other bigbenefit is the flexibility of moving sets and [making]changes," says Albert. When it comes to balancing the books,it doesn't get much better than that.
