The diagram shows how Telecom system works across 2 office locations, incorporates “Home Employee”, and communicates via existing IP network.

The Maintenance Contract: Each year the company who supplies you phone system will come, look at your system, tell you it is okay and charge you a fee.

The Numbers:  The number ranges is dictated by your telephone service provider, if you wish to relocate where your Telephone company doesn’t provide you the service, you will not have the same number or you may need pay extra charge to get the same number. Your each business location would have separate numbering patterns, which means extension numbers are not unified across the company.

Relocation: You relocate your premise and you will have to either move your PBX or buy a new one. Easier said than done, both would give you “down time” for your business while this takes place. Moreover you will have new numbers from the exchange.

New Office/Branch: When you open a new office or branch, first and foremost you will need a telephone system, your option is as above, buy something that will become obsolete over time and when it does, start the process again.

Home Employees: One thing that your telephone system will fail to do is to bring the home worker under the same number pattern and more importantly not be part of the main office communications, this can appear unprofessional when a home worker presents their home phone number instead of your company number.

Disaster Recovery: You must have noticed that traditional telecom companies connect to the premise, if the link is lost to the local exchange i.e someone digs up the road and takes out your line then day is difficult for you to run your business. No reminders, what if exchange itself fall over!

Working from various locations: With a traditional telephone system the phone stays on your desk, you cannot pick it up and take it home and work from there, if you are going from the Melbourne Office to the Sydney Office, you more than likely inform the receptionist that they will have to put calls through to you at the Sydney Office, if you want to work out of your Villa in QLD, you are back to the Home worker scenario above, no continuity with your offices!