Broadview Networks Rolls out Key New Features to Their Hosted IP Telephony Communications Platform
Customers of Broadview Networks’ OfficeSuite solution arrived in their offices yesterday to find a major upgrade to their hosted IP communications platform. The upgrade includes additional features, new functionality and more phone options for businesses throughout the company’s footprint.
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Broadview Networks reports that the “soft” upgrades were seamlessly rolled out across their network over the weekend. These upgrades are complimentary for existing OfficeSuite customers and will become part of the standard offering for new OfficeSuite customers.
New features include: Call Pick-Up Groups allowing members of a group the ability to monitor and pick up incoming calls for each other; Individual On-Hold Announcements which allows administrators to define which on-hold message or music will be used on a per user basis; definable Zero-out Targets so users can decide what happens when a caller presses the operator button during their voicemail greeting; and a new “My Voicemail” page within the OfficeSuite online portal where users can visually self-manage personal voicemail settings like e-mail/SMS notifications and message waiting indicators on the phones.
The vast majority of these upgrades were conceptualized from direct customer feedback that the company solicits. “Some service providers think talking to their customers about their service doesn’t add a lot of value,” says Ken Shulman, chief technology officer for Broadview Networks. “But at Broadview, we believe that the best ideas come from businesses using our services day after day on the front line. Our goal is to take those ideas and make them happen. We are excited to deliver these new features to our customers, as part of our commitment to continually improve and expand the value of our OfficeSuite solution”.
Broadview will also be expanding its OfficeSuite hardware offering. The OfficeSuite solution will now support Mitel’s 5324 and 5304 phones. The 5304 phone is sized for small spaces like break rooms, a reception room table, guest rooms in hotels or nursing homes, in classrooms or even beside a cash register.
All phones being added to Broadview’s OfficeSuite portfolio also support a new dynamic upgrade configuration tool that monitors the phone’s software and only updates that software if and when an update is available. This enhancement will significantly reduce the time required to bring the phone “online” as well as reducing the amount of bandwidth required to boot the devices in the event of a login, move or new installation.
“Whether in a good or bad economy, our customers are looking for ways to increase productivity without increasing spending,” Shulman said. “Hosted IP Phone systems with integrated Internet access provide an excellent opportunity to do just that. Our hosted OfficeSuite solution, with its extensive and growing list of features and station set alternatives, can really enhance businesses’ communication capabilities, while avoiding the major capital investment and other upfront barriers inherent in deploying a typical premise-based system.”
“In the current economic environment, hosted IP telephony services offer businesses enhanced capabilities with the flexibility to adjust services based on changing business requirements”, said Diane Myers, directing analyst focusing on service provider VoIP and IMS for Infonetics Research. “We anticipate the market for hosted IP telephony business services to grow more than 20% in 2009 as more users opt for the benefits of a hosted platform.”
The OfficeSuite upgrade also includes enhancements for a current feature called Mobile Twinning. Twinning allows a user to program their number so that incoming calls simultaneously ring both their desk phone and another phone, typically a user’s cell phone. Studies show that a large percentage of business calls end up in voicemail because the intended party is on the premises but just down the hall. With OfficeSuite’s Mobile Twinning feature, users can pick up calls on their cell phone, walk back to their offices and seamlessly continue the call on their desk phone. Mobile Twinning users avoid playing “voicemail tag” with callers and avoid missing critical or timely calls. The new Mobile Twinning enhancements simplify the way users manage the Mobile Twinning feature by providing the ability to toggle the service on/off from the user web portal or to program a button on their phone to enable or disable the feature.
For more information about Broadview Networks’ OfficeSuite service please visit the company website at http://www.broadviewnet.com.
About Broadview Networks (http://www.broadviewnet.com)
Broadview Networks is a network-based business communications provider serving customers throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. Broadview provides the total solution for business communications including local and long distance voice communications; hosted and premises-based VoIP systems; data services encompassing VPN- and MPLS-enabled applications; traditional telephone hardware; high-speed Internet services; a full suite of managed services; and a range of professional services. Broadview customers benefit from award winning customer service including a web-based account management tool and a primary point-of-contact for real-time, personal customer care.