Voice over IP solutions for Education is becoming very popular. This is because until recently telephony in schools is an area of infrastructure which is often overlooked, with many schools still operating with a small number of single analogue phone lines (often with different numbers in different areas of the school). Some are slightly more advanced with PBX Telephone systems which are often in excess of 10 years old, supporting a limited number of extensions and telephone lines. Voice over IP solutions for Education is becoming a more accessible solution to the limitations which traditional telephone systems bring.
Traditional telephony has served the industry well, however advancements in technology and changes in Health and Safety Policy’s is meaning that schools are needing to expand their ageing systems in order to deploy further extensions around the school and manage calls more efficiently.
Voice Over IP (VoIP) has been around for around 10 years in various guises but in recent years has become far more accessible. VoIP is the ability to carry telephone calls over a computer network (wired or wireless), whereas traditional telephone systems require a separate cabling infrastructure in order to operate.
SchoolCare have seen schools of all sizes expanding their wired and wireless networks into all corners over the last 5 years due to the rapid expansion of classroom technology. Because of this, it is now very feasible to deploy a phone extension wherever there is a PC or network point.
Voice Over IP for Schools brings with it a huge amount of flexibility and functionality, with standard features such as Voicemail, call transferring and Auto Attendant Menus. This “out of the box functionality” means that Voice over IP solutions for Education allows reception teams to handle calls more efficiently especially in busy periods. Absences are handled automatically by the built-in Absence Management System which takes messages and emails them to the relevant person. The Absence Management System is available 24/7 even when the reception is closed and is a standard feature of a Voice Over IP Solution from SchoolCare.
Call handling by means of an Auto Attendant allow calls to be routed automatically to the correct department by means of a simple menu system and can even be routed by time of day, for even more flexibility.
The Benefits of Voice over IP solutions for Education
Traditional telephone systems often have limitations including the maximum number of supported extensions (making expansion difficult and expensive), limited telephone line support (limiting the number of inbound/outbound calls which are possible) and the reliance on a dedicated infrastructure which again makes expansion complex and expensive, especially between multiple buildings.
The use of Voice over IP Solutions from SchoolCare resolve all of these issues, leveraging existing IT Network Infrastructure to extend the Voice Network into all corners of the school using wired or wireless technology. Voice over IP solutions from SchoolCare also do not impose limits on the number of supported extensions or the number of incoming lines, with all calls being routed over your school’s broadband connection (or a dedicated broadband connection if preferred).
SchoolCare’s Voice over IP solutions for Education requires no line rental, which represents a huge cost saving for schools. An average school spends over £1000 per annum on line rental alone (based on 4 ISDN Channels), a cost which can be completely removed with a Voice over IP Solution from SchoolCare. The number of incoming/outgoing lines is only restricted by the available bandwidth on the internet connection with 1Mbp/s typically allowing 8-10 concurrent calls.
Voice over IP Solutions from SchoolCare is priced simply and sensibly with a handset pack including a new Panasonic IP Handset, 3 Years of Service and 3 Years of support. The only ongoing cost is the cost of calls. Handset Packs start from £110 + VAT.
