iTWire - Integrate your voice and data communications with Telstra Next Dimension Working™

Integrate your voice and data communications with Telstra Next Dimension Working™

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Typically the costs of an integrated communications network would be prohibitive for smaller and medium sized businesses. Telstra removes the need for the large upfront investment by offering integrated business technology solutions as an affordable service billed monthly as an operational expense.

Information technology is the life-blood of businesses large and small: without IT for communication and collaboration, for maintaining customer information, for invoicing and billing; and for inventory management, many businesses would be unable to function.

As systems become more powerful and pervasive they present enormous challenges to businesses large and small. Businesses need to be able to make these applications available throughout their operations: from head office to branch office; to field workers and sales staff on the road; and to business partners and suppliers.

What if the communications network could provide access to these applications from many places seamlessly, reliably and securely? This could enable a large business to make the applications it runs in head office available to staff in many more places - in the smallest branch office, in an employee’s home and for a sales rep on the road. Small businesses could tap in to best-of-breed applications without the upfront investment in purchase costs, the resources to support them and the ongoing cost of keeping them up-to-date. For a simple monthly fee businesses can outsource the provision and management of their communications network, thereby freeing up time for their IT department to work on more critical projects.

It would enable a business that is growing and changing to meet its IT needs continuously and smoothly without 'step’ changes in technology and systems, without 'forklift upgrades' and without early write-downs of costly IT investments.

Enabled through the integration of the fixed wire Telstra Next IP™ network and wireless Next G™ network, Next Dimension Working™ allows people to work with fewer constraints of time, distance and device. It provides a platform that delivers a portfolio of business applications and features available at the office and also on the road. So far Telstra has invested $1.5 billion creating the Telstra Next IP™ network – establishing the largest business network in Australia.

Together the Telstra Next IP™ network and Next G™ network provide secure, reliable and seamless access to essential business applications from more locations in Australia than any other network. The Telstra Next IP™ network can revolutionise how smaller companies in Australia do business, delivering services previously reserved for big corporates.

"Businesses that are time poor and need to move quickly between tasks, whether that be conferencing, recording or dispatching; and right through to sophisticated businesses that want a reliable and complete IP network to underpin their business," explains Deena Shiff, Group Managing Director Telstra Business.

"Our new network can grow as businesses grow, provide security features, information backup and storage and even remote working solutions through Next G™ wireless access, features that will allow business owners to run their business in new and exciting ways."

For example, over the Telstra Next IP™ network, businesses can enable real time conferencing and document sharing between colleagues, suppliers and customers in multiple locations through the hosted Telstra Video Collaboration application. All you need is a laptop or desktop, Internet access and a webcam.

Telstra can also offer business email as a hosted application delivered over the Telstra Next IP™ network and Next G™ network. Mobile devices can be supported through the Next G™ mobile network, and scheduling, calendar and a global address list can be maintained across your organisation. You no longer need to worry about archiving of messages or about maintaining continuity of service if there is hardware failure: all these features can be provided within the network, and delivered over the Telstra Next IP™ network and Next G™ network.

By allowing a business to consolidate voice and data networking operations and systems, IP telephony can give businesses improved cost-efficiencies, both through the management of operations, and also through call cost savings between offices on the same business data network.

Telstra's Connect IP Telephony is a business-grade, multi-featured telephony system deployed across a business’s data network infrastructure, which does not suffer from the poor quality and performance issues associated with internet-based VOIP deployments in the market today. The customer does not have to purchase handsets, an IP PBX or worry about managing or upgrading this equipment, instead the service is billed monthly as an easily managed business expense.

The Connect IP Telephony solution service empowers remote workers to use their personal home or mobile phones to make calls across the data network with the same features and functionality of their IP office phone, increasing the productivity and flexibility of your workforce.

Whether it is shared access to documents, delivering a presentation to an audience spread over multiple locations, holding video conferences, or simply providing the basic tools of office communications - telephony and email, the integration of the Telstra Next IP™ network and the Telstra Next G™ network can offer hosted solutions that could increase the productivity of your business.

This is just the beginning. As Deena Shiff says: "The journey has just begun, and Telstra is working on a number of new technology developments which will further leverage the Telstra Next G™ network and Telstra Next IP™ network capabilities, creating even more value creation opportunities for Australian businesses.”

Next G™ mobile telephone coverage depends in part on where you are, what particular handset you are using and whether your handset has an external antenna attached

Click here for more information.