Due to its large selection of features, PBXs can support a wide range of applications for both voice and data, from the most basic applications to the highly sophisticated. Listed below are four common applications for PBXs with business examples for each one.

A customer contact center is a business unit that integrates technology, people, and facilities to handle end-customer phone calls. Although its most common use is customer service, a customer contact center can also provide technical support, reservations, and order entry. PBX is a good solution for a mid-size to large customer contact center.

Upgrade to Customer Contact Center Reduces Wait Time

A travel agency was having trouble coping with the high volume of calls it received each day from clients wishing to make reservations and from clients on the road who wanted to change or adjust their itineraries. The receptionist struggled to keep up with the many incoming calls and messages while trying to distribute the calls evenly to agents. The result was that customers often had to wait for long periods of time before reaching an agent, with many hanging up in frustration and choosing another agency.

The agency decided to upgrade its key system to a PBX with automatic call distribution (ACD). With the new ACD system, an automated attendant answered calls, then placed them in a queue so they would be answered in the order in which they had been received. Customer wait time was reduced, and the work was spread out evenly rather than keeping some agents extremely busy while others waited for incoming calls.

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Integrated Messaging

Integrated messaging is a sophisticated form of recording, storing, and forwarding messages into a mailbox that is located on customer premises. Integrated messaging brings together all the benefits of voice messaging solutions and integrates different types of messages (voice, e-mail, and fax) into a single mailbox to help businesses manage messages more easily and cost effectively.

Message Needs Answered

A large hospital needed to make sure that its staff could remain in constant contact with patients and colleagues. Staff physicians were getting urgent calls from patients or other hospital staff, and groups of staff members needed to receive special announcements or event reminders. Important fax and e-mail communications with HMOs were often delayed, misplaced, or accidentally ignored. Callers often failed to reach the right person, and telephone tag was becoming a major source of frustration and delay.

An integrated messaging system from Nortel provided the solution to the hospital's problems. Every staff member was assigned a voice mailbox where callers could leave private messages that could be retrieved from remote locations or a cellular phone and prioritized. The broadcast fax feature allowed staff to send important faxes all at once at off-peak hours, so they not only went through but also saved the hospital the cost of peak-hour rates. And since all messages — voice, e-mail, and fax — were consolidated into a single mailbox, no messages were lost.

IVR is a phone-based service that provides a menu of options to the caller. An IVR system can transfer calls, record information, provide information, and improve communications between the caller and the business.

Customer Service Improves

A bank was having trouble processing the large number of customer requests it received daily. Employees spent much of their time fielding calls, transferring them to the correct person, and taking messages for other employees. Customers began to complain that they were put on hold for long periods of time or cut off during transfers, and that important messages were getting lost.

The bank decided to purchase IVR service for its PBX system. With IVR, the bank was able to handle its calls much more efficiently. The automated system took care of many of the calls, leaving employees free to focus on other work. Confidential telephone banking allowed customers to manage their accounts by phone instead of by calling the bank directly with questions. In addition, callers could reach employees' extensions and voice mails directly, eliminating excessive transfers and lost messages. Customer service improved, and employees could work more productively.

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Telecommuting

Telecommuting is defined as connecting to the office from a fixed, remote location such as an office, home or telecommuting center. Telecommuting is becoming increasingly popular as businesses begin to recognize the financial advantages of the arrangement, which include tax breaks in many states and reduced facility costs.

Costs Reduce with Remote Arrangements

A government agency was facing a growing problem: it didn't have enough space to accommodate all its employees. Offices were overcrowded and conference rooms had become a thing of the past. A limited budget meant that a move to a new, larger office was out of the question. The morale of agency employees began to drop as the agency continued to worry about logistics and the budget.

The agency decided to turn to telecommuting as an alternative to working in the office. With an enhancement added to a PBX, the agency was able to offer telecommuting as an option for employees. A high-speed router was installed at each employee's home, connecting the phone, fax, and personal computer to the public network through a single ISDN basic rate interface (BRI) line. The router also provided access to the agency's intranet via an ethernet connection. With telecommuting, the agency was able to solve its logistical problems immediately, while reducing facility costs, office overhead, and labor. In addition, employees were able to work more productively and morale increased significantly.

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