The necessity to make the transition from traditional telephony systems to VoIP may be more often talked about in a corporate context, but it definitely doesn’t skip the educational sector.
Schools and academic institutions can benefit significantly from moving to VoIP-based telephony no less than private businesses or other types of public organisations.
What is VoIP?
VoIP (initials for Voice over Internet Protocol) is a group of technologies that deliver calls over IP networks. By converting voice into a digital signal, it enables the use of IP phones and other data-driven devices.
Why do educational Institutions need VoIP?
Traditional phone lines are expensive and difficult to manage, and they also lack the functionality and features provided by VoIP, allowing to improve and simplify communications.
“Plus, the ISDN switch-off isn’t too far away, meaning that everyone will have to be moving to IP phone services soon. It’s best to plan ahead and make sure you have a smooth experience doing it.”
Another significant reason to make the transition sooner rather than later is cost. With VoIP, calls are made over the internet, which reduces costs significantly. With educational institutions of all kinds having to deal with tight budgets regularly, this is a key factor.
Read on for even more reasons to make the switch.
Saving Money
Calls to UK Landlines and UK Mobiles are free
Only pay for the features you need
Keep your existing numbers by porting them to the cloud, no more line rental
Quick and seamless migration from traditional to VoIP
Emergencies
During emergencies, schools with IP can communicate instantly with students and parents via voice or text messages or central and department message services. This is especially important at larger high school and college campuses where students may be spread out among multiple buildings.
Internal paging for emergency announcements
Get help button programmed to raise an alarm though a pre-recorded message.
Improved communication
Audio conference calling allows large groups of people to participate meetings and eliminates problems of travel and hectic schedules.
Integration with Teams
Record all inbound and outgoing calls so you can revisit conversations to get the information you need.
Scalable
Easily increase/decrease the number of users or add extensions in any location at any time as there is often no need for an engineer to visit.
Quickly add new staff though mobile apps and easy roll-out of desktop handsets.
Provide remote based staff or partners with virtual extension numbers, voicemail and mobile apps.
Call Management
Press 1 for pupil absence, press 2 for school admin…etc.- An effective auto attendant will direct your caller to the right person, department or message centre with an intuitive instruction menu.
Change your greeting anytime and from anywhere and react quickly to situations like closures due to weather.
Extension numbers offer a faster way for parents and staff to reach the right person as well as effective internal calls.
Multiple sites connected on a single phone system with one number or different site numbers. You choose the setup that is the most efficient for you.
Greater Flexibility
SIP calls can be routed to your desktop phone, mobile phone app, PC or Mac Softphone and even Microsoft Teams. Wherever you go, you can take your number with you.
Manage your own availability though your online portal or app, as you’ll not want to be at work all the time. Calls can be routed to someone else or to voicemail.
You keep all your existing telephone numbers, so there aren’t any major communication or print changes
If you need advice on how to switch your school to VoIP, contact a member of our team. Call 020 4599 1365 or email info@delta365.co.uk
Comments