One of the largest insurance companies in the United States has adopted a new cutting edge internet protocol (IP) telephony system covering both its headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, and its office in Phoenix, Arizona.
MJ Insurance, which specialises in commercial assurance policies, selected its new IP telephony system following complications in locating replacement business phone systems components for its previous exchange.
One of the main advantages for the company of deploying IP telephony has been its ability to link its headquarters with its Arizona office using business VoIP (voice over internet protocol); which, for the staff member equates to doing nothing more than dialling the correct four-digit extension.
The new system also provides staff with ‘presence’ information, whereby they are able to see instantly which other staff are free to take calls. According to MJ Insurance, this capability, together with a built-in company phone directory, facilitates a quicker and more efficient transfer of customer callers to a suitable help point.
IP telephony has even granted the insurance company a foot into the future world of unified communications (UC) – the much-discussed technology whereby various communications media can be accessed via a single interface. In MJ Insurance’s case this has meant that staff across its two offices can communicate with each other using methods such as conferencing and messaging without having to switch communications platforms.
MJ Insurance IT project manager, Kathy McDonald, has also commented that many of the IP telephony system’s features are ‘much simpler to use than our old system’.
It is understood that MJ Insurance’s chosen IP telephony solution is available as both an in-house installation and as a hosted option. Such hosted IP telephony options, via a business VoIP provider or VoIP reseller, have grown increasingly popular in recent years as they do not require significant capital expenditure.
