Broadband phone service for an international organization with offices worldwide
This is a hypothetical example of how broadband phone service may work for international offices and workers.
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Summary
An international relief organization gets broadband phone service for its offices and field workers worldwide. Now the offices and field workers call each other for free, arrange cheap international conference calls, and enjoy a long list of powerful features. They are communicating with each other better than ever, and the organization is saving thousands of dollars per month.
First discovery
A newly assigned field worker in India signed up for broadband phone service. She frequently called the organizational offices Europe, Asia and the USA rather than sending email. "Why not call," she said, "because using the phone is so cheap." She even had a local phone number in the USA where she could receive calls and faxes anytime.
Workers in the main office noticed. Phone connections with this worker were as clear and sharp as any other phone call, and it was refreshing to talk with her rather than relying on email. Some field workers in the organization were using services like Skype, but they had to be sitting in front of a computer to use that service, and it was very difficult to call them back.
The broadband phone service worked just like an ordinary phone, and it was amazingly cheap.
Second discovery
Then the field worker mentioned that two people using the same broadband phone provider can call each other for free. Someone finally asked: What if all the international offices all used the same broadband phone service?
Someone was assigned to research the question. This is what he learned:
- Broadband phone services work with ordinary phones. In fact, they usually are regular phones plugged into an adapter.
- The adapter plugs directly into a high speed Internet connections (ADSL, DSL, or cable). As long as the Internet connection is working, the phones can be used to place and receive calls.
- Each field office would need a high speed Internet connection.
- It would be best if they could have a connection that is "always on" (and minimum 64 kbps speed).
- US based broadband phone services start around $16 per month up to about $50 per month (for an unlimited business class service).
- If all the offices used the same service provider, then they would be able to call each other for free.
- A broadband phone service would include free 3-way conference calling worldwide, voicemail, and many more useful features.
- Calls to and from the USA would be free worldwide.
- Broadband adapters (and special broadband phones) are portable, so a worker in India could travel to England and literally bring her phone number with her. Then she could plug her broadband phone into a high speed Internet connection (at a field office or hotel business center) in order to place and receive calls.
- The savings would be tremendous.
The launch
The organization decided to give broadband phone services a trial run. They started with a couple of offices in Europe. Then they included several offices in countries with notoriously high long distance rates. As the program spread, communication improved between the interconnected offices. As more and more offices came on line, the program was popular success and a saved a tremendous amount of money each month.
Getting started
If you want to learn more about broadband phone services, click a link to the right or see my broadband phone comparison.