The experience of introducing a virtual PBX. Communication and software in different baskets
Summer 2017. Departments in 9 cities. Each has 2-3 employees, some have IP phones and all have a landline. These are salons of sales of the manufacturer. Phone calls are one of the most popular communication channels with the customer.
The business decided to digitize calls to salons for marketing and customer service tasks.
The story of a marketer (project initiator) without SIP and other technical details.
We assembled a team: a manager for approvals and support, a project manager (marketer), a sysadmin for purchasing and setting up equipment.
We wrote down the requirements for the VATS, evaluated the options for them, chose one of the most famous Russian VATS.
WATS requirements .
Implemented like this:
It seems it was not difficult. You can complete the project.
But it turned out:
Thought over the system decision. They called the competitors of the selected WATS, communicated with technical support, read all kinds of wikis about telecom, virtual numbers, asked questions to telecom operators, communicated with operators in Kazan, Ufa, searched for solutions in Google.
By the time the decision was made, they found out (end of 2017):
The solution was formulated simply:
Scheme of work .
We still work this way: numbers, communication from a telecom operator and the popular VATS. This composition successfully passed the seasonal growth of sales. And in the unknown future we do not risk losing numbers because of the decision to change the VATS.
If you plan to live with numbers for more than one year or there will be more than 5 numbers, then it makes sense to divide: the best VATS for you and numbers / connection from the operator. At the same time, there will be less redundant contracts and approvals of documents.
The business decided to digitize calls to salons for marketing and customer service tasks.
The story of a marketer (project initiator) without SIP and other technical details.
Tasks
- Choose a virtual PBX (WATS),
- introduce it: make a contract, purchase and connect IP phones, set up the PBX (numbers, call distribution schemes), change phones on the site.
Actions
We assembled a team: a manager for approvals and support, a project manager (marketer), a sysadmin for purchasing and setting up equipment.
We wrote down the requirements for the VATS, evaluated the options for them, chose one of the most famous Russian VATS.
WATS requirements .
Implemented like this:
- hooked up the first city and watched him month;
- the remaining cities hooked up over the next thirty days. They went from less loaded to the salons with the largest number of calls.
It seems it was not difficult. You can complete the project.
But it turned out:
- To work calls within Kazan and Ufa, direct contracts with local telecom operators are needed (they warned about Ufa, but did not receive the contract right away. About these contracts below);
- for each rented number we received several triple contracts: a telecom operator, we and the supplier of VATS;
- There are no reports on the expenses of each department that the accounting department requested and which were promised by the VATS sales manager).
Way out
Thought over the system decision. They called the competitors of the selected WATS, communicated with technical support, read all kinds of wikis about telecom, virtual numbers, asked questions to telecom operators, communicated with operators in Kazan, Ufa, searched for solutions in Google.
By the time the decision was made, they found out (end of 2017):
- The developers of cool VATS known to us are not telecom operators and will be intermediaries with a bunch of contracts with telecom operators if you rent numbers through them;
- PBX operators do not cover our requirements;
- telecom operators have easier renting numbers: one service contract, an application with the cost of calls to destinations, ext. agreement to the contract for each number;
- Third-party numbers can be connected to the VATS (it is commensurate with renting a number, but without a one-time payment);
- direct contracts with telecom operators in Ufa and Kazan are not allowed by lawyers, and the operators themselves do not accept dispute protocols. Under the contract, these operators can change prices at any time without warning, any invoice is considered agreed, a penalty of a couple of percent per day and a fine not limited in size;
- and the key one: it is impossible to refuse the selected WATS without losing the numbers rented through it. That is, we are tied to the same software for an important channel of communication with customers.
The solution was formulated simply:
take numbers and communication from the carrier and connect to our VATS. Gradually giving up the numbers of the intermediary.
Scheme of work .
We still work this way: numbers, communication from a telecom operator and the popular VATS. This composition successfully passed the seasonal growth of sales. And in the unknown future we do not risk losing numbers because of the decision to change the VATS.
findings
If you plan to live with numbers for more than one year or there will be more than 5 numbers, then it makes sense to divide: the best VATS for you and numbers / connection from the operator. At the same time, there will be less redundant contracts and approvals of documents.