Many IPBX managers have intuitive web interfaces developed on the technology of an open standard environment to extend their functionality. However, to compete with proprietary software, it is not enough that the solutions are free and open, they must also be at least as efficient as their competitors.
Competition in the telecommunications industry often neglects the core fundamentals of telephony: profitability, reliability and scalability. Improper focus on multi-tenant and enterprise features leave many competitors lacking in their approach because of a lack of understanding and experience. The multi-tenant solution (nb: MT) must stand out through its performance and costs.
“What is a multi-tenant solution?”
A Tenant is a segregated dial plan Container with segregated Reporting structures. Each Tenant is its own Customer container without requiring a unique physical installation for each Customer. This feature allows public IP addresses and FQDN’s and hardware to be optimized and shared for multiple Customers saving money on memory, CPU’s, dedicated storage space, and rack space. Multi-Tenant (MT) is a fundamental requirement of hosted systems large enterprises or carriers. Leveraging Multi-Tenant solutions also allows sharing of resources between tenants and different carriers which also allows for over-subscription which will reduce expenses and add to profits.
“It’s all about settings!”
Each Tenant can also support unique Auto Attendants, Incoming Lines, Outgoing Lines, Class of Services, ACD Queues/Agents, Applications, Conference Rooms, Schedules, Feature Codes, Parking Extensions, PSTN Interfaces, Voice Prompts, and Provisioning Objects.
“Do I have to change all my equipment?”
When replacing proprietary technologies, it is generally not recommended to reuse existing telephones. This usually creates an environment where features are missing, and interoperability is broken. We advise you to opt for IPBX-MT-software like ScopServ whose interoperability with the majority of peripheral equipment manufactures is already guaranteed.
“What about maintenance?”
When comparing IPBX-MT to multiple installations across sites upgrading becomes trivial. Instead of upgrading many systems, you are only required to upgrade one.
“Can this system fail?”
No system is immune to any failure which is why the aspect of redundancy is important. A good infrastructure must contain certain elements of redundancy to allow continuity of telephony services. Otherwise, your system could be “unsafe”. Everyone has their own risk management.
“How many companies can be supported?”
A good multi-tenant solution is by definition scalable: the number of users is limited only to the performance of the server chosen to install the IPBX-MT itself.
In conclusion, the economy of scale is achieved with equipment, software, operational efficiency and consolidation.
Equipment.
In the case of a multi-tenant solution the cost of equipment and management overhead is reduced because it is shared. When thinking of an intelligent installation structure, installation and equipment costs will be moderate.
The software.
The purchase of a primary software and its redundant version will be enough to provide security and high availability.
The operations.
The low operational cost of a multi-tenant solution will be closely linked to the quality of its equipment, its settings and its software.
Consolidation.
By repatriating all the needs for telecommunications links to a single IPBX-MT server, substantial cost savings will be made.