Yes, in fact, we’d always recommend that you trial your UC systems then gradually integrate UC in with your current systems. It’s rare to find a green field site where there’s a need for a complete UC system. We focus on an evolutionary process towards UC where you integrate your work in one logical structural evolution.

How do you call for emergency services?

You simply dial 9 followed by 999. However, because the Emergency Bureau calculate your location off the CLI, the Emergency Bureau will not know your geographic location especially if you are using your service from a different location (for example, travelling, working from home, and so on). You must also tell the Emergency Bureau your exact location as it will currently display the “normal” office location that was provided to Virgin Media Business at the point of order.

One of the initial criticisms for UC was that there were bandwidth problems and quality problems, this was largely caused by installation on to networks where there were network problems and bottlenecks. Before we recommend a UC system we’ll undertake a site readiness audit of your network, where we look at your network in detail. We also look at the bandwidth on the network and on your Internet connection, and we check your network equipment for any potential bottlenecks. At the end of your audit we’ll be able to tell you if your network can support UC and what – if any – our recommendations to improve your network.

There’s no set answer to this question as costs vary from customer to customer. However we do have a set of models based on Excel spreadsheets that take into account every part of your current PBX costs and our UC system, and once completed, give you a comparison for the total cost of ownership (TCO) between the PBX system and the UC calculated over the next three years.

The models take into account 34 different variables and include everything from installation charges, rental costs, power costs, air con costs, training, software licences, insurance and so on.

What kind of phones and PC software can I use with UC?

Currently the phone and client devices that can be used with Virgin Media Business’ IP Multimedia are the IP phones, and the PC-based m6350 soft phone, or Multimedia Clients. The IP Phones and m6350 clients use the UNIStim protocol to deliver the full feature phone functionality which would not be possible to deliver with analogue phones. The Multimedia Clients utilise the SIP standard protocol and supports standardised SIP and alternative client terminals.

With UC does the end user have two IP addresses, one for voice and one for data?

IP Multimedia users require a new and unique IP address. Most users will already have an IP address for their PC. IP Multimedia end points require an IP address to send and receive packets of voice. The phones can utilise either fixed IP address or DHCP allocated addresses.  The IP Phones have an integral switch so they can share the Ethernet connection to the PC.

Are there any security concerns with IP Multimedia?

With the IP Multimedia solution, the majority of service intelligence is located at Virgin Media Business’ facilities with a minimal number of intelligent devices located at customer premises. At the customers’ site, routers, firewalls and Network Address Translation (NATs) will be used to ensure security and interconnectivity, combined with the security provided by Virgin Media Business’ IPVPN service. IP phones and PC based Soft phones will connect directly to the customer LAN and an Analogue Terminal Adapter (ATA) will handle conversion from IP to DTMF signalling to allow connection of standard analogue FAXs.