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TELUS Business

Why switch from an on-premise PBX to the cloud: Webinar recording and Q&A

Tech Trends · Sep 20, 2019

In this webinar, TELUS Business Connect experts Jill Purse and Doug McDougall tell us the major reasons why companies are switching from on-premise PBX systems to a cloud-based phone system. Doug, systems engineer, also presents a demo of the main features of Business Connect.

Watch the webinar now >

Didn’t get to attend the webinar live? Don’t worry. You can watch the full video recording and read the Q&A below.

Q&A

Doug and Jill didn’t have time to answer all of the questions during the live webinar, so we asked them to answer them here on our blog.



Features and day-to-day operations


If I receive a call, can I transfer it to a coworker?

Yes, absolutely and you can transfer that call even outside of your business, to any destination in North America. No Long Distance!!


Can you forward voicemails or faxes within the system?

Inside and outside of the system YES.


If I receive a fax, can I forward it to a colleague?

Yes. Via email and direct.


Is the system transparent to the person on the other end?

Yes.


Is there an ability to integrate an "all hands broadcast" ... think of it as a business level "amber alert advisory" for emergency company wide advisories etc?

Physical phones would need to support Multicast, so yes.


Can this be used in the US and Canada?

This can be used Worldwide (users can be anywhere), but we only provide CANADIAN Telephone numbers.


Does each number get full eFax capabilities included? Unlimited pages?

Every number is eFax capable. Per Fax transmission there is a 200 page/20MB limit per fax, total is unlimited.


Will there be a hotline for us to call to make changes or additions? If so, how long is the average wait time for changes to be completed?

This system is very straightforward to manage with an easy web interface and there’s a dedicated toll free number.



Implementation and migration


How long does it take to make integrations work? And what kind of professional services are required?

Most of the off-the-shelf integrations are instantly available. Custom integrations require development time which will vary. Please contact a Rep to discuss further.


What is the average time line from initial meeting to implementation?

Typical is 30-60 days.


What is the change management for office PBX user?

The voicemanager portal is self-serve, changes can be made when they are required.


Can we keep all our special/gov existing number 604-775-xxxx?

Typically most numbers are portable. Please ask a TELUS rep to perform an "LNP check" for particular numbers.



Technical requirements and compatibility


How does it utilize existing network infrastructure?

Data usage is seen as normal TCP/UDP type data, very similar to Web surfing traffic. Firewall rules must be added to allow our service to work though.


One line to each office...  I would assume each phone would need its own IP. Does that mean we would need to add a VLAN just for phones?

Phones operate on the LAN like any other device in respect to DHCP (Laptop/PC/Mac/Tablet etc.). We recommend VLAN usage, but it is not required.


Our cellular devices are going to be on a range of different cellular providers. Is that an issue?

We are carrier-agnostic.


How is compatibility with Windows 7?

Fully compatible with Win7, Win10 and Mac OS


How is the directory inside the desktop app populated? From Outlook? TBC directory?

Outlook PST and o365. While using o365 via OWA, direct connect via Authorized contact access, using WebRTC.


Does the 'TEXT' option in Business Connect send/receive to a Mobile Number or the virtual landline number?

The SMS destination must be capable of receiving the TXT. Audio transcription would be dependant on the destination carrier. Primarily the destination would be a mobile device or another SMS capable app.


What kind of inherent speeds are required for this to be effective?

Per Voice call requires 100Kbits of data bandwidth in and out of your network. Example: 10 concurrent calls requires 1 Mbit.


What is the minimum bandwidth required per user to have the full suite of features?

Voice Calls Requires 100Kbps while call is established, Video Meetings, range from 600Kbps to 2Mbps.


If using mobile data, what type of data volume is typical?

100Kbps.


Any chance this works with our existing ShoreTel VOIP phones? :)

NO, Shoretel phone only work with Shoretel systems. We support/Sell Polycom and Cisco OPEN SIP 2.0 phones.


We have Avaya phone set now, do we need to change the hardware?

Avaya Hardware is NOT compatible with our solution.


Can we connect a speaker phone?

Fully support analog as well as Voip Polycom conference phones.



Integration with 3rd-party solutions


Does the Teams integration only work via Web?

Currently yes.


What are the advantages of using Business Connect vs MS Teams phone system with TELUS direct routing?

This allows Full PSTN access (calling in and out) of Teams.


Is there an integration for Slack?

Yes.


Is the Faxing option compatible with GFI Faxmaker?

Only if GFI Faxmaker supports Open API.


Is this solution Citrix compatible?

NO, we do not support a THIN Client environment. Hard phones and/or mobile App would work though.



Security and data privacy


So it's only upon request that the information is put on Canadian Servers? If forgotten to be requested, which other servers do you commonly use?

Canadian Data Center can be selected at time of order or after installation, then all data will be moved to Canadian Data center. If NOT requested, Data is stored in US Data centers, SanJose CA & Vienna VA.



Pricing, plans and inclusions


What is the pricing?

You’ll find pricing under Plans on the Business Connect product page


Does the server location influence pricing? If yes, would it be possible to obtain a model for guidance?

Server Location has no bearing on pricing or plans available.


We're a golf course with 8 different extensions throughout the course and 40-50 employees. How do I determine how many users we need?

Rule of 3, DID/Ext/Voicemail. If you answer Yes to any or all, that particular user needs a Seat. Seat sharing has a maximum or 4 devices per extension number.


We are a new office of about 30 people. Everyone is setup with a cellular phone, and we do not want to have desk phones (other then perhaps in the boardrooms with VOIP abilities). I just want a single client facing phone number for the business, with an auto attendant option to forward calls to cellular devices. What plan would I need?

No problem: 'Enhanced' edition would suffice.

Authored by:
TELUS Business
TELUS Business