by Jessica Swesey
Inman News Features
Realty brokers looking to cut telephone costs and tap the efficiencies of unified messaging capabilities might want to install an IP Telephony system in their offices, according to a new study by Clareity Consulting in cooperation with Cisco Systems.
IP Telephony systems enable compressed voice and fax calls to be routed over the Internet, thus eliminating the need for multiple systems or networks and significantly reducing the company’s telephone costs, according to the study.
Clareity’s study didn’t detail the cost of an IP Telephony system, but suggested installation of such a system would pay for itself within 12 to 18 months.
A typical real estate agent spends about three and a half hours a day using a cell phone, office phone, fax machine or e-mail, according to Clareity’s estimates. Real estate brokers usually have maintained separate networks for voice and data transmissions and separate departments and support employees for each network.
“The separation and often times duplication of these networks resulted in increased costs for installations, monitoring and ongoing maintenance,” the study noted.
Brokers can eliminate long-distance telephone costs by re-routing those calls through an office intranet that bypasses the long-distance telephone carrier, according to the study. Brokers also can shrink administrative costs for network infrastructure with unified messaging systems like IP Telephony because one intelligent network replaces the PBX (private branch exchange) for each office location.
“Once reliance on duplicate networks has been reduced or eliminated, a company can more efficiently utilize its physical and labor resources,” the study noted.
The IP Telephony system enables realty agents to roam from office to office and simply plug in their telephones to receive office calls regardless of where they are located. Brokers could eliminate permanent workstations because agents would be able to take their telephone extensions with them to any unoccupied desk. That would permit a greater number of agents to work in a fixed space.
A new Cisco mobile phone combines IP Telephony with Wi-Fi technology. When an agents using the phone walks into or near an office, the network automatically detects the agent and delivers his or her office telephone calls directly to the handset.
“If Jane Realtor works out of the San Francisco office 80 percent of the time, then travels to another company office in Oakland, Calif., Jane can simply turn on her handset when she arrives in the Oakland office and all of her office calls will be delivered to her automatically,” the study noted.