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Recruiters could well find it more difficult to do their job without a PC, internet access or email but there is one piece of kit they couldn’t exist without: the telephone. Although largely taken for granted by its users, a telephony system is an invisible lifeline to clients and candidates, and represents one of the most important purchases a recruitment business can make.

These days, the good news is that a small business can have a telephony system that punches far above its weight and is comparable to one that a major corporate could have. This is largely thanks to the internet which has revolutionised business telephony systems. The traditional route was to install a private branch exchange (PBX) and sometimes a private business exchange, basically a box which sits inside the company linking the internal phones to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

The modern approach, however, is to use some form of internet protocol (IP) or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephony, whereby voice data can be transmitted over the internet like data. Typically, the way it works is that an IP PBX will receive and route calls that come in via the internet as opposed to the PSTN. IP telephony is cheaper, more flexible and can offer far more features.

Technology analyst Gartner predicts that by 2010, 90% of new phone system sales will be IPtelephony products.

90% of new phone system sales will be IPtelephony products

Rather than have the hardware for the phone system physically residing inside the company, a growing trend is for it to be purchased as a hosted service with users’ handsets plugging into a supplier’s private network. The service is paid for on a fixed charge, per user per month basis. The hosted route can be especially useful for geographically dispersed recruitment companies and/or for those who want the flexibility to work at home.

“It’s really useful in the recruitment sector where a lot of the work is done out of office hours,” says Rob Walton, managing director of Voxalis.

“When a consultant needs to make calls to candidates from a home office using an IP phone, from the candidate and client perspective it looks like they’re still in the office because the same number will come up.”

The basics
As standard, a telephony system will include the hardware and any software needed to get your business up and running to receive and route calls from a main number to internal IP numbers or extensions. Typical capabilities of the system will include some, all or more of the following, depending on the supplier: call transfer and forwarding; call waiting; camp-on [the caller is put in a queue and the moment the line clears, the call will be put through];voicemail; music on hold; automated ring back; automated directory services; automatic call distribution; and speed dialling. The package should include free calls to other company sites on the same network.

All IP telephony providers claim to offer highly competitive call packages and, as heavy phone users, this is one area in which recruiters should press them from the outset. Providers may offer bespoke plans to suit your business. The pricing model for services tends to be based on licences, and suppliers are likely to be flexible in terms of allowing you to permit different users to access different feature sets.

While you would assume everyone wants voicemail, for instance, Uniworld Communications says it is currently rolling out a system where only 30% of employees are able to access this facility. “So it is not a requirement that is as big as people thought it was to start off with,” says Trevor Mogridge, senior consultant at Uniworld.

One advantage of the hosted approach – in common with taking this route for a software application – is that businesses can easily scale up or down in terms of the number of users and features. Walton says that during the tougher trading conditions last year, some customers reduced user numbers but have since started to add them again in the past six to eight months.

The days when a telephony system had to entail a handset on everyone’s desk is also changing. Some companies are dispensing with handsets altogether in preference for a headset and a “soft phone” on their PC, reports Pino Valenza, director of FLR Spectron. “We’re seeing a lot of recruitment companies demand a clearer desk policy,” he explains. “There is also a cost advantage of moving to the PC base as there is less to go wrong and less maintenance than with a desk phone.”

The enhancements
Additional features can make a telephony system work even harder for the business. Recruiters can opt for call-logging options that allow them to look at usage and other call statistics to help with management reporting and which can be integrated with other business applications such as Microsoft Outlook and customer relationship marketing (CRM) software.

“I know the importance for recruitment specifically of tracking how many calls are made per day,” says Clare Greenall, campaigns manager for Uniworld Communications and a former recruitment consultant. “A full reporting system allows managers and team leaders alike to track and manage the efficiency of their staff.”

When synched with client and candidate information in the CRM system, the Uniworld system can further extend its usefulness, adds Mogridge. “It recognises the number of the person calling in and automatically brings his or her records up,” he says.

CRM system integration can also be used to assess the value of a chosen job board by allocating particular numbers to a job advertisement and using this to tracking how many calls have been routed through this ad.

In most cases when taking a hosted approach, a company would be able to access online call logging services through the provider’s web portal which can then be used to generate bespoke management reports to measure business productivity.

Mobile twinning is also increasingly being used to extend recruiters’ reachability regardless of where they are. Users are issued with a single phone number that allows them to link their office extension with other mobile communication devices so when the office phone isn’t picked up the call will be automatically rerouted to a mobile or home telephone.

“If you look at my business card, I only have one number on it,” says Walton. “Had I not been sat at my desk that call would automatically come through to my mobile; it would also pass through the caller line ID of your number to my mobile allowing me to screen the call if I wanted.”

Vital information:
Growth in the hosted IP telephony sector means more suppliers are likely to appear, which could in turn lead to rationalisation of the market. Check any supplier’s pedigree thoroughly and look at how long they’ve been established, says Rob Walton, managing director of Voxalis. “And whether they are delivering an end-to-end service that is inclusive of network services and therefore they can manage the quality of service they are delivering.” Clare Greenall, campaigns manager at Uniworld Communications, also stresses the importance of credit checking vitalinformation any supplier and finding out crucial information such as what would happen to your telephone lines if a supplier goes bust. Remember your requirements could change in terms of number of users and the type of features you want so find out if the service will be able to flex with your needs and beware rigid and lengthy contract agreements. If it’s been some time since you invested in a telephony system, bear in mind the changes that have taken place. “Prices have dropped considerably and just look at call costs,” says Pino Valenza, director of FLR Spectrum.

Before you buy ask yourself…

• Know how many sites the system will work across
• How many staff will require handsets or headsets and do you expect any growth in staff levels in the near future?
• Do you need scope for remote or homeworking?
• What features are important, for instance, does everyone need voicemail?
• Do you want a human or automated receptionist?
• What does the maintenance contract look like?
• Check out the provider’s case studies and visit reference sites
• Will you require a fully managed service?
• If it is a greenfield site, will your provider be able to install the voice and data circuits as well as provide the hardware and software?