Source: iStock.com/metamorworks

Scalable telephone systems – seamlessly from small businesses to major corporations

25. August 2020 Published by Raphael Doerr

The statistics speak for themselves: According to the Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft – Unternehmerverband e.V. (German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses), 99.5% of all companies in Germany (3.5 million in total) are small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The diversity is huge and ranges from the small hairdresser to the highly specialized technology provider with global business relations who can use scalable telephone systems.

Accordingly, the conditions under which SMEs operate vary greatly – depending on target markets (export or domestic market, Germany vs. international markets, etc.), products and services, work processes or size. Despite all the differences, they nevertheless have a number of central things in common: They all need a reliable legal framework, company planning security – and a reliable IT infrastructure.

A “lot of movement” especially among SMEs

In 2019, there were around 265,700 business start-ups according to the Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM Bonn – Institute for Mittelstand research). The number of head office business start-ups in 2019 was just under 88,000 registration – a steady increase since 2004. But in the context of coronavirus it will doubtless be difficult to continue the trend this year. Nevertheless, SMEs, especially in Germany, are extremely lively organisms that grow, change, “cultivate” and employ a high number of people very reliably – they are frequently described as the backbone of the German economy.

SMEs therefore need an infrastructure that can grow with them – and that, of course, also includes communication. Particularly in tech-savvy sectors, cloud telephony or the use of solutions such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc. have long since become standard. But the importance of conventional SMEs, as mentioned at the start, makes it clear that most companies, especially today, are dependent on robust, reliable and powerful hardware.

It’s a long time since each workplace “only” comprised and desk and a laptop. Businesses such as car workshops, logistics providers with warehouses, hotels, retail, small businesses and catering or manufacturing companies need robust mobile hardware for their everyday operations that are reliable and inexpensive to acquire (for example, after being damaged). Telephony is the topic in this that is a given for all employees and customers. They therefore need competent and partners that are available to support them in implementing and maintaining their systems, and hence ensure the continuity of their business processes.

Gigaset telephony keeps up with company development

With its recent software upgrade for the single cell N670 IP PRO, Gigaset supports not only the existing diversity of the SMEs, but also company growth. The single cell system already supported up to twenty DECT handsets and eight parallel calls. The N670 IP PRO can now be seamlessly upgraded with a license to a multi-cell system; the expansion with up to 60 N870 base stations allows up to 250 DECT handsets or Maxwell Cordless desktop phones to be operated, thus massively increasing the DECT coverage. At the same time, ten simultaneous calls per base station (max. 60 in total) provide the necessary capacity. Comprehensive end-to-end security is, of course, still guaranteed thanks to DECT encryption and Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP). A Germany-wide network of longstanding, experienced sales and service partners provides rapid support (in German) if needed. Use cases for such a need arise every day at small and medium-sized enterprises – through renting a second floor or taking on new employees, for example.

Companies with more than one location can also combine the N670 IP PRO with the N870 IP PRO system: With an upgrade, larger companies can operate up to 300 N670 units (e.g. in branches or sales offices) using an N870 Virtual Integrator and, if desired, integrate up to 100 additional N870 devices (at one or more locations) into the setup. Starting with the entry-level model N670, the Gigaset Pro solutions can be expanded to up to 6,000 base stations and 20,000 phones – and managing different locations is then no longer a problem. As a result, supermarkets or retail chains, for example, can decide precisely whether single or multicells are needed for each store according to its size and the number of employees, to ensure a stable and secure phone connection – and still enjoy the benefits of central management of their overall system.

That means Gigaset supports growth, flexibility and scalability with maximum cost sensitivity – for small, large and growing companies!