Why Schools Say YES to Unified Communications?

Why Schools Say YES to Unified Communications?

Education sector has undergone a drastic technological transformation. From elementary schools to college, hundreds or even thousands of faculty, students and administrators alike are continually connected, working on multiple devices simultaneously. Because of this change, schools have new needs – and new expectations – when it comes to the communications system.

Founded in 1961, the Catholic University of Santa Maria (UCSM) in Peru has seen how Unified Communications (UC) could make a difference when they upgraded their legacy phone system.

At that time, the 57 years old higher education institution was surviving on an analog phone system aging at capacity and simply fell short for efficient operation. To alleviate the growing communications constraints of physical presence and time, UCSM decided to move to a new UC solution. Out of all options, they chose the UC-capable S-Series VoIP PBX and found out that dynamic communications had become the new norm to improve productivity. The operating expenses are also kept to a low flat rate to save costs ever since.

This is not the first time Yeastar Unified Communication solutions have been able to power up budget-conscious educational facilities in regards to productivity and cost-savings. In fact, its UC-capable VoIP phone systems for schools can help educational institutions to operate more modernly and efficiently in a number of ways. Below are just a few key advantages.

How UC-capable VoIP Phone Systems Power Up Efficiency and Cost Savings

1. Reduced capital expenditure

Unified communications consolidate a slew of paid tools into a single, all-inclusive platform, reducing the additional capital investment on different 3rd party applications. Traditionally, schools with analog phone systems will need to rely on extra software or services for essential functionality like intercom announcement, conferencing and call recording, which can be costly and hard to maintain. Yet a right UC solution will allow you to do it all.

Yeastar S-Series VoIP PBX claims a strong presence in unified communications and converges all the key functionalities in a single system cost-effectively. It boasts all-inclusive license-free advanced features, free lifetime software update, and free Linkus softphone. The added benefits of instant messaging and file sharing are delivered by Linkus Cloud Service as well. With the robust VoIP system built for schools, the high capital outlay one would expect from adopting new technology is significantly reduced.

For those who prefer hosted VoIP services, a similar highly-flexible cloud-based UC solution is also provided via Yeastar Cloud PBX.

2. Lower ongoing costs

Due to the latest technology of SIP trunking, Yeastar VoIP phone systems allow schools to save money many years down the road. Right out of the gate, SIP Trunking requires no capital investment and has minimal upfront costs. Because SIP trunks are operating using the internet, long-distance, toll-free and international calling rates are much lower, let alone that internal inter-office calls are unlimited and free of charge. In general, the average educational institutions could save between 25-60 percent over phone service by switching to SIP/VoIP.

In addition, Yeastar UC-capable phone systems also allow for significant indirect cost savings due to efficiency gains triggered by intelligent call routing, the ability for staff to communicate better when working remotely, enhanced conferencing, and greater overall workforce collaboration.

3. Bolstered efficiency and faculty collaboration

Yeastar VoIP phone systems for schools can provide educational process efficiency. They cut both the time and labor spent on communications-based tasks and also eliminating the communications-based delays. Thanks to Linkus softphone‘s full enterprise directory and robust presence features, employees can now easily get their colleague’s contact information and know if they are available for a chat, caught in a call, or unavailable altogether, shortening communications turnaround time.

Team communication and collaboration are made easier as well. Whether the university faculty or administrative personnel are in different locations or working remotely, they can easily communicate and collaborate. Sharing lecture notes, exchanging ideas and project discussion become simple with the integration of messaging, group chat, file sharing, presence, and 3rd party CRM platforms on Linkus desktop/mobile softphone for Yeastar phone system.

4. Enhanced IP Paging and broadcast system

If your crisis response requires you to quickly broadcast information throughout the school, Yeastar UC-capable VoIP phone systems for schools can offer phone-based intercom support for authorized staff members. This can allow your team to broadcast instructions quickly to each classroom through Linkus app by dialing the overhead speaker or IP Phones. On top of that, Yeastar S-Series VoIP PBX and Cloud PBX also support integration with third-party paging devices or intercom systems, providing a cost-effective and easy to way build SIP paging solution based on IP technology.

5. Consistent Communication Flow

Yeastar UC-capable phone systems offer plenty of opportunities to improve tutoring. It helps parents, administrators, and students collaborate more effectively. This leads to increased satisfaction for all parties. Here are a few key features to build a consistent communication flow.

a. Holiday hours: when in summer vacation or holidays, Yeastar phone system can be configured with time conditions to route calls appropriately based on date and time and give holiday announcement upon greeting.

b. Mobility: schoolstaff without a designated classroom or workspace can remain reachable by parents or students at all times with Linkus UC softphone installed on their own mobile devices.

c. Conferencing: without expensive conference phone equipment, Linkus for S-Series VoIP PBX and Yeastar Cloud PBX allows users to join or originate an ad-hoc audio conference call that supports up to 9 participants.

d. Ring Groups: schools can use ring groups to efficiently handle calls amongst a team or department.

e. Voicemail-to-Email: having a voicemail-to-email feature can help ensure parents and teachers receive a message regardless of availability.

6. Ease of use and management

Management is also easier with Yeastar UC solution. All settings on the Yeastar S-Series VoIP PBX or Cloud PBX are handled through an intuitive web interface. With simple point-and-click configuration, school administrators can add, remove or change users easily within minutes. There’s no need to hire a telecom expert or to divert extra IT resources for the administration of the system. In addition, the robust auto-provisioning feature of Yeastar phone systems allows you to auto-configure supported IP phones in bulk, greatly saving time in the provisioning process.

Next Steps

Phone systems that are more than seven years old commonly suffer from outdated functionality, limited integration and lack of interoperability with 3rd party software to enable new capabilities. It’s time to consider a school VoIP phone system with robust unified communications capacity that moves your business forward.

Learn more about how a UC solution can be used to fulfill your need here.

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User Login

Instantaneously receive user login credentials via email once the extension has been deployed by the adminstrator.

Log in conveniently via any web browser for access to the user portal.

Integrations

Integrate various CRM software for better customer service and satisfaction.

Enable transcription of audio messages into text with integration of third-party transcription service.

Enable API for integration with various third-party integrations for advanced performance such as call center and hotel reception services.

System

Provision email SMTP and template settings for event notifications to be sent out.

Manage storage allocation and duration of various types of data being stored on the PBX.

Determine the types of event notifications to be sent out, and the parties receiving them.

IVR

Add various audio voice prompts to be played according to different call scenarios.

Add voice prompts on multiple levels for more effecient and precise inbound call routing.

Voicemail

Customize default voicemail settings for each user extension.

Add various voicemail messages for allocation to different call scenarios and users.

Provision specific rules to how voicemail messages are played over the PBX system for better caller experience.

Reports and CDR

All call log activities are stored, with the option of having audio conversations recorded by default or for specific extensions.

Use intuitive visual call reports, to check various call statistics over extensions, trunks, queues, ring groups, and more.

Call reports can be viewed and downloaded directly from the PBX, or scheduled to be sent via email to respective parties.

Security

Restrict a general group or specific IP addresses to prevent unauthorized access to your PBX.

Limit the number of otbound calls users are allowed to make within a time period to protect against toll fraud.

Restrict certain country codes for outbound calls either company-wide or on certain extensions.

User Login

Determine extension ranges for different functions.

Define use of different voice prompts depending on call scenarios or intended function.

Provision basic and advanced SIP settings to be used on the PBX.

Recordings

Record all calls made on specified trunks, including inbound and outbound calls.

Recordings

Record all calls made on specified extensions, conferences, or call queues.

Paging and Intercom

Create different types of paging and intercom broadcast groups for selected extensions.

Set a time schedule to automatically start your broadcast.

Maintenance

Check for and download firmware upgrades to ensure that your PBX is always up-to-date.

Perform back-ups to prevent data and settings from getting lost.

Perform troubleshooting on your own to debug.

Conference

Pre-set conference settings and dial-in passwords for security, and allow internal users to send conference invites to external parties.

Speed Dial

Create multiple speed dial numbers to respective external numbers frequently used for outgoing calls.

Speed dial is activated when the set prefix (default or customized) is dialed.

Ring Group

Create multiple ring groups and determine custom ring strategies and failover settings for each.

Call Queue

Create different call queues with specific ring strategies and failover settings.

Static agents permanently answer calls in queue, while dynamic agents can log in and out. Allocate different extensions to each group.

Determine what actions are to be allowed for Mangers or Agents to manage on the Queue Panel.

Call Control

Have calls received on specific SIP trunks routed to designated extensions or destinations within the PBX.

Set-up dial patterns so that outbound calls are routed to their intended destinations.

Determine how calls are routed and received at different times of a day.

Contacts

Store, retrieve, and share company contact details easily on your PBX.

Organize company contacts into dedicated phonebooks and determine accessibility rights to extension groups for each.

Bulk import a list of contacts instead of having to key details in individually.

Role and Client Permission

Pre-defined user roles within the PBX are conveniently available for allocation, or create your own set of permissions.

Restrict users from viewing specific extensions, departments, or extension groups with Extension Visibility.

Allow or resrict specific users from managing or viewing certain company contacts

Auto Provision

Pre-defined setting parameters specific to respective IP phone models are conveniently available for easy set-up.

IP Phones can be quickly provisioned to your Yeastar PBX with just the pre-defined template and device MAC address.

Trunks

Register multiple SIP trunks on a single PBX as needed.

Different types of trunks can be created, Caller ID can be customized.

Extensions

View, deploy, add, and remove user extensions within your PBX system.

Configure default call and user settings for individual extensions.

Customize allocation of user extensions to specific ring groups.

Portal Login Page

Receive your administrator log-in credentials and set-up guide via email.

Log-in on any web-browser to get started with PBX set-up.

Installation Wizard will guide you through basic configurations.

User Login

Access all company contacts made available to you by the administrator.

Create your own personal contacts list for easy reference and dialing.

Bulk import contact details for convenient data entry.

User Login

Access and manage user settings for softphone application and voicemail.

Manage call routing and presence status for your individual extension.

Retrieve or download your personal call logs and recordings.

User Login

Receive your log-in credentials and set-up guide via email, sent by your admin.

Log-in on any web-browser to get started with PBX set-up.

Configure contacts and personal settings from the web portal.

Auto Provision

Add, remove, or modify IP phone settings from your web interface.

Upgrade IP phone firmware conveniently from your PBX.

Upload various default setting parameters specific to respective IP phone models for greater convenience during set-up.

Contacts

Store, retrieve, and share company contact details easily on your PBX.

Have detailed contact information for your vendors and clients conveniently stored .

Bulk add a list of contacts instead of having to key details in individually.

PBX Monitor

Monitor the status extensions, whether they aren idle, in use, or unavailable.

Know whether your SIP Trunk running properly, or experiencing problems.

Monitor the number of call conferences currently running on your PBX, and their individual durations.

Maintenance

Check for and download firmware upgrades to ensure that your PBX is always up-to-date.

Perform back-ups to prevent data and settings from getting lost.

Perform troubleshooting on your own to debug.

Call Detailed Report

All call log activities are stored, with the option of having audio conversations recorded by default or for specific extensions.

Filter by date, time, or extension number to retrieve specific call logs or recordings

Playback call recordings directly from the PBX or download to store externally.

Event Center

Determine what events and logs are to be recorded and/or have notifications sent.

Specify particular notifications to be sent to respective authorized personnel.

User Permission

Set up vaious groups of users for allocation to certain sets of access rules.

Determine what features a certain group of extensions can or cannot access.

Determine if users can access, play-back, or download call logs and recordings from the pbx.

Security

Restrict a general group or specific IP addresses to prevent unauthorized access to your PBX.

Determine specific the range of SIP ports for connection between your PBX and endpoints.

Restrict country codes for outbound calls either company-wide or on certain extensions.

Voice Prompt

Upload and designate customised audio recordings at multiple levels of a call journey.

Upload recorded music to fill the silence that would be heard by callers on hold.

Upload customised voice prompts to create a professional call experience.

General

Customize general call preferences either company-wide or for individual extensions.

Set-up feature dial codes for convenient user navigation to specific call features.

Determine how voicemails are retrieved, and also upload custom voicemail recordings.

Call Features

Add multiple automated responses to be played at different phases of a call journey.

Designate specific extensions to ring concurrently based on an external caller's dial pattern.

Customize messages and waiting times to keep external callers engaged when put on hold.

Call Control

Have calls received on specific SIP trunks routed to designated extensions within the PBX.

Set-up dial patterns so that outbound calls are routed to their intended destinations.

Determine how calls are routed and received at different times of a day.

Trunks

Register multiple SIP trunks on a single PBX as needed.

Provision SIP trunk settings and dedicate them to particular extensions.

Bulk add DDIs on each SIP trunk, for allocation to an individual or groups of extensions.

Extensions

View, deploy, add, and remove user extensions within your PBX system.

Allocate and deploy specific extension numbers to respective users via email.

Set-up default ring and presence status settings for individual users.

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Deal One View

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