In a world where staying connected has become the ‘be all and end all’ it is little wonder that businesses get tangled up in their own web of inefficient phone lines and other overly complicated communication systems resulting in money unneccessarily going down the drain. However, Avita Communications can help reduce these costs, installing the very latest technology and efficient solutions, providing more security, leaving you to get on with growing your business.
Launched in 2010 by Gordon Fahy and Gerry Gray, Avita Communications, located at Galway Technology Park, Parkmore, Galway, is at the forefront of new innovations in the world of communications such as voice and data convergence and unified communications. Avita Communications not only offers independent expert advice but it is also the official re-seller of Alcatel-Lucent products - a leading provider of advanced telephony solutions across Europe - providing clients with a whole range of efficient and cost-effective solutions. The company provides businesses nationwide with a range of managed communication services including VOIP, IP enabled telephone systems, unified communications, and networking infrastructure including LAN services and wide area networks (WAN ).
Managing director Gordon Fahy knows all too well what a struggle it can be for businesses to get off the ground. Avita Communications began as a “man in a van” operation and two years later developed into a company employing six and is now looking to increase its ranks by currently hiring more. It is this personal experience in building a business that has inspired the company’s motto, which is based on working to help businesses make savings. “The reason we have had this level of success is because we’ve always gone by the motto ‘If we can’t justify something cost-wise then we won’t get the sale’. I worked in telecoms in a company called CK [CK Business Solutions] for 10 years, and some time later after that company was sold one of the former directors Gerry Gray approached me about setting up another telecoms company, that was two years ago. It started with me in a van selling telecommunications products and installing phone systems and we now have four enginneers and two adminstration staff, and we’re currently hiring more.
“We are the official re-sellers of Alcatel-Lucent products, which is the largest telecommunications company in the world with a turnover last year of around €4.56 billion. It is to continental Europe what Cisco is to the United States. They produce and sell high-end telecommunication products, from telephone systems and IP handsets, developments in mobile phones, the selling of data equipment like network switches and routers,” said Mr Fahy, an Alcatel-Lucent certified system expert.
By utilising these high-products combined with expertise, Avita Communications can offer businesses, from small to large, solutions which will help save money and increase competitiveness, productivity, and security. One way Avita can do this is by reducing the amount of phone lines that are used by a company, therefore eliminating wastage. According to Mr Fahy, most companies have in excess of four to five phones lines cosing them €1,500 per annum. If the amount of hours these lines are used, and the number of lines needed, are reduced this can make savings of almost €700 per annum.
Many businesses these days no long work from just one site as there could be multiple offices or many staff working from home and Avita Communications can help make real savings by removing the need for extra lines and eliminating inefficiencies.
“We’re about reducing costs. We go into a business and look at what they have and give independent advice. We’re not going to sell you minutes and get you to switch over to our company. Avita looks at all the providers, giving the customer options on how to reduce costs. In our experience there aren’t many businesses, particularly medium sized, where we don’t see a whole heap of wastage with telephone lines. We look at the telephone systems and lines of the company and come up with practical solutions, giving quotes on equipment if it is needed. Clients are given information on innovations in voice and data technology that can lead to reducing costs, for example, companies that do business often look for quality SIP which is voice over the internet. Instead of a line with your usual provider a business can get an account with SIP company which programmes the phone system to diall out over the internet. This means there is no line rental and reduced call costs. Our systems are fully compatible with all forms of SIP.”
Another area where Avita Communications can help businesses is in networking equipment such as switches and routers which enable companies to create links between multiple offices. Once this equipment is in place and with the addition of voice IP or VOIP calls go through the computer network. This is also advantageous to businesses where staff work from home. For example, a travel company may no longer need an actual office and Avita installs an IP phone in the home of staff members so that when a customer calls the number on the website all the phones ring and the person that picks up gets the commission. Avita Communications is also a specialist in unified communications which is becoming extremely popular in the business sector.
Mr Fahy explains: “Unified communications is about bringing all forms of communications in the company together - from the desk phone, the mobile phone, the pager, etc. There is an application for the iPhone that enables your phone to become part of the company’s phone system as soon as you walk into the building and when you make a call it does not go on to the mobile phone bill. There is other technology such as video conferencing and we also have the latest desk phones, My IC Phone, which is essentially a large pad which can make calls, has all the contacts, and does email. Pretty soon we won’t need a PC, everything is becoming wireless and we have absolute expertise in this. Avita has recently been involved in updating a student village. More and more students are using iPads and android phones, so instead of the old plug in, the building is made wireless throughout with bay stations.”
There are many start-up businesses, with maybe two employees and looking to keep costs down, and Avita Communications can help by providing Cloud PBX, a cloud telephone system, in which the client is given IP phones connected to a centrally located telephone system in a data centre run by sister company Sleepless. The advantage is that the client has no line rental or bills to worry about, as there is only the rental on the phones themselves per month with unlimited calls. “It is a very affordable way for small companies to get off the ground with the best technology,” said Mr Fahy.
A huge amount of savings can also be made by taking steps to prevent hacking of the phone system. According to Mr Fahy, phone hacking is major problem with ComReg figures showing that Irish businesses were hit last year to the tune of €620,000. “This has several links to organised crime and it is very costly for businesses. I can give 15 examples of companies in Galway that have been hit, one was hit three times. A hacker dials into the system, gets the voice mail and the press hash, and guesses the password. They then put a diversion in place for a premium line that is set up or they run traffice through the phone all day. In a lot of cases where call cards are sold on the streets of Europe. Phone hacking is three times more prevalent than credit card fraud. In the last number of years none of our customers has been hit as we work in partnership with Calista which is the only company that ensures 100 per cent security. The extensive piece of software works to monitor the phone system and it shuts down the line if it detects unusual traffic. None of our systems has ever been hacked as we’re constantly updating, patching it up, and by having the right partnership with Calista, this allows us to give a 100 per cent solution.”
Avita Communications offers a free site survey to all businesses to identify cost saving options and potential areas to create more efficiencies.
For more information log onto www.avitacommunications.com or contact 091 511411.
