businessinfomag.uk
magazine
12
Samsung has entered the hosted IP
telephony market with the launch
of a new offering that combines
the functionality of an on-premise
Samsung Communication Manager
IP phone system with the benefits of
a hosted model, such as no upfront
capital expenditure, no requirement
for on-premises equipment,
easy scalability and automatic
maintenance and upgrades.
On this basis alone, Samsung Hosted
is an attractive proposition. But there
is much more to it than this and, in
developing the system, Samsung has
taken the opportunity to create a
solution that addresses the concerns
and requirements of businesses today,
particularly in relation to mobility, data
security and regulatory compliance.
This, claims WilfredWood, senior
product manager at Samsung
Electronics UK, sets Samsung Hosted
apart from other hosted offerings.
“Demand for a Samsung hosted
solution has been growing for some
time, but we resisted the pressure to
launch just another ‘me-too’ product.
Instead, we took our time creating
a solution that stands out from
everything else on the market and
delivers true Samsung quality,” he said.
Full functionality
Samsung Hosted is based on Samsung
Communication Manager (SCM) and
provides all the telephony features you
would expect from an on-premise IP
PBX. This extends to features like busy
lamp fields, which show when others on
the system are on a call.
Having exactly the same feature set
on the on-premise and hosted variations
of SCM gives customers the flexibility to
move to (or from) a hosted solution at
any time, with no loss of functionality.
The phone system, the functionality,
the handsets, all are the same; only the
system’s location changes.
One of the strengths of Samsung
SCM for organisations today is its
no compromise mobile integration.
Customers can use smartphones or desk
Samsung’s first hosted IP telephony service meets the
growing need for security, resilience and mobility
Introducing Samsung Hosted
When
deskphones
and Samsung
smartphones
are used
together, they
can be fully
integrated.
Incoming calls
can ring on both
handsets and
calls can be
transferred from
one device to
another in mid-
conversation
IP TELEPHONY
phones as their handset of choice, or
a combination of both. They can start
with desk phones and add smartphones
later or start with smartphones and
then add deskphones or softphones.
Samsung Hosted supports all
deployment models.
When deskphones and Samsung
smartphones are used together, they
can be fully integrated. Incoming calls
can ring on both handsets and calls
can be transferred from one device to
another in mid-conversation, with no
break in the speech path.
Mobile integration on Samsung
Hosted extends to a powerful Mobile
Device Management System (MDMS)
that enables customers to track,
monitor and control corporate mobile
devices and, should they wish to do so,
record calls made to and from them.
Call recording
WilfredWood sees the ability to record
conversations between mobile devices,
between mobiles and landlines and
between landlines as a major attraction.
“Call recording is essential for
organisations involved in financial
services, as it enables compliance with
new MiFID II regulations that require an
audit trail for all financial transactions,
including those made on mobile
devices. But it is also very useful for
organisations in other industries where
it can be used for training purposes or
to back-up an employee in case of a
dispute with a customer,” he said.
Samsung Hosted doesn’t record just
conversations; it can also capture SMS
messages and photos and 10-second
video clips taken on a smartphone/
tablet, complete with GPS location
details and time and date stamps.
While voice recordings provide
evidence of commitments made, images
and video clips offer visual evidence of
work done, for example, with before
and after shots, or deliveries made (the
system can also capture signatures
made on a Samsung Note device), or
attendance at an event or meeting.
Recordings are encrypted and stored
in Samsung Hosted datacentres free of
charge for six months from the date of
capture, after which they can be kept in
the cloud for a fee or downloaded for
archiving and storage by the customer.
“When I talk to people about call
recording, a common reaction is to say
that it all sounds a bit intrusive. In fact,
recordings are done in the background
and are there to assist employees rather
than keep tabs on them. Businesses
don’t have time to listen to hours of
recordings, but if a problem arises, those
recordings provide an audit trail that will
hopefully exonerate their employees of
any blame,” explainedWood.
Visibility and control
In this respect, call recording can help
organisations fulfil their duty of care to
employees. This is true of other aspects
of the MDMS. For example, the ability to
track the location of mobiles or receive
alerts if a phone has not been used
for a certain period can help protect
employees and, in an emergency, lone
workers can press three buttons on the
side of their device to transmit an SOS
and their GPS location.
By giving businesses complete
visibility and control over corporate
mobile devices, the Samsung Hosted
MDMS also enables employers to
identify and eradicate inefficient,
wasteful or unauthorised practices and,
SAMSUNG HOSTED
ISSUE 132
