Business telecommunications and IT systems

du Pré plc, based in Newbury, Berkshire, has announced new measures to help businesses tackle the effects of swine flu in the wake of the recent Pandemic classification by the World Health Organisation.

In partnership with specialist global telecoms providers, du Pré has responded to an increasing demand for 'Remote Working Transparent' communication solutions.

The result is new range of office systems which includes a Pure IP Telephony system, and an IP VPN for access to the office LAN.

Business grade IP telephony

du Pré Connect is a unique IP Telephony solution which enables an employee to take their office extension handset home and re-use it by simply plugging it into their own home broadband.

Once plugged in at home, the handset automatically rejoins the office telephone system.

What's changed?

Nothing - apart from moving the phone from the office to the home. Everything else remains the same exactly as if the staff member was still sitting at their office desk.

No special dial codes and no special wiring. Just make, take, and transfer calls exactly as if you were in the office. Hunt groups stay the same, as does every other part of the system's program, and calls are charged straight to the office with no need for expense claims.

No change. Complete Transparency.

What about the call quality?

"Being business quality voice, the quality is better than traditional PSTN or ISDN phone lines," said Jon Dawkins, du Pré's senior telephony engineer. "Having been in telephony engineering for nearly twenty years, I can vouch that du Pré Connect is the best system I have ever worked with."

What type of Broadband is needed at Home?

Speaking about the simplicity of du Pré Connect, Simon Jones, Group Marketing Manager, said, "It really is a case of simply plugging it in at home. My basic BT Home Broadband carried the calls perfectly, even while I was surfing the internet at the same time. As a non-technical person, I had no problems taking my office home."

Not just for Swine Flu

Irrespective of the current pandemic, many existing users of du Pré Connect find the benefits of IP Telephony lead to an increase in staff productivity and morale. In particular, field-based staff who might otherwise wait at home until their 11.00 am appointment can now work as if they're in the office right up to the point they leave home.

About IP Telephony - put it to the test!

Richard Jones, Group Sales Director, explained a little more about how du Pré Connect works. "Firstly," he said, "it’s not Skype. du Pré Connect is business-grade IP Telephony which uses ‘Quality of Service’ (QoS), something which consumer IP Telephony services don’t employ.

"Quality of Service prioritises telephone calls over all other data being carried. This means your telephone calls remain unaffected even when a stream of large emails comes into the office. After all, when you’re on that important call it’s crucial that nothing gets in the way of it.

"Of course, we use du Pré Connect in our own office and I would never go back to traditional telephone calls and lines. If anyone would like to test the quality, they can call me directly on 01635 55 55 50."