Businesses can reap savings on VoIP with WJ England

William J England & Son Ltd (or WJ England) was established in 1906 by the late William John England. The company had three main areas of operation – shipping, insurance and consumer goods.

We talked to its current director, also William England, who explained that historically the company was involved in the importation of core food supplies like flour and sugar, which were distributed across the Maltese islands selling wholesale to the village shops.

The telecommunications side of the company was initiated in 1990 and they used the same concept for distribution, that is not selling directly to end users but selling to businesses who then reach out to end users and these can generate multiplier effects. Its focus is on online services, in particular Domain Registration, Web Hosting, Email Hosting, Network Monitoring, as well as Voice Over IP (VoIP) Services either managed or self-managed.

They deal mostly with software sales and the advantage of their software is that it is simple to use. This is making it very popular and they have sold over 200 licences in Malta in a three-year period. They also have sales in Italy and the UK, England explained.

The company’s primary product is currently 3CX. This Internet Protocol (IP) PBX is a complete telephony system that provides telephone calls over IP data networks. All conversations are sent as data packets over the network. The technology includes advanced communication features but also provides a significant dose of worry-free scalability and robustness. The IP PBX is also able to connect to traditional PSTN lines via an optional gateway – so upgrading day-to-day business communication to this most advanced voice and data network is quite an easy affair.

Enterprises don’t need to disrupt their current external communication infrastructure and operations. With an IP PBX deployed, an enterprise can even keep its regular telephone numbers. 3CX allows does not require a complicated installation. In fact, England explained, the advantage of running their software is that it can run on a normal computer with a Windows operating system. Anyone with an understanding of computers and Windows can install and configure the PBX whereas a proprietary phone system often requires an installer trained on that particular proprietary system.

Other advantages of 3CX is that it has a web based configuration interface and is therefore easier to manage. It does not need separate phone wiring and offers significant cost reduction by leveraging the Internet infrastructure. It allows users to hot plug their phone anywhere in the office, so users simply take their phone, plug it into the nearest ethernet port and keep their existing number. It also allows easy roaming and calls can be diverted anywhere in the world because of its Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) characteristics. SIP is an Internet telephony signalling protocol used to establish, modify and terminate VoIP telephone calls. It also allows better reporting and better overview of system status and calls.

An important factor for all clients is the call cost reductions. One can save substantially by using a VoIP service provider for long distance or international calls. One can easily connect phone systems between offices/branches and make free phone calls. “Another cost saving feature is that the system allows you to connect hardware phones directly to a standard computer network port,” England said.

“Software phones can be installed directly onto the PC. This means that you do not need to install & maintain a separate wiring network for the phone system, giving you much greater flexibility to add users and extensions. If you are moving into an office and have not yet installed phone wiring, you can save significantly by just installing a computer network.”

England said the company is always willing to offer support to their clients and are keen to offer advice for their clients to take maximum benefits from the product. The cost savings and benefits of the system makes the procurement of the software a worthy investment to any company.