We think of landline phones as essential tools for any business, but in an era where every staff member will have their own mobile phone, does that really make sense? Apparently, 60 per cent of business phone lines in Australia are never used to make phone calls.
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That figure comes courtesy of respected industry newsletter CommsDay (which is subscription-only, so we can’t link directly). While not all phone lines need to make calls — a tiny proportion might be for security or monitoring services, and some phone lines might justify their cost via incoming calls from customers — that still suggests that lots of businesses are paying for a facility they never use. That’s particularly galling given that business lines often attract a premium (which is supposed to cover better service if there’s a problem).
What happens in your workplace? Do you make all your calls on your own mobile, or consciously switch to using the “work phone” for outgoing calls? Tell us in the comments.
Comments
11 responses to “Does Anyone Use The Landline Phone At Your Workplace?”
Seems unbelievable to me given in my workplace EVERYONE uses a landline at least sometimes.. Even if just to receive calls.. I myself only use my mobile for work when i’m out of the office, and many people infact refuse to use their mobile for work unless the business provides them one.. Which they don’t, since they don’t need to be contactable out of the office.. so they just use the landlines..
If SOME people in my office (not 60% just some) didn’t, then I might believe this…
All general phones at my workplace are VOIP except for one landline, which is kept for emergencies.
I use my work phone a fair amount. Incoming and out going calls
Though its a VoIP phone.
Does VoIP count?
I use the VoIP desk phone almost exclusively when I’m in the office.
I’ll make people call me back if they try the work mobile.
The desk phone, with its traditional size and shape, is just fair easier.
Especially since the work-provided mobile is a rubbish 7 year old Nokia dumb-phone.
I am struggling to think of any of my client base that don’t use a landline, even at my office, we have 4 people, 3 lines, which as actively being used throughout the day. I would like to see how they came up with the 60% figure, as I can barely get 1% not using a landline…
Home users on the other hand, I would assume 60% at least would not make calls, the only reason most people I know still have landlines is because they cannot get naked ADSL2+.
We have one landline at work and nobody makes outgoing calls on it. And that’s with a staff of 40+. Everyone else uses mobile.
when i have a mobile option my work phone is tucked behind my computer somewhere with forward turned on.
I don’t really care which device i use but i really miss my bluetooth head set function (i am probably about to buy a land line adaptor) and it really shits me not having address box interaction, i receive a lot of calls and would like to prioritise them, apparently we are getting an application that will flash incoming calls on our laptops with address box integration.
Yeah does voip count?
I make tons of calls to internal numbers, its far easier than sending an email for a short question across floors.
Lync is good for this too, but sometimes its still easier just to call.
My dad is a one-man home small business operator and he solely uses landline and fax. Landline and fax aren’t dead, at least not yet.
As I said he operates from home therefore he has no need for a mobile phone. If he does go out then there’s usually someone at home to man the phone. If not, then the answering machine is the backup.
I work in Telco, and would agree with commsday’s finding, but it is misleading.
Australia has three main types of fixed telephone services: 1. PSTN, 2. ISDN, 3. VoIP.
PSTN services are the bulk of most businesses phone bill, and many services aren’t used to make calls for one of three reasons: 1. They are redundant and nobody’s realized this or are too afraid to cancel the service. 2. They are used for ADSL, Fax, Elevator or Alarm. 3. They are used only for inbound calls.
If you have a phone system, you commonly attach 4 or 6 PSTN lines (or use ISDN). The phone system will always use line 1 to make a call, unless it’s in use then it will use line 2. … So, it’s extremely rare for lines 3 and 4 ever to be used to make calls, but businesses keep them so their customers who are calling never get an engaged signal.
Suffice to say “never used to make calls” doesn’t mean “never carries voice calls” and certainly doesn’t mean “aren’t needed by the business”.
A single ISDN 2 service carries two simultaneous voice calls, it can have any number of inbound numbers associated (eg. it can have 100 phone numbers, but only carry two calls at a time). A single ISDN 30 service carries thirty simultaneous voice calls. How does commsday count these services? (Is an ISDN 30 with 100 numbers as 1 service, 30 or 100?)
Commsday analysis would not include VoIP calls – so a PSTN service with DSL and VoIP would “not make calls”.
To answer the lifehacker question: Almost all business with more than 1 employee would use fixed services to make calls. They are more reliable and better quality than mobile, and business features (like inbound numbers, call redirection etc.) are really not supported on the mobile network.
Can calls be recorded and centrally stored if mobile phones are used? I work in finance and all the calls are recorded (so that if there is an argument over deals, it can be dealt with), so all calls are made using the VoIP desk phones and no mobiles are used.
only ever use the landline at work.
dont want a mobile for work, then people assume you are contactable all the time.
i have better things to do and think about when i leave my desk for the day