Heres How Manufacturing Companies Gain by Opting for PRI Lines

Summary: Although manufacturing companies have an option to use IP telephony for their regular phone calls, PRI lines help them to handle a bigger call volume. With each line, the organisation gets the ability to make or receive 30 calls simultaneously. Also, the call quality is not affected by bandwidth usage for other data connectivity-related processes.

The manufacturing sector is an essential building block of development in any economy. From the production of industrial equipment and the machines used in agriculture to the consumer goods used in all homes, the domain plays a crucial role in fulfilling the essential needs of people. The operations of this sector are closely related to several other entities – such as their suppliers, engineers, technicians, logistics companies, and final consumers – and it must have effective channels to connect with them. Among other aspects, the choice of technologies used for telecommunications is also significant in this regard.

Even though the low cost of ownership and scalable infrastructure have pushed up the use of IP telephony, the analogue Primary Rate Interface (PRI) lines have maintained their own advantages for business users. From the top leadership that formulates business growth strategies and makes decisions on the adoption of innovative production techniques, to employees who manage plant operations and interact with third parties, everyone working for a manufacturing company can benefit from a PRI service.

PRI lines are installed via ISDN-compatible PBX hardware. Each line delivers 30 channels, allowing a business to run 30 calls simultaneously. Manufacturing companies can, therefore, make use of their old analogue phones that are not entirely compatible with digital IP technology.

The other ways in which PRI setups support manufacturers are:

A high and consistent call quality

Guaranteed quality of service (QoS) is a prime benefit of PRI lines. With IP telephony, voice transmission can be impacted by the distribution of data bandwidth for other purposes. As an example, if someone is communicating with a vendor through a digitally placed call, and other users are simultaneously transmitting large files via the same data connectivity channel, the voice communication quality gets impacted. Network interferences, packet loss and jitter lead to weak voice signals and may disrupt a critical discussion.

A PRI line does not depend on data bandwidth to support voice calls. With its dedicated structure, it consistently offers a high call quality. A PRI connection is, as a result, an excellent option for manufacturing companies where inter-company and external telecommunication with vendors, technicians and clients is a regular practice.

Direct inward dialling (DID) feature

A manufacturing company often gives distinct phone numbers to different departments and managers. This facility enables customers, suppliers, employees and others calling the organisation to contact the concerned team directly. However, with basic PSTN links, giving separate numbers to all departments would involve adding multiple lines in the telecom infrastructure.

PRI offers an advantage here because it comes with 30 channels on a single line, which facilitates the handling of up to 30 simultaneous conversations simultaneously. Moreover, anyone (from outside the office) calling a particular unit can dial in their direct number without having to reach a receptionist on the board number first and then getting transferred to the department’s extension.

Automatic distribution of calls

The manufacturers of consumer durables such as ACs, refrigerators, TVs, computer accessories and kitchen appliances typically run their own contact centres where customers can call in for service bookings and troubleshooting. The agents in these teams experience high call volumes, the management of which becomes easier with PRI lines.

With 30 channels on each line, automatic call distribution (ACD) is a standard feature of PRI lines. If a particular number is busy, the call gets transferred to the next free number, and the caller does not have to wait. This makes PRI the right choice for simultaneous handling of a high number of calls.

Similar Pilot Numbers and simplified billing structure

PRI lines provided by Tata Tele Business Services come with value-added services such as free local CUG and Similar Pilot Numbers (SPNs). The SPNs are particularly useful for large manufacturing companies that have their offices and plants located in different parts of the country. Each workplace can get its own board number respective to the circle or city in which it is based, and these numbers differ only as per the applicable STD codes. With SPNs, the contact numbers of the company get a common branding and become easy to advertise for different offices across cities. They are also easy to remember for customers, vendors and employees.

PRI service also has a pooled billing structure enabling manufacturing companies to manage bill payments easily. It means that even though a single line provides 30 channels, they are all on the same call plan, and the line has one centralised bill.

Security of communication

An organisation that needs to protect its telephonic communication gains more from PRI lines than from IP telephony. The voice signals in PRI setups travel through a privatised telecom network and are not exposed to the threats of the public Internet.

There are frequent discussions on high-value projects between different departments of a manufacturing company. They also collaborate with engineering service providers. PRI lines make for a secure channel for such phone calls.

Summing up

The custom features of PRI lines and their associated features make them a good choice for manufacturing companies where communication is critical to many processes. The network administrators who aim to make collaboration seamless across the organisation can ensure crystal clear quality of phone calls by opting for a PRI line setup. The CFOs and CXOs who look for new ways to streamline costs and improve client experience also derive benefits with simple billing and even call distribution enabled by these lines.

The PRI line connection offered by Tata Tele Business Services also comes with a documented SLA promising 99.5% network uptime and merely 4 hours for MTTR. Ours is a leading brand offering PRI solutions with 30 channels, and a 100 default DID numbers with each line. An assortment of other features customised for business voice solutions is also a part of the package. To know more about our PRI lines, please click https://www.tatateleservices.com/business-services/voice-solutions/pri-lines-service