Internet telephony (IP telephony) is one of the major topics for the future. Bayer Business Services is at the forefront in the deployment of this cost-saving technology. With the help of innovative Bayer Business Services solutions, IP telephony has become a reality for more than one thousand employees at the new headquarters of Bayer MaterialScience.
Bayer Business Services launched IP telephony in early 2005 with a pilot installation on its own premises to get experience with the new technology. The results were positive in every respect, and additional projects were started. In September 2006, for example, Bayer Business Services installed 160 IP telephones on schedule for Bayer Direct Services.
Board members’ offices are also being converted
The new corporate headquarters of Bayer MaterialScience is the largest of these projects. The company is placing great faith in the technology: The offices of the Board of Management and the call center agents in the Regional Service Center (RSC) for international sales and marketing are being converted to IP telephony.A major factor in the decision to go with IP telephony was the reduced costs incurred when employees move. This requires the installation of an innovative building network to make the building “IPT ready.” Thus equipped, the employees simply take their phones with them and connect them to a free data outlet. The telephone is recognized automatically and all calls are received at the new workplace.
To be used in all regions
An international team from Bayer Business Services has developed a global concept for IP telephony, and projects based on it are currently under way in all regions. The Shanghai and Pittsburgh sites together use well over 2,500 IP telephones, and the innovative technology was rolled out to all the sites in Mexico beginning in late 2006.A look into the future promises even more: The “soft phone” solution works without any telephone at all. The computer relays the call, which is accepted on a headset. This also applies if the employee is working from home, since even there the company laptop reacts to calls placed to the office number. Pilot projects are already under way. It will also be possible to use wireless LAN technology not only for laptops, but also for “wireless LAN phones.” Here, too, initial testing is ongoing at Bayer MaterialScience headquarters.
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