NEW SERVICE GUARANTEES SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESSES NEVER MISS A CALL AGAIN

Totem provides improved customer experience with Net-Planner

MANCHESTER, UK, 14-03-06 - Totem Communications, the UK's leading provider of inbound call handling solutions, today announced the launch of Net-Planner, a new service aimed at small and medium businesses wanting to take control of their inbound call handling. Totem's Net-Planner offers flexible working and maximises business efficiency by ensuring that every call is answered, leading to an overall enhanced customer experience.

Net-Planner will be distributed through Totem certified channel partners, who will have numerous benefits by adding this service to their portfolio. This new 'off the shelf' service which is available from March 20th, not only benefits partners by having no initial set-up charge, but also represents an additional revenue stream opportunity enabling partners to target different vertical markets.

Net-Planner is a flexible network based service where end users can execute instant changes to their inbound call routing via a web interface in real time to guarantee that no calls are missed. The standard 'off the shelf' service which hosts configurable daily hours of operation cover over 3 Time Zones and 'Out of Hours' options can be provisioned within hours and removes the requirement for bespoke solutions.

Net-Planner which facilitates a first 'Voicemail to e-mail' service of its kind also has a built in disaster recovery function which allows alternate numbers to become active if main targets are unavailable is aimed particularly at SMEs considering disaster recovery policies.

The service provides further 'real time' options in addition to the base service including customer configurable announcements, Call Recording, Mid Call Transfer and Network Whisper functionality. Being a network based solution, Net-Planner is scaleable and does not require end users to have expensive premise IT equipment and to pay maintenance costs. The only requirements for end users are standard interfaces and telephony protocols. The ultimate benefit of Net-Planner is the increase of customer satisfaction as all calls are answered quickly and efficiently.

"Effective inbound call handling can make the difference between business success and failure for the nearly 4 million small and medium enterprises in the UK", comments Barry King, Product Manager at Totem Communications. "We have added value to the inbound call handling market, irrespective of whether the call is from a fixed line or a mobile, and it is through this value-add that revenues and margins can be optimised. Net-Planner effectively lends itself to flexible working on the move and businesses will notice a significant increase in efficiency", adds King.

"Net-Planner is a cost effective solution for businesses that are technology challenged and don't have an Information Communication Technology (ICT) expertise as they would not need to understand complex CPE based hardware and software issues to deploy our service."