Speedline can assist you in lowering your information technology costs and with increasing employee
	productivity with the help of our Internet Protocol (IP) telephony solutions.
 	
	The quick-read article below (Financial Post, March 03, 2003) outlines more of the benefits that you
	can receive by using this technology in your business or organization.
	
	Let's discuss how the Speedline team can help you take advantage of IP telephony today.
	Contact Joe Johnston jjohnston@speedline.ca  (905) 721-8000 ext. 305 for more information.
	
	
	
	A Telephone Network For Today's Fast Pace
		 Saves Hours Of Labour
		 	Phone Tag Reduced By 25 Days A Year For Each Employee

		By Bruce Gillespie - Financial Post (March 03, 2003)
	
	At a time when business managers are expected to do more with less money and fewer staff, a
	new study suggests that using Internet Protocol (IP) telephony can not only help business
	lower information technology costs, but also substantially increase employee productivity.

	The report from Sage Research Inc., of Natick, Mass., surveyed 100 information technology (IT)
	decision-makers at companies that had recently installed telephone systems operating on Internet
	Protocol (IP). Although 75% of respondents say their original intent in switching to IP telephony
	was to save money on telecommunication costs, two-thirds say their companies gained significant
	competitive advantages because of the time saved by using the new system.

	"It was really a big surprise to us," says Kathryn Korostoff, president of Sage Research. "We were
	expecting some productivity benefits, but we weren't expecting them to be nearly as extensive as
	they turned out to be."

	One of the most interesting aspects of the study was that respondents were able to quantify exactly
	how much time they saved by using Internet Protocol telephony. For example, one way IPT increases
	productivity is by reducing the time it takes to add, change or move telephones on standard digital
	or analog telephone systems.

	With IPT, a handset can be moved quickly to a new location by the employee who uses it. According
	to research findings, that saves IT staff an "average of 1 1/2 hours per move.

	"That really floored me," Ms. Korostoff says. " I had no idea there were so many workspace nomads,
	but apparently people do move a lot. And if you think about how many moves that could be for the IT
	staff of a big company to manage, you can really see how that would suck up a lot of time."

	The study also reveals that an IPT system can shave almost four weeks off the time required to open
	a new office, and it reduces the time employees spend playing telephone tag with each other by 25 days
	a year per employee.

	Survey respondents also indicate an IPT system can save 13 hours a month per IT employee in time the
	person normally would spend travelling to different offices to fix problems, and an additional 5 1/2 hours
	a week helping telephone users operate the special features on their phones.

	All of those productivity gains add up to a strong competitive advantage, according to the report.
	"It makes sense," Ms. Korostoff says. If IT staff and employees in general spend less time trying to
	figure out how to use their telephones properly, they have more time to work with customers.

	Ms. Korostoff says one of the major reasons why IPT saves employee users and IT staff so much time is
	because the interfaces are so easy to use. "To be honest, a lot of the same features have been available
	on (digital or analog telephone systems) for years," such as "follow me" capabilities, redirecting calls
	to an employee's primary phone line to her cellular phone or another extension in the building or another
	office (which results in less time spent checking voice mail, since calls follow people). "The difference
	is that people can actually use those features now because of the user interface."

	IPT systems also rate highly with employees who telecommute or work in remote offices. "It's always been
	a big problem for network managers and telecommunication managers because very often the remote offices
	have a different phone system than the head office," Ms. Korostoff explains.

	Being connected to an IPT system means they now have easy access to the same telephone system used at
	head office, resulting in improved telecommuter productivity.

	- Financial Post businessedge@nationalpost.com

   					                -30-

	For more information on Speedline's Internet Protocol (IP) telephony solutions contact Joe Johnston jjohnston@speedline.ca
	(905) 721-8000 ext. 305
	
	
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