Enable Tech: Why we threw out our phone system and replaced it with Skype
Enable Tech is a column on design and technology by David Hunt. David has been our operations director from the very start, and has lead the evolution of Enable into one of the most respected and high-quality software development businesses around. David has an uncompromising passion for design, quality and excellence.
An interesting job we tackled as part of our office move was evaluating different telephone systems for the new building.
Enable has for many years used what might charitably be described as a ’standard’ office telephone system.
Low-tech phones were connected by ethernet cable (from which they drew power) to a central server. The server was connected to another mysterious piece of hardware, itself hooked up to the good old BT infrastructure.
Using the telephone was not easy. Setting up speed dial keys was an unintuitive process. Checking your missed calls could be confusing. And organizing a conference call was such a complex operation that specialist one-on-one training would be required first.
More positive aspects of the system were favourable call quality and rock-solid reliability. Truth is, it served us well for many years.