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How to Green Your Phone Service

Guest post by: Paul Smith

Article Overview: The words sustainability and business phone service don't often get put together, other then, say, consumer long distance and cell phone carriers like Working Assets Credo service and Earth Tones that dedicate a portion of their profits to earth and social positive causes. So it was interesting to hear from someone at Broadcore, a voip phone service provider, who was wondering if I'd be interested in writing about them. Their site doesn't explicitly say they are a green phone service provider, but in explaining the benefits of using their service, it became quite clear that they are just that. Here's how.

How to Green Your Phone Service

The words sustainability and business phone service don't often get put together, other then, say, consumer long distance and cell phone carriers like Working Assets Credo service and Earth Tones that dedicate a portion of their profits to earth and social positive causes. So it was interesting to hear from someone at Broadcore, a voip phone service provider, who was wondering if I'd be interested in writing about them.

Their site doesn't explicitly say they are a green phone service provider, but in explaining the benefits of using their service, it became quite clear that they are just that.

How so?

They provide the same service as would be provided by a traditional PBX system, minus the on site equipment. Aside from freeing up space that would otherwise be taken up by the PBX gear, it also frees up company IT resources to be used elsewhere, rather then needing to maintain equipment, have more of it than you need to acommodate future needs, physically install new lines, and perform repairs as needed. All of this can be now managed by the Broadcore, whose customer support is domestically based in Los Angeles.

Another example: When they roll out additional features, it doesn't mean that you need to upgrade your equipment. Like the iPhone, new facets and capabilities are enabled by a carrier grade soft switch. (translation: they make the transition/expansion of your services gentle) And, rather then having to pay and work through multiple separate vendors (local, long distance, PBX equipment, broadband, conferencing, etc) they offer all of this.

The Broadcore rep who wrote us made some additional points worth considering: By offering a phone service that allows the workforce to be distributed rather then requiring physical proximity, this creates a reduction of emissions. If each person consumes an average of 10 gallons gas a week commuting, equaling 40-45 gallons a month, ~20 lbs of emissions per gallon, that's nearly 900 pounds eliminated, per employee.

And, with a reduced need for work space on a full time basis, companies minimize the need for physical office space, in the process reducing their carbon footprint, both per employee and of their facility energy needs, among other things. As one customer of Broadcore put it,

"Broadcore implemented our service before we had a physical office space, so we were in business and generating revenue even without an office."

Now it could be said that other VOIP providers offer much the same thing, what makes Broadcore different? One clear thing is their focus on their own staff's satisfaction and engagement with the company, rather then treating them like a disposable, cost saving resource, to be outsourced to the cheapest bidder. Being a socially responsible company means more then looking out for your customers and the planets needs. When you have a well treated staff, they stay with you longer, treat customers better, and create a momentum that other, high turnover companies can't match by brute force.

If you're ready to make how your company manages its communications and operations greener, Broadcore may be just the company to go with.

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