AnswerPhone manages high caller volume by leveraging dedicated fiber network

“Our reliability is central to what we have to offer our clients. Having Spectrum Business as a technology partner we can count on is very important to our business.”

Edward Dybas, Director of Special Projects, AnswerPhone

AnswerPhone, an Albany, New York-based answering service, wanted to improve its reliability and responsiveness. To make this happen, they collaborated with Spectrum Business on a complete network upgrade.

Founded nearly a century ago, AnswerPhone serves over 3,000 businesses, government agencies and non-profit organizations across the nation. It operates in three call center locations in New York, North Carolina and Georgia.

“We field about 15,000 calls per day,” says Edward Dybas, Director of Special Projects, AnswerPhone. “Sometimes we will have as many as 250 simultaneous calls at any given moment. We wanted a solution that can handle all that without blipping out, choppiness or static.”

A software-defined wide area network, or SD-WAN, was established to simplify and strengthen network connectivity. Control of the entire network was centralized using a cloud-based app accessible from any mobile or laptop device. Managed firewall protection to detect and prevent cyberattack runs 24/7/365. All these features were introduced with the installation of Managed Network Edge by Spectrum Business.

Another network need was stronger fiber connectivity to enable additional network capacity for multiple failover options in case of a circuit break. Spectrum Business suggested a strategy of setting up separate internet connections at every major AnswerPhone location.

Three fiber circuits, one for each AnswerPhone location, ensure all call centers always stay online. These circuits also improve signal strength to all locations. “Voices now come through more clearly, with minimal delay,” Dybas says. “Call quality is right where we need it to be.”

The circuits provide high speed, low latency connectivity with 24/7/365 monitoring and Spectrum Business service level agreements guaranteeing 100% uptime. As AnswerPhone grows its business, they also can expand their bandwidth many times over by utilizing the scalability of Dedicated Fiber Internet (DFI).