How fixed and mobile reinforce each other

Orange Shape & Fix is a global telecom solution for business telephony and internet. “It includes mobile telephony and data as well as fixed telephony and broadband internet access via VDSL2,” Orange Product Manager B2B Chris Dubois adds. “We target large and small organisations and their business locations,” he says. “Our simple range is reliable and clear to customers, which makes all the difference on the market.”

Chris Dubois has seen that companies and their employees are becoming increasingly mobile. “However, they still see fixed telephony – and a fixed number in particular – as a necessity, also because many companies have their own local telephone exchange.” This statement is confirmed by the figures of the recent Beltug survey, which show that the vast majority of companies still have a fixed line.

And yet there are also companies and employees who only want to use mobile devices, yet still want to have a fixed number. They can go for the Orange Shape & Fix Comfort formula, which is a fixed and mobile combination that ensures permanent availability on a single number. "This percentage falls slightly when considering only companies with 10 employees or less," says Chris Dubois.

Available anywhere

The combination of fixed and mobile connections is a good example of convergence. “We can use the fixed connection to place so-called Network Extenders inside the company premises depending on the mobile service. This technology allows employees to make mobile calls indoors form the office at all times. The reception of mobile networks is sometimes compromised indoors because of the current building regulations and insulation standards, for example,” he says. “We make every effort to ensure all our customers receive the best possible service. This is even easier for our Shape & Fix customers, because we can use their fixed line to guarantee their mobile service,” Chris Dubois says. 

Extra reliability

Another effect of converging fixed and mobile connections is extra business continuity. “A Shape & Fix customer can always continue working, even if something were to go wrong”, he says. “For example, in the event the VDSL line fails – which hardly ever happens – we will transfer all numbers linked to that line to another number already pre-set in the system”, Chris Dubois explains. “This conversion will happen automatically, partly because we proactively monitor all lines.”

Customers can rely on their mobile phones to make outgoing calls in case of any problems with the VDSL line. “We provide a so-called 4G backup connection that will take over automatically in case the internet connection fails,” Chris Dubois says.

According to Chris Dubois, there are many more advantages to Shape & Fix than these backup facilities alone. The interaction between fixed and mobile connections will ensure that companies can continue to operate at all times. 

Source: BELTUG, Belgian Association of Digital Technology Leaders, ICT Market Trends Survey, 2016