Regular readers will already know that Excalibur is a strong advocate of fixed line telephony. Even in this increasingly mobile age, nothing can compete with leased lines in terms of reliability, flexibility and security. Many business simply cannot do without their lines.
Like any technology, the leased line business is yet another technology that prompts as many questions as it answers. In our usual helpful fashion, we are going to address that here. What follows is a basic FAQ of leased lines compiled from the most popular questions asked by the businesses we work with. We hope they help.
What is a leased line?
A leased line is a standard telephone line installed into your building. It is usually a copper pair or fibre optic, but if you’re a cable customer, can be coax too. It can carry voice and data at a range of speeds depending on the technology used.
Why do I need one when I have mobile?
Leased lines offer many advantages over mobile. They are always connected, 24/7/365. They don’t drop a signal like a mobile, they don’t (usually) charge per megabyte either which can offer significant savings to a connected business.
How fast can it go?
The maximum speed of any leased line depends on the technology used, the distance from your local exchange and what you have connected. For copper pairs, the limitation is distance from your exchange but can max out at around 50Mbps. Fibre to the building can offer speeds measured in Gigabits depending on the technology connected at either end.
What will I need to enable a leased line?
Typically, your line vendor will provide everything up to the wall socket. From there it is up to you. Typically you would connect a router or PBX to the line and then take it from there but there are lots of options, including endpoint security.
What level of support can I expect?
Business leased lines come with different tiers of support but most will include live monitoring, 24-hour contact centres, engineer arrival and fix SLAs and uptime guarantees.
Why is a leased line more secure than wireless?
Wireless signals can be harvested from the air with the right knowledge and equipment and is surprisingly easy to do. Unless you encrypt your mobile traffic, that means anyone can see what you’re talking about and potentially access any documents you share. To do the same with a leased line, someone has to physically attach a device into the line which is much harder to do and much easier to detect.
If you would like to know more about leased lines and how they can benefit your business, contact Excalibur today. We’re here to help!
