Why should you have remote access connectivity into your business telephone system? Simply put, remote access to your phone system is the fastest way to fix problems and return communication services to your business. Most problems experienced by business phone systems can be fixed remotely, but even if there has been an electronics failure and a card or board has to be replaced, remote access allows the phone system service provider to better determine the cause of the problem and arrive with the correct part. This decreases the onsite repair time and the number of return visits.

While supporting our PBX maintenance clients around the country, we’re often asked if the client really needs to have remote access available for their phone system. What does this mean? Most PBX phone systems have the ability to install a modem, either internal to the phone system or an external unit connected to a serial port. Newer IP PBX systems can be connected to the company’s intranet and a VPN connection established to a trusted maintenance service provider.

Sometimes a modem for the phone system is an included option when the system is purchased. Modem access is the simplest to get working and once it is setup it just needs a working POTS (plain old telephone service) line connection to have dial-up access to the PBX phone system. VPN access is often faster to use (data rate) and more reliable than modem access, but is more involved to setup and get working.

Are there security concerns with providing remote access to your telephone system? The short answer is yes. Modem access is much more straightforward to setup and nearly all phone systems that support modem connectivity will prompt the modem caller for a username and password before allowing access to the phone system. There are even secure modems available (more costly then a regular modem) that add another layer of username and password security and hang up the phone line if an incorrect username or password are entered. There is also the option of leaving the phone line disconnected from the modem until there is a problem and connecting it after you’ve contacted you maintenance provider. However, as simple as this seems it means that when you have a problem (even after hours) someone from your business needs to travel to the phone system’s location to connect the phone line to the modem. Also, many phone systems can reactively call your maintenance provider to report a problem if the maintenance provider has a monitoring system (this topic is a future post) and that wouldn’t work if the phone line is left disconnected until needed.

Security is something all businesses must consider in today’s hacker happy computer society. However, there is much that can be done to protect your businesses data security and the security of your phone system. First, VPN access is designed to be secure; the way it works is a secure encrypted tunnel is established between two organizations over the Internet between firewalls. There are two caveats with VPN access. The first caveat is that it requires software and sometimes hardware to make it work. Second caveat is that VPNs are a bit complex to setup and it will require the involvement of an IT person who understands how to configure a VPN and how to make changes to your company firewall.

The benefits of enabling remote access to your phone system outweigh the risks. Remote access decreases the amount of time your phone system is down and improves reliability. Remote access also decreases the number of onsite service calls and the parts required to repair your system. Remote telephony access makes good business sense.

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