Recoveries Corporation Group Limited (RCL) has unified three disparate sites and more than 250 mobile and office staff with an enterprise IP telephony system.

The receivables management company ditched its five-year-old Nortel PBX switchboard in October last year to improve efficiency in its high call volume environment.

CIO Mario Anders said RCL could not expand because the Nortel system was too expensive to upgrade.

"It's very difficult to expand with a digital system, and it's very, very expensive. You're virtually buying new systems each time you do it," Anders said.

"We went to IP telephony because it's a national system, and we have staff going between different states.

"RCL wanted an IP system built as an IP system, not an existing system that could be IP enabled. We wanted it designed from the ground up."

Anders said it was too expensive to outfit its new offices in Sydney and Brisbane with the old system.

RCL is also upgrading its network capacity, and installing a VPN between offices to reduce latency and provide remote access for mobile and telecommuting staff.

"We can put a simple DSL line out to someone's home, and can drive the voice and data down the same line."

Anders said it will make working at the company more attractive to potential employees, and improve flexibility for staff.

The company installed NEC's Univerge SV7000 telephony server after evaluating two other vendors.

Customer information pops-up on agent desktops as customers call in, via a computer telephony integration (CTI) feature.

Agents use software to make calls and send faxes, and calls can be diverted to wherever they log on.

Telephone extensions previously had to be patched through as staff relocated.

Anders said RCL went with the decision to implement the NEC system because the company believed the vendor has more telephony experience.