Solutions
Businesses in Germany that want a reliable cloud communications solution have been turning to Placetel since its launch in 2008. One of the first such solutions in Germany, the Placetel product was originally developed as a pure cloud PBX service. Today Cisco Placetel can be used on any device, and offers intelligent routing plans, a growing third-party ecosystem, mobile extensions and the option to integrate Cisco Webex for conferencing and collaboration – making them one of the most relevant and versatile cloud communication providers in Germany.
Using a dedicated self-service portal, Cisco Placetel customers can order new numbers or add any of the 150 available features and options to their service. Colt acted as a key carrier behind the Placetel service since the start, providing Carrier Number Hosting Trunk over IP VPN circuits into Cisco Placetel data centers which was used for outbound voice termination of domestic voice minutes in Germany.
Observing the growing demand of Germany-headquartered businesses that wanted to roll out a consistent cloud communications solution to their subsidiaries across Europe, Cisco Placetel’s Head of Product Management, Frank Wutzler, turned to Colt with the intention to enhance Cisco Placetel’s international numbers offering to a fully localised PSTN service.
A fully localised PSTN service in 13 countries
To support the enhancement of Cisco Placetel’s geographical capabilities, Colt implemented its Wholesale Carrier Number Hosting service with local SIP trunks and Numbers on Demand Online Portal, enabling Cisco Placetel to now offer German customers a full carrier-grade PSTN service at their subsidiaries in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden and the UK.
"With Colt Number Hosting, we can provide a fully localised PSTN service that gives customers a consistent experience across 13 countries with the low latency that ensures high-quality voice calls and conferencing. The Colt service includes emergency calling, so customers don't need any other telephony service; and real local PSTN numbers that meet European B2B market demand for CLI presentation." Frank Wutzler, Head of Product Management Placetel, Cisco
The intuitive, dedicated Colt Numbers on Demand portal makes it straightforward for the Cisco Placetel number management team to reserve and activate numbers, and manage requests to port customers' PSTN numbers to the Colt network.
"With Colt, we have the simplicity of working with a single European provider that's a licensed carrier in all 13 markets, and has the expertise to take care of regulatory compliance in each one." Frank Wutzler, Head of Product Management Placetel, Cisco. "Having 13 countries available through Colt Wholesale Carrier Number Hosting is great for our reputation, allowing us to become known on the market not just as a German player, but also as a European player."
Ready for today, fit for the future
Colt deployed the Wholesale Carrier Number Hosting service on a shared capacity basis. Instead of managing capacity per country, Colt maintains a pool of available channels across all 13. This approach enabled Cisco Placetel to confidently go to market with the Placetel service across Europe, knowing they could quickly onboard customer sites in any of the countries. “Having 13 countries available in full carrier-grade through Colt Wholesale Carrier Number Hosting is great for our reputation, allowing us to become increasingly known in the market as a European player,” says Frank. And if, in the future, customers ask for Placetel service in yet more locations, Frank knows that Colt will be able to extend geographic coverage of the service quickly and easily, including to countries in Eastern Europe and the Nordics. There’s also the option to use Colt’s API capabilities to help scaleup operations and provide further efficiencies.
