Bauernfeind Business Technologies Launches Communications Division

Marshfield-based technology solutions provider Bauernfeind Business Technologies, Inc. (BBT) has announced the creation of their managed voice division. BBT Communications will build on the company’s 70-years of offering best-in-class solutions for organizations of all sizes.

The company has offered cloud-based phone solutions for several years, but the launch of the new division represents an increased focus on this segment of the company’s portfolio.

“We’ve heard from a number of our customers that are frustrated with their current phone system,” explains Paul Knoff, Sales Director at BBT. “A lot of them signed up with national carriers who provided a good solution at first, but have now outsourced support overseas.”

In investigating potential partnerships, U.S.-based support was a must for BBT, says Knoff.

BBT recently entered into a partnership with Konica Minolta Unified Communications, which uses Cisco’s powerful WebEx platform for their cloud-based communications solutions.

“We use the system ourselves and we’ve been blown away with the reliability, features and customer support,” Knoff says. Prior to switching to WebEx, BBT had different solutions for phone service, team collaboration, messaging and video conferencing, they now rely on WebEx for all of those services.

While compliance has been lagging in rural parts of the country, the FCC Forbearance Order of 2019 essentially set the clock ticking toward the elimination of all “copper” phone lines, also known as POTS lines. While many in the area are still using the old landline technology, the cost of these lines has been increasing as telecommunication providers try to phase them out.

BBT’s solution is a cloud-based, Voice Over Internet Protocol, or “VoIP”, solution. VoIP solutions offer tremendous flexibility for the end user. Many VoIP customers don’t have desk phones; they just use their PC or smartphone.

“There is no question cloud-based communication is the future and we’ve done our homework to find what we feel is the very best solution on the market,” Knoff says.