In the first month of using the system the average user call time went from two minutes to 15 seconds. "We would pick everyone up in that time by being able to manage and watch what was happening and move resources around."

"So, from the very first day we put this thing in it started to work. From the very first month we saw a huge return on investment. We saved two salaries (worth A$6000) straight up. We don't know the value of the previously lost opportunities, because we don't know how many [calls didn't get through]. But we saw our sales jump over the next month by 50 percent. It was part marketing, part something else. But the new telephone system had a role in it."

Since then, Accent has Voice over IP-enabled its branches using the Avaya solution. It has nine offices networked from Seven Hills, Penrith, Wollongong and Newcastle, in NSW, and Melbourne.

In addition to improved communication, the company now also saves on the simplest of things - call costs.