Hoby said the company sought a new phone system that could accommodate growth.

"We spent about a year looking at different solutions that would complement our existing network model; we needed to communicate seamlessly across our branch network which meant staying constantly in touch without driving call costs through the roof," he said.

The solution uses three Business Communication Manager (BCM) 400s at each site and Nortel IP handsets for desktop users. Nortel gigabit switches were installed at the Adelaide branch to provide Power over Ethernet for the handsets, while voicemail and unified messaging have been integrated into the platform.

Nortel Australia and New Zealand enterprise networks general manager Nick Avakian said the ability to maintain legacy systems can be crucial to business.

"Companies looking to migrate their older telephone systems to IP telephony often need a step-up to the new technology without sacrificing any of the features or writing off their investments in analogue handsets," Avakian said, adding that scalability was another important feature.