Archive for category: Business Communication

Business Phones and Mobile Networks

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The use of the Internet for business phones is quite accepted and common. It is slowly gaining acceptance across all businesses. Though pioneered by large companies that saw an immediate cut in expenditures, small and medium businesses have now latched on and are using it to increase their business. Business phones are going to a face a huge competition in terms of Internet of Things.

Internet of Things (IoT) is a system where the computing devices are interrelated with unique identifiers. Data can be transferred through them without the requirement of human to computer or human to human interaction. The end device in an IoT network can be a farm animal that has a biochip installed in it, a person with an implanted heart monitor, or even an automobile that has built in sensors in it. The thing will become a ‘thing’ in IoT when an IP address is assigned to it.

As IoT gains usage, there will be innovative ideas for providing services to different spheres of businesses in addition to business phones. The commercial models, that are emerging from IoT promise to make exponential growth in the mobile network. There will be innovation in efficiency of networks, service delivery, and other factors.

IoT will change the system in the sense that mobile phones will not primarily be used for communication. As the use cases will be varied, they will pose a challenge to the networks to make their system more efficient, agile and automated.

Starting Point

With IoT in full operation, this world will be better connected and networks have to decide their role in it. Obviously their operating framework and position in the market will be the key players. The carriers will need to focus on the network developers, service enablers and service creators.

The main focus will be on the core connectivity of the system where service level of the networks must be managed efficiently. The service enablers will create such platforms on which new services can be created. And, of course, the responsibility of the service creators will be to control the entire connectivity and the system. Mobile networks will be the core point in all these.

Networks Evolution & Business Phones

As already mentioned, just like mobile business phones are cases for broadband, there will be numerous cases for IoT. Obviously cellular will be an attractive operating base for it, as cellular is licensed spectrum in contrast to LPWAN that is an unlicensed spectrum.

To support these change it is necessary that developments are sought after in Mobile networks too. Nobody knows which case will be chosen by which industry for their communication when IoT becomes prevalent in almost every industry. The main focus of cellular technology has been on human to machine consumption. With IoT use cases, this will change and it will require fresh performance in terms of everything – cost, security, capacity, latency, reliability, uptime, etc.

Presently in the US, assuming every human being is a using a cellular device, we have some 320 million mobile connections. Add some 250 more of existing IoT devices. These numbers will pale into oblivion when some billion or more devices get connected in the next few years. Image ten or more devices for every human being, and we are talking in the range of 3-4 billion devices being connected. At least half of these will be connected through mobile networks.

With time, there will be multiple layers of technology. The challenge that has to be met by the networks is to meet this technological advancement

The Networks Evolution

Presently, the networks are evolving from GSM to LTE. The gap between them is covered by 3GPP – REL 1. With EC-GSM, it will be possible to support cases that have deep indoor coverage and also long battery life. These will be typically useful in smart buildings, smart meters and agricultural sector where small amount of data will be transferred to the network. For dealing with bigger amount of data there will be LTE-M.

With IoT, the mobile network providers are also keen to develop their system and be a part of this revolution. By 2020 5G spectrum will be there to support all these devices that will be operating on IoT technology.

About PhoneAM

At Phone America, we have the knowledge and experience to prepare a blueprint for your shift to VoIP. Call us today and we will guide you through the whole process.

Phone America Corporation is a leading supplier of advanced telecom systems for small and large businesses. We serve as a single point of contact for today’s growing communication needs, offering a wide range of telephone equipment, wiring, surveillance systems, telephone cost accounting systems, and voice processing systems.

Call (800) 836-3601 for a free evaluation of your current system and the system you will need to carry your business into the FUTURE.

SIP Trunking Benefits Business

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SIP TrunkingSession Initiation Protocol (SIP) Trunking helps Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs) to deliver telephone services and several unified communications to customers that are equipped with SIP-based private branch exchange (IP-PBX) and facilities that support Unified Communications.

Of late, all the major as well as medium scale business houses are vying for SIP Trunking as this new technology is a major trendsetter in the world of telecommunication and easily affordable. Here are 6 ways in which this new technology benefits today’s business fraternity. First let us look at three main reasons for the success of SIP.

  • SIP Trunking makes it much easier for the businesses to deliver as well as manage cloud communications services, and migrate from the conventional PSTN to VoIP technology.
  • SIP Trunking require negligible CAPEX requirement. This means, businesses can continue using the same features that they receive with their local PBX.
  • SIP Trunks are delivered over IP and hence, they are available wherever there is broadband service. With the more and more availability of broadband, an increasing number of are coming up to enjoy the privileges of SIP Trunking.

Now let us discuss the 6 ways in which SIP Trunking can help a business.

(1) Faster Growth:

By using effective networking to combine data and voice, SIP Trunk is unparalleled when it comes to connecting distantly located businesses to expand and help a company to expand its geographic voice and the core data system. Most importantly, in doing so, the technology can dramatically curtail the cost of making and taking overseas calls.

(2) Almost Infinite Scalability

Be it a single shop business or a larger SMB, SIP Trunking technology represents absolute freedom from expensive infrastructure and the so called ‘buying for the future’ capital expenditure. Businesses can come up with a minimal setup depending upon the requirement and then expand it as and when the business grows, to match the needs – and the entire process is extremely simple.

(3) Save 40% On ISDN or Other Systems

As per experts, the average savings that companies around the world have enjoyed because of using SIP Trunking technology is whopping 30%-60%. This figure is really awe-inspiring, so far as PBX investment by a company is concerned, for the purpose of maintaining its IP infrastructure and acquiring the least equipment required to convert the existing system to SIP Trunking. It is here, where the real cost savings start.

(4) Get Rid of Missed Calls

This helps companies to get rid of issues of missed calls, especially when an employee is in a meeting, on move, or is working in a remote place. In these situations, their calls are automatically diverted or routed to their mobile phones. The same can be done with a call that has landed in a line that is busy or in an office that has closed for the day. This ensures that businesses never miss any customer simply because they were unable to receive a call, whatever be the reason behind that.

(5) More Efficiency in Communications

This new technology not only streamlines all the communication channels, it opens up a lot of communication options, even when an employee is working remotely or is on the move. For instance, even when an employee is working remotely, the individual has the option of using voice calls, instant messaging, video conferencing, and the likes to get in touch with a customer, irrespective of his location and regardless of the time of day or night. So virtually, businesses can be in touch with their customers 24×7, if they feel like.

(6) Quick ROI

The Return on Investment is almost instantaneous. Businesses generally start seeing the change within 6 months of installing SIP Trunking. Once the technology is installed, there is no need to make a recurrent payment for the equipment or service that is futuristic at present. It becomes possible for businesses to maximize existing Internet bandwidth by simply adding voice traffic to the existing service. Last but not the least; they can significantly reduce your monthly telephone bills.

About PhoneAM

At PhoneAM, we have the knowledge and experience to prepare a blueprint for your shift to VoIP. Call us today and we will guide you through the whole process.

PhoneAmerica Corporation is a leading supplier of advanced telecommunication systems for small and large business environments. A total service company, PhoneAmerica serves as a single point of contact for today’s growing communication needs, offering a wide range of telephone equipment, wiring, surveillance systems, telephone cost accounting systems, and voice processing systems.

Please call (800) 836-3601 for a free evaluation of your current system and the system you will need to carry your business into the FUTURE.

Small Business Should Use VoIP

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VoIP Telephone Wilmington DECompetition in the market is compelling several businesses into trying out several innovative business processes making changes to the existing ones. This has led to the use of latest communication systems like VoIP.

Voice over Internet Protocol is the a technology that holds the potential of bringing a sea change in enterprise communication. In order to stay in the market and compete with the giants, smaller businesses can leverage the communication power of VoIP to at level the playing ground. Investments on the appropriate business phone systems can help smaller companies reap huge dividends in the coming years.

Businesses across the globe are switching to VoIP as it is definitely the future of enterprise communication. One of the recent surveys revealed that about 41% of the smaller businesses across the world are migrating to the VoIP systems as that facilitates faster and effective communications. The businesses that have not yet shifted to VoIP are in the process of shifting and the day is not far when the traditional phone lines will be completely replaced by VoIP. So what special features or advantages are being offered by VoIP that companies are queuing up for adopting it?

Here are some of the most compelling reasons behind making a switch to VoIP.

VoIP Has Unbeatable Features

Smaller companies often face the problem of projecting a very professional image in front of their customers. The reason behind this is the lack of capital investments on getting swanky commercial spaces for office or hiring adequate workforce for handling customers. Now, a switch to VoIP helps them to establish a state-of-the-art communication system at their offices. This automatically presents a very professional image to the customers who call up the office. Thus, even the smallest business in the city can project a very professional image to its customers. There are several features like automatic call routing, call attendant, music on hold etc. that creates the best possible process to handle calls. Besides this you can even integrate the VoIP with existing CRM and email systems that enable effective and efficient call handling.

VoIP Provides Substantial Savings

VoIP can help the smaller companies save thousands of dollars annually that they otherwise would spend on paying hefty telephone bills. Instead they can invest the money on core business areas like marketing and production. This would help the companies to pull in the right amount of fund for core business activities and not spend unnecessarily on communication systems. Organizations will never have to pay for multiple lines and they can even make free calls within the network.

VoIP Enables Enhanced Productivity

The smaller organizations will be better placed by cutting down the losses they usually incurred for maintaining the legacy systems. VoIP telephony solution will free up the resources (both monetary as well as human) to be used for more productive business purpose. Enhanced productivity will lead to greater profits, which would immensely help in the organization’s growth.

Enables Improvement In Service

The switch to VoIP will definitely make it easier for you to provide customer support. You will able to use the latest telephony features like Find Me/Follow Me and video conferencing to provide real time support and service to your customers. This will give rise to a huge number of satisfied customers.

There are several other benefits which can be realized after switching to VoIP and SMBs will be able to create an efficient communication solution to handle all types of business communication with ease.

About PhoneAM

At PhoneAM, we have the knowledge and experience to prepare a blueprint for your shift to VoIP. Call us today and we will guide you through the whole process.

PhoneAmerica Corporation is a leading supplier of advanced telecommunication systems for small and large business environments. A total service company, PhoneAmerica serves as a single point of contact for today’s growing communication needs, offering a wide range of telephone equipment, wiring, surveillance systems, telephone cost accounting systems, and voice processing systems.

Please call (800) 836-3601 for a free evaluation of your current system and the system you will need to carry your business into the FUTURE.

5 Reasons Why Your Business Should Be Transitioned to VoIP

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Business CommunicationVoIP has completely changed the way we communicate as it not only saves a lot of money but even improve the performance of businesses. The cloud based telephone system is a winner all the way because it comes with loads of benefits and features. If you are still apprehensive about the idea of making a switch to the VoIP then here is a list of 5 compelling reasons to do so:

VoIP Cuts Communication Costs

This is probably the most debated benefit of VoIP communication systems. The patrons of VoIP believe that it can help businesses save a great amount of money. Telephone bills often go over the roof in case your business is expanding and your office employees are making numerous long distance or overseas calls. In a conventional PSTN telephone network, the calls are transmitted over the conventional telecommunication lines whereas VoIP just uses the existing internet connection to transmit the calls. This implies that you only pay for the internet usage and the calls are almost free. People using the same VoIP application like Gtalk or Skype can even make free calls (both national and international), which can helps companies save a lot of money.

VoIP Delivers Rich Media Service

The old telephone systems that we use offers only voice calls and fax service, which is quite limited when compared to the rich media services offered by VoIP. Some of the advanced media services that employees often demand are instant messaging, video/voice calls, image transfer and presence. VoIP is a technology that facilitates the integration of rich media services with different applications and protocols. The modern communication needs of businesses make it mandatory to use media services and only VoIP offers the option to users. Thus, in order to stay connected and enjoy smooth communication, it is imperative that businesses migrate to VoIP.

Mobility Is In-Built in VoIP

The phone number portability feature offered by VoIP gives mobility a huge boost. The users need not use their deskphones only and they can set up ringing of multiple phones before moving to the voicemail. Thus, callers will never really miss out and you too would be able to attend to all customer queries with ease. The best thing about the VoIP is that the numbers are portable and you can use your phone from anywhere as long as you can connect to your IP network. This offers a huge amount of flexibility to the workers who can make or receive calls even when they are not present at their desks.

VoIP is Scalable

The primary concern of every growing business is the scalability feature of their communication systems in order to accommodate more lines or users. VoIP is a highly scalable communication technology wherein you will be easily able to upgrade or downgrade the system as per your requirement. This is completely missing from the legacy business telephone systems as you will need to add more equipment and lines in order to accommodate more users. On the other hand when you are using VoIP, this can be achieved by simply subscribing for a higher package and using the administrative controls to add more numbers to the network.

VoIP Offer Advanced Telephony Features

VoIP communication systems come loaded with unbeatable advanced telephony features, which you will never find on the legacy telephone systems. Some of the advanced telephony features that you can expect to avail while using VoIP systems are Find me/Follow me Call Routing, Voicemail to Email transcription, Music on Hold, analytic reports on bandwidth utilization and call details (inbound and outbound), Call screening, Coaching tools, Auto Attendant, Conferencing, Do not Disturb etc.

It is really unwise to ignore all the benefits offered VoIP so every intelligent business owner will definitely move to the latest VoIP communication systems.

About PhoneAM

At PhoneAM, we have the knowledge and experience to prepare a blueprint for your shift to VoIP. Call us today and we will guide you through the whole process.

PhoneAmerica Corporation is a leading supplier of advanced telecommunication systems for small and large business environments. A total service company, PhoneAmerica serves as a single point of contact for today’s growing communication needs, offering a wide range of telephone equipment, wiring, surveillance systems, telephone cost accounting systems, and voice processing systems.

Please call (800) 836-3601 for a free evaluation of your current system and the system you will need to carry your business into the FUTURE.

New Unified Communications Solutions From Toshiba

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UCedge - Unified CommunicationsOne of the greatest utility of a VoIP or IP based business phone system is Unified Communication. UC allows you to use computer applications, data files, video, and other resources as part of your voice call. Till now, using Unified Communications required multiple resources on hand such a phone system, a computer, and log-in to servers and other databases.

Not any more. If you are using Toshiba’s IP, VIPedge, or the Strata CIX phone systems, your are truly mobile for all aspects of the modern IP based phone systems. Toshiba has introduced UCedge applications for Windows, iOS, and Android operating environments. Once installed, UCedge present a single and uniform user interface for you to access and use all the applications that reside on your Toshiba phone server – whether on-premise or on the cloud.

For more details on UCedge, please click here.

 

About PhoneAM

At PhoneAM, we have the knowledge and experience to prepare a blueprint for your shift to VoIP. Call us today and we will guide you through the whole process.

PhoneAmerica Corporation is a leading supplier of advanced telecommunication systems for small and large business environments. A total service company, PhoneAmerica serves as a single point of contact for today’s growing communication needs, offering a wide range of telephone equipment, wiring, surveillance systems, telephone cost accounting systems, and voice processing systems.

Please call (800) 836-3601 for a free evaluation of your current system and the system you will need to carry your business into the FUTURE

What is Interactive Voice Response?

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IVREvery time I called up the customer care department of my insurance firm, I was amazed at the automated voice system that guided me to the right person for resolving my issues. Now, how is it possible for a recorded voice to be played up at the right time that leads us to the right agent? It is the IVR, or Interactive Voice Response, that does the trick!

How IVR Works

IVR is an amazing technology that facilitates interaction between the communication system and the caller without any human intervention. Whenever a caller calls up a phone number of an organization, he is greeted by the IVR system reads out a menu, and asks the caller to choose his option. Based upon the response, the IVR searches its internal database to find out the exact extension within the organization for routing the call to. Thus, you and I, or for that matter any caller, can be redirected to the executive who would take care of our needs. The IVR works by asking the caller to press a key or speak particular words for executing a command.

Nowadays there is hardly any company that does not use IVR with their communication system. Companies that have to handle customer calls on a regular basis are the ones that make the most of IVR systems.

Features Galore

There are a variety of IVR systems available in the market and while shopping for an IVR, you will be presented with IVR’s that differ in terms of complexity and sophistication. For instance, there is one IVR that wants the user to only press a particular key to get connected to a particular department. Others ask the user to provide multiple inputs for carrying out a particular operation such as in banks and medical diagnosis centers. Intelligent systems can be established by combining the power of knowledge based systems with IVR.

Other Uses of IVR

There are many companies that even use the IVR to conduct polls and surveys; these surveys or polls can be conducted on thousands of people. All the questions are pre-recorded and the answers can be in the form of a simple yes or no. Thus organizations are often able to build a huge repository of information without using huge manpower or time. The latest form of IVR is also available with TTS or Text to Speech where the commands can be interpreted from the voiced response of the callers. Some experts believe that such technology will soon replace the use of keyboards or keypad in the near future.

How You Can Use IVR

It is very easy to integrate an IVR with your organization’s telephone system, especially if you are using the latest VoIP or IP based business phone systems. There are intelligent interfaces built for using IVR with IP-PBX and related applications.

Some intelligent systems that have been built using IVR are:

  • Stock and bank balances as well as transfers
  • Polls and surveys
  • Intelligent call routing in offices
  • Forwarding in call centers
  • Order entry transactions
  • Information lookup based on selection
  • There are pre-recorded responses that are used by IVR for different situations, keypad command and also the feature to record the voice for future use. The IVR system also uses CTI to display all details of the caller to the answering executive. This helps save enormous time in asking boring and repetitive questions, and impressing the client with information on your fingertips.

IVR has made it possible to reduce the waiting time for customers and route the incoming traffic in an intelligent manner by modern phone systems. It is also amazing to see how IVR helps to meet the customer needs and stabilized the fluctuating customer satisfaction level.

About PhoneAM

At PhoneAM, we have the knowledge and experience to prepare a blueprint for your shift to VoIP. Call us today and we will guide you through the whole process.

PhoneAmerica Corporation is a leading supplier of advanced telecommunication systems for small and large business environments. A total service company, PhoneAmerica serves as a single point of contact for today’s growing communication needs, offering a wide range of telephone equipment, wiring, surveillance systems, telephone cost accounting systems, and voice processing systems.

Please call (800) 836-3601 for a free evaluation of your current system and the system you will need to carry your business into the FUTURE

Why Should Company Start Using Video Conferencing

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Expansion of companies often leads to dispersed workforce across multiple cities or countries all over the world.

Video Conferencing

Now, face-to-face meetings can turn expensive and ineffective when there is a situation which calls for collaboration among multiple individuals from different locations. Video conferencing is the perfect solution for companies that want their dispersed workforce to communicate, share and collaborate. In fact, a recent survey revealed that about 60% companies in the US prefer video conferencing to face-to-face meetings.  As the workforce of most of these companies was distributed over multiple locations, video conferencing provided them a feasible medium of conducting meetings and conferences.

Conferencing Infrastructure

The time taken to conduct face-to-face meetings often delay planning and execution of projects, which eventually result in losses for the company. It is very important for the companies to introduce human elements to their conferencing infrastructure, and, video conferencing tools facilitate this with ease. The use of audio conferencing was not all that inefficient but it failed to meet the standards of a face-to-face meeting when it came to collaborating and sharing information. Use of video conferencing, ensures smooth conferences and meetings where participants are able to get the same feel of face-to-face meetings.

Impact Of Video Conferencing

The psychological impact of video conferencing is huge as it is a proven fact that humans tend to believe more in what they see than what they hear. A sales meeting with a client over video conference can have a huge positive impact on his psyche. The sales executive from the company is able to provide a detailed presentation while backing the company’s claims with various graphical data and other information. A VC meeting is as good as a face-to-face meeting when it comes to providing a convincing presentation to customers or clients.

Advantages of Video Conferencing

The advancement of technology has made video conferencing a seamless technology that facilitates high quality of video and audio. The quality of voice and audio was a matter of concern even a decade back but the latest video conferencing solutions have eliminated all those hurdles. It is now possible to conduct a VC meeting without worrying about the audio or video quality. The improvement in the Internet technology has also boosted video conferencing solutions. The higher speed and better bandwidth provides an enriched VC experience.

Besides, all the above advantages, the latest VC solutions available in the market are equipped to handle seamless integration of various other communication tools. Since VC solutions can be installed on a local network, various other tools can be easily be integrated with it. For instance, Slideshare presentations, file sharing, online collaboration etc., are made quite easy with the use of VC. It is important to understand that VC solutions have been specially designed to cater to the conferencing needs of corporate houses.

Unified Communication

Meetings conducted over VC can be really fruitful as the participants are able to share huge amount of data on a real-time basis. They will not only be able to touch upon the different agenda of the meeting with ease but will also be able to carry out transparent deals. All the participants will be in the loop and decisions could be taken without delays with valuable inputs from every participant. Video conferencing will help executives remove any bottlenecks without unnecessary delays.

It is essential that the power of VC is understood by the owners and the top-level management of every company. They must realize that with the use of VC, not only can the company save on travelling costs but they will be able to extend a personalized experience to the employees. Production and work efficiency will definitely get a huge boost with the introduction of video conferencing in a company.

About PhoneAM

At PhoneAM, we have the knowledge and experience to prepare a blueprint for your shift to VoIP. Call us today and we will guide you through the whole process.

PhoneAmerica Corporation is a leading supplier of advanced telecommunication systems for small and large business environments. A total service company, PhoneAmerica serves as a single point of contact for today’s growing communication needs, offering a wide range of telephone equipment, wiring, surveillance systems, telephone cost accounting systems, and voice processing systems.

Please call (800) 836-3601 for a free evaluation of your current system and the system you will need to carry your business into the FUTURE.

Considering A New Phone System? Do Your Homework First.

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Communication system is a vital aspect for maintaining smooth business operations. An efficient communication system can really improve your business and boost profits. The world is moving away from the old PSTN system. Internet based VoIP is the new paradigm in office communications.

Prior to choosing a phone system, several factors need to be considered like technology, telephony features, security etc. Now, this implies that you have to do your homework before buying a new phone system which fulfils all the communication needs of your company.

IP telephony systems are gaining popularity among business organizations as it offers amazing telephony features, uses the latest Internet based telecommunication technology and robust security. Let us look at some of the features that are being used by this latest telephony system.

Type of phone system that suits your business:

VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is the technology that is put to use by an IP telephone system. Depending on the number of users in your organization, you can either opt for the on-premise VoIP system or a hosted VoIP system. It has been proven that it is economical and convenient for companies with more than 25 users to choose an on-premise VoIP system that involves the installation of an IP-PBX such as IPedge, or Strata CIX  from Toshiba. If you have less than 25 users, a cloud based or hosted VoIP such as VIPedge is ideal. You start with a small number and keep on adding users as you gain confidence.

Now, you have to decide the IP telephone system that suits your business communication needs and budget.

Reason for looking a new phone system:

Other than dialling and receiving calls, modern day phone systems are expected to cater to several other communication needs of a company. You have to have good reasons to replace your old telephone systems and more often than not it would be the inability of your old phone system to offer advanced telephony features like voicemail, auto-attendant, find-me-follow me, voicemail-to-email etc. There are several companies that are offering VoIP services and you will have to make a list of all your communication needs before you subscribe with any one of them.

Phone system should integrate with other business systems:

It is known that a VoIP phone system has the ability to integrate with business applications such as ERP, MIS, CRM platform. Some VoIP systems also offer API’s for integration with software of your choice.

At the outset, you have to understand what integration is and what pieces of your software and/or application you want to integrate. Instead of worrying about technology, look at it from usage point of view – you want to show your accounts receivable to your clients? You need to integrate your accounting or ERP system. You want your and your colleague’s schedules to be integrated? Simple. Integrate your Outlook or similar Time Management software.

Deploy, maintain and support for phone system:

It is important to decide upon whether to go for deployment, maintenance and support or to outsource the operations and maintenance to a service providing company. If the company has a skilled IT team then it can deploy as well as maintain the system without any hassles. If not, it is better to consider a hosted VoIP service provider that provides all the necessary support.

Service provider:

If one opts for outsourcing the VoIP support it is essential to figure out who is going to provide support to the phone system. It is to be ensured that the VoIP provider understands the communication needs of the company. Again if the organization is planning to go for both VoIP and PSTN service, the phone system vendor must know this so that they can offer a proper solution and integrate the two.

Total cost of ownership:

Everyone is aware of the fact that switching to VoIP can save a good amount of money. However, it is important to look at the total cost involved for owning a VoIP phone system. The price factor has to be analyzed in a proper manner so that the company stays within the allocated budget. One needs to know what savings will be realized in the long run if the company opts to migrate to a VoIP system. As the business grows, the organization will tend to add users to the system, upgrade the system with new features and at that particular time, the savings may have to be recalculated.

About PhoneAM

At PhoneAM, we have the knowledge and experience to prepare a blueprint for your shift to VoIP. Call us today and we will guide you through the whole process.

PhoneAmerica Corporation is a leading supplier of advanced telecommunication systems for small and large business environments. A total service company, PhoneAmerica serves as a single point of contact for today’s growing communication needs, offering a wide range of telephone equipment, wiring, surveillance systems, telephone cost accounting systems, and voice processing systems.

Please call (800) 836-3601 for a free evaluation of your current system and the system you will need to carry your business into the FUTURE.

IP Telephones – Smart Answers for Small Business

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What is much required to handle a small business? Is it capital, business idea, employees, the employer or a modern business communication system? Though the first four are important, lack of proper communication can kill your business. Today, an IP telephone system turns out to be a very crucial component of a modern business, playing a critical role in the field of any business. Whether you need to contact an employee, reply back to your clients, or to support your customers very effectively, only a powerful telephone system can do the job correctly.

Look for IP Phone System Types

A smart business owner will look at ways of subscribing to an upgraded and modern communication system. As your business grows, your business phone system must be able to reach out nationally and internationally and grow with you.

Pure IP System

A pure IP system such as Toshiba’s IPedge gives you powerful features including messaging, voice mail, and computer data interface. IPedge works exclusively on IP digital data channels. In other words you can make a call from one IP address to another. Pure IP business phone systems save a lot off your communication expenses. You can make unlimited call to another IP address and impress your clients with advanced unified communication. When the client calls back and you are busy, you will get a message. Depending upon what settings you have, the system can convert the customer’s voice message to an email and send it to your email address. Using IP mobility, you can get the incoming call transferred to your mobile devices including smart phones, laptops, and tablets.

Hybrid IP System

A Hybrid IP system is ideally suited for a business that is a call center or has dedicated staff for answering calls. In a Hybrid IP system such as Toshiba’s Strata CIX, you can mix IP telephony with traditional PSTN line. At the end user level, you can use IP phones, digital phones or even old analog phones. When you make or receive a call on your traditional PSTN line, a convertor will transfer the call to your IP address. Similarly, if you get a call on you IP digital circuit and that is meant for a person who uses a traditional phone line, the call can be transferred.

Hybrid systems such as Strata CIX allows you to keep your existing phone line and, at the same time, move slowly and carefully to IP based business communication. It is kind of getting the best of both worlds.

Hosted IP System

In a hosted IP system, a vendor hosts a pure IP phone system in a cloud and offers you connections. At your end you need a good internet connection and a few IP capable phones. A hosted IP system, such as VIPedge from Toshiba, offers you all the benefits of an advanced pure IP-PBX without the hassles of capital and maintenance expenditures. Using either a laptop or IP phone, you can use all the advanced features. Since something like VIPedge is hosted on enterprise grade data centers, you can be assured of 100% connectivity all the time. In addition, hosted IP systems offer you Unified Communication and other advanced features.

Based on your requirements and capital adequacy, you can choose one of these modern business phone systems. The days of traditional PSTN lines are numbered, and the quicker you move away, the better it is.

About PhoneAM

PhoneAmerica Corporation is a leading supplier of advanced telecommunication systems for small and large business environments. A total service company, PhoneAmerica serves as a single point of contact for today’s growing communication needs, offering a wide range of telephone equipment, wiring, surveillance systems, telephone cost accounting systems, and voice processing systems.

Please call (800) 836-3601 for a free evaluation of your current system and the system you will need to carry your business into the FUTURE.

Why Should You Consider A Unified Approach To Your Communications Systems?

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Unified communication is the latest extension of the VoIP communication solutions and users love the new experience. Unified communication is all about integrating all your communication channels, tools and endpoint devices on a single platform. You will be able to manage and maintain all the devices from the easy-to-use interface. The popularity of unified communication has grown immensely over the last few years as users are able to avail the numerous features at the click of a mouse. There are several advantages of taking a unified approach to our communications systems and some of the most noted ones are listed below:

Get Decisions Made Quicker – If you are a business owner or a management executive in your company then you must be aware about the significance of quick decision making. If you are not able to make decisions quickly then there are chances of losing out on lucrative deals or incurring losses. Quick decisions can be taken only when the decision maker (in this case, the business owner or the manager) needs to have real time reports, data, or information about a particular business process. For instance, if the sales manager does not have the data on the field executives then there are chances that he deploys additional sales executives in the same zone thus crowding it unnecessarily. On the other hand, if he had the information about the number of sales executives deployed in a particular zone then he can strategize accordingly.

Unified communication helps the business owners and the executives keep updated with the latest happenings in various departments of the company where the employees or field executives are able to share the information a real time basis. Even if the worker uses his/her smartphone that’s integrated with the communication system at the office, then sharing information becomes really easy. So, it is possible to make decisions without any delay.

More Efficient Remote Working – The unified communication solution removes geographical boundaries and even the workers at remote locations can log on to the centralized office communication system. Through the integration of remote endpoint devices like laptops, smartphones and tablets, workers can communicate effectively with their colleagues and perform their daily tasks even when they are located thousands of miles away from their offices.

See Who You are Talking To – The unified communication solutions are compatible with video conferencing devices, so you will be able to see the person you are talking to. This facility can be availed without any extra costs, thus you can voice chat or video chat without incurring any additional expenses.

Better Business Process Integration – All your business process can be integrated by migrating to the unified communication system. Business processes that use communication features like instant messaging, video conferencing, and automatic call routing can all be integrated to give rise to an enhanced system.

Less Time Managing Your Inbox – We all spend a lot of time managing our inboxes – there are a variety of emails from different people, departments and customers, which include even voicemails and instant messages. By opting for the unified communication system, you will be able to manage different channels of communication from a single platform or easy to use interface. You will be able to log into the system by using a single username and password. Now, you can manage your voicemails, email notifications, instant messages from the primary interface without having to log into different accounts for different communication purposes.

Unified communication is the new approach for companies that are looking towards encouraging mobility, BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and reduced communication costs.

About PhoneAM

PhoneAmerica Corporation is a leading supplier of advanced telecommunication systems for small and large business environments. A total service company, PhoneAmerica serves as a single point of contact for today’s growing communication needs, offering a wide range of telephone equipment, wiring, surveillance systems, telephone cost accounting systems, and voice processing systems.

Please call (800) 836-3601 for a free evaluation of your current system and the system you will need to carry your business into the FUTURE.