Archive for category: Unified Communications

Mitel Support Q&A Regarding its Purchase of Toshiba

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With Toshiba’s surprise exit from the telecom market, Mitel has stepped in, acquiring Toshiba Telecom’s assets and support obligations. The deal has been completed. To keep you informed on Mitel’s obligations, here are answers to some frequently asked questions.

Watch the video: Mitel VP Mike Conlon talks about the Toshiba acquisition

What you need to know now…

1. Who is Mitel?
Mitel is a global market leader in UC and collaboration solutions, serving more than 60 million business users in more than 100 countries. Mitel supports the communication needs of the smallest business to the largest enterprises – both in the cloud and on premises.

2. What exactly has Mitel acquired from Toshiba?
Mitel acquired certain assets, inventory, and support obligations from Toshiba’s unified communications business, specifically:

  • IPedge platform (premises-based IP PBX and IP phones)
  • Strata CIX communications platform (digital hybrid solution)
  • VIPedge platform (cloud version of IPedge)
  • Associated peripherals and applications

The transaction also includes an agreement to provide product and service continuity. To accomplish this, a number of key Toshiba sales, support, and R&D employees have joined Mitel to serve existing Toshiba customers and partners.

3. What changes should customers expect and when?
It is business as usual for Toshiba customers and partners. Continue to follow the same processes as before with respect to service, support, and fulfillment for Toshiba products.

Any changes to products, programs, or processes resulting from the acquisition will be communicated to you by PhoneAmerica well in advance.

4. Are my current contracts with Toshiba still valid?
Yes, contracts will remain valid. Mitel is now responsible for fulfilling all contracts immediately.

5. Will my warranties still be in effect?
Yes, and this includes the SUS (Software Upgrade and Support) plan. And Mitel is now accepting extended warranties.

6. Will any service quality/policies change?
No. Mitel is as committed as Toshiba in delivering quality products and services to its partners and customers. You can expect the same or better quality of support from Mitel.

7. Will Toshiba inventory levels remain the same?
Inventory levels fluctuate with all businesses; however, Mitel is confident it can ensure continuity of supply for the foreseeable future.

8. Will quotes I received on Toshiba solutions still be honored?
Yes, if they are backed by Toshiba or an accredited partner.

Going forward…

As a Toshiba customer, why should you consider staying with PhoneAmerica and Mitel for the long term?
Mitel is enabling Toshiba customers to not only extend the life of their products but also to make a graceful transition to next-generation technologies, with access to Mitel’s entire line of premises, hybrid, and cloud-based platforms and applications.

As a major global player in the unified communications and collaboration industry, Mitel is a well-established, stable business. The company has a strong vision, mission, and customer-first focus, and it is investing heavily in technology for the future with new products and technologies in the pipeline.

As you assess your next steps, we’re confident you’ll want to continue to work with PhoneAmerica. Our team has a proven reputation for high performance and decades of stability. Together, PhoneAmerica and Mitel will ensure your Toshiba system is supported now and in the future.

Please contact us today if you have any questions: (610) 296-2850 or creimel@phoneam.com.

 

Top 6 Reasons For Mobile Unified Communications Growth

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Mobile unified communications is becoming the hot topic in VoIP today. Let is see why.

Competition in the market is cut-throat these days. To make a difference in such competitive environment, you are left with little options but to embrace technology. Only technology can make things simpler and faster. If you are worried about communications, then unified communications (UC) is the best way to provide a solution. There are many reasons why UC technology is growing in popularity. Some of them being mobility, flexible access, and varied collaboration tools.

Now, UC can be premises-based or mobile based. It is found that mobile UC is more popular than premise based one. The primary reason for popularity is in the name itself, it is ‘mobile.’ Yes, as cloud-based UC gives freedom of movement to the executives, the demand for it is rising day by day. Let’s find out the reason why there is growth in Mobile Unified Communications.

#1 Power to the User

When you get certain privileges while working with varied tools, you will look for them everywhere. This is true for UC too. Professionals habituated with UC applications at their workplace will crave for them everywhere in other office locations, on the road, and at their home.

However, is it possible for enterprises based UC to give this support? The answer is NO. Technology based on Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) cannot support this as switching devices will not be possible.

On the other hand, in Mobile Unified Communications the systems are built around users and not devices. So, wherever you go if you have access to the internet available there you can use your systems to do anything that you do while sitting right at your office desk.

#2 On-Premises UC Is Complex Than Cloud UC

As already mentioned, onsite UC is developed on Session Initiation Protocol. Thus, it is built on devices. There is a different functionality of each device that has to be managed by professionals. It is more complex that cloud-based UC as there everything is delivered after completing things on the cloud. Your concern does not have to think about the complex procedure of maintaining and managing each device. You just need to use the features from Mobile Unified Communications.

#3 On-site UC is Costly

This is true that with the help of UC businesses can improve their performance a lot. However, with that, they need to have a strong IT team who will manage the intricacies of on-site UC devices. Moreover, as technology will bring about new enhancements of the present devices, you need to change them to keep an updated system. This will increase the capital investment. In comparison to this when you use mobile Unified Communications as Software as a Service you do not have to do all this. Just pay the subscription amount and the services are there at your fingertips.

#4 Manage All Communications Online

Another benefit derived from mobile Unified Communications is that it allows managing all the communications online. Different SaaS provider has their IT staffs that are controlling the Web portals. So, when you are using it if you face any problem, it can be managed online. You do not have to wait for hardware engineers to take action. Just lock your complaint online and get the thing done.

#5 Risk Of Downtime Is Minimized

Has disruptive downtime caused huge business losses? Now, as mobile Unified Communications is cloud based you can have the risk of downtime minimized. This is because you can secure access via any device. Thus, the moment someone or other finds fault can ask the vendor to check it. Things are done immediately. As the end user, you are benefitted as you do not have to wait till the system is corrected.

#6 Faster, Cheaper Access To Advanced Features

Another and most important reason of growth in mobile Unified Communications is faster access to advanced features. With mobile UC, you can get access to conferencing, messaging, presence, phone instantly. Thus, you do not have to wait to reach your desk and complete the task! Just use then while moving.

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.

Unified Communications And VoIP

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Unified CommunicationsPrior to learning about the role of Unified Communication in an effective VoIP set up, let us get acquainted with the term UC or Unified Communications.

Unified Communications (UC), which is also at times referred to as Unified Messaging (UM), is a technology that integrates different types of communication networks like voice mails, emails, instant messaging, faxes, video conferencing, etc. into a common interface and repository.

Now this technology can be implemented in a number of ways in a particular business organization. In its rudimentary form, the technology provides a feasible way of accessing various modes of communication. Each of these communication modes is unique in its own way, with a number of features that come to the aide of the users. However, more sophisticated communication technology provides more advanced and value added features that only improve the functionality in a number of ways.

When it comes to implementing Unified Communication, it does not ask for VoIP. A regular telephone system can be used, as VoIP by default comes up with mechanisms that include FMFW or Find Me Follow Me functionality, and a number of other features that are used in a typical Unified Communication system.

Using Unified Communications in a Business Environment

Unified Communications has made a valiant headway into the world of enterprise fraternity. Its effects are more visible in the enterprise business community, though SMBs have also started using it. This is because it not only simplifies the life of the end users, it also comes in handy when it comes to reducing the cost of running a small scale business. Also, it makes the issue of communication less cumbersome, thus affecting the use of VoIP in a great way. Moreover, with more and more availability of the technology, the cost if its implementation is getting lesser and lesser, making the VoIP based UC more acceptable to the small scale businesses.

Some of the fundamental features of Unified Communications system are that it can increase productivity, especially when it comes to businesses that depend on constant communication with customers, partners and vendors 24×7, thus increasing the efficacy of the VoIP by many folds.

Unified Communications Features that help VoIP

  • Use of the same interface as well as device for accessing emails and faxes, voice mails and the likes.
  • Option that helps to set priorities on messages and callers, so that the end users are able to retrieve high priority messages and take actions promptly and accordingly.
  • Help to response to a particular message quickly without having the exit the messaging system. It also helps to forward a particular message to another recipient within a single call.
  • Send single or multiple voice messages in the form of email attachments to a single or multiple users. There is also the option of setting up an automatic call or message forwarding options so that a designated person will always get a copy of the message or mail of the recipient by default.
  • Sending messages to more than one person by making a single call.
  • Use of text-to-speech translation to help end users read the email messages over phone.
  • Answering to email messages from by dictating over phone.
  • Use of text-to-speech translation to enable reading of email messages over phone.
  • Access fax messages over phone and forward the same to others by attaching them with emails.
  • Another very effective feature of a typical Unified Communications system that helps VoIP is its ability to track and trace the location of a user wherever the individual is available at a particular phone number.

Hence, the growing use and adoption of VoIP technology has brought in a revolution in the world of telecommunication in the business fraternity and the Unified Collaboration or UC is a substantial force, which helps to drive this adoption of VoIP in the business fraternity.

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.

Prevent VoIP Systems Hacking

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VoIP Systems HackingHacking of your VoIP systems can spell doom for the business because either you will end up paying thousands of dollars as telephone bills or incur business loss through leakage of sensitive business information. Hacking incidents are on the rise, especially for the Internet based communication systems like VoIP. Over the last few years, researchers have been trying to secure VoIP systems by using various types of hardware and software enhancements; however, full-proof protection still not been achieved. In the wake of recent developments, you will have to use a combination of hardware and software enhancements along with a rigid VoIP policy to protect the communication system of your organization against hackers. In this article we are going to look at some of the ways to prevent your VoIP systems from getting hacked.

 

The Dangers of Hacking

Once your VoIP systems get hacked, the hackers are going to make unlimited calls to expensive international numbers. This phenomenon is not going to stop till they have bled your entire credit limit or till the time the phone company stops their services to your company. There have been numerous instances of companies having to pay huge telephone bills for the calls that were never made by the owner or employees of the organization.

Stop Misuse of VoIP Systems

You can take some simple steps to stop the misuse of your company’s telephone system and it can all begin by writing a letter to your VoIP service provider. You will need to inform your VoIP service provider about the daily or monthly expenditure limit that you want to authorize. You will also have to make it extremely clear that you are taking this step as a security measure and that any violation of this policy will lead to severing of business ties with the provider. Now, this letter can be produced in the court in case any kind of dispute arises because of a misuse of your VoIP service by any hacker. Once your phone company comes to acknowledging your letter, they would implement the credit limit and if the company lines are misused by anyone at any point in time, the service provider will be able to cut the lines once the credit limit (mentioned by you in the letter) is reached.

Change Your Service Provider?

Change your service provider if you receive any fraudulent bill as the illegal use of the company’s VoIP system will make it extremely vulnerable to other security breaches in the future. VoIP service providers might compel you to pay the bill in the end but you always have the option of protecting the company’s interest in the near future.

You need to be careful about the dealings with telephone companies as they have numerous departments with experienced personnel who are experts at manipulating and compelling customers into paying their bills. They are not bothered whether your VoIP systems were hacked or some rouge employee misused it – they only need the money against the usage. Surveys have pointed out that several organizations across the globe have been victims of VoIP system hacks.

Watch Your Telephone Bills

It is imperative to keep a watch on your telephone bills as that would give you a clue of any kind of misuse. You will have to note any kind of anomalies you find in the telephone bills and inform your service provider immediately. This would certainly stop the misuse of communication systems at your office. You can also use SIP proxy to control the calls in a better manner and offer additional layers of security to your VoIP systems.

Firewalls need to be installed and updated on a regular basis as that would help you to keep any kind of Trojans or malware at bay. The more layers of protection you can add to your communication network, the tougher will it become for the hackers to break into the system.

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.

Privacy vs Security in the Cloud

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Security vs PrivacyThe rising popularity of cloud in the last few years has also thrown up some uncomfortable questions, both for the service providers as well as users. The primary concern of cloud service providers as well as users has been privacy and security in the cloud. It would be an understatement to say that it was predicted in the early days of the cloud that it could be easily abused by any of the cybercriminals around the world.

Today, the growing cases of cloud hacks have just made those prophecies true. Things are not going to get any better in the coming years because popular services like Dropbox and Sendspace have been abused by many people to host their illegitimate payload.

The Need for Privacy

People nowadays are more concerned about data privacy and they do not want to see their personal data being scrutinized by government agencies or monetized by the cloud data providers. For instance, when we upload our files on cloud storage, we do not want the service providers to search each and every file. We want such a system where customer’s data would be completely encoded and incomprehensible to the service provider. The primary clash is between privacy and security – we want to have the cake as well as eat it!

The Additional Cost of Privacy

In order to put things in perspective we will take up a very popular scenario:  There is a service provider who wants to ensure that their service is not being used by perpetrators for hosting malware. Thus, the service provider would have to use solutions like sandbox testing, file scanning etc. in order to test all the files that were uploaded. The provider will have to incur extra costs for this but at the same time, users can complain about the breach in data privacy, which can pretty much spoil goodwill and reputation of the company.

Where to Encrypt

On the other hand, if the service provider opts for private storage where the encryption is carried out on user devices, no one at the service provider’s end will have any idea about the data being stored.  Now, such a service is highly vulnerable for being used for malicious purposes by cybercriminals. Thus, both the legitimate users as well as the illegitimate users will be shielded from any type of data scrutiny. Both the approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages.

In such a precarious environment, service providers will have to strike a balance between data privacy and security and offer a solution that suits both their business model as well as security. Thus, no matter how hard a service provider tries a certain level of abuse will still remain and this can be termed as an inevitable cost which has to be incurred for doing business.

Your Options

What options does the user have? Well, I would have to reiterate that abuse cannot be completely stopped; however, precautions can be taken by both the users as well as their service providers.  Users will have to take up the responsibility of data security and they cannot shrug it off just because the vendor chose to do otherwise. Users will have to strategize and find solutions for the safekeeping of data on the cloud and this can’t be completely handed over to the cloud service providers. There are pros and cons of using cloud storage and related services – you are the best person to judge because there is no one better than you who knows the importance of security for your business.

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