There are many types of phone services and systems to choose from these days. Phone companies and services vary in packages and service as much as insurance companies do. You can choose a pre-built package or you can custom effect the package that is right for your business needs. The following are a few types of phone services you can choose from.
The Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the choice of most sole proprietors and small business offices that need only a few phone lines and voice mailboxes. This is an Internet-based phone service and requires that a business have a computer network with enough bandwidth to carry the system. This system type requires that a company purchase more than just phones. Once a business owner determines how many calls will be coming in they need to purchase the correct equipment in order to get the highest-quality. VoIP system providers each have specific recommendations for equipment. Dedicated routers are proprietary with each carrier. There are some that allow for the use of regular phone equipment that are adapted to their system but more often than not, VoIP providers will require that a company purchases and installs their equipment in order to ensure that the system works properly.
Another popular phone system is a Private Branch Exchange or PBX. This system consists of onsite switching equipment in order to route calls between employees as well as outside lines. Most people are familiar with the standard PBX because when main switchboards were introduced, PBX systems became very popular. Many hospitals still spend these because of their reliability. These types of systems often work best for medium and big businesses. If you are a business that isn’t all that comfortable with immerging VoIP technology this may well be your respond. These systems also sport more sophisticated auto-attendant features such as specific call forwarding as well as being able to program different messages for different lines.
PBX systems are more expensive than the VoIP system. Start up costs for a PBX system will speed into some money because you will have to engage switching equipment as well as new phones. The PBX system is the most used business phone system to date however more and more companies are changing to VoIP systems as the technology grows.
Finally, there is the Virtual PBX which is sort of a hybrid of the two systems together. The Virtual PBX layers an auto-attendant PBX system within the phone lines, it sort of doubles up on PBX and VoIP. Using this type of system will allow your business to use all of the lines you have. These systems will run you about $45 per month. The cost will be more or less when taking into consideration the features and the number of lines that your business requires.
Choosing the right business phone system will rob some time and research if you are to do it correctly. It is best to consider all of the possibilities in the beginning so that you don’t find yourself changing mere months or even a year later. Take into consideration what your current needs are and also what your future needs may be. Remember that for some of your customers your phone system is the first “face” they see, make sure your first impression is a good one.
Related Posts
Filed under Small Business Pbx Systems by on May 7th, 2011. Comment. 
With a little forethought and a cramped time investment (hours not days), you can virtually eliminate the costly and confusing telephone system you have been struggling with or have been putting off purchasing due to SMB budget constraints.
If you’re paying Ma-Bell for a traditional phone line, or have your believe confusing pbx switch on location, you’re not making the most of current phone technology. In fact, you may be wasting precious time and money for a system that does not meet your needs and actually takes away revenue.
Maybe you are paying a full-time employee to do nothing but manage the “phone system”, or worse, heaping the responsibility on a part-time additional duty basis to an employee who could otherwise focus on THEIR job.
You may have already joined the quarter million other home subscribers of the Magic jack community. Now it’s time to see how this can be applied to your small or medium business.
There are links to reviews of the magic jack included with this article, but in summary:
FEATURES:
- It’s cheap, costs include $40 for the device and 1st year of phone service, $19.95/yr after that
- Being a USB storage device(like a thumb drive), it carries it’s own software and installs when inserted in the USB slot
- You can either make calls using a headset/mic or a used telephone (cordless phones & fax machines)
- It comes with “voicemail” forwarded to any email account you wish
- you get email notifications when current VMs arrive
- Although it’s not a traditional phone ine with 911 they provide 911 where YOU control the address, so you can set the 911 for ANY residence in the US (got a sick mother? )
- Nationwide toll-free is included and international can be had for a effect or…
- Send a Magic Jack to anyone you want to call and who you want to call YOU and it’s free WORLDWIDE!
- You can migrate your current landline phone number, maybe your cell number not always, or get a new phone number*
- ALL of this depends on a broadband connection (I recommend Always on like Cable, NOT DSL), and a computer/laptop.
UNFEATURES
- Call quality (QoS) resembles a cell phone, in both sound quality and dropped calls.
- Customer service is basically their FAQs online and that’s about it.
- The device is bigger than other USB devices, but has a dongle to glean it out of the way of your other USB plugs
- One yank on the phone cord and “POP”! out comes the MJ
- limited local phone numbers means long distance numbers in some locations
- Ordering the service online or over the phone or using the MJ program can be confusing
* The “local” phone numbers are not always a local call for your city, for instance in Montana the ONLY number they have are local to Helena, great if you live in the capital not so great for the rest of the state.
The savvy entrepreneur has already seen some openings with the above list for cutting costs. Let’s leer at a few ways you can make the most of this new technology for your business.
We’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg, but here are some cost effective uses:
HARDWARE
- Connect your Home & Work offices
- Virtual Office employee(s) and VAs
- Key Customer and teleconference training
- Anyone who travels for your company
IMPLEMENTATION
- Fax
- Small pbx-like features
- Integration with other tech i.e. Virtual PBX systems
First, HARDWARE solutions.
By simply purchasing the Magic Jack device at $40 ea. you can save tons on the recurring phone bill.
1 – Connect home & work offices, buy a MJ device for home and work, for anyone who commutes. After the initial $40 you secure 1 year of uninterrupted calling from work to home etc. try out call forwarding thru a virtual pbx
2 – Virtual Office employees or VAs you contract with can now maintain voice contact with no cost to THEM if you simply buy them a MJ device, it’s up to you if you ask for it back at the end of the contract or give it to them for a job well done.
3 – Key customer care and Teleconferencing or training This encompasses many areas but essentially it’s a repeat of the above, for a nominal $40 charge you can ensure your key clients and business partners end connected again at no fee for them. It’s so easy to expend they really won’t have to wade through a tech manual to begin calling you. If you host training over the phone/online through .rdp connections etc. you can send one of the MJs to them ahead of training (perhaps with any manuals) and ask them to call on your $40 dime. Especially if you will have ongoing training with this client. Again, you can choose to just give it to them as a gift. $40 isn’t much when you consider the price of other training materials you use.
4 – The Road Warriors friend Having spent half my life on the road, I can tell you if I were doing that kind of work now, I would buy the MJ without even thinking about it. Being able to call “Local” to my home or the US when overseas for a year for $20 you bet I’m on board. Just imagine, you get to the hotel (with broadband access of course) late at night, and just want to touch base with home or the office, now you plug in MJ into your laptop and before you can unwrap the baby soap bar, you’re ready to make or receive calls from home FOR FREE minus $20 initial fee 
If you are already paying for cell phones for the travelers maybe you can cut down on some of the primetime minutes by simply buying the MJ, or better yet, give the MJ to them for personal calls and encourage strict business ONLY calls on the cell phone wiht no excuses for wasted minutes chatting with family etc.
Now that’s only what you can do by being nice enough to retract MJ devices for everyone, now let’s explaore some of the cool things that can be set up on the USAGE/Implementation side of the house:
1 – FAX Although officially not supported yet, key word being “YET”, faxing can be done from anywhere again as a local call with no special setup, just plug in and send. Again, you might consider integrating with a virtual pbx system for a smoother operation especially if you wish to offer fax succor capability.
2 – Private Branch Exchange (private telephone switchboard) although it’s far from a PBX or virtual PBX system, the magic jack will allow 3-way calling and take voicemails. Once you have the MJ phone number you can marry it with a virtual pbx and get full-featured use of a pbx with the orders or important calls coming to your MJ phone.
If you have set up your business to be on autopilot, send a MJ to your order takers and Cust Support VAs and let the calls reach in with no per minute charges coming assist to you.
3 – Integrate The most effective expend of technology means marry-ing or integrating several solutions to beget a full-featured robust solution.
If you aren’t familiar with virtual-PBXs look into using one like onebox, for service starting around $10/mo., prices go up depending on usage, you get 1-800 access and the same basic features that a geeky full-time phone switch programmer at your company can create, with less cost and hassle.
- Have calls routed within the PBX to various voicemails, but more importantly following the Tim Ferris plot of doing things, you can have them follow YOU or any of your employees and VAs, no matter what phone or time of day they will be at that phone number, giving the illusion of 24/7 customer support.
Routing can also include having the really important calls directed to the MJ device number/voice mail so you regain ONLY the most pressing calls, again, from anywhere in the world (With broadband access).
Well, this is again just brushing the surface of what the world of VoIP and devices like the MagicJack can garner for the SMB world, for more info please visit http://squatchtech.ning.com and follow the articles relating to runt business technology use.
Your uncle BobSquatch
Related Posts
Filed under Small Business Pbx Systems by on Mar 2nd, 2011. Comment.
Do you really need to take time away from creating a business plan, a marketing plan, a personnel hiring strategy, and other really fun stuff in order to evaluate your options for the pick of a phone system for your small business? The simple answer to this examine is yes if your business will need an efficient and effective way to begin and maintain contact customers, vendors, employees, or any other members of the business population who may impact your bottom line. Sources including Gartner and the VOIP Resource Center suggest particular guidelines that will support your efforts to ensure the effective communication by your business with the world at large.
1) Identify both your current and long term requirements. Experts suggest that a 3 year planning horizon is appropriate for most businesses. This time frame will ensure that you avoid the mistake of planning only for your immediate requirements rather than for the growth of your business that will occur during the 3 year period. This longer time frame will also ensure you benefit from more economical pricing for your phone system in that the duration of the service contract is a major factor used by the service provider in the calculation of your company’s rate. You should take care to end within the 3 year planning horizon to ensure the flexibility to upgrade your system to avoid technological obsolescence. You will want the flexibility to change your phone system if required to gain access to any recent technological advances that will wait on your company grow.
2) Gain an understanding of the methods used by the various phone systems to add additional ports, lines, and phones to an existing system. A PBX system is designed to accommodate a particular number of ports rather than the number of outside lines and number of extensions. The number of lines and telephones that can be accommodated by the PBX system is determined by the system’s number of ports. For example, if the system is configured with 45 ports, the system can accommodate any combination of lines and extensions that in total equal 45. The actual number of lines for the phone system is determined by the manufacturer during the construction of the particular circuit board.
3) Determine the specific phone system features that will be required by your business. Most phone systems incorporate a particular set of features. Therefore, be sure to compare the features that are required by your business model with those features of the systems offered by various vendors. The features worthy of consideration include:
a) Voice mail. Dispute mail records messages from business partners in the event you or your employees are unavailable to accept the call personally. Each employee or department is assigned a mail box which serves as a receptacle for incoming messages. The phone system you select should be configured with a sufficient number of ports to accommodate the maximum number of simultaneous incoming callers that may select to record a message on your system in addition to the maximum number of employees that may select to simultaneously access their messages.
b) Call Hold. The call hold feature enables an employee to residence an incoming call on beget in order to perform a related task.
c) Call Forward. This feature enables one employee to transfer a call to another employee, a voice mail box, an auto attendant, or to what is known as a hunt group which is a logical collection of employees with the responsibility to respond to incoming calls on a first come first serve basis.
d) Conference Calls. The Conference Call feature enables the simultaneous communication of a group of individuals at different locations. This one system feature incorporates a number of separate features such as the number of users that can participate in the call as well as the particular function of the conference call itself.
e) Speed Dial. This function enables the user to select a code of one number or a combination of numbers on their phone set as a representation of a phone number that they frequently dial. They can then dial their business partner using this code rather than being required to enter the entire 10 digit phone number.
f) Redial. The Redial function is used to dial the last phone number entered by the user on the system.
g.) Auto Attendant. The auto attendant plays a recorded message to a caller and provides them particular service options in the event an employee is unavailable to accept a call personally. The ability to route the call to a specific employee or a specific mail box are examples of such options.
h) Paging. The paging feature is used to broadcast a message using the speaker of another employees hand set.
i) Location features. This feature enables seamless connections between the systems of local employees and those in another location on either a temporary or permanent basis.
J) Computer Telephony Integration. The CTI feature allows the interaction of software applications and your phone system. This feature is commonly conventional in customer service operations as well as to provide attend to day to day functions such as locating and dialing the number of a business partner.
K) Find Me/Follow Me. This feature enables the re-routing of incoming calls to a different phone number specified by the user.
4) Identify the trade offs in product features and services that you will be willing to make. Although, core functionality will be offered of each PBX system, these features will vary in some ways from vendor to vendor. In addition, each vendor will offer a unique set of products and services in a number of different packages.
5) Review vendor references. Contact your peers in order to obtain feedback regarding their experience with a particular vendor and product. In addition, data presented in trade publications and by industry analysts will identify key features of products and the effectiveness of the product in meeting particular business needs.
6) Calculate the price of the proposed phone system. The actual cost of your system will depend on the features you select, the vendor who provides the service, your business location, and a number of other factors. Other factors are the number of system users and the size of the system purchased with impact your cost. Your equipment can be purchased separately or incorporated into the monthly cost of operating your system. However, whatever the system configuration you select, be sure to identify what specific elements are included in any phone system package and what elements are considered to be in addition to the package, i.e., add-ons. Acquire the calculations necessary to determine your total cost of ownership which includes maintenance fees. Also consider implementation costs, consulting fees, training costs, maintenance requirements, any yearly increases in costs, payment schedules, and any additional fees.
6) Understand the ability of the vendors to provide any needed services. The availability of services is crucial to the successful implementation of the PBX system. In addition, the maturity of the services provided by the vendor as well as the manner in which they provide customer service should be determined. The firm’s ability to address software bugs, perform system upgrades, and operate a help desk are critical considerations for the selection process.
7) Vendor Selection. Identify a short list of vendors who offer products that best meet your business requirements. Services portray the most risky element of the PBX selection process as well as the most expensive element of the process. Submit a quiz for a quotation to the vendors and compare their responses in terms of both product offering and costs. Both vendors with a large presence in the market and smaller companies should be considered in this process to ensure you identify the vendor that is best kindly to meet both your needs and the limitations of your budget. You should also consider the cash position of the vendor, the track record of the firm’s management, the stability of the work force, the product’s release schedule history, the effectiveness of the company’s market position.
Regardless of the information related to the individual systems that you uncover during the process, the key expect remains “How do I match the requirements of my business to one particular vendor’s PBX product and services? ” A thorough review of a product’s functionality, investment, interoperability, services will best ensure you select the best product for your organization. In all cases, the product and vendor evaluation process will lead to a more honest evaluation process, specific selection criteria, stakeholder consensus, and a more efficient implementation of the selected product
Related Posts
Filed under Small Business Pbx Systems by on Jan 19th, 2011. Comment.
Business phone systems are vital to the smooth operation of your business, especially if you’re running a small venture. A phone system is one of the most important communication tools in a company, so the quality of the setup and equipment is very essential.
When you recall a telephone system for your business, it’s distinguished to take budget into consideration as well as your specific needs. The equipment you engage should handle the requirements of your business now and into the future.
The type of business phone system you implement will depend on the size of your company and your plans for future expansion. Most basic phone systems come with options such as voicemail, a receptionist station, call transfer capabilities, and room for expansion. A KSU telephone system is the most common type in this category – it’s a dinky box mounted on a wall that requires software to run. Many name brands sell this type of phone system, so it’s not difficult to find a vendor.
PBX telephone systems are another option. KSU systems are perfectly acceptable for about 10-40 users, but if you have a larger organization PBX is the next step up. PBX stands for private branch exchange system, which is essentially a small private switchboard just for your company. This type of phone system is needed for larger businesses because it’s the only telephone system that can handle a lot of activity.
Whether you go with a hosted PBX or a virtual PBX, this is the only setup that can handle a large amount of incoming calls, route connections, and process everything quickly and precisely. A hosted PBX or virtual PBX comes with a lot of different features as well, such as automated directories of employee extensions, call parking, conference calling capabilities, and customizable voicemail services.
A whole host of brand name vendors sell PBX systems, so it’s easy to find something that will suit your business perfectly.
Luckily, setting up a business phone system doesn’t have to be expensive. These days the Internet makes it possible to purchase low-cost systems from vendors over the web. Obvious services even allow you to set up a virtual phone system through the Internet that provides all the features you would normally get with hardware.
A business system also needs high-quality phones to work properly, whether you’re setting up a classic phone system or are venturing to try VOIP services that promise to sever costs significantly. Ayala phones offer excellent features for a small or large office environment. Ayala phones provide everything you could ever need in a business telephone without a titanic price tag.
In the ruin, the specific phone system you settle to place for your business will depend on more than one factor. What suits your needs may not be right for another company. Do some research ahead of time to figure out what kind of system will fulfill the requirements of your business and work best with the number of employees you currently have at the office.
Related Posts
Filed under Small Business Pbx Systems by on Dec 1st, 2010. Comment.
Hurricane Katrina taught us a lesson. Disaster recovery is important! Hopefully we will never again have to experience the devastation that this natural event wreaked upon us. However, that event got many businesses thinking – “How safe is my data? ” This article provides some basic steps that will aid you recover your business’s data in case of a disaster.
How much data are you willing to lose? It may sound like a uninteresting inquire but it will help you determine your disaster recovery strategy. For example, many financial institutions employ a technique called data mirroring or data shadowing. Every time a transaction is written, that same transaction is written to another disk at another situation. For example, if your business is in Recent York City, a copy of your data is written or mirrored to a residence in Philadelphia or wherever your backup site is located. If your business suffers physical damage, you have up-to-date data at another location. In theory, only the transaction being processed at the time of the misfortune is lost.
This process is costly; you need to either purchase or rent extra computer equipment. You also need to enter into a contract with a company that provides data storage. Obviously this may not be cost-effective for your company. So, how much data are you willing to lose?
How often does your business backup its data? Every hour? Twice a day? Once a day? Once a week? Your backup schedule answers the previously asked question. If you backup twice a day you are willing to lose half a day’s worth of data. If you only backup weekly, you are willing to lose a week’s worth of data.
Backing up is extremely important. However, if your office is damaged, what about your backup media?
Store your data at an off-site facility. There are many companies that provide archiving and storage services.
Be smart. Choose a facility at least 50 miles or so from your office. If there is a flood in your community, you don’t want your� storage facility in the same town or city.
A main concern is resolved; you have your data. However, depending on the disaster, your office may be gone. Data is no good unless you have the technology available to keep that data to work.
How long can you afford to be out of business? One day? One week? One month? Not at all? The reply to this expect determines the type of off-site facility, if any, that you have.
There are three types of off-site facilities. They are: hot, warm, and cold. Many financial institutions, health care companies, and other critical companies use a hot site.
A hot site is a complete off-site replica of your data center. It includes all of the computer equipment, networking equipment, and any other technologies that are part of your data center. You are quite close to being up and running. This site is also the home of your off-site data storage. The data is ready to go. In some scenarios, there are desks, phones, and other office equipment ready to exhaust.
A hot site is expensive. In addition to the cost of renting or purchasing the technology, you are also incurring a monthly rent. This type of site is like insurance; you pay monthly and hope that you never have to use it.
A warm site has the technology but is not as up-to-date or ready to use. You may have to supply some additional equipment to originate this a replica of your office. You may also have to install programs and data because your off-site storage may not be share of this site. This type of site is less expensive, but it requires more time and work to have it run your business.
A cold site is a bare bones facility. You will need to bring in equipment, restore your data, and so on. It is the least expensive of the three solutions, but it incurs the more down time.
Certainly there are other solutions. If you are a small business, you may be able to quickly purchase some computers, restore your data and temporarily rent space until you can rebuild or relocate. The key is to have a plan. Don’t wait until the disaster strikes!
A good plan is documented. This fact is often overlooked. Don’t let your employees convince you that the information is in their head; they will know what to do. They may not be working for you anymore, or God forbid, depending on the type of disaster, they, the company, and you may not be alive.
Your plan includes all the instructions necessary to rebuild your business. It includes: how to hook up your equipment, instructions for installing software and restoring data, how to rebuild your email system, how to rebuild your phone PBX system, and so on. It includes contact information, who declares a disaster, and it may even include phone scripts that employees use to reassure your clients that your business is mild feasible.
Include walk-throughs to ensure that your instructions are correct. Ensure that people read the document, or at least the sections that pertain to their responsibilities.
A disaster recovery plan is the best written-document that you pray will never have to be used. Be prepared. You never know when a disaster may occur but you can know what to do if one does.
Related Posts
Filed under Small Business Pbx Systems by on Sep 22nd, 2010. Comment.