About 90% of businesses in the United States have fewer than 20 employees, according to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. In the past, companies of this size often couldn’t benefit from PBX functionality like IVR (interactive voice response), hunt groups, hold music, and so forth, because of the high cost of installing and maintaining a PBX.

But today, things are different. Thanks to hosted VoIP service, micro-enterprises can have a phone system with even more functionality than a legacy PBX, even if they only have one user! All they need is a broadband Internet connection. With VoIP, micro-businesses can be more efficient and enjoy the same functionality that big corporations have relied on for decades.

Here we look at how a micro-enterprise can get started with VoIP and some of the benefits it can reap as a result.

Topics: SIP Phones, IP PBX, QoS, Business Telephone System, VoIP, SIP, Trends, Mobility (including remote work)

 

Replacing a legacy PBX that a company has used for years with an IP PBX can be intimidating, and understandably so. That’s why we recommend a transition method that allows the new technology to be gradually introduced over time. This not only ensures business continuity but also gives the associates plenty of time to adjust to the new equipment.

Topics: Customer Service, SIP Phones, IP PBX, Business Telephone System, VoIP, SIP, Total Voice Solution, Business Continuity

As the world moves inexorably towards all-IP, there are still businesses today that use a TDM (time division multiplexing) PBX-based phone system. Eventually, they will end up switching to an IP PBX when their old equipment becomes unserviceable or irreplaceable, but for whatever reason they have chosen not to migrate yet. Even so, there are ways to help these companies reap some advantages from VoIP technology while hanging onto their legacy system.

Topics: Business Telephone System, VoIP, SIP

 

Fashion models aren’t the only ones who accessorize. Your customers need accessories, too! If they have an IP phone system, peripherals are an easy way to instantly boost productivity. When putting together your next enterprise telephone system proposal, consider including some from this list, or browse our website for more ideas.

Topics: Customer Service, SIP Phones, Business Telephone System, VoIP, SIP, Peripherals, Mobility (including remote work), Cordless, Headsets, Conferencing

Grandstream, well known throughout the world for their SIP communications solutions, will soon expand those solutions by offering a new line of Wi-Fi devices. Grandstream’s entrance into the Wi-Fi marketplace will feature a Wi-Fi access point, the GWN7610, and they will soon thereafter launch a Gigabit VPN router, which will be called the GWN7000. This product line will be a new mainstay product category from Grandstream, and it will be expanded moving forward to include a variety of routers and access points with various capabilities.

Topics: Wireless, Grandstream, Trends, Mobility (including remote work)

Businesses are constantly trying to boost productivity so they can do more – and grow more – with less. SIP telephony is a great example of this. Compared with legacy PBX-based phone systems, IP phone systems allow companies to do much more, with less hardware and fewer resources.

Topics: IP PBX, Business Telephone System, SIP, Total Voice Solution, Trends, Mobility (including remote work)

Ensuring business continuity in case of unexpected service loss is an essential component of any IP telephone system. In a previous blog post we mentioned various failover mechanisms that can be deployed to address different scenarios. Here, we’ll take a closer look at two in particular: backup SIP trunk or ITSP, and failover servers. You may be surprised to discover how easy and affordable they are to set up – especially when compared with the costly alternative of service interruption.

Topics: IP PBX, QoS, Business Telephone System, VoIP, Total Voice Solution, Business Continuity

 

Image designed by Alvaro_Cabrera - Freepik.com

Open source with open access vs. open source:
Make sure you know which one suits you and your customer. 

Open source telecommunications systems are not all created equal. All are open source in the sense that they are built using publicly and freely available code like Asterisk. However, not all of them allow access to the root programming level, which allows you to modify or customize aspects of the code to suit specific requirements or preferences. If a system restricts root-level access, certain features may be customizable, but don’t count on having much leeway. Be sure you know which one best suits your customer.

Topics: Customer Service, IP PBX, Business Telephone System, VoIP, SIP, Total Voice Solution

 

These features absolutely must be in your IP PBX suite offering

When proposing IP voice solutions to small businesses, certain applications and features are so essential that the customer won’t even consider purchasing a system without them. According to a study of more than 200 small businesses conducted by SoftwareAdvice, the phone system applications most often cited as “required” are:

Topics: Customer Service, IP PBX, Business Telephone System, VoIP, SIP, Total Voice Solution, Software Integration, Trends, Mobility (including remote work)

Two solid strategies for distinguishing yourself in the marketplace and protecting your margins

 

“Cheap is the last refuge for the marketer who can't figure out how to be better.”  - Seth Godin

 

Topics: Customer Service, Total Voice Solution