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
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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)
Get even more bang for your buck by adding these five bells and whistles to your VoIP server.
As long as you have one, you may as well get the most out of your IP PBX by taking advantage of the plethora of applications and systems designed to work on it. IP PBXs of course coordinate your VoIP communications, but they can also do a host of other things. Here we list five non-voice services your IP PBX can perform for your business.
Topics: IP PBX, VoIP, SIP, Peripherals
National telephone operators have been investing less in maintaining traditional PSTN networks and paying more attention – and money – to building out their mobile and Internet protocol (IP) networks. AT&T launched its Project Velocity IP in 2012 with the intention of expanding its wired broadband IP network to reach 75% of its customer locations in three years. In Europe, British Telecom and Deutsche Telekom both have their sights set on all-IP. DT’s website says, “The network of the future is an integrated, all-IP network.”
A common reason some businesses still cling to their PSTN lines even when they’ve switched to a VoIP (voice over IP) phone system is to have a failover option. Here we look at some other failover mechanisms that don’t require a PSTN line, as well as the key benefits to switching to all-IP.
Topics: IP PBX, Business Telephone System, VoIP, SIP, Total Voice Solution, Software Integration, Trends
Topics: IP PBX, Business Telephone System, VoIP, SIP, Total Voice Solution
The quality and reliability of telephone calls placed over the Internet (voice over Internet protocol – or VoIP – calls) keep getting better, and often callers cannot tell the difference between calls placed over an IP network and a traditional phone line. That said, VOIP calls do sometimes get dropped and here we examine a few of the causes and tips for troubleshooting them.
Topics: SIP Phones, IP PBX, Business Telephone System, VoIP, SIP
One hesitation some companies have in moving over to a full IP business telephone system revolves around concerns over using the 911 emergency call service. Do companies really need a back-up PSTN line to make emergency calls? How reliable is emergency dialing over the Internet?
Topics: IP PBX, Business Telephone System, VoIP, SIP, Trends
Because VOIP telephone systems send voice over a packet network, they are just as vulnerable to data breaches and cyberattacks as any other IP (Internet protocol) application. According to The Sileo Group, a data security think tank, fully 60% of small companies go out of business within a year of a data security breach.
“Cybercrimes hit companies of all sizes and affect their bottom line to the tune of several years of profit,” asserts John Sileo, CEO of The Sileo Group.
The good news is, if your data network is secure, your VOIP voice transmissions are in some ways even more secure than a traditional analog phone system. And most risks can be mitigated by putting some basic best practices in place.
Topics: SIP Phones, IP PBX, Business Telephone System, VoIP, SIP, Network Security
