TeleDynamics Think Tank

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

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)

 

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)

In the complicated SIP trunking migration process, here are some tips that will help you achieve the results you want for your organization.

By Andrew Prokop of SIP Adventures, a unified communications blog

Learning never exhausts the mind.
-- Leonardo da Vinci

I go to a fair number of tradeshows and industry conferences throughout the year, and as much as I love presenting at these events, I am just as thrilled to attend sessions given by my communications colleagues. It's rare when I don't pick up a tip or two, and there have been a number of sessions that have changed the way I view a product or a particular technology.

This year, I presented two breakout sessions at Avaya's IAUG Engage 2016 conference and attended at least a half dozen more. I would love to write about all my favorites, but for now, I will pick one.

For me, Larry Riba's "Secrets of a Successful SIP Trunking Migration" was a highlight. It's not that I haven't been living and breathing SIP migrations for the past several years. Believe me, I've paid my dues, time and time again. Still, hearing personal experiences allow me to see things that I might not otherwise see. Even the best of us fall into patterns and tend to repeat the same methodologies over and over again.

Larry began his presentation by discussing the benefits of SIP trunking. While most were not new to me (e.g. better redundancy and failover, cost savings, reduction in inbound and outbound trunks, etc.), a few were not on my personal list of "Why SIP?" For instance:

• Simplified call recording infrastructure with the capability to record in stereo
• Centralizing SIP trunks can often become the catalyst for improving WAN resiliency and increasing bandwidth, benefits that are then shared with non-voice traffic

Following the benefits of SIP, it was off to checklists for preparation, design decisions, choosing a SIP provider, planning, and avoiding pitfalls.

Topics: SIP

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

We consider session border controllers (SBCs) to be a best practice in most enterprise contexts because of the improved security, control and overall VoIP system functionality they lend.

So what exactly are SBCs and why do you need one?

Topics: SIP Phones, QoS, Business Telephone System, VoIP, SIP, Total Voice Solution, Network Security