If you have customers that have not yet migrated to VoIP and are thinking about making the switch, this would be a great time to do it. According to the FCC, VoIP telephone subscriptions in the U.S. have been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 10% since 2013, and retail switch access has been declining by 11% annually during the same period. At that rate, VoIP subscribers now outnumber switched access customers, and ISDN connections are quickly sliding into obsolescence. SIP trunking is becoming the standard for PSTN connectivity.

To ensure a smooth transition, start by helping your customers answer these four basic questions to set them up for success.

Topics: IP PBX, Business Telephone System, VoIP, Trends, Business Continuity, Business Strategy

Advances in technology in the office environment often move both quickly and slowly

Topics: VoIP, SIP, DECT, Conferencing, Product Review

Back in May we reviewed Yealink’s innovative T5 smart media phones. Now, Yealink has introduced the Version 40 firmware upgrade for these phones, adding to an already impressive arsenal of features and functionalities.

Topics: VoIP, SIP, Yealink, Firmware Upgrades, Videoconferencing, Android, Product Review

Almost 90% of businesses in the United States have fewer than 20 employees, according to the United States Census Bureau. To get VoIP service, companies of this size typically use a hosted VoIP service rather than having an on-premise IP PBX. With Epygi Technologies, however, the on-premise solution becomes cost-effective, even for a micro-business with a single employee. How does Epygi do it? We had a chance to ask Mario Cuello, CEO of Epygi Technologies, about what makes them unique in their ability to deliver robust, feature-rich systems at such accessible prices.

Topics: IP PBX, Business Telephone System, VoIP, Product Review

Review of the EdgeMarc 2900a and 2900e Enterprise Session Border Controllers

Update: Since this article was published, in 2018, Edgewater Networks was acquired by Ribbon Communications.

Edgewater Networks has added to its line of enterprise session border controllers (eSBCs) with its EdgeMarc 2900A and 2900E models. These are designed to enable enterprises and service providers to future-proof their SIP trunking and Unified Communications (UC) deployments. With built-in mechanisms for both QoS and security, they provide intelligent mechanisms allowing for both hosted PBX services as well as SIP trunking applications.

They have several features that differ from other EdgeMarc SBCs.

Topics: QoS, VoIP, SIP, Peripherals, Network Security, Network Design, Product Review

If you weren’t able to attend Channel Partners Evolution last week in Austin, fear not: here are our top takeways from the event.

 

Topics: VoIP, Trends, Network Security, Cloud, Events

Product Review

Companies are continually striving to discover new workplace philosophies that will maximize the productivity of their employees. Google, Apple, and Facebook are just some examples of organizations that are introducing innovative workspace and workplace designs. Most of these are moving away from the traditional “employee tied to a desk” standard by freeing up their staff and providing for mobility within the workspace.

Yealink’s W60B DECT IP Phone Base Station is an ideal ally to aid any small- to medium-sized business in achieving such employee mobility. Since it is easy to deploy, flexible in its functionality, and rich in features, it provides for all the requirements of any internally mobile workforce.

 

Topics: SIP Phones, Business Telephone System, VoIP, Yealink, Cordless, DECT

Ignore them at your own risk!

As we gear up for Channel Partners Evolution later this month in Austin, we’ve been thinking about the incredible pace at which digitization is taking over every aspect of business and the importance of a nimble enterprise structure that can continually adapt to this progress.

It can seem overwhelming keeping up with it all, so we’ve boiled it down to five trends that will define the evolution of VoIP over the next decade. Ignore them at your own risk!

 

Topics: VoIP, SIP, Software Integration, Trends, Mobility (including remote work), Productivity, Events

Yealink has smartened up its IP conference phone with the CP960. This ergonomic, intuitive and exceptionally sleek conference phone adds the Android operating system and other enhancements to the Yealink CP860.

Topics: VoIP, Yealink, Conferencing, Android, Product Review

When to use VoLTE vs. an OTT voice app

In a previous article, we discussed voice over LTE (VoLTE) and its implications for the enterprise VoIP phone system. All voice traffic over the LTE (also known as 4G mobile) network is packetized and conforms to modern VoIP standards, making it the first mobile telephony standard to completely circumvent the traditional circuit-switched telephony infrastructure.

In many ways, VoLTE sounds a lot like over-the-top (OTT) voice applications that leverage the same protocols for voice. In this article, we look at what OTT voice apps are, what VoLTE is in relation to OTT, and the benefits of using one, the other or both over an LTE network.

Topics: OTT VOIP, Business Telephone System, VoIP, Software Integration, Trends, Mobility (including remote work), Mobile