VoIP PBX Solutions For Businesses….What To Look For
Business communications has always been a challenging arena for management….subject to cost, function, reliability, and other pressures and concerns. The emergence of VoIP technology….and specificly application to PBX systems via IP based protocols….has provided an enormous opportunity for companies to reap many benefits.
Many companies today have multiple office locations around the country or around the world. Currently, each office uses its own PBX system and inter-office phone calls are routed through the PSTN and charged long distance and international rates by carriers. Most companies also employ workers on a part time basis who work from their homes. Those workers get reimbursed for telecommunication expenses they incur while performing their duties. It just makes business sense for companies to explore alternatives to consolidate their telecommunication systems and reduce costs.
The answer…..purchase a Voice-over-IP enabled PBX system and deploy it in a Virtual Office setup.
Voice-over-IP (VoIP) is a fairly new technology for transporting voice calls over the Internet which allows users to realize substantial cost savings on long distance and international calls. Besides cost effectiveness, VoIP enabled PBX systems (or IP PBX) offer easy integration with existing telecommunications systems and are characterized with low operating costs as their upgrade is done through software updates rather than more expensive hardware replacement. Additionally, the technology simplifies the communication infrastructure (no need for separate voice and data cables) while offering high scalability.
Virtual Office models are used by companies that want to consolidate their communications, reduce costs and achieve more cohesive corporate images. To implement the model, a company has to install a single IP PBX system in its headquarters and distribute to employees IP phones or regular phones with VoIP adapters. Employees can make intra-office and inter-office phone calls through dialing PBX extensions. Such calls are routed through the Internet and are practically free. Company customers, on the other side, can dial a single inbound number plus extensions in order to reach the company’s employees. The latter receive the calls on their IP/Regular Phones at any location in the world with Internet connectivity.
So what kind of a VoIP PBX solution does your business need? – a turnkey Virtual Office solution that could be customized to meet your company specific needs.
My recommendation for this solution is the highly acclaimed package from Packet8. Recently 8X8, Inc’s Packet8 Virtual Office solution for small and medium sized businesses received Network Computing magazine’s Editor’s Choice award over competitive offerings from Covad Communications and Velocity Networks. That’s some pretty stiff competition….and says a lot about Packet8’s performance. The Packet8 Virtual Office solution received the highest overall rating for its rich feature set, call management tools and low subscription price.
The Packet8 Virtual Office is a cost-effective, easy-to-use alternative to traditional PBX systems that allows users anywhere in the world to be part of a VoIP-hosted virtual phone system that includes auto attendants, conference bridges, extension-to-extension dialing, business class voicemail and ring groups, in addition to a rich variety of other business telephone features normally found on high-end, premise based PBX systems. Their Virtual Office reduces an organization’s telecommunications total cost of ownership (TCO) with a minimal initial investment combined with unlimited local and long distance business calling throughout the United States and Canada and Packet8’s low international rates.
Now…..here’s an overview of what to look for when making the business case for investment in VoIP technology for a VoIP PBX solution:
* Ways to save money for corporations…..
- Eliminate or reduce intra-office toll charges
- Avoiding service and support contracts on existing PBX hardware
- Eliminate the need for on-going Centrex services — and charges
- Reduce expansion costs via lower costs for adds, moves and changes; lower user hardware costs
- Reduce the on-going costs for separate voice messaging systems
- Provide productivity benefits for remote and traveling workers who can be empowered with the same integrated capabilities as office workers
- Reduce user training and learning on phone and messaging systems
- Cost-effectively implement unified messaging
- Improve security
- Reduce systems downtime and improve performance
Additional benefits for call centers…..
- Virtualize call centers, allowing more flexibility in the center’s configuration….either helping consolidation efforts, or providing enterprise capabilities to telecommuting call center workers
- Improve customer support services and reduce abandoned calls and call times
- Improve customer satisfaction and reduce customer turnover via improved call center services
Cost considerations….
- VoIP telecommunication hardware and software
- IP phone sets or soft phones
- Network upgrades for possible quality of service and performance upgrades
- Implementation labor and professional services
- On-going support and administration labor
- Support and maintenance contracts
- Increased support calls and potential user downtime losses on initial deployment
- IT Training
- User Training
- Write-off, write-down and disposal costs for existing telecommunication assets
Potential project risks……
- Quality of service/performance
- User training and adoption
- Administration and support skill levels and resources
- Proprietary vs. open systems interoperability
How Does The Solution Work?
Inter/Intra office calls…….
Caller A, who is located in the corporate headquarters, wants to make a call to Caller B, who is located in the corporate headquarters or in any of the company’s offices worldwide.
Caller A picks up his VoIP device (IP phone, phone with adapter or softphone) and dials Caller B’s extension.
The VoIP PBX server searches its internal database and obtains call routing information about Caller B The VoIP PBX server routes the call to Caller B’s VoIP device.
If the destination number is unreachable, the system forwards the call to Caller B’s voicemail.
As soon as Caller B picks up his VoIP device the conversation starts.
During conversation Caller A’s VoIP device convert voice to digital packets and send them to Caller B’s VoIP device and vice versa.
Both A and B can use traditional PBX functionality, like call on hold, caller ID, call forward, etc. Calls are free
Outbound calls…….
Caller A, who is located in the corporate headquarters, wants to make a call
to Caller B, who is a company customer.
Caller A picks up his VoIP device (IP phone, phone with adapter or softphone) and dials the customer’s number.
The VoIP PBX server searches its internal database and obtains call routing
information about the VoIP carrier, who should terminate calls to Caller B’s area code.
The call is routed to the VoIP carrier.
The VoIP carrier terminates the call to Caller’s B number over the PSTN.
During conversation, Caller A can use traditional PBX functionality, like call on hold, caller ID, call forward, etc.
Calls are charged on time basis at pre-negotiated rates with the VoIP carrier
Inbound calls…..
Caller A, who is a company customer, wants to make a call to Caller B, who is a company employee.
Caller A picks up his phone and dials the company’s central access number.
The VoIP PBX server prompts the caller to enter an extension.
Caller A dials Caller B’s extension.
The VoIP PBX server searches its internal database and obtains call routing information about Caller B.
The VoIP PBX server routes the call to Caller B’s VoIP device.
During conversation, Caller B can use traditional PBX functionality, like call on hold, caller ID, call forward, etc.
Calls are either free if the company uses a local access number or charged on a time basis if the company uses a toll free one.
Voice over IP (VoIP) technologies carry great promise to reduce telecommunication and networking total cost of ownership while empowering businesses with new capabilities and agility. When making your decision on deploying a Virtual Office VoIP PBX solution consider the strategic and tangible benefits as well as the costs and risks outlined above. If it all seems too overwhelming seek out the assistance of an unbiased independent advisor such as Business-VoIP-Solution
Voice over IP (VOIP) explained
With the advent of broadband has come a new way to communicate faster and cheaper: voice over internet protocol, or VOIP in telecom parlance. The idea is that users make calls through broadband (DSL, cable, or fiber) data lines rather than traditional copper phone lines. In layman’s terms, it’s essentially a new way to make phone calls over the internet.
Recently I happened to see a television commercial advertising a new product called, “MagicJack.” The advertisement explained how the small unit which plugs into your computer’s USB port on one end and your home telephone on the other end saves you hundreds in phone charges per month.
The technology is called voice over internet protocol, or VOIP in tech lingo. And with the advent of broadband, it has become more popular as a cheaper alternative to traditional telephone service. However, VOIP does have two significant limitations: 1) temporary loss of service with a power outage; and 2) choppy sound when your computer is performing a memory-intensive task such as uploading a video to YouTube.
Skype & Vonage
Two popular providers for internet telephony are Skype and Vonage. With Skype, both users must be Skype callers. One cannot go outside Skype to utilize the free phone call capability of the internet. Vonage is more similar to traditional phone service, yet is cheaper at $14.99 per month for their Basic 500 Minute Residential Plan which includes every feature you could want, plus free long-distance. And if you want unlimited minutes plus free international calling, choose Vonage’s Premium Unlimited Residential Plan at $24.99 per month.
The Money-Saving MagicJack
MagicJack has emerged as a major contender in the battle for the top VOIP telephone service provider. With an initial cost of only $39.95, MagicJack will provide you with unlimited local and long distance calling plus many other features for only $19.95 per year (you heard right, per year). So intriguing was the advertising that I had to check it out for myself.
The MagicJack promptly arrived in my mailbox only a few days after I ordered it. The futuristic-looking little unit also came with a USB extension cord in the packaging, which is a nice optional feature should you require it.
After plugging the MagicJack into the USB port on my new iMac, its software promptly loaded on my machine and prompted me to click twice to launch the MagicJack Softphone. I then plugged my cordless phone I’ve had for years into the other end of the MagicJack.
What Is A Skype Wifi Phone?
With the rapid advancement in the field of networking and communication, now it is possible to have voice conversation with other people through internet. The device used in voice conversation over internet is called VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) which is the routing of voice conversation over IP enabled network.
With the demand of wireless network on the rise it is now possible to design a kind of a mobile phone which can be used to communicate between two nodes using the same wireless network.
Skype phone is a cellular phone used in the context of wi-fi network, which is used to make free call to other users provided he also uses Skype device.
Though the Skype uses Wi-fi network to communicate with other Skype devices, it is not possible to enable this device in any wi-fi enabled spot. These spots must be secured with standards such as WEP or WPA.
There are immense benefits one can draw by using the Skype phone devices.
The most obvious advantage of using Skype is the cost of the call made. Skype is able to deliver a 100 percent free of charge phone calls to other Skype devices.The only cost, which the user has to tolerate, is the cost of buying the Skype device.
Another major advantage of Skype is the mobility. Since it uses wireless wi-fi system, it is possible to take the device anywhere within the radius of the network and continue the conversation with other user. Hence it also acts like a mobile phone with the capability of taking the device anywhere without interrupting the voice conversation.
Hence with wi-fi network getting more and more famous these days, the wireless connections are getting spread to more and more areas. With these advances in the field of wireless connection the prospect of Skype is also increasing. Nowadays Skype provide better voice transmission capability through shared wireless network and these days are provided with USB(universal serial bus) charging device so that the phone can recharged by laptops and other PCs.
Since this device is based on wifi, like laptops when these devices are switched on they automatically search for any other connection available in the network. These devices have a simple interface having the features like contact list, call history, voicemail, changing your status, adding a contact, searching for a contact, and looking at how much Skype credit you have etc.
These devices are definitely much cheaper than using the mobile phones available in the market.Though it may not entirely phase out the mobile phones but it would surely bring in some innovation to the field of communication.
Skype®, Linksys®, and Vonage®. Skype phones provide the facility of free call to other user who is also using Skype phone. To make calls to users who are not using Skype phones the call made is generally much cheaper than the call made by land line or cellular phones. The voip technology is used in the outsourcing industry to serve the international clients while sitting in a remote location in other part of the world.
Why Everyone Should Be Embracing VOIP
Voice over IP (VOIP) is one of the greatest things to come out of the internet. Although not a new concept, since scientists realised its potential back in the 70s, it has really only become popular within the last half a decade. There are a number of reasons why it didn’t come about earlier, the main being slow web speeds. Before broadband, using VOIP services was fairly temperamental, often calls were jittery, laggy and poor quality. Thankfully broadband and particularly wireless internet has allowed voice over IP to flourish globally.
When talking about VOIP many people assume you are talking about Skype. Certainly Skype is one of the most popular and well known applications, recently reporting over 100 million downloads, however it is by far not the only VOIP client around. In fact there are numerous other clients, all with different quirks, features and compatibilities.
Mobile phones are now becoming increasingly powerful and technologically advanced. Despite voice over IP being a competing product to the mobile phone industry, the latest phones are paradoxically supporting the growth of VOIP. Nokia, one of the largest mobile phone manufactures in the world, no longer claims to make mobile phones, instead mini computers. Since phones are packed with the latest gadgets, they in effect are pocket size computers that can also take pictures, play games, stream music and now make free phones calls anywhere in the world using voice over IP.
Smart phones, the latest branding for next generation mobile phones, come with powerful operating systems, plenty of memory and wifi, combining these with normal phone features, a microphone and speaker, make a smart phone the ideal platform to support VOIP.
Advantages of using VOIP are clear, firstly and primarily, it is possible to have unlimited phone usage for free. However to get truly free calls, you will need to be connected to a wireless access point, ideally a free of charge one, for example in a coffee shop. Secondly you can only call someone else who is using the same software as you, and that they are online.
Additionally with VOIP international calls are a thing of the past, it doesn’t matter if you are calling your neighbour or your long lost cousin in Tanzania, as long as you are both online you can enjoy unlimited and cost free chatting! The only thing you need to worry about is the different time zones. Further more with VOIP making conference calls is just as easy as making any calls, therefore if you wish to chat with your long lost cousin, great grandmother and distant nephew, it is not a problem, the more the merrier.
Other great benefits include web based voicemail, which allows anyone to access their personal messages wherever is convenient, whether that is a public library, friends laptop, or indeed your own mobile phone. Virtual phone numbers allow businesses to opt for geographical numbers despite not being in the local area. This is beneficial to customers, who can speak to the company at the cost of a local phone call, and the business who can show they have a local presence.
In conclusion, there is nothing that should be stopping you embracing the possibilities of VOIP. Communication is the principal dimension driving evolution. Join the millions of users globally and unleash the power of the internet as it had been forecast decades ago.
