Archive for March, 2010

Sutus a manufacturer of Small VoIP Business Phone Systems was One of 65 companies choosen to spotlight it’s offering in front of thousands techies at the most recent DEMO.COM event in Palm Desert CA. Each company is given just six minutes on the DEMO stage to truly demonstrate how their product will change the world.
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Once you’ve decided to use VoIP for your Small Office Home Office, it’s time to get set up. You’re probably keen to get going, find a VoIP provider, and start saving money on phone calls. It’s a good idea, though, to take a little time to consider some of the points on this check list. That way, you can be sure you’ve chosen the VoIP provider that’s best for you, and best for your business.

Who are the best established VoIP providers?

VoIP isn’t new technology, as such, and though broadband telephony is likely to become the way we all make telephone calls, you want to be sure that your provider is reliable and experienced.

What’s your existing broadband infrastructure?

Make sure you know how your existing broadband works. Is it cable (eg Virgin)? If so, you could cancel your cable telephone line entirely without affecting your broadband connection. If it is ADSL (eg BT), however, you can’t cancel your phone line because you’ll lose your broadband, too. You can, though use a VoIP phone line as your second phone line which you could use to make your business calls.

Do you need just one line, or two?

If you work from home, either all the time or part of the time, you may want to separate business from private telephone calls, so a second, cheap VoIP phone line might make more sense, especially if your business is growing or likely to grow.

What features will help?

Will your customers be able to get hold of you whenever they need to? Check that the VoIP provider offers inclusive features such as call-forwarding, three-way calling, ringback, do not disturb, call waiting or voicemail sent to your email address.

Call plans.

Think about what you need in terms of the business calls you make. Do you call mostly UK numbers? Or do you need to call other European countries, or mostly the US? Look at the call plans the VoIP offers. Is there a good choice? Is there one that suits you? Are calls to mobiles included?

What exactly does ‘unlimited’ mean?

Make sure you understand exactly what the VoIP provider is offering. If it says ‘unlimited’, does this mean that the calls really are unlimited to the countries listed in your call plan? Most VoIP providers will have a ‘fair usage’ policy. That is, they will give you have a generous allowance of free minutes, say 2000 (about 33 hours a month). What is the VoIP’s allowance? Is your SOHO likely to use more minutes than that? What will you pay if that happens?

What will you pay if you call countries outside your plan?

Check what you’ll be charged if you call countries outside the call plan you’ve signed up to. VoIP usually offer very competitive rates, but it’s a good idea to check. If you think you may make regular calls to a country outside one call plan, it may be a good idea to see if there’s another call plan that includes that country.

What do its customers say?

Try and find some of the customer feedback about the VoIP provider. Reviews from customers, either satisfied or disgruntled, will often tell you a lot about what you need to know about a company in terms of reliability, customer service, technical support, customer satisfaction etc.

What are the extra costs?

As well as the advertised monthly call plan, make sure you know exactly what else you might have to pay for. The VoIP provider may, for example, charge a set-up or administration fee, a line activation fee, a cancellation fee. There may be charges for equipment, too, though some of it may be free.

Is the VoIP’s website clear?

You don’t want to have to root through a website to discover hidden charges and the small print. A well written, professional, clear website, with all the charges clearly set out, is a sign that the VoIP provider is committed to professional transparency.

What’s the support like?

A phone line is one of the most crucial elements of any SOHO. So it’s a good idea to make sure that the VoIP provider offers technical support and customer service 24/7. Can you always get hold of someone if you need to? Do you have to pay for this?

What add-ons do they offer?

If or when your business starts to grow, can you adapt your VoIP phone system accordingly? Find out whether the VoIP provider offers add-ons such as a second phone line, a fax line, or the ability to make calls from your laptop.

Can you keep your number?

If you’re starting up in business, it may make sense to get a whole new business number. But if customers already use your landline number, you may want to keep that. Check that the VoIP provider offers the option of ‘porting’ your existing number to your new VoIP phone provider.

Can you choose a dialling code?

You may want a VoIP telephone number that’s local to you. Or you may want one that’s local to your customers. Either way, find out what the VoIP offers in terms of choosing dialling codes, and check that the code you want is available.

What about emergencies?

A final important consideration is to think about how your business would cope if your broadband connection went down. If that happens, and your VoIP telephone is temporarily out of action, you need to make sure you have a back-up plan (such as a mobile), particularly in case of critical business calls or even calls to the emergency services.

Once you’ve been through this check list, you should be ready to choose your VoIP provider. It shouldn’t take long to get your VoIP phone line set up, and then you’ll be ready to start saving money by using your broadband to make and receive business calls.

Costas Kariolis – Online Marketing Manager of Vonage UK. Vonage are leading low rate VoIP providers for home & small business users. Offering cheap phone calls and free international calls to landlines via an internet phone service for a set monthly fee. For interviews, quotes, images or comments contact: Costas Kariolis Online Marketing Manager E-mail: theteam@vonage.com

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It’s not a surprise that Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) has become a great asset to many people around the world. There are all sorts of reasons to use VoIP and it is becoming like a wave for the Internet world. One product that has come out of the VoIP revolution is the VoIP PBX. In order to understand just how VoIP PBX works it is also important to first understand what it really is and how it helps.

Small-to-medium sized businesses are the main benefactors from VoIP PBX technology, but of course large-scale businesses also can take advantage of this technology. What this system is, though, is basically a system that routes incoming telephone calls to one external phone line that can switch the connection between various other phones in the building or office. At this point you may be thinking that this technology is nothing new because standard businesses have used PBX (Private Business Exchange) technology for many years.

This is true, however, VoIP technology allows businesses to use the tool of the internet in order to do the same thing. Instead of paying on a per-minute basis or being afraid that they’ll go outside of their calling area or minutes allotted, businesses are able to pay flat fees for these types of VoIP services.

Essentially, having a VoIP Private Business Exchange (PBX) is probably one of the best things a small-to-medium sized business can invest in in order to not only save money, but also to help their employees. The reason that a VoIP PBX system is less expensive and more cost-effective for a small business is because incoming calls to the business are routed to that single external line first, which is actually connected to the internet. This is where VoIP technology and the software for the PBX come in.

Instead of sending data-packets of information over the internet, VoIP technology sends voice-packets, allowing the caller on the other end and the people inside the business office to talk to each other. Furthermore, a VoIP PBX is mainly software controlled, meaning that individual employees can be added and deleted with ease and calls can be transferred as easily as any other landline telephone PBX system.

Many businesses might think, however, that a VoIP PBX service may be too unreliable or it might not deliver all the calls that come to the business on a daily basis. However, small and large businesses and offices are able to take advantage of the VoIP PBX services. This business system allows all calls to be handled and all employees to be reached through one single telephone number as well as many other different features as well.

For example, voice messaging is allowed through VoIP PBX technology as well as call-waiting and automatic call distributions. Phone extension numbers can even be used to reach individual people and employees in a business so that customers don’t have to wait while their help is found.

All in all, the functionality of a VoIP PBX technology is not only worth it for any type of business in the long run, but is definitely a more cost-effective way to handle daily phone calls to and from the business or organization. They are one-time costs associated with a VoIP Private Business Exchange system, such as the software to manage the PBX, but the benefits of it all definitely outweigh whatever is paid.

VOIP PBX components and Asterisk Hardware.

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Hotel phone is specifically designed for hotel industry. It makes things easier and systematic. Business phone and voice mail systems help in enhancing business communication, boost activities and help in increasing productivity.
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