Speedy Gecko

05/31/2018

Types of VoIP PBX Phone Systems: IP PBX
An IP PBX is a completely Internet-based phone service with a PBX that resides on-premises. That may sound like a step back to the traditional PBX phone system and the need for complicated hardware, space, and professional services, but it's not. The IP PBX is simple to set up, monitor and maintain.

The standard PBX was a complicated, bulky box. The IP PBX is much simpler. An IP PBX is typically software and a PCI interface card on a dedicated computer, with a web-based interface for management that can be accessed anywhere there's an Internet connection. External hardware requirements are relatively minimal, such as dedicated PoE (Power over Ethernet) switches to power the IP phones, Ethernet cables to connect the phones to the Ethernet port, and routers.

The IP PBX offers the same flexibility, scalability, and convenience of a hosted VoIP PBX phone system. An IP PBX generally has the same call controls, plus a few additional advantages related to network integration, portability, and facilities management.
• Integrates with the user's computer (click-to-dial, email IDs as caller IDs)
• No phone wires — uses Ethernet cables to connect with the Internet
• IP phones retain the identity of the user (via the configuration) when moved from desk to desk
• Web-based PBX system management
• Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) phones can be used
• Can use a softphone rather than phone hardware

The IP PBX allows for totally converged voice and data communication over the Internet. That means that everything is sent as data packets over the Internet. It also means that voice calls originate as data packets -- no conversion from analog to digital (using a VoIP adapter) first.
With an IP PBX phone system, the small business phone system becomes completely digital. Callers use IP phones that are connected directly to the VoIP network, and often to their computer. With an IP PBX phone system, traditional phone wiring is redundant.

The initial cost for a pure, 100% digital IP PBX phone system can be a little steeper than using hosted PBX phone services for a small business phone system. The expense of an IP PBX phone system is due primarily to the cost of IP phones. However, over time the cost of an IP PBX business phone system becomes significantly lower than a hosted PBX VoIP phone system. That's because many hosted PBX phone systems charge per user. With an on-site IP PBX, there is no monthly per-seat fee.

05/30/2018

The VoIP PBX Advantage
If PBX phone systems can do all that, why not stick with a traditional PBX? Why switch to a VoIP PBX phone system?

There are a lot of reasons to make the switch to VoIP PBX. The major reasons to choose a VoIP PBX business phone system are cost, flexibility, convenience, and integration.

• VoIP PBX systems are less expensive than traditional PBX phone service. Whether hosted or on-premises, VoIP PBX phone systems have less moving parts and machinery — almost everything is accomplished by software. That means fewer expenditures on service, repair, and upgrades than a traditional PBX. VoIP lines are also cheaper than analog lines.

• VoIP PBX phone systems are easy to adapt to your business' changing needs. VoIP phone systems are flexible and easy when it comes to adding or subtracting lines/extensions, changing locations, or adding/subtracting additional features.

• VoIP phone systems can offer efficient call control features to small business phone system clients that would be too expensive (or not supported) with a traditional PBX. VoIP PBX phone systems offer call controls such as:
call flip
call waiting
click-to-dial
call record
caller ID with call waiting
voicemail-to-email

• VoIP phone service makes it easy to connect with the office, wherever you are. Cell phones can be extensions, even using DIDs. Faxes can arrive in email inboxes. Voicemail messages can be transcribed and sent as email, or attached to an email as a soundclip.

05/29/2018

Benefits of PBX Phone Systems
Traditional PBX phone systems replaced the earlier key systems that companies used as their small business phone system. Key systems used phones with lights on the bottom of the phone to indicate a line was in use. But once PBX systems became affordable for small businesses, PBX phone systems became the standard for most small business telephone service. PBX phone systems are more efficient than key systems. PBX phone systems are faster and use fewer outside lines.

Here's where they are really different:
Key Systems
• Key systems used dedicated lines. That meant busy signals.
• Callers had to use a specific 'outside line' to make outbound phone calls.
• Required more external lines.
• Key system callers had to call a main line and be transferred. No direct inward dialing (DID).

PBX Systems
• There's DID and extension-to-extension dialing on PBX phone systems.
• PBX phone systems feature line "pools" that allow for next-available use.
• With SIP trunking, fewer outside lines are needed.
• PBX offers more internal extensions and scalability.
• PBX includes automation and convenience features, such as voicemail.
• PBX offers after-hours messages, directory service, music-on-hold, and other features.
• PBX systems handle and route calls in-house using a local circuit switch, so phone bills for local phone service are lower.

Join us tomorrow to find out the advantages of a VOIP PBX Phone System.

05/28/2018

PBX Phone Systems
A PBX phone is actually a PBX phone system. A PBX phone system is a telephone exchange that functions within a business or business location to route calls.

PBX Basics
PBX stands for Public Branch Exchange. PBX phone systems act like local switchboards, handling inbound and outbound calls. The traditional PBX communicates with the Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) using electric, analog signals. The transmission process using the Public Switched Telephone Network (PTSN) is called circuit-switching.
Newer, Internet-based PBX phone systems use digital signals. PBX phone systems compress the digital signal and turn the data into packets, which the PBX sends over the Internet instead of the POTS. This transmission process is called packet-switching, using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Tomorrow we will discuss the benefits of a PBX Phone Systems.

05/08/2018

If you have started to rethink your company’s telecom solution, you probably already know that there are a lot of telecom solutions to consider. All claiming to offer better, more reliable service at a lower cost than what you have now. But what do you really need and who can best provide it? We have been in the telecom industry for over 10 years and have seen a lot of cool stuff come and a lot of not as cool as advertised stuff go.
No company is the same but we have learned that there are some basic commonalities that should be considered when considering a telecom upgrade.

The first question to ask is how do you communicate with your customers, suppliers and employees? Go take a look at your data or telephone closet to see all the equipment you have supporting your telecom capabilities. You might even see some stuff that you don’t even know what it does.

• Do you still have landline telephone services?
• Sending/receiving faxes?
• What are your monthly telephone costs?
• How much internet traffic are you using?
• Are you hosting a website?
• Do you use any communication services such as teleconferencing, chat and VoIP.

Understanding where you are at and where you want to be is the first step in getting the right telecom services you need. With this knowledge, you can take the first step in figuring how much internet bandwidth is available to your work site(s) to meet the need. Are the providers cost effective and reliable? You should also find out where you are at in your telecom contract. You might be at a point where you can renegotiate your internet or phone service costs.

A close second to bandwidth are what telecom tools and services do you need and which are available to support your location(s). This is where understanding your business needs really comes in. What services are out there that can support your business plans now and into the future? Do you need to keep services in house or should you subscribe to services in the cloud at a lower price? Services such as VoIP, On-Line backups, contact centers in the cloud and so many more.

We understand that there are a lot of decisions to make along the road to modernizing and simplifying your telecommunications decisions. The first step down this path is understanding where you are today and moving in the direction of where you want to be.

Call for Help LLC offers a whole range of services that will help you meet your business goals. Starting with a complimentary review of your current telecommunication bills to identify errors and find opportunities for savings, better service and more functionality. We also offer project management for new service implementation and infrastructure installs, including low voltage cabling.

Call us at 305-443-2858 to discuss your current telecom service and start a no obligation discussion of your specific business technology needs.

05/03/2018

-IoT and BYOD
The “Internet-of-Things” offers the ability to connect every internet-capable device within an office to transfer and access data automatically in real-time. It offers a seamless way to connect all of the devices, applications and platforms we use every day, allowing them to work together and create smart, proactive, impactful technology solutions that make our lives easier. This offers the potential for businesses to integrate popular apps, messaging platforms, scheduling, customer relationship management and more, onto a centralized network that can be accessed on any device. This includes employee’s own personal devices. Check back in a few weeks for a blog post that will take a deeper look into the potential that IoT offers to improve business processes.

-Automated presence and Personal Assistants
Probably the coolest example of smart office functionality that I have seen comes from our friends at BroadSource. Their P**A mobile assistant is the first and only mobile platform that uses the power of smartphone hardware sensors and software capability to create user context. When paired with any BroadSoft BroadWorks service platform, P**A uses the orientation, movement, location, proximity and calendar of any mobile device to automatically create communication flows, respond to requests and generate real-time presence updates.

-Smart, and open, video conferencing systems
While we are already seeing a wide-range of conferencing platforms that support attendance from any device, the next step is to make those meetings more efficient through real-time, data-and-presence-driven smart technology. The market is already seeing a few different approaches to generate smarter meetings, led by facial recognition and virtual reality solutions. There are solutions out there that use facial recognition to initiate meetings, track presenters, adjust video and audio settings, show relevant content based on who is speaking, invite attendees based on meeting context, and more. Virtual reality meetings offer the potential to create virtual rooms that appear as if everyone is sitting together while changing the appearance of rooms, overlaying supporting graphics, and more.

-The move to open office designs
There are a lot of factors that affect the productivity of a business. A new one that has come into the limelight and has proven to have a major impact is the design and layout of an office setting. Alan Ni, director of vertical marketing for Aruba, said it best.

"In addition to the types of technology being utilized in smart offices, office design itself is changing quite drastically. Rather than the traditional walled-off offices and set, one-size conference rooms, today's smart offices increasingly include open floor-plans, with flexible spaces that can be used for various purposes throughout the day. Driven by mobility, the IoT, and consumerization of technology, modern office design is working to ensure form and function work together seamlessly."

There is no doubt that these trends are just the beginning of the smart office. As with any technology, in order for these types of smart solutions to have mass market appeal and drive results, they need to be easier to use and more affordable. The idea of the smart office is still in its infancy and has a long way to go. So stay tuned for that

05/02/2018

Smart homes are the buzz over the past few years. Some of the largest consumer-focused brands in the world, including Google and Amazon, are making the smart home mainstream through easy-to-use and affordable solutions. Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant, Nest’s connected home devices and even the Ring Video Door Bell link together lighting, temperature control, security and home appliances to allow us to be more productive, comfortable, and safer in our homes – while also saving money.

We are beginning to see what the future of the home will look like, but what will the future of the office look like? Usually the smart office is thought of in the same way as the smart home – control of lighting, HVAC, security and appliances through centralized networks that help make an office more sustainable and cut back on power consumption. If you are looking for a example of this and the way that data can be used to drastically minimize the footprint of a business while making an office more comfortable for employees, check out Deloitte’s office in Amsterdam.

The next step needed to make the smart office mainstream is to incorporate functions that make a business more productive and more profitable. For this reason and this reason alone, I believe the smart office has a ways to go. With that said, the idea of a smart office is much more complicated then the smart home, as to truly make a difference it needs to use data, communication flows, presence and other real-time factors to increase revenue and sales.

Though they may not be widely used at the moment, there are some intriguing examples of what the smart office of the future will look like, and how it can improve business and communication processes. Let’s take a deeper look, tomorrow.

The Edge may be the most connected–and greenest–office anywhere in the world. Is this the future of working?

04/26/2018

So which is best for your business:

On-premise IP PBXs are best for:
• Saving money over time with less recurring fees and more features and customizations
• SMBs and enterprises with the technical resources to manage the system and take full advantage of premium features and integrations
• Organizations where uptime is of utmost importance, deploy a redundant or high availability solution
• When you want full control over your security, an on-prem IP PBX will let you manage, monitor and control the security of your system
• Integrated UC deployments that include systems such as CRM, hotel management, call center etc.

Hosted IP PBXs are best for:
• Businesses who need a low cost of ownership and low upfront costs
• When a IP PBX deployment needs to happen quickly, the hosted provider will take the majority of the setup tasks
• Small businesses or start-ups without readily available IT staff for system updates and maintenance
• Organizations that use out-of-the-box solutions and won’t need customized integrations with third-party systems
• Companies who want simple maintenance, as the hosted provider takes on maintenance and upgrades

04/25/2018

Security
It’s hard to go a day without reading about a new hack or cyber-attack, so understandably security is a top priority. On-premise solutions offer greater protection for your communications network over hosted, due to the nature of controlling, monitoring and securing your own network. Instead of putting security in the hands of your hosted provider, you’re able to maintain control over your system and network, thus the security as well.

Size
Size matters – it’s one of the top determinants for hosted versus on-premise. Depending on the size of your organization your needs surrounding features, cost and control will vary. Hosted IP PBXs are often good for smaller businesses who don’t have an IT team or system administrator readily available, and when the recurring costs per user won’t snowball into an unmanageable amount. For businesses with simpler feature needs, hosted solutions would be a good fit, as you won’t be needing as many customized features and integrations. While medium to larger businesses often require more control, more customizations and higher capacity, which makes an on-prem solution advantageous.

Continuity
As is the nature with VoIP technology, we rely on a stable internet connection to keep our communication systems running. Both hosted and on-premise offer different continuity features to make this possible. With hosted, if your internet goes out so does your phone system, although calls can be forwarded to voicemail or mobile phones, as the hosted provider keeps the system running on their servers. If your service provider is experiencing issues, you’re at their whim waiting to get service back up. With an on-prem solution you have multiple options if your internet connection goes out. First, incorporating PSTN lines means calls can still be made, and to avoid hardware downtime from other causes, you can incorporate a redundant or high-availability solution.

Join me tomorrow for Part 3 the conclusion

04/24/2018

Control
Everyone likes being in control, right? By providing users with complete ownership of their communications solution, on-premise IP PBXs (commonly known as on-prem) offer a higher level of control, customization and responsiveness. When using a hosted service, the user has no control over the IP PBX, as everything is handled through the hosted provider. For example, simple tasks like adding a new user can be done quickly, no need to contact your service provider and wait for them to make the change (typically at an extra recurring cost). With on-prem IP PBXs users can also build integrations with software such as CRM systems for a fully unified communications solution. With hosted, stronger integrations with other systems is often not an option, or is not customizable enough to target a business’s specific needs.

However with great power comes great responsibility, and in order to achieve this level of control and integration, on-prem IP PBXs typically involve an IT team or system administrator to manage maintenance, growth, updates and enhancements. If you’re a business that is more hands-off with your technology, on-premise may not be the best choice, and a hosted option would allow the management to be offloaded to the service provider. Hosted options let organizations add new features and users by simply contacting the service provider. Although this comes at an additional subscription cost, it is done without the need for investment in an IT team, thus lighter updates and enhancements can be done with little stress on the user’s side.

04/23/2018

The on-premise vs. hosted IP PBX battle continues, which to choose? Each IP PBX option comes with its own characteristics and benefits, and the key is to determine which works best for your business’s unique needs. While it may seem that everything is moving to the Cloud, hosted IP PBX options are not right for everyone. I’ll help you navigate through the details of each to see which IP PBX is the right choice for you.

Join me tomorrow for a 3 part series of quick posts.

06/17/2017

A video that was recently found that we were able to rescue and preserve thanks to our digitizing service. Back in 2008 two of our team members (YES they are brothers) while working at Miami Dade College had the idea to approach MDC TV and asked to be guests. The topic they pitched was "What is Social Media" after many discussions our team members were asked to do two separate episodes for the school. Enjoy our experts as they try to explain what is Social Media back in 2008.