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 specifically 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
...IP phones. Just use your wi-fi laptop to get connected to the Internet and you can make phone calls from an IP phone to anywhere in the world.The most commonly used method is computer-to-computer VOIP. Several companies are offering free ...
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
...your telephone system at work. So what exactly does all of this mean? How will it change the way you communicate and will it help you become more accessible to your clients and employees?To begin, there is an Ethernet hard ...
So what kind of a VoIP PBX solution does your business need? - a turnkey Virtual Office solution that could be customized to
...services are provided for two segments: businesses and consumers. Consumer VoIP is targeted at homes and hence referred to as residential VoIP. As with any other consumer product, the demand for residential VoIP is driven by cost and quality of ...
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
...free phone calls over the Internet would have been thought an impossibility, but as any knowledgeable user will tell you they are now commonplace. Skype the pioneer and market leader has 51 million users and a great, easy to use ...
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,
...are the common protocols used for transmitting voice across networks. Just how they work with VoIP....or not....opens the door for both concerns and opportunity.Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a protocol developed by IETF MMUSIC Working Group and proposed standard for ...
- 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
...your computer? That s right as long as you have an internet connection and the right hardware on your computer, it is really easy to make totally free international long distance calls.You can now talk to your friends and relatives ...
- 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
...money-saving internet phone service, you ll need to decide what type of VoIP plan to get. Every VoIP provider offers a choice of calling plans, depending on your needs. You ll need to decide between unlimited local and long distance ...
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
...is a way to hold live presentations over the Internet. Generally it is used for group discussions or business conferences. Each member of web conference sits at their PC and can be easily connected to other members through Internet. It ...
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
...States today. At $199 for a year s worth of unlimited local and long distance calling within the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico, Sunrocket s annual plan works out to only $16.58 per month. With this annual broadband phone service ...
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
...modes of telecommunication via internet. The abbreviated form of "Voice Over Internet Protocol" is VOIP. It is a form of advanced computer technology that has affected the telephone systems.Voice Over Internet ProtocolActually, there are three different types of VOIP services. ...
Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications….including DS3-Bandwidth.com Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you’re always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses.
