5 Reasons Hosted VoIP is Experiencing Explosive Growth

NEW BERLIN, WI –


September 28, 2010 - Hosted VoIP is quickly
expanding its footprint in the small to mid-sized business (SMB)
marketplace because it dramatically improves an organization’s
profitability, reduces its risk and adds an unmatched level of
flexibility to its current operations. In layman’s terms, hosted VoIP is a
solution which enables businesses to utilize their Internet bandwidth
to handle their communications needs, rather than forcing businesses to rely on traditional
solutions, such as PBX hardware TDM switch that reside on site.
According to a report by AMI  Partners, “Hosted VoIP in the
North American SMB market is projected to expand from 2%
market penetration to over 30% by 2014.” Adoption rates are keeping
pace with these aggressive growth projections and these can be
explained by five key reasons:



Cost Structure


In today’s unforgiving economic environment, business
owners are being forced to reexamine their expenses to see
what can be eliminated, minimized, or streamlined. The fundamental
reason that businesses are adopting hosted VoIP technology is because
of the profound effects it has on the bottom line. Since, hosted VoIP is
able to “piggyback” phone usage on top of Internet bandwidth,
SMBs are able to enjoy substantial upfront cost savings, as well as
recurring savings when they implement hosted VoIP. The
reason for this is because businesses don’t need to buy
expensive systems or hardware anymore, instead they’re just
purchasing individual VoIP handsets. Instead of purchasing
hardware products, (PBX systems, desk phones, new cables, etc.)
businesses are receiving softwarecentric value (Connectivity, Call
Tracking and Reporting, Voice-totext transcription, softphones, etc.).
This means that a new phone system is no longer a capital
expenditure, but it’s simply a lower level operating expense. Plus, the
ongoing costs associated with hosted VoIP fluctuates as a
function of demand. It Puts Your Communications on
Auto-Pilot… For an SMB, resources are
scarce. Businesses don’t have the time, nor the resources to spend
dozens of hours training or supporting employees with new
technology. Instead of learning how to program button commands
or memorizing extensions, hosted VoIP requires the most minimal
levels of supervision possible and can be remotely handled by the
unified communications partner. Since it’s run off a simple web
interface, businesses don’t need extra IT staff to manage their
communications. With most providers it takes about five
minutes for someone to explain how you use the interface, and
you’ll probably end up figuring it out for yourself before they even
finish talking. One person can manage all the features, add users
and subtract users, so the IT department can focus on fulfilling
its other duties. Not only does hosted VoIP free-up labor hours,
but since it’s web-based, it can update itself and keep pace with the
ever-changing demands of today’s business environment.



Business Continuity


Power outages and natural disasters are threats facing all
businesses but hosted VoIP provides a way for organizations to
minimize the negative impacts associated with these occurrence.
Businesses are attracted to hosted VoIP’s ability to handle these
situations smoothly. The box that runs an SMB’s communications
system is off-premise in a secure location, and is backed up several
times over. What this ultimately means for organizations is that in
the event of a disaster, the business can continue to operate just as if
nothing had happened.



Scalability


In today’s world, business owners are expected to know
what’s around every corner and they can’t afford to be locked into
inflexible technology. Hosted VoIP enables businesses to
neutralize the risk of the volatile economy. Where traditional phone
systems are affixed to a certain number of employees, hosted VoIP
can provide organizations with the flexibility they need to survive.
Whether scaling up, or scaling down, the costs of adjusting your
communications infrastructure to
meet your needs are miniscule.



Freedom


Emergent businesses in the SMB marketplace are using remote
applications to enhance their productivity, whether they’re in the
office or not. Technology such as softphones enable organizations to
work from any location, at any time and still preserve the same levels of
professionalism exhibited by the largest companies in the market.
Hosted VoIP is an absolutely powerful technology that is driving
profitability and improving employee productivity, while
providing companies with a unique competitive advantage. In today’s
rapidly changing business environment, organizations need to
be agile and they cannot afford to be held hostage by static, on
premise technology. Hosted VoIP gives business owners the freedom
to adopt the latest in communications technology and
the peace of mind that it automatically happens.




ABOUT PHONES PLUS, INC.
Since 1981, Phones Plus has committed to establishing lasting
business relationships with our clients. Phones Plus offers
innovative voice, video, and data networking solutions that increase
our clients’ profitability and gives them a competitive advantage in
their marketplace. Phones Plus recognizes the
critical need for a communications company that combines leading
technology with top-quality service and support.
Our mission is to provide exceptional value through managed
services that eliminate technological obsolescence, ensure
a fixed cost for our business partners, and maximize the profits,
productivity, image, and competitive advantage of those
partners. Highly trained and motivated professionals give you
measurable results.

If You’re Dialing a 1 or a 9 Before You Make a Phone Call, Something’s Wrong…

Thomas Sodemann of Phones Plus Explains How SIP is Sweeping


the Industry Off Its Feet…

NEW BERLIN, WI – August 31, 2010 – Recent developments in technology have rapidly changed the way companies are communicating to their employees, customers and business partners. How can you tell? Try dialing an outside line beginning with the area code or the number first. Those calls that go through are utilizing today’s voice and data transport of choice, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). If you have to dial a 1 or a 9 before you make a phone call, you might as well be using smoke signals to communicate. Now ready for prime time, SIP has opened the floodgates for small to mid-sized businesses to benefit from greater business applications, reduced costs, and enhanced efficiency.

SIP is an Internet-based protocol that is enabling an unseen level of flexibility to end-users. Similar to the way Apple’s iPhone redefined what we expect from our cell phone’s functionality, SIP is on the leading edge of Unified Communications. The convergence of voice and data onto the same network has forced the demand in the marketplace for a single solution. SIP is the “missing link” required to connect these two networks and the cost justifications are supporting this transition.

What makes SIP so special?

In simple terms, SIP supports any form of real-time communication regardless of whether the content is voice, video, instant messaging, or a collaboration application. Additionally, SIP enables users to inform others of their status, their availability, and how they can be contacted before communication is even initiated. Due to the nature of IP communications, these benefits often cost justify and provide business owners the return on investment they need to run their businesses efficiently and effectively.

SIP grows up…

SIP is no longer in its infancy. According to Frost & Sullivan, SIP trunks will increase from 950,000 in 2006 to about 14.52 million in 2012. The early majority is beginning to see SIP’s value and adoption is increasing at an accelerating rate. The core reason SIP is here to stay is because it’s simple. Rather than having to track, analyze and spend money managing several different streams of communication, SIP gives businesses a single transport to focus on. A few years ago the market didn’t have the capability to properly support SIP, but technology has evolved.

For most companies, the transition to SIP will come with all new technology including a phone system containing all of the latest applications that drive profitability, employee productivity and competitive advantages. By eliminating traditional phone lines and turning to SIP, the ROI for new equipment comes in a matter of months rather than years. With the recent AT&T statement advising the federal government to move away from "plain-old telephone service", known in the industry as POTS and the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), SIP is eventually inevitable for all businesses. So the question becomes why not benefit from SIP now and gain a leg up on the competition, instead of waiting for the train to pass you by later. The SIP train is here… all aboard.

ABOUT PHONES PLUS, INC.

Since 1981, Phones Plus has committed to establishing lasting business relationships with our clients. Phones Plus offers innovative voice, video, and data networking solutions that increase our clients’ profitability and gives them a competitive advantage in their marketplace.

Phones Plus recognizes the critical need for a communications company that combines leading technology with top-quality service and support.

Our mission is to provide exceptional value through managed services that eliminate technological obsolescence, ensure a fixed cost for our business partners, and maximize the profits, productivity, image, and competitive advantage of those partners. Highly trained and motivated professionals give you measurable results.

New Webinar Series

Hi again everyone.  I wanted to write something today to give all of our current and potential future customers some information on upcoming events here at Phones Plus. 
First of all, we are coming up with a monthly webinar series which will start some time this fall when all of the hustle and bustle of summer calms down a bit for us all.  These webinars will focus on the very important offerings of our partners.  We will most likely start with Do IT Smarter, our partner who provides on and off site data backup and recovery.  They provide solutions that range from simple on site back up to a version with a year of data retention and a full virtual server for minimal down time if your network should happen to fail.  We feel it is very important to supply you with information on this valuable service because of the research included in our press release on the topic which says that 70% of businesses that suffer serious data loss are out of business within the next 2 years.  We are going the extra mile to expand our offerings so we can provide a more global approach to business, allowing our customers to come to us for help with a wide range of needs.
Other partners that will be included in this webinar series will be a conferencing service, our VoIP provider, disaster recovery for if your phones go down along with others as we see a need to provide further information on new technology.  If there is something you would like to learn more about, please do not hesitate to let us know what you would like us to cover and we will do our best to provide that information. 
In other Phones Plus news, our most recent addition to the Phones Plus family, Bryn, our new trainer is working on revamping all of our training materials to make them more user friendly.  She has just been through some intensive Zultys training so she is well versed on not only features, but the administrative side of those products as well.  She is also working on developing a web series of her own which will be called Feature Friday.  As we get closer to deploying this series, I will be sure to give you some more information on what is going to be covered.
This is a busy time for us here at Phones Plus and we are thrilled to be helping so many people find great solutions to their telecommunications needs.  If you have any questions about our products, our partners, or any service we provide, please feel free to contact us any time.  We are here to help!  Thanks so much for checking in and have a great week everyone.

Phones Plus, Inc.
2745 S Calhoun Rd
New Berlin, WI 53151
262-784-2311

Customer Advocate

Happy Monday everyone!  Todaqy I am blogging about the addition of a new position at Phones Plus...  We have moved someone into the Customer Advocate position to better serve our customers here at Phones Plus.  The idea behind a Customer Advocate is to help our existing customer base optimize their communication to make their business more profitable and productive.  The ways this is accomplished is through taking a global approach to looking at business.  That means if you are seeing your customer advocate, they should be collecting your phone, cellular and internet bills so he or she can optimize every part of your telecommunications.
A Customer Advocate is important to your business because they are meant to keep your technology on the right track as well as keeping you educated on what is happening in the world of telecommunications technology.  If there is a new technology available that would benefit your business, it is your Customer Advocate's duty to make sure you are aware of that technology so you can decide if now is the time to look into it or not. 
A customer Advocate can help you with moves, adds or changes to your system - meaning that if you need to move a phone from one desk to another or add a phone or some new technology or make changes to call flow, etc.  Your Customer Advocate can help ensure that you do not recieve any invoices from Phones Plus other than for new equipment (and you get a discount on that!) by showing you our Partnership Plan and explaining to you how it works.
The most important thing for you to remember is that your Customer Advocate is meant to help you keep your competetive edge in business, so take advantage of the help and knowledge your Advocate is ready to offer you.  If you have any questions regarding Customer Advocacy or would like to speak to a Customer Advocate at Phones Plus, please call 262-784-2311.  Thanks for taking the time to read the post today and have a great week everyone!

The Value of Call Recording

Want to Streamline Your Business and Provide a Better Customer Experience?


Using the Right Communications Technology Will Help You Do Just That

Phones Plus Explains the Value of Call Recording and Why Businesses Should Care

NEW BERLIN, WI – July 30, 2010 - When a business owner is looking to set up the phones within his company, he can’t help but be overwhelmed with complex terms like VoIP, SIP, Hosted VoIP, PBX Systems, Managed Services, and Unified Communications. In today’s world, a business owner is expected to understand the relevance and significance of every single feature that their Unified Communications provider offers. However, many business owners don’t receive the proper explanation as to how that feature can be applied to benefit their organization. Some of the usages of the Call Recording feature make it one of the top features a business owner should take into consideration when examining their communications needs.

The most obvious application of Call Recording is in situations that deal with liability. Professionals who deal with the dissemination of sensitive information should be using Call Recording at all times, it is the easiest way to ensure compliance to procedures and reduce the risk of litigation. Call Recording is indispensible to both the Medical and Legal fields and it would be reckless for an organization to continue to run itself without implementing this technology.

One of the other usages of Call Recording, which is often overlooked, is as a training tool for a sales team. When a salesperson is given the opportunity to record his or her calls, they can review their recordings to improve their skills and understand how they really sound when they’re communicating with prospects. This easy to use tool helps managers coach salespeople in a constructive manner and improve the overall health of the company. Customer service representatives are also well suited to take advantage of this type of function when working with customers. When a conversation takes a turn and needs to be recorded, contemporary Call Recording technology provides users with a way to record a conversation even after a call has been initiated. Users can then add their own comments and send that recording as an attachment in an email. This simple, but necessary technology, is allowing professionals to collaborate, create accountability and improve their businesses like never before.

From my experiences, most companies would be shocked by what their employees are saying, how they’re saying it, and what message they’re communicating to the outside world. I couldn’t imagine running a sales force without giving our salespeople the ability to listen to their own recordings. This tool is as valuable as it is practical, and it has provided our organization with a much-needed competitive advantage even in today’s markets.

As the world continues to flatten, more companies are entering existing markets, while even more competitors are extending their reach into new markets. The added pressure of the financial crisis is pushing businesses harder than ever to find new ways to differentiate themselves. In order to stay competitive, businesses need to leverage technologies in order to create competitive advantages for themselves. Call Recording is one the simplest and most cost-effective ways to accomplish this, so it’s only a matter of time before this becomes an industry standard. In sum, if you haven’t started using Call Recording … you will.

ABOUT PHONES PLUS, INC.

Since 1981, Phones Plus has committed to establishing lasting business relationships with our clients. Phones Plus offers innovative voice, video, and data networking solutions that increase our clients’ profitability and gives them a competitive advantage in their marketplace.

Phones Plus recognizes the critical need for a communications company that combines leading technology with top-quality service and support.

Our mission is to provide exceptional value through managed services that eliminate technological obsolescence, ensure a fixed cost for our business partners, and maximize the profits, productivity, image, and competitive advantage of those partners. Highly trained and motivated professionals give you measurable results.

Training Information for Business Telecommunication System – Helpful or Horrifying?

Anyone who has worked in a business with a professional telecommunication system knows that these systems occasionally experience technical issues. From having to program the phone for the first time to reprogramming the phones for new staff to general troubleshooting, I think most people who have had to deal with those issues would agree… Telecommunication system manufacturers’ handbooks and training materials can be pretty scary.


As an example, I met an office manager whose office has an old Merlin system or something (it was a system that I had never heard of at the time I was speaking to her) and she was talking about how frustrating it is to have small issues with that Merlin system arise. The reason was that whenever something small and seemingly easy to troubleshoot happened, she would go to the admin phone and follow the directions in the manual to get her desired result. She said that it appeared as if something different happened each time she performed the same function on that admin phone and eventually, she would just give up and call in the IT person.

There is no good reason why it should work that way… Training materials and manuals should be straightforward tools that help you get the job done without having to call your IT person to come out (and charge you for the visit) for basic functions on your system. Good news! Here at Phones Plus, our training department is coming up with innovative (and best of all simple!) training tools and quick reference guides to help our Toshiba and Zultys customers through the basic functions of their telecommunication system. I have seen the material myself and I think it is going to change the way our customers view their telecommunication systems – they will no longer be this huge challenge to manage and work with. Instead, there will be understandable material that showcases how easy making simple changes to your phones can really be. Don’t get me wrong, for the big stuff it is still a good idea to have an IT person on standby, however there is a lot that you can do for yourself too.

So, what does one do if they are not our customer, or do not have a Toshiba or Zultys system in their office? Well, jump on the bandwagon friends! These are great phones, great platforms and if you already have a Toshiba or Zultys system in place, you can make us your authorized retailer and you will get the training materials along with access to great Partnership Programs to protect your investment. For more information on anything in this blog, please contact Phones Plus, Inc. at 262-784-2311 today and we will be happy to help you out with all of your business telecommunication needs!

Data Backup and Recovery

You can never be too careful when dealing with data that needs to stay safe and secure, but also at your fingertips in the office. What happens if your computers crash or if someone breaks in and steals equipment from your office? Where is that data going to end up in the long run? In the hands of some hacker that is going to find every way in the book to use that information to not only steal from you, but from your loyal customer base as well? It has been published that 70% of businesses that suffer a serious data loss are out of business within just 2 years… You don’t want that to be you, right?

So, what can you do to protect this ever important data from being lost or stolen from your office? You can certainly handle it yourself… Taking care of data backup the “old school” way – using tapes that need to be changed out sometimes several times in a day. You have to assign someone to handle the upkeep of the tapes so you are sure that you aren’t losing any data along the way. Then, there is the storage issue. Where do you keep them? Offsite - so they are perhaps safer, but then it will take longer to retrieve the data if your system goes down. You could keep them onsite, but that kind of defeats the purpose in terms of safety if there is a break in.

I would propose that you find a solution that would store all of the data for you both onsite and offsite. It should be an automatic storage system so you don’t have to worry about changing tapes. There should be ample storage and you should have the option of longer term data retention – maybe even up to a year? This should all be affordable and should provide you with a minimum amount of time that you have to live without critical information in your office.

Great news! Just such a solution exists! Phones Plus has recently partnered with Do IT Smarter, a company that specializes in data backup and recovery with several options that can limit your downtime to just minutes by using a virtual server. They will manage your data backup for you and you can store your data for up to a year using this solution. I have attached the specs for their different solutions and for more information you should contact Phones Plus at 262-784-2311. Thank you and have a great week!

Sorry, the excel sheet doesn't lend itself to a blog post - for a better copy, please get in touch and I will be happy to e-mail it to you so it makes more sense.

Aurora Series

A150 A500 A1000 A2000 A3000 A5000 A10000

Storage Capacity 150GB 500GB 1TB 2TB 3TB 5TB 10TB

Storage Configuration 1x 500 GB HD 1x 1TB HD 2x 1 TB RAID 1, 1 TB OS Drive 3x 1 TB RAID 5, 1 TB OS Drive 6x 1 TB RAID 10, 1 TB OS Drive 10x 1 TB RAID 10, 1 TB OS Drive 12x 1 TB RAID 6, 1 TB RAID 1 OS Drive

Processor 2.8 Ghz 64 Bit, AMD Dual Core 2.8 Ghz 64 Bit, AMD Dual Core 2.8 Ghz 64 Bit, AMD Quad Core 2.8 Ghz 64 Bit, Intel Quad Core 2.8 Ghz 64 Bit, Intel Quad Core 2 X 2.6 Ghz 64 Bit, Intel Quad Core 2 X 2.6 Ghz 64 Bit, Intel Quad Core

Memory 4GB 8GB 8GB 12GB 16GB 24GB 36GB

Gigabit Ethernet 1 2 2 2 4 4 4

Form Factor MicroATX Tower MicroATX Tower MicroATX Tower 2U Rack Mount 2U Rack Mount 3U Rack Mount 3U Rack Mount

# of machines that can be backud up 1 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited

Simultanious VMs 1 2-3 2-3 3-6 4-8 8-12 8-12

Server Licenses included 1 2 2 2 4 6 6

G & Z Series

G/Z 250 Z 500 GR/ZR 500 Z 1000 GR / ZR 1000

Storage Capacity 250 GB 500 GB 500 GB 1TB 1TB

Storage Configuration 1x 250GB 1x 500GB 2x 500GB RAID 1 1x 1TB 2x 1TB RAID 1

Processor 1.5 Ghz VIA 1.5 Ghz VIA 1.5 Ghz VIA 1.5 Ghz VIA 1.5 Ghz VIA

Memory 1GB 1GB 1GB 1GB 1GB

Gigabit Ethernet 2 Ports 2 Ports 2 Ports 2 Ports 2 Ports

Form Factor Mini ITX Mini ITX Mini ITX Mini ITX Mini ITX

GX Series

GX2000 GX3000 GX4000 GX5000

Storage Capacity 2TB 3TB 4TB 5TB

Storage Configuration 3x 1TB RAID 5 4x 1TB RAID 5 5x 1TB RAID 5 6x 1TB RAID 5

Processor Dual 2.6 Ghz Dual 2.6 Ghz Dual 2.6 Ghz Dual 2.6 Ghz

Memory 2GB 2GB 4GB 4GB

Gigabit Ethernet 3 Ports 3 Ports 4 Ports 4 Ports

Form Factor 2U Rack Mount 2U Rack Mount 2U Rack Mount 2U Rack Mount

Product Comparison

G Series GX Series Z Series Aurora Series

On-Site Backup √ √ √ √

Off-Site Backup √ √ √ √

Windows Domain Support √ √ √ √

Free US Based Technical Support √ √ √ √

3 Year Hardware Warranty √ √ √ √

No Incidental Fees √ √ √ √

No Recovery Fees √ √ √ √

FTP Access to Off-Site Data √ √ √ √

Centralized Management Console √ √ √ √

Free Roundtrip Seed Drive √ √ √ √

Free Data Recovery Service √ √ √ √

Point to Point Replication Optional Optional Optional Optional

1 Year Off-Site Daily Data Archiving √ √

Bare Metal Restore Capable Optional Optional Optional √

Installation Service Optional Optional Optional Optional

Daily Monitoring and Management Optional Optional Optional √

Secure Linux Based OS √ √ √

On-Site Virtualization Capabilities √

Off-Site Virtualization Capabilities √

Instant Virtualization √

Exchange Message Level Recovery √

Data Deduplication √

Granular Sharepoint Recovery √

Advanced Off-Site Image Verification √

Unattended Virtualization √