SMBs Leverage Solutions Designed to
Enhance Productivity and Profits
NEW BERLIN, WI - July 27,
2011 - Phones Plus, Inc., a leading
unified communications provider,
announced today that the company
is proactively protecting its
customers from antiquated
technology and providing them
with a competitive advantage in
their marketplace. By providing
extensive technical training to the
staff, Phones Plus has been able to
leverage the superior knowledge of
its workforce to detect and protect
its customers from aging
technology, all the while increasing
their profitability and providing
their customers with a competitive
advantage.
The latest technology that
Phones Plus has introduced to its
customers is Session Initiation
Protocol (SIP). The advent of SIP
has expanded the limits of
traditional telephony and has
enabled many business owners to
experience the benefits of
sophisticated IP Telephony. The
driving factor behind SIP is that the
technology cuts many redundant
costs associated with traditional
telephony systems. Additionally,
businesses are also attracted to SIP
because of the ease in which it
expands an organization’s overall
capabilities. For example, SIP
Trunking provides significant
improvements in call quality for IP
based telephony by dedicating a
separate “channel” to handle the
traffic. SIP Trunking also supports
multiple forms of communication
including video and instant
messaging so businesses can reach
out to customers through a myriad
of mediums. Phones Plus’
salespeople are technological
experts who consistently research
developing technologies, like SIP,
and bring them to customers in
order to enhance their profitability
and increase their competitive
advantage.
“By transitioning a number of
our telecommunications customers
from antiquated TDM, PBX and
Key Systems to more refined IP
Telephony systems we’ve chopped
many of our customers phone bills
in half,” states Thomas Sodemann,
Vice President of Phones Plus. “We
viewed this program as an
investment in our customers’
future. Basically, the bet we made
was that if our staff was constantly
examining and testing out new
technology, eventually we’d find
something that we could bring to
our customers before their
competitors even knew what was
on the horizon. Nothing makes us
happier than to see our customers
utilizing our technology to leave
their competitors in the dust.”
Phones Plus is also associated
with Technology Assurance Group
(TAG) which is an international
organization that collectively
represents approximately $350
million in products and services in
the unified communications
industry. Dale Stein, Partner of
TAG, comments “Phones Plus has
always been an innovator. We’re
thrilled to hear that their new
program has been a success and
we’re pleased to be associated with
a thought-leader in their prestigious
business community.”
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.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Undiscovered Errors on 80 Percent of Phone Bills
A report by the Gartner Group shows that the vast majority of companies have errors on their phone bills that are costing them thousands each year because they do not report the mistakes and ask for a refund. The mistakes are happening on local, long-distance, conferencing, data, Internet, wireless, cellular and other communications services.
A report by the Gartner Group shows that 80 percent of phone bills from businesses have errors that are never found or reported.
Nearly every business shows the cost of telecommunications as one of their five highest business expenses. Salaries and benefits are one of the only greater costs. Phone bills are usually confusing, full of acronyms, making it difficult for companies to determine if there are errors.
It is common for companies to crunch their numbers assuring their business runs like a well oiled machine. However, according to Vice President Tom Sodemann “Many of our customers don’t realize that they have too many trunks, are spending last year’s prices on broadband, and last year’s prices on long distance. In addition to the report stating that 80% of all bills have errors on them, we frequently find large savings in the connectivity.
On occasion we find errors on past bills and get a complete refund, but it takes a trained eye to spot the mistakes.”
Tom Sodemann says “Our goal is to be able to save our customers enough money so they have zero out of pocket costs for service calls, partner programs, and new equipment. When we can essentially give someone technology and services at no cost, we feel like we accomplished our goal.”
Research indicates it is not just a matter of finding the mistakes. The phone companies are reluctant to give back money, so it usually takes a professional to negotiate the rebates.
Customers of TAG Members win because they do not have to waste time figuring out what errors have been made, and they do not need to spend more time learning how to report the errors and negotiate for a refund. TAG Members do it all for them because they value their customers, recognizing that without happy customers you might as well close your doors.
A report by the Gartner Group shows that 80 percent of phone bills from businesses have errors that are never found or reported.
Nearly every business shows the cost of telecommunications as one of their five highest business expenses. Salaries and benefits are one of the only greater costs. Phone bills are usually confusing, full of acronyms, making it difficult for companies to determine if there are errors.
It is common for companies to crunch their numbers assuring their business runs like a well oiled machine. However, according to Vice President Tom Sodemann “Many of our customers don’t realize that they have too many trunks, are spending last year’s prices on broadband, and last year’s prices on long distance. In addition to the report stating that 80% of all bills have errors on them, we frequently find large savings in the connectivity.
On occasion we find errors on past bills and get a complete refund, but it takes a trained eye to spot the mistakes.”
Tom Sodemann says “Our goal is to be able to save our customers enough money so they have zero out of pocket costs for service calls, partner programs, and new equipment. When we can essentially give someone technology and services at no cost, we feel like we accomplished our goal.”
Research indicates it is not just a matter of finding the mistakes. The phone companies are reluctant to give back money, so it usually takes a professional to negotiate the rebates.
Customers of TAG Members win because they do not have to waste time figuring out what errors have been made, and they do not need to spend more time learning how to report the errors and negotiate for a refund. TAG Members do it all for them because they value their customers, recognizing that without happy customers you might as well close your doors.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Summer Storm Season is Upon Us - Are You Ready?
Lightning Safety Tips
Before Lightning Strikes
•Keep an eye on the sky. Look for darkening skies, flashes of light, or increasing wind. Listen for sounds of thunder.
•If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning. Go to a safe shelter immediately.
•Monitor weather forecasts.
When a Storm Approaches
•Find shelter in a building or car. Keep car windows closed.
•Avoid telephone lines, metal pipes, the telephone and electrical appliances.
•Avoid taking a shower or a bath or running water for any other purpose.
•Turn off the air conditioner. Power surges from lightning can over load the compressor, resulting in a costly repair job.
•Draw blinds and shades over windows. If windows break due to objects blown by the wind, the shades will prevent glass from shattering in your home.
If Caught Outside
•If you are in the woods, take shelter under shorter trees.
•If you are boating or swimming, get to land and find the nearest shelter immediately.
•Go to a low-lying, open place away from trees, poles or metal objects. Make sure the place you pick is not prone to flooding.
•Squat low to the ground. Place your hands on your knees with your head between them. Make yourself the smallest target possible.
After the Storm Passes
•Stay away from storm-damaged areas.
•Listen to the radio for information and instructions.
If Someone is Struck by Lightning
•People struck by lightning carry no electrical charge and can be handled safely.
•Call 9-1-1 immediately.
•The injured person has received an electrical shock and may be burned, both where they were struck and where the electricity left their body. Check for burns in both places.
•Give first aid. If breathing has stopped, begin rescue breathing. If the heart has stopped beating, a trained person should give CPR.
All of the health and safety tips listed above are good to know and a great way to keep yourself and your family safe this summer in case of stormy weather... Are you doing anything to protect the technology your business uses every day in case of lightning, flooding, strong winds, damaging hail, etc? Chances are good you may not have ever given it a second thought - you know that sometimes your phone lines go down, but that shouldn't affect your phone system, Right???
Wrong. In a severe storm, you run the risk of losing a big chunk of your technology investment along with customers when they can't reach you after the storm. Protect your investment with Disaster Recovery, Hosted On-Site Phone Systems (whcih provide full coverage of your equipment - including acts of GOD) and lightning protection. Don't leave your business vulnerable as we enter the sometimes stormy summer months. Contact Phones Plus today to learn more about some great solutions to summer storms and all the damage they can do.
Before Lightning Strikes
•Keep an eye on the sky. Look for darkening skies, flashes of light, or increasing wind. Listen for sounds of thunder.
•If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning. Go to a safe shelter immediately.
•Monitor weather forecasts.
When a Storm Approaches
•Find shelter in a building or car. Keep car windows closed.
•Avoid telephone lines, metal pipes, the telephone and electrical appliances.
•Avoid taking a shower or a bath or running water for any other purpose.
•Turn off the air conditioner. Power surges from lightning can over load the compressor, resulting in a costly repair job.
•Draw blinds and shades over windows. If windows break due to objects blown by the wind, the shades will prevent glass from shattering in your home.
If Caught Outside
•If you are in the woods, take shelter under shorter trees.
•If you are boating or swimming, get to land and find the nearest shelter immediately.
•Go to a low-lying, open place away from trees, poles or metal objects. Make sure the place you pick is not prone to flooding.
•Squat low to the ground. Place your hands on your knees with your head between them. Make yourself the smallest target possible.
After the Storm Passes
•Stay away from storm-damaged areas.
•Listen to the radio for information and instructions.
If Someone is Struck by Lightning
•People struck by lightning carry no electrical charge and can be handled safely.
•Call 9-1-1 immediately.
•The injured person has received an electrical shock and may be burned, both where they were struck and where the electricity left their body. Check for burns in both places.
•Give first aid. If breathing has stopped, begin rescue breathing. If the heart has stopped beating, a trained person should give CPR.
All of the health and safety tips listed above are good to know and a great way to keep yourself and your family safe this summer in case of stormy weather... Are you doing anything to protect the technology your business uses every day in case of lightning, flooding, strong winds, damaging hail, etc? Chances are good you may not have ever given it a second thought - you know that sometimes your phone lines go down, but that shouldn't affect your phone system, Right???
Wrong. In a severe storm, you run the risk of losing a big chunk of your technology investment along with customers when they can't reach you after the storm. Protect your investment with Disaster Recovery, Hosted On-Site Phone Systems (whcih provide full coverage of your equipment - including acts of GOD) and lightning protection. Don't leave your business vulnerable as we enter the sometimes stormy summer months. Contact Phones Plus today to learn more about some great solutions to summer storms and all the damage they can do.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Unified Communications Set to Explode in 2011
New Berlin, WI --- May 26, 2011 --- Phones Plus, Inc., a leading unified communications provider, announced expectations of heavy industry growth for the coming year during an interview with Technology Assurance Group (TAG), an international organization of unified communication companies spread throughout the United States and Canada. The TAG organization monitors sales, financial performance and other economic indicators among technology providers. “It’s exciting to see that small to mid-sized businesses (SMB’s) are ramping up acquisition of the latest technology across the country and that even some of the toughest pockets of the nation are beginning to show signs of strong growth,” stated Thomas Sodemann, Vice President of Phones Plus. Several factors are contributing to the turnaround and technology is driving the next bull market. Historically, technology has proven itself to be one of the first sectors to pull the economy out of a recessionary period and business owners are investing heavily in disruptive technologies that cut costs and improve employee productivity.
One of the most influential and recent technological breakthroughs in business communications is Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). 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 a communication is even initiated. “Sip is reinventing the way we communicate and out customers now have an upper hand on their competition,” commented Sodemann. Another powerful technology making its way into the SMB marketplace is Hosted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Hosted VoIP serves the needs of entrepreneurs and enterprises alike, by delivering powerful features such as improved call quality, valuable disaster recovery tools, and applications designed specifically for telecommuters and remote workers. Included in the system are advanced features such as unified messaging, automatic call distribution, auto attendant, call recording, call flow reporting as well as traditional telephony features. A growing trend among business owners is to outsource the management of their IT networks with managed IT services. Consequently, this is stimulating the economy since these services are designed specifically to assist companies in maintaining and supporting their network and IT infrastructure. Types of services may include remote network monitoring and reporting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, firewall monitoring, intrusion detection, patch assessment and vulnerability scanning, preventative tasks, disaster recovery, data backup ad regular performance analysis. “Today’s marketplace demands excellence from all areas of a business and several of the products and services we provide are enabling our customers to increase their profitability and gain a competitive advantage,” stated Mr. Sodemann “Competition may be fierce, but we rest easy knowing that our customers can react more quickly and with greater efficiency than their competitors.”
Thomas Sodemann was interviewed by TAG regarding his views on the future of technology because he is well-known in the industry, possesses substantial technical expertise and has built a strong reputation in his community. Dale Johnson, President of TAG added, “Thomas has always been able to peer around the corner and see what’s coming so he can help his customers take advantage of what’s on the horizon. His organization expends a tremendous amount of effort to reside on the leading edge of technology but he does it simply because it is the right thing to do. We are proud to be associated with a technology futurist like Thomas.”
ABOUT TAG (Technology Assurance Group)
TAG is a national organization of leading independently owned telecommunications companies. TAG provides its members with the competitive advantage necessary to achieve a dominant position in their marketplace. Members benefit from programs including strategic partnerships with communication solution providers, best business and management practices, and advanced sales training programs. TAG’s mission is to leverage its members’ combined economic power, to increase their sales and profit margins, and to bring advanced technology to the marketplace. For more information on TAG, please call 858-673-5800 or visit www.tagnational.com.
One of the most influential and recent technological breakthroughs in business communications is Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). 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 a communication is even initiated. “Sip is reinventing the way we communicate and out customers now have an upper hand on their competition,” commented Sodemann. Another powerful technology making its way into the SMB marketplace is Hosted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Hosted VoIP serves the needs of entrepreneurs and enterprises alike, by delivering powerful features such as improved call quality, valuable disaster recovery tools, and applications designed specifically for telecommuters and remote workers. Included in the system are advanced features such as unified messaging, automatic call distribution, auto attendant, call recording, call flow reporting as well as traditional telephony features. A growing trend among business owners is to outsource the management of their IT networks with managed IT services. Consequently, this is stimulating the economy since these services are designed specifically to assist companies in maintaining and supporting their network and IT infrastructure. Types of services may include remote network monitoring and reporting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, firewall monitoring, intrusion detection, patch assessment and vulnerability scanning, preventative tasks, disaster recovery, data backup ad regular performance analysis. “Today’s marketplace demands excellence from all areas of a business and several of the products and services we provide are enabling our customers to increase their profitability and gain a competitive advantage,” stated Mr. Sodemann “Competition may be fierce, but we rest easy knowing that our customers can react more quickly and with greater efficiency than their competitors.”
Thomas Sodemann was interviewed by TAG regarding his views on the future of technology because he is well-known in the industry, possesses substantial technical expertise and has built a strong reputation in his community. Dale Johnson, President of TAG added, “Thomas has always been able to peer around the corner and see what’s coming so he can help his customers take advantage of what’s on the horizon. His organization expends a tremendous amount of effort to reside on the leading edge of technology but he does it simply because it is the right thing to do. We are proud to be associated with a technology futurist like Thomas.”
ABOUT TAG (Technology Assurance Group)
TAG is a national organization of leading independently owned telecommunications companies. TAG provides its members with the competitive advantage necessary to achieve a dominant position in their marketplace. Members benefit from programs including strategic partnerships with communication solution providers, best business and management practices, and advanced sales training programs. TAG’s mission is to leverage its members’ combined economic power, to increase their sales and profit margins, and to bring advanced technology to the marketplace. For more information on TAG, please call 858-673-5800 or visit www.tagnational.com.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Lunch and Learn in May, 2011
Hello everyone and happy spring (kind of). I wanted to share some news that I am very excited about for the month of May... We are hosting a lunch and learn on May 5, 2011 right here in Brookfield at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center. That is not the exciting part though, the part that I am excited about is the topic - it is a new product called Phybridge and I think it is going to change the face of IP telephony in a big way.
The basic idea behind Phybridge is that it will allow for easier, faster and more seamless transitions to IP technology from a legacy phone system. A lot of larger accounts are interested in IP technology, but are not interested in running thousands of feet of CAT5 cable to take advantage of that technology. This is the answer to that problem - Phybridge essentially works like a kind of converter that allows CAT3 cable to be converted into a CAT5 cable in a couple of very easy steps.
Anyone who has worked with IP technology would also tell you that the IT guy's NIGHTMARE is trying to make data and voice work together on the same network. It is a recipe for disaster at times and a minor irritation in some other cases - the problem is that you don't know in advnace if you are going to be the disaster or have a system that works flawlessly without a network assessment and possibly some costly upgrades. Again, Phybridge is the answer - this product allows you to keep the data and voice networks totally separate so your IT guy can relax and worry about what he is best at - data, while Phones Plus handles the rest.
Bottom line is that this could be an amazing tool for a wide vairety of businesses and is the easiest method of deploying IP technology without a major disruption to your work week. This lunch and learn is (as always) a free learning opportunity Phones Plus is extending to our customers, their guests and the community at large - best part is, lunch is on us! Come on out, learn about a great new technology and enjoy some lunch, just remember to RSVP soon - space is limited and it is filling up FAST.
Thank you very much and I look forward to seeing you there!
The basic idea behind Phybridge is that it will allow for easier, faster and more seamless transitions to IP technology from a legacy phone system. A lot of larger accounts are interested in IP technology, but are not interested in running thousands of feet of CAT5 cable to take advantage of that technology. This is the answer to that problem - Phybridge essentially works like a kind of converter that allows CAT3 cable to be converted into a CAT5 cable in a couple of very easy steps.
Anyone who has worked with IP technology would also tell you that the IT guy's NIGHTMARE is trying to make data and voice work together on the same network. It is a recipe for disaster at times and a minor irritation in some other cases - the problem is that you don't know in advnace if you are going to be the disaster or have a system that works flawlessly without a network assessment and possibly some costly upgrades. Again, Phybridge is the answer - this product allows you to keep the data and voice networks totally separate so your IT guy can relax and worry about what he is best at - data, while Phones Plus handles the rest.
Bottom line is that this could be an amazing tool for a wide vairety of businesses and is the easiest method of deploying IP technology without a major disruption to your work week. This lunch and learn is (as always) a free learning opportunity Phones Plus is extending to our customers, their guests and the community at large - best part is, lunch is on us! Come on out, learn about a great new technology and enjoy some lunch, just remember to RSVP soon - space is limited and it is filling up FAST.
Thank you very much and I look forward to seeing you there!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
PHONES PLUS, INC. OFFERS CUSTOMERS VIRTUAL HOSTED OFFICE SYSTEMS
NEW BERLIN, WI – March 28, 2011 – Phones Plus, Inc., an industry leader in unified communications, announced today that the company is providing its customers with Virtual Hosted Office systems designed to help small to midsized businesses take advantage of the latest in cloud-based technologies.
Cloud-based technologies are not only part of the future of technology, they have become an integral part of the present. Virtual Hosted Office systems provide secured access to company data and applications from anywhere in the world and small to mid-sized businesses are deploying this technology in order to remain competitive in today’s economic environment. The driving forces behind this growth are increased profitability and enhanced IT infrastructure security.
“Many small to mid-sized businesses have absolutely no need for on-site servers, and they can just as easily be hosted in the cloud for a fraction of the cost. Additionally, Virtual Hosted Office systems are continuously updated which provides dramatic cost savings over purchasing and repurchasing servers, comments Thomas Sodemann, Vice President of Phones Plus, Inc.. “Furthermore, these systems provide all hardware and operating system upgrades necessary for proper server upkeep, which translates into reduced costs for business owners.”
Virtual Hosted Office systems also bring an element of enhanced IT security to SMBs. Since systems are hosted off-site in multiple, excessively secure, “disaster-proof”, 24x7x365 monitored, “bunker-style” facilities, companies are able to operate with much greater levels of security. In fact, Virtual Hosted Office Solutions are compliant with all HIPPA regulations, Sarbanes-Oxley and other security regulation laws as well.
Cloud-based technologies have revolutionized the way today’s businesses function, and companies like Phones Plus, Inc. are adding value to their customers by introducing advanced technologies like Virtual Hosted Office systems.
Cloud-based technologies are not only part of the future of technology, they have become an integral part of the present. Virtual Hosted Office systems provide secured access to company data and applications from anywhere in the world and small to mid-sized businesses are deploying this technology in order to remain competitive in today’s economic environment. The driving forces behind this growth are increased profitability and enhanced IT infrastructure security.
“Many small to mid-sized businesses have absolutely no need for on-site servers, and they can just as easily be hosted in the cloud for a fraction of the cost. Additionally, Virtual Hosted Office systems are continuously updated which provides dramatic cost savings over purchasing and repurchasing servers, comments Thomas Sodemann, Vice President of Phones Plus, Inc.. “Furthermore, these systems provide all hardware and operating system upgrades necessary for proper server upkeep, which translates into reduced costs for business owners.”
Virtual Hosted Office systems also bring an element of enhanced IT security to SMBs. Since systems are hosted off-site in multiple, excessively secure, “disaster-proof”, 24x7x365 monitored, “bunker-style” facilities, companies are able to operate with much greater levels of security. In fact, Virtual Hosted Office Solutions are compliant with all HIPPA regulations, Sarbanes-Oxley and other security regulation laws as well.
Cloud-based technologies have revolutionized the way today’s businesses function, and companies like Phones Plus, Inc. are adding value to their customers by introducing advanced technologies like Virtual Hosted Office systems.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Phones Plus, Inc. Increases Customer Profitability in a Down Economy with the Latest
February 28, 2011 – Phones Plus, Inc., an industry leader in unified communications, announced today that the company is relentlessly educating its customers on the latest technologies designed to increase their profitability and enhance employee productivity, particularly in these tough economic times. The technologies that Phones Plus is focusing on helps companies do more with less. While the economic whiplash has sent many companies back to the starting block, others are capitalizing on these types of advancements to better position themselves for recovery. The financial gurus may try to convince business owners that a dreaded double-dip is imminent, but for the technologically adept, an uptrend is more likely. Phones Plus is paving the way by introducing businesses to leading edge technologies that drive profitability, now.
“We understand that the economy has mounted tremendous pressure on our customers to be more productive, with fewer resources at their disposal. We believe that it is our responsibility to proactively search and deploy solutions that drive our customers’ profitability and provide them with a competitive advantage. It’s up to us to make sure that our customers have technology that enables them to do more with less,” stated Vice President, Thomas Sodemann.
One of the ways that Phones Plus is boosting customer profitability is through an application called presence management. This application eliminates the guessing game of knowing where people are and what they’re doing, and allows individuals to indicate their status (in a meeting, “back at 2pm,” at lunch, “send calls to my cell”, etc.) and promises “you’ll never miss a call again.” By increasing the speed of communication, more opportunities can be seized; more current customers can be satisfied, and more profits can make it to the bottom line.
Similarly, Phones Plus is utilizing call recording technology in order to help organizations increase employee productivity. According to Dr. Jon Anton from Purdue University, “On average, employees answer the phone 19% faster, spend 29% less time on the phone and do after-call work three times faster when they know they’re being recorded.” Remarkably, many business owners have not adopted call recording technologies. Phones Plus, Inc. is looking to “bridge the gap” by educating their customers on solutions aimed to help small to mid-sized businesses come out on top.
“We understand that the economy has mounted tremendous pressure on our customers to be more productive, with fewer resources at their disposal. We believe that it is our responsibility to proactively search and deploy solutions that drive our customers’ profitability and provide them with a competitive advantage. It’s up to us to make sure that our customers have technology that enables them to do more with less,” stated Vice President, Thomas Sodemann.
One of the ways that Phones Plus is boosting customer profitability is through an application called presence management. This application eliminates the guessing game of knowing where people are and what they’re doing, and allows individuals to indicate their status (in a meeting, “back at 2pm,” at lunch, “send calls to my cell”, etc.) and promises “you’ll never miss a call again.” By increasing the speed of communication, more opportunities can be seized; more current customers can be satisfied, and more profits can make it to the bottom line.
Similarly, Phones Plus is utilizing call recording technology in order to help organizations increase employee productivity. According to Dr. Jon Anton from Purdue University, “On average, employees answer the phone 19% faster, spend 29% less time on the phone and do after-call work three times faster when they know they’re being recorded.” Remarkably, many business owners have not adopted call recording technologies. Phones Plus, Inc. is looking to “bridge the gap” by educating their customers on solutions aimed to help small to mid-sized businesses come out on top.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Technology Assurance Group Invites Thomas Sodemann, Vice President of Phones Plus,
Industry Leader to Lend His Expertise and Years of Experience to U.S. and Canada’s Top Technology Providers at TAG’s Annual Convention
NEW BERLIN, WI — January 30, 2011 — Phones Plus, Inc., an industry leader in unified communications, announced today that Technology Assurance Group (TAG), an international organization of leading independently owned unified communications companies representing over $350 million in annual sales, invited Thomas Sodemann, Vice President of Phones Plus, Inc., to present on the latest technologies impacting small to mid-sized businesses (SMB) at the 11th Annual TAG Convention. Mr. Sodemann will share his extensive industry expertise and company’s experiences with top technology providers located throughout the United States and Canada. TAG’s 2011 Annual Convention will be held on March 16th – 18th in San Antonio, Texas.
With the growth of cloud-based technologies, the theme of the 2011 annual Convention is “Find Your Silver Lining in the Cloud.” SMBs have begun to fully understand the true value of cloud technologies and the market is set to explode. According to predictions by IDC Research, “By 2014, sales of cloud computing products or services will generate almost $56 billion in annual revenues.” The expansion of cloud technologies will not only have a profound impact on the technology sector, but this growth will transform the manner in which SMBs conduct business across all industries. Sodemann will share his views on the future of cloud technologies, virtualization, hosted solutions, and managed services with other industry professionals. As a well-respected business leader in the industry, many of his peers will gain valuable insight on where the cloud is taking businesses.
“We’ve always placed the utmost importance on being on the leading edge of technology which is why we spend so much time and energy educating our employees,” commented Sodemann. “When we truly understand where our industry is headed, it makes it much easier to increase our customers’ profitability and give them a competitive advantage. An ancillary benefit to running our organization in this manner is that we are able to share our experiences with our colleagues at events like the TAG Convention.”
“The TAG Convention brings the brightest minds and most innovative thinkers in our industry together to share best practices, learn from one another and plan for a successful future,” stated Brian Suerth, EVP and Partner of Technology Assurance Group. “We are honored to have Vice President Sodemann at our event, and we all look forward to learning from him.”
ABOUT TECHNOLOGY ASSURANCE GROUP (TAG)
Technology Assurance Group, LLC (TAG) is an international organization of leading independently owned unified communications companies. TAG provides its members with the competitive advantages necessary to achieve a dominant position in their marketplace. Members benefit from programs including strategic partnerships with communication solution providers, best businessand management practices, and advanced sales training programs. TAG’s mission is to increase its Members' sales and profits through education and to ease their introduction of new technology tothe marketplace by leveraging their combined intellect and purchasing power. For more information on TAG, please call 858-673-5800 or visit www.tagnational.com.
NEW BERLIN, WI — January 30, 2011 — Phones Plus, Inc., an industry leader in unified communications, announced today that Technology Assurance Group (TAG), an international organization of leading independently owned unified communications companies representing over $350 million in annual sales, invited Thomas Sodemann, Vice President of Phones Plus, Inc., to present on the latest technologies impacting small to mid-sized businesses (SMB) at the 11th Annual TAG Convention. Mr. Sodemann will share his extensive industry expertise and company’s experiences with top technology providers located throughout the United States and Canada. TAG’s 2011 Annual Convention will be held on March 16th – 18th in San Antonio, Texas.
With the growth of cloud-based technologies, the theme of the 2011 annual Convention is “Find Your Silver Lining in the Cloud.” SMBs have begun to fully understand the true value of cloud technologies and the market is set to explode. According to predictions by IDC Research, “By 2014, sales of cloud computing products or services will generate almost $56 billion in annual revenues.” The expansion of cloud technologies will not only have a profound impact on the technology sector, but this growth will transform the manner in which SMBs conduct business across all industries. Sodemann will share his views on the future of cloud technologies, virtualization, hosted solutions, and managed services with other industry professionals. As a well-respected business leader in the industry, many of his peers will gain valuable insight on where the cloud is taking businesses.
“We’ve always placed the utmost importance on being on the leading edge of technology which is why we spend so much time and energy educating our employees,” commented Sodemann. “When we truly understand where our industry is headed, it makes it much easier to increase our customers’ profitability and give them a competitive advantage. An ancillary benefit to running our organization in this manner is that we are able to share our experiences with our colleagues at events like the TAG Convention.”
“The TAG Convention brings the brightest minds and most innovative thinkers in our industry together to share best practices, learn from one another and plan for a successful future,” stated Brian Suerth, EVP and Partner of Technology Assurance Group. “We are honored to have Vice President Sodemann at our event, and we all look forward to learning from him.”
ABOUT TECHNOLOGY ASSURANCE GROUP (TAG)
Technology Assurance Group, LLC (TAG) is an international organization of leading independently owned unified communications companies. TAG provides its members with the competitive advantages necessary to achieve a dominant position in their marketplace. Members benefit from programs including strategic partnerships with communication solution providers, best businessand management practices, and advanced sales training programs. TAG’s mission is to increase its Members' sales and profits through education and to ease their introduction of new technology tothe marketplace by leveraging their combined intellect and purchasing power. For more information on TAG, please call 858-673-5800 or visit www.tagnational.com.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
INTERNET ABUSE CAN KILL A COMPANY – WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
NEW BERLIN, WI —
December 22, 2010 — The Internet has proven itself to be one of the most powerful tools known to man. It has completely transformed the way we interact, the way we learn, and the way that we do business with each other. However, with such a robust tool at our fingertips we’ve become so infatuated with technology that we no longer question whether or not it’s actually making us more productive. We can access anything we want, at any time, from any place, but is that actually a good thing?
According to most SMBs, the answer is “it depends.” Allowing open Internet access to any and all technology can reduce productivity, expose the network to security threats, jam up bandwidth, deteriorate the quality of service in IP based applications and slow down critical programs that are running the business. However, most organizations are finding the “happy medium” through Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs). Also known as policies of utilization, these are simply a set of rules and procedures by which all employees must adhere to when interacting with technology. By now large companies are expected in utilize AUPs, and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are beginning to see the value in establishing a set of policies in their own right.
One topic that AUPs cover revolves around what software employees should be able to access during work. One suggested policy is that employees should be able to access whatever software they need in order to become more productive, as long as they receive approval from the IT department. This is one of the safest policies to have in place, but it is also one of the most time-consuming to enforce. One way to get around this obstacle is to utilize a Technology Advisor, who can recommend specific programs and applications to use, and which to avoid. Unless you’re working with an abundance of IT resources, many companies are looking to outsource these sorts of mundane procedures to Managed Service Providers (MSPs) at a much lower cost. Business owners are usually thrilled with these sorts of changes because their employees can now spend less time performing brainless Microsoft Office installations, and more time working on their primary objectives.
The Internet is another key area that needs to be regulated because SMBs need to make sure that they’re not exposing themselves to security breaches. According to Businessweek.com, “70% of Internet porn traffic occurs between the hours of 9am and 5pm.” Aside from its vulgar nature, this sort of content is plagued with all sorts of dangerous viruses, spyware and malware. Now as much as we want to plug our ears and shout “La-lala, I can’t hear you” this is a reality and needs to be dealt with.
SMBs can examine a few different steps to start to get back on track. Firstly, the obvious sites need to be blocked; this means anything that contains obscene, hateful, pornographic, unlawful, violent or illegal materials. Secondly, sites that require large amounts of streaming data, (ex: sites that stream television, videos or music) need to be monitored all the way down to the appliance and the system needs to automatically dump users off these sites if network performance is threatened. Similar capabilities should be required for social networking sites like Facebook.com and Myspace.com as they are detrimental to productivity and are huge distractions.
While many SMBs may be quick to blanket-ban all of these sites, there are consequences that may result in decreased morale. Imagine how frustrating it would be to be denied access to your online banking at work. Consider how helpful music can be for creative professionals, while how much morale could be improved by allowing employees to watch their favorite online television shows at work, provided that it was during the lunch hour of course. Other employees could benefit from having the freedom to learn from educational sites and heighten their expertise. All of these enhance the value of every employee and drive productivity and a positive company culture. While constant monitoring is non-negotiable, most of these types of issues can be easily resolved through compromise.
The key in establishing a successful policy is creating one that is complete, efficient and moves with the development of new technology. At the end of the day its purpose is to safeguard the company from risks and propel the company forward to a brighter, more profitable future.
December 22, 2010 — The Internet has proven itself to be one of the most powerful tools known to man. It has completely transformed the way we interact, the way we learn, and the way that we do business with each other. However, with such a robust tool at our fingertips we’ve become so infatuated with technology that we no longer question whether or not it’s actually making us more productive. We can access anything we want, at any time, from any place, but is that actually a good thing?
According to most SMBs, the answer is “it depends.” Allowing open Internet access to any and all technology can reduce productivity, expose the network to security threats, jam up bandwidth, deteriorate the quality of service in IP based applications and slow down critical programs that are running the business. However, most organizations are finding the “happy medium” through Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs). Also known as policies of utilization, these are simply a set of rules and procedures by which all employees must adhere to when interacting with technology. By now large companies are expected in utilize AUPs, and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are beginning to see the value in establishing a set of policies in their own right.
One topic that AUPs cover revolves around what software employees should be able to access during work. One suggested policy is that employees should be able to access whatever software they need in order to become more productive, as long as they receive approval from the IT department. This is one of the safest policies to have in place, but it is also one of the most time-consuming to enforce. One way to get around this obstacle is to utilize a Technology Advisor, who can recommend specific programs and applications to use, and which to avoid. Unless you’re working with an abundance of IT resources, many companies are looking to outsource these sorts of mundane procedures to Managed Service Providers (MSPs) at a much lower cost. Business owners are usually thrilled with these sorts of changes because their employees can now spend less time performing brainless Microsoft Office installations, and more time working on their primary objectives.
The Internet is another key area that needs to be regulated because SMBs need to make sure that they’re not exposing themselves to security breaches. According to Businessweek.com, “70% of Internet porn traffic occurs between the hours of 9am and 5pm.” Aside from its vulgar nature, this sort of content is plagued with all sorts of dangerous viruses, spyware and malware. Now as much as we want to plug our ears and shout “La-lala, I can’t hear you” this is a reality and needs to be dealt with.
SMBs can examine a few different steps to start to get back on track. Firstly, the obvious sites need to be blocked; this means anything that contains obscene, hateful, pornographic, unlawful, violent or illegal materials. Secondly, sites that require large amounts of streaming data, (ex: sites that stream television, videos or music) need to be monitored all the way down to the appliance and the system needs to automatically dump users off these sites if network performance is threatened. Similar capabilities should be required for social networking sites like Facebook.com and Myspace.com as they are detrimental to productivity and are huge distractions.
While many SMBs may be quick to blanket-ban all of these sites, there are consequences that may result in decreased morale. Imagine how frustrating it would be to be denied access to your online banking at work. Consider how helpful music can be for creative professionals, while how much morale could be improved by allowing employees to watch their favorite online television shows at work, provided that it was during the lunch hour of course. Other employees could benefit from having the freedom to learn from educational sites and heighten their expertise. All of these enhance the value of every employee and drive productivity and a positive company culture. While constant monitoring is non-negotiable, most of these types of issues can be easily resolved through compromise.
The key in establishing a successful policy is creating one that is complete, efficient and moves with the development of new technology. At the end of the day its purpose is to safeguard the company from risks and propel the company forward to a brighter, more profitable future.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Protecting Your Company Against Deadly Online Threats is Mission Critical Is Your Technology Provider Advising You on What to Do?
NEW BERLIN, WI
While the US economy is still reeling from the recent financial turmoil, small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are driving the economic recovery. In today’s marketplace, the Internet is their gas pedal. Everything, ranging from website marketing, to online transactions, to web-based meetings, to industry research is taking place online. While the Internet has presented businesses with access to an unstinted array of resources, it also brings several dangers. We are all familiar with many of the standard security threats – viruses, SPAM, malware, spyware, etc. – but as technology continues to evolve, business owners face an entirely new set of issues. What are my employees actually doing with their time? Are my employees putting my business at risk? How can I protect my business from internal risks, external risks and risks I haven’t even heard of yet?
Many business owners are able to monitor employee web usage. One of the most prevalent issues facing business owners is the decrease in productivity due to the proliferation of social networking sites, such as Facebook or MySpace. When you walk by in the hallway and see your employees working diligently at their computers, they could very well be flipping through the pictures of their friend’s most recent Vegas trip, or chatting online with other friends. Web monitoring software is an easy fix to this type of problem.
Inappropriate sites, such as non-business related sites, and even adult sites pose an alternate risk in that they can be a reservoir for viruses, phishing, spyware and other malicious software. Internet filtering is a quick way to eliminate these risks, yet many businesses are unaware of the preventative steps one can take.
Phishing is the illegal capture of personal data for criminal use, and many times this can result in the accidental dissemination of sensitive information. The legal risks associated with sharing private information can be detrimental to an organization’s health and can be prevented through tools such as Web Defense Plans or Network Security.
Maintaining an adequate amount of Internet bandwidth for legitimate business use is also critical because different technologies require larger amounts of data to travel through a finite space. There is a myriad of different safeguards available, yet each technology demands different applications, which are why many SMBs are partnering with Technology Advisors and leveraging their expertise.
While many businesses are looking for ways to eliminate overhead, one fix is by increasing the number of virtual workers at their organization. Oftentimes there is a substantial difference between the amount of security at the office as compared to the security of a home office network.
These threats are dynamic. As long as hackers and criminals are in existence, new threats will follow. This is why many SMBs are taking a long term view of technology and aligning themselves with Technology Advisors through strategic partnerships. This allows business owners to alleviate their concerns with technology, delegate the management of their technology to a trusted partner, who can protect their organization proactively. In today’s global marketplace, leveraging outside resources are keeping SMBs on track and profitable.
While the US economy is still reeling from the recent financial turmoil, small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are driving the economic recovery. In today’s marketplace, the Internet is their gas pedal. Everything, ranging from website marketing, to online transactions, to web-based meetings, to industry research is taking place online. While the Internet has presented businesses with access to an unstinted array of resources, it also brings several dangers. We are all familiar with many of the standard security threats – viruses, SPAM, malware, spyware, etc. – but as technology continues to evolve, business owners face an entirely new set of issues. What are my employees actually doing with their time? Are my employees putting my business at risk? How can I protect my business from internal risks, external risks and risks I haven’t even heard of yet?
Many business owners are able to monitor employee web usage. One of the most prevalent issues facing business owners is the decrease in productivity due to the proliferation of social networking sites, such as Facebook or MySpace. When you walk by in the hallway and see your employees working diligently at their computers, they could very well be flipping through the pictures of their friend’s most recent Vegas trip, or chatting online with other friends. Web monitoring software is an easy fix to this type of problem.
Inappropriate sites, such as non-business related sites, and even adult sites pose an alternate risk in that they can be a reservoir for viruses, phishing, spyware and other malicious software. Internet filtering is a quick way to eliminate these risks, yet many businesses are unaware of the preventative steps one can take.
Phishing is the illegal capture of personal data for criminal use, and many times this can result in the accidental dissemination of sensitive information. The legal risks associated with sharing private information can be detrimental to an organization’s health and can be prevented through tools such as Web Defense Plans or Network Security.
Maintaining an adequate amount of Internet bandwidth for legitimate business use is also critical because different technologies require larger amounts of data to travel through a finite space. There is a myriad of different safeguards available, yet each technology demands different applications, which are why many SMBs are partnering with Technology Advisors and leveraging their expertise.
While many businesses are looking for ways to eliminate overhead, one fix is by increasing the number of virtual workers at their organization. Oftentimes there is a substantial difference between the amount of security at the office as compared to the security of a home office network.
These threats are dynamic. As long as hackers and criminals are in existence, new threats will follow. This is why many SMBs are taking a long term view of technology and aligning themselves with Technology Advisors through strategic partnerships. This allows business owners to alleviate their concerns with technology, delegate the management of their technology to a trusted partner, who can protect their organization proactively. In today’s global marketplace, leveraging outside resources are keeping SMBs on track and profitable.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Phones Plus Educates Customers on Mobile VoIP Technology
Small to Mid-Sized Companies to Benefit
from Latest Advancements in Mobile
Communications Technology
NEW BERLIN, WI —
October 28, 2010 — Phones Plus,
Inc., an industry leader in Unified
Communications, announced today
that recent statistics by the
industry’s leading research firms
are showing that mobile Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) is poised
to revolutionize the
communications industry. This
technological advancement is
increasing profitability and
providing substantial benefits to
small to medium sized businesses
(SMB) across the globe.
Juniper Research, who
specializes in appraising high
growth opportunities for the mobile
markets, “expects the total number
of mobile VoIP users to exceed 100
million by 2012.” Paired with
InStat’s prediction of “288 million
mobile VoIP users by 2013” it’s
easy to see that mobile VoIP is
making its way to the forefront of
communications. Thomas
Sodemann, Vice President of
Phones Plus, Inc. states, “As our
customer’s trusted technology
advisor, we feel obligated to
educate our customers about the
business benefits of mobile VoIP
and how it can enhance the way
they communicate. It’s up to us to
understand where the
communications industry is headed,
but more importantly it’s absolutely
vital that we find the technologies
that make our customers more
profitable.”
Traditional VoIP has been
around since the 90s, but until
recently the Internet has not been
able to adequately support VoIP.
Past developments have stabilized
VoIP’s performance and this
explains the dramatic increase in
demand for the technology,
especially among SMBs. VoIP’s
primary appeal lies in its sizable
cost savings for end users and in a
struggling economy, VoIP was the
blatantly obvious choice for most
business owners. However, for the
past several years SMBs were
limited to only using VoIP at the
office and at home, which deterred
a large section of the population
from deriving the technology’s
benefits. Mobile VoIP “cuts the
cord” and allows users to enjoy all
of the benefits of VoIP technology
from their cell phone. Mobile VoIP
enhances integrations with
applications such as Presence
Management, Find Me Follow Me
and Unified Messaging.
As smart phones, like Apple’s
iPhone and Motorola’s Droid,
continue to grow in popularity, so
does the market for mobile VoIP.
SMB’s are being educated on the
value of mobile VoIP and as a
result, demand for this technology
is accelerating.
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.
from Latest Advancements in Mobile
Communications Technology
NEW BERLIN, WI —
October 28, 2010 — Phones Plus,
Inc., an industry leader in Unified
Communications, announced today
that recent statistics by the
industry’s leading research firms
are showing that mobile Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) is poised
to revolutionize the
communications industry. This
technological advancement is
increasing profitability and
providing substantial benefits to
small to medium sized businesses
(SMB) across the globe.
Juniper Research, who
specializes in appraising high
growth opportunities for the mobile
markets, “expects the total number
of mobile VoIP users to exceed 100
million by 2012.” Paired with
InStat’s prediction of “288 million
mobile VoIP users by 2013” it’s
easy to see that mobile VoIP is
making its way to the forefront of
communications. Thomas
Sodemann, Vice President of
Phones Plus, Inc. states, “As our
customer’s trusted technology
advisor, we feel obligated to
educate our customers about the
business benefits of mobile VoIP
and how it can enhance the way
they communicate. It’s up to us to
understand where the
communications industry is headed,
but more importantly it’s absolutely
vital that we find the technologies
that make our customers more
profitable.”
Traditional VoIP has been
around since the 90s, but until
recently the Internet has not been
able to adequately support VoIP.
Past developments have stabilized
VoIP’s performance and this
explains the dramatic increase in
demand for the technology,
especially among SMBs. VoIP’s
primary appeal lies in its sizable
cost savings for end users and in a
struggling economy, VoIP was the
blatantly obvious choice for most
business owners. However, for the
past several years SMBs were
limited to only using VoIP at the
office and at home, which deterred
a large section of the population
from deriving the technology’s
benefits. Mobile VoIP “cuts the
cord” and allows users to enjoy all
of the benefits of VoIP technology
from their cell phone. Mobile VoIP
enhances integrations with
applications such as Presence
Management, Find Me Follow Me
and Unified Messaging.
As smart phones, like Apple’s
iPhone and Motorola’s Droid,
continue to grow in popularity, so
does the market for mobile VoIP.
SMB’s are being educated on the
value of mobile VoIP and as a
result, demand for this technology
is accelerating.
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.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
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
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
Monday, August 16, 2010
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!
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!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, July 19, 2010
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 √
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Why the holdup?????
Hey there everyone... You may be wondering why we are stalling on posting any new information lately. The answer is simple - we are currently working on a "for dummies" series of posts. These will be posts that deal with decoding some of the tech-talk you have probably heard and perhaps don't understand. This is not so much a "for dummies" as it will be a "for the rest of us" series and we hope you will find it helpful!
So, please be patient while we are working on translating things into a format that is easily understood and we will be back in the phone booth again before you know it! Thanks!
So, please be patient while we are working on translating things into a format that is easily understood and we will be back in the phone booth again before you know it! Thanks!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Phones Plus, Inc. Offers Innovative Data Backup Solutions to Protect Their Customers' Critical Information
Region’s Leading Unified Communications Provider Supports Business Continuity Planning While Enhancing Peace of Mind Among Small to Mid-sized Companies
NEW BERLIN, WI — June 24, 2010 — Phones Plus, Inc., an industry leader in unified communications, announced today that the company is offering innovative, off-site, data back up solutions to protect their customers’ critical information. In an effort to enhance business continuity planning among the region’s small to mid-sized companies, Phones Plus, Inc. provides owners with the peace of mind, knowing that their valuable information is continually backed up in the event of a natural disaster, power outage, or virus attack.
More than ever before, today’s market is pressing owners to reexamine the threats that could cause business interruption. According to an information security breaches survey conducted by DTI/PriceWaterhouse, 70% of businesses that suffer a serious data loss are out of business in 2 years. Many risks are unavoidable but technological advances have created a way for businesses to continue to run smoothly, even in the midst of uncertainty.
Organizations of all sizes are generating and depending on larger amounts of data that must be readily available and easily accessible. Consequently, companies have to effectively manage more infrastructure resources, including servers, networks, and storage, to ensure data is protected in a timely manner while at the same time providing adequate performance and capacity and securing data for access when needed. Unfortunately, the archaic data backup method for most companies is to backup vital information on a data tape and let an employee such as an IT manager take it home for safe keeping. Today’s latest technology enables the backup of information to take place on the “cloud” instead of servers on-site. Therefore, if an event should occur the business can keep running as if nothing happened.
“The concept of business continuity is experiencing a growth in popularity, and experts are attributing this primarily to its simplicity,” Thomas Sodemann, Vice President of Phones Plus. “As a business owner, operating without a data backup solution in place is simply a risk I would not be willing to take. The pace of today’s business environment is faster than it has ever been, and business owners cannot afford to lose their valuable data. In my opinion, it’s like driving over 100mph without wearing a seatbelt,” commented Sodemann.
All businesses face a certain degree of risk, but most intelligent business owners are looking to eliminate unnecessary risks as well as uncertainty. Disaster recovery solutions provide business owners with a safety net that enables organizations to get back up and running before anyone notices that there was a slip-up. Whether a natural disaster, virus attack or power outage, remote data backup provides businesses with the assurance that they will be able to compete in today’s markets.
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 BERLIN, WI — June 24, 2010 — Phones Plus, Inc., an industry leader in unified communications, announced today that the company is offering innovative, off-site, data back up solutions to protect their customers’ critical information. In an effort to enhance business continuity planning among the region’s small to mid-sized companies, Phones Plus, Inc. provides owners with the peace of mind, knowing that their valuable information is continually backed up in the event of a natural disaster, power outage, or virus attack.
More than ever before, today’s market is pressing owners to reexamine the threats that could cause business interruption. According to an information security breaches survey conducted by DTI/PriceWaterhouse, 70% of businesses that suffer a serious data loss are out of business in 2 years. Many risks are unavoidable but technological advances have created a way for businesses to continue to run smoothly, even in the midst of uncertainty.
Organizations of all sizes are generating and depending on larger amounts of data that must be readily available and easily accessible. Consequently, companies have to effectively manage more infrastructure resources, including servers, networks, and storage, to ensure data is protected in a timely manner while at the same time providing adequate performance and capacity and securing data for access when needed. Unfortunately, the archaic data backup method for most companies is to backup vital information on a data tape and let an employee such as an IT manager take it home for safe keeping. Today’s latest technology enables the backup of information to take place on the “cloud” instead of servers on-site. Therefore, if an event should occur the business can keep running as if nothing happened.
“The concept of business continuity is experiencing a growth in popularity, and experts are attributing this primarily to its simplicity,” Thomas Sodemann, Vice President of Phones Plus. “As a business owner, operating without a data backup solution in place is simply a risk I would not be willing to take. The pace of today’s business environment is faster than it has ever been, and business owners cannot afford to lose their valuable data. In my opinion, it’s like driving over 100mph without wearing a seatbelt,” commented Sodemann.
All businesses face a certain degree of risk, but most intelligent business owners are looking to eliminate unnecessary risks as well as uncertainty. Disaster recovery solutions provide business owners with a safety net that enables organizations to get back up and running before anyone notices that there was a slip-up. Whether a natural disaster, virus attack or power outage, remote data backup provides businesses with the assurance that they will be able to compete in today’s markets.
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.
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