by Larry Rohan | Feb 12, 2021 | Uncategorized, voip
Using Cloud Services to Afford the Latest Technologies.
Many Businesses are struggling with the move forward to Cloud Technology, for some it is the understanding of what the cloud is, how the cloud will help their business or the cost to migrate to cloud services. Let VoIP Asheville guide you, starting with cloud servers are actually physical servers located remotely. Our primary servers are located in an enterprise level data house with connect speeds above 3 Gigabits per second. These fast secure connections with blazing speeds allow businesses to connect and communicate anywhere with 3cx apps for iphone, android and windows. Advanced call center features like call queues, call recording and comprehensive reporting are now cost effective and available to every business owner. VoIP Asheville also offers SD WAN “always on” connections for your mission critical programs. Securely and quickly access these programs without having to maintain private servers and employee IT staffs.
So how can the average business afford these latest technologies? Look at your current phone bills, ATT, Spectrum Business or Morris Broadband. Whether you are on an antiquated analog system, or a hybrid solution, your current phone costs on these bills goes away and can be used to pay your $1 buyout lease. With a standard installation at $135 a month, most business find they are saving money while implementing technology.
by Larry Rohan | May 3, 2020 | Uncategorized
2 Small 2B VoIP (Part 1)
Having been in the telecommunications industry for many years and watching technology evolve the limiting factors that persisted about VoIP have turned into falsehoods. In this 5 part series of blogs we are going to dispel these 1 at a time.
Part 3
“Speed up and give me Options”
Now That we have shown the cost savings of VoIP in Part 1 as well as simplified solutions with BLFs in Part 2 it is time to focus on reliability. VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, with “Internet” being the key word. What use to be a limiting factor, has now become a strength. Versatility, blazing Speed and reliability have now replaced the old descriptive terms of limited choices, slow and spotty connections. Today’s business owners usually have multiple choices of internet providers with speed options that were unthinkable 10 years ago. So let’s look closely as to how these new options create a reliable and redundant communication system.
A. Increased internet speeds have opened the floodgates to custom solutions and multiple options, for small and medium size businesses therefore I almost always recommend an offsite server. Hosted solutions are a perfect way to leverage today’s latest technology.
3CX and its open platform is optimal as a hosted PBX What are the benefits of hosting as compared to onsite lets take a look.
- By hosting your PBX in a reliable data house (OVH, Google, Amazon or Azure) you have removed the greatest point of failure, which would be an onsite PBX server. No longer will your communications be paralyzed if your internet goes down, or your office experiences a power failure, have a localized router issue or an employee task failure. Phone calls will reach the PBX and you will have multiple options to answer them. Cell Phone, Of-site location or Voicemail just to name a few.
- A Hosted PBX can be a simple solutions for those small businesses with limited or no IT department. Once the PBX is installed offsite in a virtual server, updates and scheduled maintenance are no longer your responsibility. Firewall and router configurations are simplified and devices like Cell phones, tablets and laptops are able to use secure tunnels for communications on site or off.
- 3CX is an ideal PBX for running in a Virtual environment, With a centralized dashboard clients are able to easily mange complex tasks in a visual interface. This dashboard facilitates being able to use Linux or Windows in a VPS environment. These cost effective virtual servers can be easily upgraded, backed up and duplicated as needed quickly and without much if any down time. They also allow for multiple ways of redundant fail over so your calls get answered.
B. Increased internet speeds brings other new options such as Video conferencing, Click to call, Click to Chat and WebRTC just to name a few (These integrations will be discussed in Part 4 of this Blog). A hosted 3cx solution opens the door to possibilities on how to get your message out there and stay connected.
C. Higher speeds have increased demand and competition among providers. Today’s savvy small business is able to make decisions between internet providers or even have 2 internets with a Dual WAN router that can either blend or automatically failover so that mission critical internet applications are always available.
D. Redundancy is the key to any system, what happens when this fails? This is part of the customization of any PBX. Some quick answers are as follows but these are not the only possibilities. So what happens if you building loses power and internet?
- Simply open the 3cx free App on cell or tablet and calls will continue to come in just as if you had internet. You will be able to except multiple calls as well as forward to VM or other extensions and outside numbers.
- Have calls go to a digital receptionist and let clients choose who they want to speak with and each extension can then decide if they prefer to have calls go to Voice Mail so that they can return these calls at a later time, or have their calls forward to another location, Cell or analog number.
- Using a hotspot as an internet failover can give you some additional flexibility
Better internet means better options. These options are versatile and customizable so speak to VoIP provider that is unable to understand your expectations and exceed them. VoIP Asheville is always here to answer questions if you need. 828-209-VoIP (8647), or email me Larry@VoIPAsheville.com
Look for part 4 of this blog tomorrow as we discuss Application Integrations between VoIP and websites, CRMs and or billing software. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to reach out to me.
Larry The Phone Guy
www.VoIPAsheville.com
(828) 209-8647
by Larry Rohan | Apr 17, 2020 | Uncategorized
2 Small 2B VoIP (Part 1)
Having been in the telecommunications industry for many years and watching technology evolve the limiting factors that persisted about VoIP have turned into falsehoods. In this 5 part series of blogs we are going to dispel these 1 at a time.
“Simple solutions at the touch of a Button, BLFs”
Now that we have realized that upgrading to VoIP will save you money (Part 1). How can VoIP Asheville improve your work flow and allow employees to be more productive? Let’s take a look. Many of Today’s businesses need employees on the go that might be sales, service, technicians or CEOs, VoIP Asheville can show you how to call or transfer calls to employees out of the office, either on the go or at home with the touch of one button. No need to give out cell numbers, or have employees call clients back. As a former sales person for a local company I still receive calls a decade later requesting service, quotes and complaints for that business. Will your ex-employees be as polite as I am, and forward them to their former employer? Is that a gamble you are willing to take.
“BLF” is a shortcut button on a VoIP phone this button can do many things, transfer to an extension in the system or a phone number outside the system. One touch and that call is on its way. Perhaps you need to forward calls on the fly a single press of a button and calls are now going to your cell, your home or another employee who can answer your calls. Change call flows for lunch, holidays, end of day or working late…yep just program a button. See if someone is on a call or page a person or group, I am sure you have figured it out by now…just pushed button away. All these features are included with 3cx.
- Out of the office, working from home just open 3cx a fee app for IPhone or Android and your caller ID is now your office. You can place calls on hold, transfer calls or make an easy conference call, and yes you guessed it no additional charges.
- Workflows can be as complicated as you want, customized to account for times, dates, “what ifs” you can do these things ahead of time or going back to that simple button.
- Employee turnover is always a huge deal, using extension numbers instead of cell numbers makes this less of a hassle. And VoIP makes that a simple reality. Changing voicemails, access to systems and the ever persistent “Changing of the name” on phones and recorded digital receptionists. Simple to do and no additional charges.
Employee buy in is critical to any migration or system upgrade, VoIP Asheville will sit with you and create workflows that your employees will want and deserve. Once created we will do on-site training and customize individual phones for each employee’s needs.
Look for part 3 of this blog tomorrow as we discuss redundancy and failovers that make VoIP mission critical and a reliable and versatile way to communicate.
Larry The Phone Guy
www.VoIPAsheville.com
(828) 209-VoIP (8647)
by Larry Rohan | Apr 11, 2020 | Uncategorized
Be the Joneses
Instead of trying to keep up with the Joneses in the fast-paced ever-changing world of technology and office systems, why not be the Joneses and have you competitors try to keep up with you.
- Proprietary all-encompassing one-size-fits-all systems don’t really work for anybody. Instead look to 3cx, a versatile, up-gradable, open platform PBX Software, able to incorporate the world’s best products like Yealink, Cisco, Polycom and Cyberdata just to name a few. Mix and match or add that Legacy device you invested so much capital into already. VoIP Asheville can customize a solution that works for you today and allows for your business needs into the future.
- Scalability is the key. Why buy now what you by now what you don’t need now. With virtually unlimited extensions, 3cx allows you to add as your company expands, or incorporates temporary projects and seasonal workers. Softphone reduce investment and still give functionality either in the office, on the go or at remote locations.
- Invest wisely, with $1 buyout leases take advantage of low interest rates and own your system. With no out-of-pocket expenses and reducing your monthly expenditures reinvestment capital in growing your business. Most standard installations are under $150 a month, compared to your standard office analog phone bill which averages $200 or more, how much will you save?
There’s a reason why every Fortune 500 company has moved to VoIP phone systems. Let VoIP Asheville show you a custom solution and how to achieve it.
Larry
828 209-VoIP (8647)
Www.Voipasheville.com