Jan 31, 2013 | Blog, PBX Technology, Phone Systems, Voice Communications, VoIP
In Disaster Recovery Planning: Part 1, I discussed Disaster Recovery Planning for a Complete Site Failure and Equipment Failure modes. In this post, I will discuss Service Failure and how planning for this type of failure is applicable to the other failure modes as...
Jan 29, 2013 | Blog, PBX Technology, Phone Systems, Voice Communications, VoIP
Having a Disaster Recovery Plan in place for your telecommunications systems is a very good thing. It is a good exercise to go through, to consider all the possible disaster scenarios and how you would respond. Today we have many new technologies to bring to bear on...
Jan 24, 2013 | Blog, Phone Systems, Uncategorized, Voice Communications, VoIP
One of the things I enjoy about my job is getting to go hands-on with new technology. I recently got a Polycom VVX500 touch screen IP Phone on my desk and have had a few weeks to try it out. Here are my first impressions. (Note: I am using the VVX500 on a hosted VoIP...
Jan 15, 2013 | Blog, Cabling, Data Communications, PBX Technology, Phone Systems, Voice Communications, VoIP
When you see a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone system diagrammed out on paper, it looks great – either a hosted service or a self-hosted IPPBX (Internet Protocol Private Branch Exchange) connected to your data network with IP phones as end points. You may see a nice...
Nov 1, 2012 | Blog, PBX Technology, Phone Systems, Voice Communications, VoIP
An important strategic decision for SMBs today is whether to move toward a Unified Communications (UC)system. The definition of Unified Communications can vary widely depending on who you talk to. To me, a good definition would include traditional voice telephony,...
Oct 30, 2012 | Blog, Data Communications, Network Applications, PBX Technology, Phone Systems, Telecom Industry, Vertical WaveIP, Voice Communications, VoIP
Is Voice a Dying App for Phones? Is the question just hyperbole? Perhaps. But consider this. Two distinct but related trends are developing in the telephony world. First, voice minutes and voicemail messages are declining. Mobile carriers like Verizon are increasing...
Oct 26, 2012 | Phone Systems, Voice Communications, VoIP
Voice over IP (VoIP) is a proven technology that can provide cost savings and increased functionality. Companies large and small have been converting to VoIP to take advantage of these benefits. However, if the quality of the voice suffers, the benefits can be...
Sep 27, 2012 | Blog, Data Communications, Voice Communications, VoIP
In this post I talked about the death of the land line. Sure, land lines will be available for years to come, but the tide is clearly shifting. Many companies are eager to transition to cost-saving, Internet-based telephony services but are unsure how to get off of...
Sep 18, 2012 | Blog, Phone Systems, Telecom Industry, Uncategorized, Voice Communications, VoIP
Distributed call centers have been a dream of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) for a very long time. But every time a solution appears, it seems to end up being more hype than reality. SMBs need distributed call centers to compete with larger enterprises....
Sep 12, 2012 | Blog, Data Communications, Uncategorized, Voice Communications, VoIP
Get Ready for Voice on Your Network It used to be that voice had its own network, separate from data. Companies built a separate infrastructure for voice that included voice-grade cable, terminal blocks and jacks connecting a dedicated voice server (PBX) to dedicated...
Sep 11, 2012 | Blog, PBX Technology, Toll Fraud, Voice Communications, VoIP
In Part I, we learned how phone hackers target voice mail systems to steal and resell long distance minutes to countries with costly per-minute charges. But there are other targets for the hacker in today’s business communication infrastructure. Right on Target...
Aug 30, 2012 | Blog, Data Communications, LAN Switching, Network Applications, Phone Systems, Routing / Firewalls, Voice Communications, VoIP
Many small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are transitioning to Voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone systems, either hosted or self-hosted (IPPBX). When preparing your SMB local area network (LAN) for VoIP, there are three main areas you need to focus on: your Internet...
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