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Entries by Richard Reiffer

Answering Your Questions About Small Business VoIP Solutions

Gone are the days when small businesses had no choice but to be tethered to the apron strings of the phone company. Today’s proliferation of small business VoIP solutions providers means owners like you have several options.

VoIP. What’s in it for you?

Understanding VoIP means digesting a few basics, starting with the term VoIP. The Vo stands for voice and the IP for internet protocol. This acronym often translates to saving money since you’ll be using the same broadband internet connection you already have in place so that you won’t be using the phone company’s lines, nor their phones. Not only will you save money on installation costs and hardware, but you’ll also be billed only for services you use. Depending on the provider you choose you’ll have access to telephony services previously affordable only by large corporations, including video conferencing, call forwarding, find me follow me, and voicemail transcription to email.

What will I pay upfront?

You may be attracted initially by the cost featured on a VoIP provider’s web page, but be sure to inquire about additional costs such as equipment or setup fees. Get the specifics regarding the length of contract and cancellation fees. Find out if the system is scalable so you can add phones as your business grows, and also if you change your plan, will you have to start your contract period all over again? Be aware that many VoIP providers tie their low startup price …

What the Rise of Hybrid Cloud Computing Means for Business

The increasing popularity and growth of cloud computing is marked by the expanding number of businesses that have decided to make the transition to a cloud environment. However, a growing number of small businesses today are also discovering the many benefits of a hybrid version of cloud computing.

Based on in-depth research reports that involved two hundred plus CIOs, each of whom manages annual IT budgets in the range of $550 plus million, we see many positive and exciting developments taking place in the IT landscape.
Research From Markets
Additionally, based on complex research data from one of the finest global industry researchers, MarketsandMarkets, the hybrid cloud model shows a high demand that is growing at a compound rate of 27% per year. This rise in the demand for hybrid cloud far surpasses the growth increase of the overall IT market. This trend not only applies to the present, but to future growth as well.
Hybrid Cloud Computing and Data Security
The reasons for this increased interest in the hybrid cloud option are easy to understand from an ROI, convenience, and security perspective, especially for SMBs.

With the rise of hybrid cloud computing, SMBs will be able to rely on the increased stability, flexibility, performance, and improved security. The hybrid cloud is of particular importance when it comes to managing sensitive data security concerns, including governance and compliance issues.

HIPPA is another vertical that mandates a high level of safety requirements adopted by the Secretary of Health and …

What Makes Mitel a Good Fit for Small Business?

Small businesses today are all different and unique in their ways. When shopping for a new phone system, each element of the business’s communication process becomes a factor in that decision. There are so many things to consider – VoIP or POTS? Cloud, hosted, or hybrid? And what about mobile compatibility? It can seem overwhelming right from the start. The good news is, we’re the experts on Mitel in Grand Rapids, and we can help narrow down the options within the Mitel products to help you see how it can be a perfectly customizable solution.

So, what makes Mitel a good fit for many small businesses? Here are a few key elements:
Simplistic Design
With options from cloud, onsite, and hybrid solutions, the Mitel platforms are leading the industry in customer satisfaction and low cost of ownership, which is appealing to most busy and cost-conscious small business owners. These communication systems meet the highest standards with regard to reliability, application integration, mobility, collaboration offerings, and applications. The idea is to provide an easy-to-use tool that gives employees the power to work faster and more conveniently from any location and on any device.
Choices, Choices
With Mitel Connect, you can choose if you want to deploy your IP phone system onsite, in the cloud with the Mitel data center, or use a hybrid combination of both. Whatever the decision, the solutions are designed to scale, grow, and change as business needs shift. You can also buy or …

UC Implementation Solutions: The Basics of SIP Trunking

From a data and storage perspective, internet cloud networking offers enormous benefits, particularly for startups looking for cost-effective UC implementation solutions. However, there’s far more to cloud computing than just storage benefits. Because of the versatility of the internet and the capacity of bandwidth that’s possible with fiber connections, massive amounts of data can transfer without issue. And cloud computing allows tremendous access to these advantages at a low cost. SIP trunking and voice communications are one of the biggest benefits often overlooked by growing companies.
What is SIP trunking?
SIP trunking is a data transfer protocol that allows data to layer on top of itself, which then allows for different types of data to transmit on the same transmission lines and conduits at the same time. In short, it’s the tool that allows the internet, digital data, voice data, and other data to move through the same channel at the same time versus waiting for one to pass before the other can move through.

The SIP part of the name is an acronym for Session Initiation Protocol, a form of Internet data transferring between two points, or peer-to-peer. The data moves between peers including email, texting, SMS chat, interactive gaming, fax data, and even voice communication converted to a digital format. The key factor has a tool that disseminates and filters all the forms of data so they can be created, sent, and interpreted correctly on the receiving end. The SIP standard is the …

Does More Technology Really Improve Business Productivity?

For many business owners, and senior executives, the thought of embracing the latest business technology can be daunting for numerous reasons. Reason being, making a significant technology change can quickly impact how the entire organization gets work done – so it must be carefully executed. So, the first logical question posed is: will these investments truly improve team productivity?

The second consideration involves the financial expenditures needed to fund these changes effectively. In this type of situation, stakeholders need to feel comfortable with the cost and benefits as it relates to their ROI.
Technology Should Make Work Easier – Not Harder
It’s important for management to understand how investing in new technologies can not only improve ROI but also enhance the overall workplace environment and productivity. For example, having an employee utilizing numerous applications on different devices that aren’t synced with one another can cause that employee to spend more time trying to track down just to get one piece of information they need.

Cloud VoIP solutions are helping to solve these types of problems by providing access to big IT without the headache of setting it up internally. Many technology companies offer services that are already linked together with advanced productivity applications and tools. These services also come with additional security features and updates – another line item that can relieve concerns for top executives.
The New Standard For Business
In today’s competitive business environment, there’s a massive shift taking place toward cloud VoIP solutions. …

Breaking Down the Basics of a Hosted Phone Solution

When your business starts evaluating how to improve business and communications, you probably hear about making the transition to a hosted or cloud phone solution. But you might be wondering what exactly these solutions can offer? And can they truly improve your business operations?

To begin, it’s important to understand what a hosted phone system is. According to Techopedia, a hosted phone system is defined as:

“Hosted private branch exchange (hosted PBX) is a telephone exchange system built, delivered and managed by a third-party service provider. Hosted PBX is an IP-based telephony solution provisioned and accessed entirely through the Internet.”

How a Hosted Phone Solution Works

A hosted PBX provides the same services you would expect from a traditional phone system with analog lines, but uses the internet and the cloud to support your services. The service is delivered using a telecommunications provider and Internet or IP-based networks. The systems are housed and monitored at the provider’s location.

How Does the Cloud Play In?

The voice and data services and applications your business uses are also hosted on the servers the provider owns and provide the business with access to the cloud. Customers only pay for services and applications they are using, providing a cost-effective, secure, and reliable environment.

Hosted Solution Benefits

Cloud communications become attractive because the cloud becomes the central platform for voice, data, and video. Traditionally, hosted services were built around voice, and were referred to as hosted VoIP. Cloud communications serve as an enhanced platform …

Why Invest in VoIP and a Small Business PBX System?

When making a business case for switching to a small business PBX system that works with the power of VoIP and the cloud, you may need some supportive evidence to convince the leaders of the company that it’ll be worth their time and the investment. The good news is, that there’s no shortage of information to showcase the enhanced productivity and ROI that switching to a small business PBX can provide. Here are five compelling figures:
1. Small businesses switching to a VoIP solution reduce the cost of their local calling expenses by up to 40%, and international calling savings averages 90%
Without VoIP, companies are required to use plain old telephone service (POTS) lines, which come with a hefty price tag for every minute spent on the phone. Those minutes add up quickly and typically result in a steep monthly bill, especially in the case of international calls. With VoIP, calls are made using the company’s internet connection, which removes the need for those costly POTS lines.
SOURCE
2. VoIP can cut startup costs for new businesses by up to 90%
With no need for phone lines and expensive and bulky traditional phone systems and hardware that can rapidly increase startup expenses, the cost savings are immediate.
SOURCE
3. Businesses see an average savings of 50-75% after switching to VoIP
Although this can vary depending on the organization, changing to a small business PBX system with VoIP provides an average cost saving of 50-75% on traditional …

Demystifying the Top 3 Concerns about Cloud Phone Solutions

There are many reasons organizations are turning to cloud technology. It’s flexible, scalable, offers cost savings and has the mobile features to meet your business and employee demands. But what about your phone system?

There are many reasons organizations are turning to cloud technology. It’s flexible, scalable,offers cost savings and has the mobile features to meet your business and employee demands.But what about your phone system?
You may be considering updating your phone system to the cloud, but have concerns about security, control and risk. The reality is that world-class cloud phone systems have largely addressed these worries.
Making your concerns disappear isn’t magic. The truth is, all of the concerns above are legitimate and it’s up to you to find a cloud phone solution that has an established track record.So you’re probably wondering, how can a proven cloud phone provider make your concerns disappear?  

Concern #1: Being secure in the cloud
When most executives consider switching to a cloud-based phone solution, they initially picture everything that could go wrong. Outsiders could steal a phone and use it to hack into their network. Someone might listen in on their calls. And the biggest worry of all: Someone may tap into the system to make international calls, which would cost the business dearly.

Why security isn’t a concern: Sophisticated cloud phone solutions have firmware built into their phones that have unique digital signatures. These signatures can’t be re-written, which limits the ability for somebody to hack the system to place, listen to, or disrupt calls. Additionally, these phone systems use SIP to encrypt signaling information. This prevents …

What Could Be Hindering Your IT Department Productivity Levels?

Companies often find themselves in positions where they have to increase their IT department productivity. With “more for less” being an increasingly common expectation in today’s market, more is at stake when it comes to staying productive.

But just because productivity is top of mind does not mean that your current business strategy is supporting the productivity of your IT department. In fact, you may not even know how to measure that productivity. IT department productivity is essential to the development and growth of your business. Keep reading to learn how to understand IT productivity measures and what may be keeping your team from reaching its true potential.
Defining & Measuring IT Productivity
Finding the pulse of IT productivity can be like shooting in the dark. A few techniques have been posited and tested over the years though none truly manages to capture the whole picture with one single measurement. Some of the different techniques that have bee explored include:

Measuring software development using function points, as delivered per person
Calculating support desktops per system administrator
Calculating servers per system administrator.

While all of these can give valuable insight into productivity, no single measurement serves to adequately answer the question as to whether an IT department is getting more, or less, productive over time.

Instead, companies are more likely to be able to measure the true productivity and value of an IT department by assessing how the department is contributing to overall costs. IT projects can and …

Easing UC Implementation Fears

Today’s workforce is demanding enterprise mobility that makes workflows accessible in a familiar format. Businesses today looking to attract top talent need to do so with simplified interfaces that work in connection with mobile devices. Most businesses today need one infrastructure that everyone can use with all their different modalities.

But with the transition to a new Unified Communications (UC) solution, there may be some concern about the impact the transition will have. However, a carefully planned UC implementation process can virtually eliminate those fears.
Unified Communication Benefits
Cloud-based UC systems provide flexibility in communications. Team members are able to receive company calls, set up virtual conferences using basic internet connections, access corporate voicemail and use call forwarding to any device. Wherever team members are located, unified communication solutions makes employees more effective when communicating with other team players, clients and customers, as well as management.

Employees are empowered with an efficient flow of data, documents, files, and customer information, activities, and preferences right on their screens during a conversation. They are equipped to share, discuss in detail, revise, and implement business changes through audio, video conferencing, instant messaging, and even fax relay. On-screen file sharing is instant with UC conversations and off-site communications.

With a cloud-based VoIP system, your staff will know when to contact people (availability and presence), the history of a caller or customer and their preferences, as well as be able to schedule conference calls and video work sessions. These features will greatly reduce commuting time and expense.
Implementing …

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Millennia Technologies is a full-service voice and data solutions company for midsize to enterprise customers. Specializing in UCaaS , CCaaS , Cybersecurity , IoT , Voice , Cloud , and more. Our passion is firmly rooted in showing clients how well-designed data solutions can significantly accelerate business operations, and then celebrating their goal-shattering successes.