Voip Whitepaper on Technology Partners

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Do You Need VoIP?
A VoIP Whitepaper For Small and Medium Businesses
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Content Provided by: Kenneth Fanger, MBA | On Technology Partners is a technology design firm that offers services to meet your business needs through technology, beginning with a strategic design of your needs.
7100 Euclid Avenue Suite 120 | Cleveland, OH 44103 | (216) 920-3100 www.ontechpartners.com | [email protected]

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Purpose: The reason why you would want VoIP
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This!white!paper!is!designed!to!help!the!small!to!medium!business!in!a!direct!and! straight!forward!manner!to!understand!how!and!when!to!best!implement!a!new! VoIP!based!phone!system.!There!is!a!lot!of!technical!speak!around!new!phone! systems!and!it!is!hard!for!small!and!medium!companies!to!understand!how!and! why!it!may!be!a!good!thing!for!them.! ! By!both!defining!technical!terms!and!also!showing!practical!examples!we!will!work! to!show!how!and!when!your!company!should!and!could!move!to!a!new!VoIP! system!and!how!and!why!it!would!be!valuable.!We!will!also!help!to!remove!some! of!the!smoke!and!mirrors!around!the!different!terms!that!are!used!to!confuse!and! mystify!the!purchase.! ! We!will!also!show!some!possible!pitfalls!to!watch!out!for! when!selecting!VoIP!phone!systems!and!the!difference!between!hosted!and! on@site!systems.! !

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Can You Justify Changing Phone Systems? !
The!first!questions!that!you!need!to!ask!are:!

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Does!my!current!phone!system!work?! How!hard!is!my!current!phone!system!to!work!with?! How!costly!is!my!current!phone!system?! Has!my!current!phone!system!become!outdated!and!hard!to!replace?! What!services!will!I!gain!with!a!new!phone!system?! • Will!a!new!phone!system!make!my!company!more!competitive!or!effective! if!I!change?! • • • • •
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. Let’s start by taking a look at some of these questions directly and how they can and may currently relate to your ! business. !
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! The!first!question!is!easy.!If!your!present!phone!system!is!not!working!then!it!may! be!a!simple!question!that!a!new!one!is!needed.! The!second!question!may!be!harder!and!one!that!I!have!faced!with!many! companies!each!day.!It!is!the!problem!where!the!company!has!a!phone! system!that!works,!but!changes!are!hard!or!nearly!impossible!to!do.!Some! examples!of!this!would!be:!you!have!an!employee!leave!the!company!but!you! are!no!longer!able!to!remove!them!from!the!phone!system;!employees!move! offices!and!you!have!a!hard!time!moving!the!phones!to!the!new!offices.! ! The!third!question!is!very!often!related!to!the!second,!many!times!when!a!phone! system!is!very!hard!to!manage!there!are!many!hidden!costs!and!the!price!to! do!changes!become!high!over!the!year.!When!determining!a!new!phone! system!it!is!important!to!remember!how!hard!making!simple!changes!will!be! on!the!system.! The!fourth!is!also!the!final!nail!that!I!have!found!in!the!coffin!of!many!phone! systems.!As!phone!technology!has!changed,!older!phone!systems!become! outdated!and!replacement!parts!become!harder!to!find.!The!problem!we! have!found!is!that!the!phone!system!may!be!working!just!fine!and!meeting! the!current!needs,!but!then!a!catastrophic!failure!happens!and!there!are!not! parts!to!replace!the!system.!Now!a!panic!replacement!is!needed.!Evaluating!if! your!company!wants!to!take!such!a!risk!with!such!a!valuable!resource!needs! to!be!evaluated!before!the!day!the!system!dies.! ! The!fifth!question!relates!to!how!and!why!you!have!the!phone!system.!Not!too! long!ago!a!phone!system!was!there!only!to!allow!us!to!answer!a!phone;!but! today!we!are!expecting!it!to!offer!us!so!much!more.!What!these!services!are! and!what!value!they!have!to!our!business!is!important!to!our!decision.! The!sixth!question!is!more!directed!to!your!business!then!the!phone!system.!How! does!your!company!work!and!how!can!the!new!technologies!help!you!be!
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more!productive?!An!example!and!one!that!is!very!exciting!for!companies,!is! the!Find!Me/Follow!Me!feature.!This!feature!allows!a!single!number!to!reach! all!employees.!This!means!that!instead!of!providing!customers!with!each! employee’s!personal!cell!phone!number,!it!is!now!possible!to!provide!one! company!number!that!will!ring!to!each!individual!employee.!The!company! now!has!control!over!the!phone!system!and!can!maintain!control!of!the! customer.

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Why Would I Want VoIP?
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! So!you!are!asking!the!question!of!why!you!would!want!a!VoIP!system!and!that!is! the!right!question.!The!main!reason!that!you!would!want!VoIP!comes!down!to! Cost.!Most!times!VoIP!systems!are!less!costly!to!operate!then!other!phone! systems.!Much!of!that!cost!savings!is!found!in!the!long!distance!because!many!SIP! Trunk!based@services!charge!less!or!not!at!all!for!long!distance!as!well!as!lower! usage!charges.! There!are!other!savings!from!VoIP!systems!as!well.!They!come!from!the!nature!of! the!system!which!are!effectively!computer!devices!on!your!network.!That!means! that!if!you!have!multiple!offices!with!a!VoIP!system!between!them!and!you!are! connected!through!a!WAN!(Wide!Area!Network),!it!is!possible!to!make!calls!to!the! other!offices!without!incurring!any!long!distance!costs!at!all.!If!you!find!yourself! having!lots!of!calls!with!these!remote!offices!then!the!cost!savings!can!become! quite!large.! ! ! One!example!of!cost!savings!that!you!should!recognize!from!a!VoIP!system!is!that! your!company!can!use!the!Internet!to!connect!to!distributed!sales!and!traveling! individuals!and!reduce!the!cost!of!keeping!in!contact!with!them.! ! Though!cost!is!always!a!good!reason!to!consider!a!new!phone!system,!it!is! important!to!remember!that!with!a!VoIP!phone!system!there!are!other!strong!and! compelling!reasons!to!consider!implementing!one.!For!example,!the!are!many! industry!specific!applications!that!focus!on!areas!such!as!health!care,! manufacturing,!and!even!more!specific!auto!sale.!A!VoIP!system!is!on!your!
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network!therefore,!it!allows!you!to!do!more!with!your!network.!There!are! countless!ways!that!VoIP!systems!can!be!bound!to!your!network!and!add!features! allowing!VoIP!to!help!your!business!more.! !
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Some Things You May Want to Know:

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There!is!a!dizzying!maze!of!terminology!related!to!VoIP!phone!systems!and!it!is! very!easy!to!become!confused!in!the!rush!of!terms!that!you!will!be!inundated!with! when!you!start!to!look!at!systems.!I!am!going!to!try!and!give!you!a!few!of!the!main! terms!that!you!will!hear!and!the!“official”!definitions.!I!then!followed!with!a!more! understandable!explanation!of!what!they!mean.! !
Term!
VoIP! QOS! Voice!over!IP! Quality!of!Service!

Definition!

What!Does!it!Mean!
A!call!that!uses!a!computer!network! This!means!that!network!has!a!special!process!in! place!to!make!sure!that!phone!calls!work! properly.!When!this!is!not!proper!you!will!not! ! hear!static!on!calls!as!well!as!an!echo!or!poor! quality! This!is!the!way!that!computers!and!other!devices! are!able!to!talk!over!the!Internet!and!networks.! VoIP!phones!use!the!same!system!to!talk.!Think!of! it!as!a!language!for!talking! This!is!a!“language”!that!allows!VoIP!phones!to! talk!with!a!VoIP!phone!system! This!is!a!“language”!that!allows!a!VoIP!phone! system!to!connect!to!a!phone!company!such!as! ATT®!or!Sprint®! This!is!one!of!the!traditional!solutions!for! providing!phone!service!to!companies.!A!PRI! would!allow!a!phone!company!to!allow!23!phone! conversations!at!one!time.! This!is!another!name!for!a!phone!system.! This!is!a!very!fancy!name!for!a!phone!number.! ! So!our!primary!DID!is!216@920@3100!

IP!

Internet!Protocol!

SIP! SIP!Trunk!

Session!Initiation!Protocol! Session!Initiation!Protocol!Trunk!

PRI!

Primary!Rate!Interface!

PBX! DID!

Private!Branch!Exchange! Direct!in!Dialing!

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Hybrid! POTS!

A!Joint!system!with!both!Digital!and!VoIP!in!one! system! Plain!Old!Telephone!Service!

This!is!usually!for!companies!that!have!an!existing! system!and!want!to!move!to!VoIP!slowly.! This!is!what!most!people!remember!as!their!home! phone.!It!is!an!analog!line!into!the!house!with!a! phone!at!the!end.!Must!phone!systems!will! support!a!few!analog!phones!and!analog!phone! lines.! This!is!the!answer!to!the!problem!that!VoIP! phones!can!move!anywhere!in!the!world.!When! deploying!VoIP!phones!it!becomes!important!to! enter!the!location!of!the!phone!for!e911!if!the! phone!could!be!used!to!make!911!calls.! !

E911!

Enhanced 911!

! Where do you Go From Here?
! Now!I!would!not!be!a!very!good!consultant!if!I!did!not!put!my!site!up!for!you:! www.ontechpartners.com.!We!have!been!helping!companies!for!over!fifteen! years!to!address!voice,!data,!and!video!needs!so!we!are!always!a!good!place!to! start.! ! In!addition:! Wikipedia!has!a!very!informative!review!of!VoIP!from!a!technical!level,!Cisco!has!a! wide!range!of!phone!solutions,!and!companies!such!as!Shoretel,!Mitel,!and!Avaya! all!have!very!good!VoIP!solutions.! There!are!many!other!VoIP!products!out!there!that!can!offer!business!advantages! in!their!communications!needs.!As!with!all!things,!it!is!important!to!remember! that!this!will!be!a!customer!experience!and!you!want!to!take!the!time!to!make! sure!it!is!one!that!will!work!well!for!you.!We!at!On!Technology!Partners!are!ready! to!assist!you!in!this!and!all!of!your!technology!needs.!
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Benefits of VoIP
Greater Productivity
VoIP!systems!increase!productivity!by!helping!both!internal!staff!and!customers! get!to!needed!resources!faster.!This!is!done!by!features!such!as!find!me/follow!me! that!makes!sure!people!are!reachable!when!they!are!away!from!their!desks!and! one!touch!calling!directly!out!of!Salesforce.com!or!Microsoft!Dynamics!when!your! sales!team!are!doing!sales!calls.!In!fact,!because!the!VoIP!system!is!part!of!your! data!network,!the!possible!productivity!features!that!can!be!added!to!the!system! are!nearly!endless.!

Serving Your Customers
VoIP!systems!create!a!better!experience!for!your!customers!by!allowing!a!closer! connection!between!call!management!and!CRM!systems.!It!also!allows!for!better! call!processing!so!that!there!should!be!less!lost!calls!and!better!customer! experience!when!they!call.!This!means!that!customers!can!reach!you!more!often! when!they!need!to!and!that!means!more!satisfaction!and!more!sales.! ! We!all! know!that!the!happier!the!customer!is!the!more!sales!for!you.! !

Keeping Employees Connected
VoIP!systems!keep!your!employees!connected!by!allowing!access!to!your!phone! system!from!anywhere!there!is!Internet.!That!means!that!you!can!have!access!to! your!voicemail,!either!directly!as!you!do!with!many!digital!phone!systems!today!or! through!voicemail!to!email.!You!can!also!have!your!phone!number!follow!you!to! your!cell!phone!for!times!when!you!are!out!of!the!office!or!even!have!a!VoIP! phone!that!can!connect!at!home!that!will!act!as!if!it!were!in!the!office!including! giving!the!ability!to!route!calls.!There!are!even!Softphones!that!can!be!installed! onto!laptops,!similar!to!Skype,!so!that!a!virtual!phone!can!follow!sales!people!all! over!the!world!and!yet!have!them!be!a!constant!part!of!your!system.!
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To Learn More About VoIP Services at On Technology Partners, Visit Our Website

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