Posted by Scott Morris on Thu, Sep 30, 2010 @ 11:19 AM
Cbeyond has recently started a blog to help small and medium sized businesses with technology advice.
I took a look at it and here are my initial thoughts:
- It has some really good information.
- It feels a bit uptight to me...no one seems to be comfortable in the videos. That's a bit disappointing, because especially for small businesses...they have some tips that will really help.
- Ramon Ray's video on disaster preparedness is important for you to watch...just get over the presentation. Our operations department lost one of their computers...and it was rough.
- I like that they are TRYING and WORKING towards adding real value to what their clients and target audience need. Kudos on the effort...
- I personally wish they'd change their branding for videos...and yet, when it's all said and done...it'd be worth a few minutes if you are a small business to take advantage of what they are doing.
If you want to read my thoughts on their service...check out these posts:
Cbeyond - More than just phone and internet services
Cbeyond BeyondVoice Office Edition
Check out the SMBspot Blog
Posted by Scott Morris on Wed, Sep 29, 2010 @ 09:55 AM
I recently wrote an article about Business VoIP. In doing a bit of research for it, I noticed that when you do a google search on "business voip," you get a ton of hits for hosted voip. Many of them are 'referral engines.' You put your info in and they send it out as a lead to hosted voip companies that then compete for your business. (Disclosure: Those services exist for PBx vendors as well - and TTM uses them)
Some of those companies are legitimate H-VoIP companies - though again, there are so many of them with crazy names and located all over the country, that is can be a little unsettling.
But when all is said and done, is H-VoIP a good idea...and for who?
Well, let's start with this:
5 Reasons Hosted VoIP Sucks
- Quality of Service: QoS is the process of giving your voice priority on your internet/network over your data. If you don't have this dialed in, your call quality will be bad.
- Lack of Customization: There will be some level of customization available in terms of the auto attendant, voicemail options, etc...but you've going to have a very basic system - compared to something like a Switchvox which is customizable at every turn and can have custom API's written to do just about anything.
- Potentially Inferior Customer Service: I say potentially, because at the end of the day, you're dealing with people at a company that you've never met...and there's only so much you can do over the phone some times. This may never be an issue for you. Just be aware that it may be...and sometimes it's helpful to get to meet a person from the company you're partnering with...and to have them available to stop by if you need it.
- Growing can be painful: Every phone call and every intercom call and everything goes over your internet...so you'd better be sure you have enough bandwidth!
- Features, features, features: At this point in time, you just can't get all the features with a hosted VoIP system that you can with one that is located in your office. Someday...maybe. But not now. This is not a big deal for many small businesses, but I just want you to be aware of it.
Now, with that being said, here's why you might want to try it:
- It can be a less expensive way to get started...equipment and all
- You don't have to invest in a phone system, and for some start ups and small companies, that is a huge benefit
- Sometimes, they give you the phones for FREE! (Don't expect top of the line phones - but some companies will provide entry level Polycom phones, which are really nice)
- You can get by with less IT help - sort of.
- The QoS issue above is a big one. Having the right telecom/IT help to make sure your QoS is right can be very important.
- It's not impossible for a H-VoIP provider to help you set up your router, so it is possible to do this yourself.
- The industry is growing all the time - so you may be able to find a hosted VoIP solution that I don't know about...and it is awesome. (Way to go!)
Have you come across a hosted VoIP solution that you are especially excited about? Let me know in the comments section!
Posted by Scott Morris on Tue, Sep 28, 2010 @ 03:47 PM
In my opinion, the #1 VoIP business phone system on the market today is the Digium Switchvox. Total Cost of ownership is lower than any system out there in its class, features & functionality are better, and innovation and design are superior to any competitor on the market.
But not everyone is going to do business with TTM. For a variety of reasons, some of you will wind up working with another vendor and buying a different phone system... So for those of you who are "them," here's my list of the next 5 best VoIP service providers in the market.
- Shoretel: I like the architecture of the Shoretel box...they built it right. It's also got a tremendous user interface. I think their phones look pretty cool too...if that's your thing. One thing I appreciate about Shoretel in general is that they have great marketing and informational material...I have learned a lot from them.
- Cisco: They have been the gold standard for a lot of years, and let's just say it - their products are awesome. the prestige that comes with owning a Cisco will far outweigh the exorbitant cost. They are really getting into the video conferencing game as well...for all you high-end pretty business people.
- Panasonic: I lost a bid the other day to Panasonic. Here's why - Panasonic has a phone system that is like their "tough" notebooks, designed to thrive in high heat, dust, and other miserable environmental situations. I couldn't find which phone system they were talking about - maybe you know? [Comments]
- NEC: I wrestled with whether to put this on the list. TTM does sell this system too, but there are a ton of NEC dealerships in the bay area...so this benefits them too! I love NEC as a simple business phone system. It is a VoIP system - but suppots digital phones as well, and has a all the tools you'd need ( UC, mobility, etc.) it is an easy to use, "we all understand it" phone system.
- Talkswitch: This is a small VoIP system with a nice set up features. It is fairly reliable and super inexpensive compared to any other system on the market.
Honorable mention: Panterra Networks. Competitor of ours, but they have a really cool looking hosted solution. I've yet to use it or hear anything about it, so be careful. But, from first glance, it looks really strong for people looking into a hosted VoIP solution.
Hope that helps! If you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them below in the comments section...
Posted by Scott Morris on Mon, Sep 27, 2010 @ 03:18 PM
Not having enough bandwidth for a VoIP phone system can be devastating - to you, to your business, to the company who sold you the system...and it is very avoidable.
Here are 5 "secrets" to being confident that you have enough bandwidth for implementing a Voice over IP phone system.
- Secret #1:Write down your current bandwidth. Don't guess. Don't think. Look it up and write it down. That number is important. If you don't know it, I found an awesome tool you can use: Bandwidth.com's VoIP Test. Really clean, tells you your current download speed and upload speed. They are a 'competitor' of ours (though much bigger) and have a lot of great info on their site as well.
- Secret #2: Be clear how much bandwidth 1 phone call takes on your VoIP solution. Most phone calls take between 80 and 100 kbps. Find out and write that number down.
- Secret #3: Figure out how many "concurrent" phone calls your company will need. Concurrent basically means "at the same time." (and yes, I had to look it up) So, be aware over the next couple days: How many people do we have on the phones all at once? What is the highest number of people that you think your company will need on the phones all at the same time. Write that number down.
- Secret #4: Get an understanding of your data usage. Does your company send and receive a lot of huge files? Do most people just use email and a bit of web surfing? This is hard to put a number too, but you've got to at least have a sense of whether you use a lot of bandwidth or a little bit of bandwidth.
- Secret #5: Leave yourself some margin! From experience, I can tell you that figuring out how much bandwidth you need and then trying to cut costs by getting as close to that as possible is just a bad idea. Give your self 1/2M to 1M margin on your internet bandwidth.
Would you like to download our eBook on this (with free "bandwidth equation-calculator fill in the blank form!")?
Posted by Scott Morris on Thu, Sep 16, 2010 @ 06:03 PM
Cbeyond is a company that I really have a ton of respect for (direct reps aside). They really are a company that understands what it means to be an Information and Communication Technology leader. They bring the IT and the Telecom worlds together in a unique way that is specifically geared towards small businesses. With Cbeyond and a simple NEC SV8100 phone system, an entrepreneur could have a business up and running with no IT people or telecom hassels (Of course, TTM is always here to help)...and you could do it really affordably! (I didn't say cheap...cheap people please do not inquire) If you missed it, I wrote about the Cbeyond BeyondVoice Office Edition and what I like about that.
Another of the cool offerings Cbeyond has is their BeyondVoice Mobile Edition. Here's what I like about that offering:
- It comes with everything that the BeyondVoice Office Edition comes with
- You seemlessly integrate your mobile services with your voice and data! This is cool because all your billing is in one place - and take it from me, I've seen enough telecom bills to know that Cbeyond's is the cleanest and easiest to read in the business.
- It uses the Sprint network. If you hate Sprint, this is where you get off the Mobile Edition Bandwagon...of course. We use Sprint at TTM, and I have found the coverage to be excellent. With the pricing, esepcially the "all you can eat" packages and the expanding cool menu of phones, this is a great opportunity for many of you.
The official page is located right here ---> Cbeyond BeyondVoice Mobile Edition
Why not set up an appointment with me to see if Cbeyond is the best option for your business?
Posted by Scott Morris on Thu, Sep 16, 2010 @ 05:25 PM
No service is for every business...admitted. And as a disclaimer: TTM Communications is a Cbeyond Value Added Reseller (VAR).
Now that we've got that straight, let me say that I think Cbeyond's BeyondVoice Office Edition is my favorite on the market, and I'll tell you why.
- It really is for small businesses and entrepreneurs: Small companies and entrepreneurs could forgo an IT person w/ Cbeyond. It's that good and that complete.
- They've built a fully VoIP based network from the ground up on Cisco equipment: the excellence in their gear is notable to me as other telecom co's work to keep up...
- Cbeyond offers flexible services and packages that meet your company's needs: They all do, but I've noticed that there is actually more variety in the Cbeyond offerings, and they always have cool promotions.
- They are a true ICT company: Information and Communication Technology is the next evolution of IT + Telecom...and Cbeyond is really making it happen.
- They are striving for excellence in customer service: There is a fair amount of negative press on the web about Cbeyond, and I won't say the company is perfect. I will say this - they continue to work extremely hard at improving and being an industry leader in service...and I see that happening.
- They integrate mobile phone plans as well! Their network uses the Sprint network and the pricing is "Sprint-esque" (i.e. less expensive than AT&T & Verizon and the coverage is pretty good. We use Sprint here at TTM!) Check out this article on Cbeyond BeyondVoice Mobile Edition #bitchen.
What are the core components of the Cbeyond BeyondVoice Office Edition?
- Local and long distance calling
- High speed Internet
- Voicemail
- Email
- PC backup
- Security software and Website hosting.
- And a ton more
Here's a link to the product page - Cbeyond BeyondVoice Office Edition. Once you check it out, let TTM get you set up...I guarantee you'll feel loved.
Posted by Scott Morris on Wed, Sep 01, 2010 @ 12:35 PM
Today is the 2nd of 3 articles detailing what I think are the 6 most important questions you must answer when researching business VoIP phone systems. The first article is here: 6 Q's to ask when researching business VoIP phone systems (Part 1).
Here are the 6 Questions:
- What do I need my phone system to do?
- Do I need VoIP to acheive my communication goals?
- Do I have enough bandwidth to implement VoIP?
- Is my network ready for a VoIP system?
- Will I need any analogue lines?
- What is Unified Communications...and do I need it?
Yesterday, I covered the first two questions. Today, we look at the 2nd - way less sexy - two questions.
Question 3: Do I have enough bandwidth to implement VoIP?
I wrote an article on this - It's almost never enough bandwidth. (It's an article I really like for a number of reasons)
In summary, you've got to be aware that VoIP is sending your voice over the internet, and if you don't have a big enough internet pipe to send your phone calls and your data 'stuff' all at the same time, there is going to be trouble.
How much bandwidth do you need? Well, there are several factors:
- How much data do you send over your internet connection? I know it sounds like that should be a given, but how often do we really think about how much information we send over our internet connection?
- How much does the phone system compress the voice packets? (This refers to the type of 'codec' the system uses. codec = compression/decompression) What this means is that when you talk into your phone, it "compresses" your voice into a little data packet to send it over the internet (think UPS for phone calls). There are a range of compression rates, and therefore there are a range of 'sizes' for voice packets depending on which system you are going to use.
- How heavy is our call volume? Again, I know it may seem obvious, but you need to ask yourself: What is the greatest number of people our company will have on the phone at one time at any given time?
- Will you be doing any video calling? (The Digium Switchvox comes with video calling...and it takes more bandwidth.
Once you have a sense of the compression rate of the VoIP system you're looking at and you know about how many "concurrent" phone calls you will make at your busiest times, you can just multiply the two together to figure out how much "voice bandwidth" you'll need. (e.g 42kbps/call x 10 calls = 420kbps, or approx. .5mgs)
Question 4: Is my network ready for a VoIP system?
Let me be brief on this for now. When you implement VoIP, you will be running all of your voice traffic over your internet connection. That means:
- Your phone calls will be sharing space with your data
- Your phone calls will most likely be sharing routers with your data
- Your phone system will require a different level of security than it did when it was just using plain old copper lines
You'll need someone with IT knowledge and knowledge of your network to make sure that - based on your developing list of company needs, goals, and objectives - your network will not only handle VoIP traffic, but that it will be optimized for it. (For basic information on optimizing a network (i.e. QoS), see my article here: It's almost never enough bandwidth. The article is not a "how to," it's a "what is it?")
That's probably enough on this for now. If you have any questions or information you'd like more help with, obviously feel free to comment...
Tomorrow we'll look at Unified Commuications primarily, and I'll round out the list of 6 by looking at whether or not you'll also want to keep a couple of analogue lines hooked up to your system or not.
Again, any feedback or further interest on this series would be way helpful...and until next time, have a great one!
Posted by Scott Morris on Mon, Aug 30, 2010 @ 12:50 PM
A phone system is ultimately a tool for communicating. Depending on what you need to say, hear, and know... there are a ton of different options when buying one.
The days of spending lots of money just because you can are (thankfully) behind us. That is relevant to our discussion because it doesn't make sense buy an expensive phone system if you don't need to...and believe me, not all of you need to.
The other side of that coin is that for some businesses, a business VoIP system will be a critical component to your growth and development as a company. If you think that may be you, then here are 6 questions you must take the time to think through and answer.
- What do I need my phone system to do?
- Do I need VoIP to acheive my communication goals?
- Do I have enough bandwidth to implement VoIP?
- Is my network ready for a VoIP system?
- Will I need any analogue lines?
- What is Unified Communications...and do I need it?
Question 1: What do I need my phone system to do?
This question seems straight forward, but depending on the size of your company, focus of business, and stragtegic goals for your employees, it can have some nuances that affect what phone system(s) you consider. Here are a couple things to think through when answering this: (in no particular order)
- Are my phones important to sales?
- Is it important to know where people are...immediately?
- Who do I call? (and how often do I call them?)
- Will I have a call center?
- Do I need my receptionist to have a high level of control over calls?
- Is there benefit to having my phone system integrate with my CRM?
- Do I want to be able to record calls?
- Do I want a record of my calls?
- Do I need conference calling capability?
Question 2: Do I need VoIP to accomplish my communication goals/needs?
Most business phone systems have a range of features today that are similar...at least as far as the basics go (Auto-attendant, call transfering, voicemail features, etc...). Which phone system has the features you want/need is certainly a relevant issue - but do you need a business VoIP system? Not necessarily. Here's how you know if you need VoIP:
- Do you have mulitple locations?
- Do you have remote workers?
As best I can tell, for now, those are the two best reasons to use VoIP. Almost every other phone system need, feature set, etc... can be found on digital business phone systems. In fact, most - if not all - new phone systems today are built on a VoIP platform that will allow you to use VoIP or to use regular digital business phone service. In many cases, the issues of bandwidth and network allocation are significant enough that it would make more sense to just use a digital phone service - and frankly with prices continuing to plummet, you may be able to get a screaming deal on a voice PRI or even dynamic T1.
Tomorrow we'll look at questions 3 & 4 for what should prove to be a slightly more technical discussion...
Any thing you want to add to this? Please do! Use the comments below...
Posted by Scott Morris on Fri, Aug 20, 2010 @ 08:19 AM
Voice over IP is a very hot topic in the telecommunications world, and there is a proliferation of business VoIP phone systems on the market. Having heard it hailed as the great "free calling" savior, many are getting into VoIP without really understanding what it is and what it takes to succesfully implement & use. There are certainly many good things about VoIP (aka Voice over IP), but it takes planning and preparation as well as some know-how to set up and get running. This is the first of a series of posts that are meant to be a resource to help you be informed about VoIP so that you can make the best decision for your business.
The series looks like this:
- What is business VoIP
- 6 Questions to ask when researching business VoIP phone systems
- Why Hosted VoIP sucks (and how fonality is screwing that all up)
- 5 Thoughts about SIP and other phone service non-sense
Today, we start with this: What is Business VoIP?
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is simply a fancy way of saying that somehow, someone figured out how to send your voice over the internet, instead of doing it the 'easy' way - over a billion miles of copper wire. (Now, you may be a brainiac and you may want to know all about this uber-four-letter-word (acronym, whatever). Check out VoIP on wikipedia and then SIP on wikipedia with special attention to the Internet Protocol Suite.) VoIP is the evolution of phone service in that you get far better quality sound with potentially reduced cost.
(Long aside: I know that when I say, "better quality sound," some of you throw up in your mouth. You've been "voip'ed" and will never let it happen again. The reality, however, is that it most likely wasn't voip's fault...it was your internet. You see, when it comes to sending your voice over the internet, you must always keep three things of absolute priority: bandwidth, bandwidth, bandwidth. If any ONE of these is not sufficient, you're in trouble. I talk about bandwidth in my article, It's almost never enough bandwidth.)
So, since VoIP is the ability to send your voice over the internet, then business VoIP is the ability to send business phone calls over the internet. Now, this may seem a trivial distinction to note, but it isn't. Having MagicJack at home and running a business phone system over your network are very, very different.
There are key benefits:
- Link multiple locations - for free (well...you'll have to pay for bandwidth)
- Work from anywhere in the world (w/ internet connection)
- Potential savings over your outdated, over-priced analogue lines
- Tremendous applications and features. (with Switchvox, we have a programmer that can write a custom app for companies to do almost anything...how sweet is that!)
- The phones are #waycooljr
There are some concerns:
- A power failure cripples your phone system if you don't have an emergence procedure / plan
- If you don't have a enough bandwidth, you are begging for a visit from the three bastard children of the VoIP family: latency, jitter, and delay.
- It's not necessarily less expensive, leaving numerous business owners smashed up against the rocks of shattered expectations...brave soles who set out to capture the the white whale of free phone calling, only to find that a business VoIP system can be expensive.
Tomorrow we'll look at 6 Questions you'll need to ask when researching business VoIP phone systems.
Disclaimer: This series is a living work. Do you have something to contribute? Is there a topic you would like to see addressed? Feel free to add, correct challenge, question, and engage via the comments!
Posted by Scott Morris on Wed, Aug 18, 2010 @ 05:21 PM
Back in April (April 13th, 2010 to be exact) I posted a video I came across by Tristan Barnum, product marketing director for Digium Switchvox. The post was 5 Things You Didn't Know about VoIP...but Probably Should! The video Tristan did was great, the way I framed it was ok...the response to my post was truly underwhelming.
In my research of VoIP and business phone systems I came across ITBusinessEdge. They did a 6 slide slideshow summarizing Tristan's video...and I think they did a great job! Going through the slides reminded me of how good the information contained there in is. As I am reading more and more on the web about Voice over IP serivces and information, I am coming to the conclusion that there are a lot of blogs out there writing really lame articles and whitepapers about VoIP so they can sell advertising space...and they don't actually know much about VoIP or SIP or other four-letter words I'll refrain from posting.
If you need help with VoIP, IP PBx Phones and Phone Systems, SIP or Unified Communications, please check out this slideshow. It doesn't cover everything, but what it does cover is excellent.
Watch the "5 Things You Need To Know About VoIP" slideshow!
And please, be sure to say thank you to the people at ITBusinessEdge and let Tristan know what a stud she is!