Business Phone Goes Hosted

Business telephone service has expanded over the years, from the single line analog POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) to multi-line PBX systems that handle hundreds and thousands of phone sets. What’s the next logical development? Could it be even larger and more sophisticated in-house PBX systems? No, just the opposite. The PBX is moving out as business phone service goes hosted.

Hosted business phone is another term for telephone switching in the cloud. Hosted means that a service provider hosts your telephone service on their equipment. The responsibility for running the PBX system and providing the lines to the public telephone system are effectively transferred from your company to your service provider’s.

Why would you want to go the hosted route? It generally boils down to finances and flexibility. The first financial advantage is that you no longer have to buy expensive capital equipment and provide a space for it in your building. This is seldom a one time allocation. Every so many years you find that your equipment has become obsolete and too expensive to maintain or it can no longer keep up with the demands placed on it. You need a newer and likely larger system to replace it. That process is called a “fork lift upgrade” because it you can’t often salvage any of the existing equipment. A fork lift truck drives in and hauls out the old PBX system. It then drives back in to deliver the new replacement.

Granted, smaller PBX systems that support branch offices or retail locations may be something you can pick up and carry yourself. Even so, the “fork lift” metaphor applies. It’s out with the old and in with the new. Hopefully you can pay off the old system before it’s time to replace it.

With a hosted PBX system, there are phones but there is no PBX or telephone switching system in-house. That lets you avoid a major capital expense and also the guessing game of trying to predict how much capacity you’ll need during the lifetime of that system. If you guess low, you’ll be replacing it while it still works just fine. If you guess high, you’ll pay for capacity that you never use. Either way, it’s hard to know the future well enough to pick just the right size PBX.

The other financial advantage is that PBX phone systems cost more than just the purchase price. Every time to you to do a “move, add or change” with your telephones, somebody has to do some rewiring and change some programming in the system. That could be a dedicated staff member who is the telephone manager full or part time. Otherwise it is a contractor known as a VAR for Value Added Reseller. Either way, there’s ongoing expense to run the system and keep up with the changes.

How do hosted business phone systems save you all that grief and expense? The service provider has a much larger shared PBX system and the staff to run it 24/7. They keep up with day to day maintenance and upgrades. Because this system is so large, it can accommodate many customers and easily expand to meet your changing needs. That’s the principle behind the cloud. You don’t have to worry about all the hardware, software and personnel needed to keep the phone system running. The service provider specializes in this and handles it for you.

What’s available in the way of hosted phone services? There are a number of cloud communications providers who offer this capability. They generally provide the service on a “per seat” per month basis. Each phone has internal, local and long distance switching capability included. Most of the time its a single price for all calling other than international and for all the features. Some providers can include your mobile phones so that they are part of the PBX capabilities. Some providers even include the physical phones. These are IP Telephones than plug right into your company LAN. You connect to the provider with a network connection called a SIP Trunk.

Can hosted business phone make sense for your company? There are solutions for every business from the smallest retailer to the largest corporation. Get prices and features for competing hosted PBX service providers now and see if you can save both money and effort.

Cisco's New Terabit Monster Router

Cisco's new edge router, the ASR 9000, is upping the ante on network bandwidth. This beast will deliver 6.4 Tbps when fully loaded at 400 Gbps per slot. Who needs a router this powerful? Probably not your mom and pop retail store. But they might be using services downstream from a carrier who has installed an ASR 9000. Why the need for even more speed? One word: Video.

Video not only killed the radio star, it's pretty much killing service providers too. The Internet was conceived and built in an era when text was king. As technology and applications evolved, it managed to scale up with the move to more visual Web pages. But video is taxing the ability of service providers to add bandwidth as fast as users glomp onto more and more video content. It's YouTube, certainly. But it's also Web pages that embed video reports instead of text, and TV producers that see the Internet as another medium for distributing their programs.

So bad has it gotten, that major ISPs have taken to impose download limits on what was once unlimited broadband. They're easing into this by setting the cutoff point high enough so that only rabid video downloaders are likely to get kicked off the network. But today's rabid downloaders are merely early adopters of the way we'll all want our content delivered eventually. It's going to be high definition large screen full length video at will. Once this genie gets completely out of the bottle, satellite and cable are going to have to scramble to avoid becoming as limited as over-the-air TV channels when it comes to program delivery. If we had the set top boxes, programming guides and motivated content producers today, the Internet would be brought to its knees overnight.

That's what Cisco is trying to address with the ASR 9000. What might appear to be overkill for many edge router applications is going to be a normal requirement sooner than we think. In fact, the ASR 9000 is targeted at video service providers, such as cable companies, and also at mobile providers. These include cell phone companies that are starting to push mobile video and likely WiMAX operators who will be dealing with video-craving users sooner than they may think.

The other trend that Cisco is positioning for is the move from legacy time division network technology to Ethernet and MPLS. The ASR9000 has built-in capabilities for IPoDWDM or IP over Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing as a next-generation network core technology.

You don't really need Terabit transport requirements to take advantage of Ethernet and MPLS in your business. Metro Ethernet offers cost savings over traditional DS3 bandwidth and can often be provisioned over copper pair rather than fiber optic cable for bandwidths below 50 Mbps. MPLS networks are fast becoming the preferred method to interconnect multiple business locations.

Is your network ready for an upgrade? Take advantage of our VAR Network to find authorized dealers for Cisco routers and other professional grade network equipment and services.

Expand Your Telecom Services Line Card

This type of line card is not the one you plug into your channel bank or PBX system. It's the list of products and services you offer your clients as a telephone or computer networking sales company. Expanding your line card offers more sales opportunities with prospective and existing customers. But there's usually a price to pay. You wind up increasing equipment inventory, paying a franchise fee or committing to minimum monthly sales volumes. If only there was a way to expand your line card with offerings that your customers would really use, without incurring any costs or volume commitments on your part.

There is such a way to generate extra business without extra expense, but it is a narrowly targeted opportunity. You'll need to have an already established operation in the professional telephone or enterprise network field. This could be a bricks and mortar business communications company. It also applies to independent professionals who act as technical consultants to business clients. If that describes your situation, there's a win-win situation you need to know about.

The opportunity is in wireline telecom services that your clients are already using but not paying you for. They may contract with you to buy handsets,IP PBX systems, network switches and routers. You might also be asked to install and expand the facilities cabling and train the staff. But when it comes to telecom services, that's for somebody else. Many businesses just automatically call the local telephone company and wind up paying much more than they have to. Others seek out local companies that sell competitive services, but find that they are limited in what they can get and the prices are still high. Why don't they buy from you and get the best deal?

The quick answer is that you don't sell telecom line services. You don't have the expertise or the contacts and probably wince at getting involved with the contractual paperwork that you expect to be extensive. But what if somebody made it quick and easy to derive monthly commission checks from voice and data services that would also save your customers money? What if somebody else had the expertise, had the contacts, and specialized in sheparding the sale from requirements through activation and follow-up service? Would that work for you?

That organization is Telarus, Inc. They're a major master agency representing over a dozen national and regional telecommunications service providers. They have the tools and relationships to find the best deal for your customers and they know how to close a sale. They need you to bring them new customers and they're willing to share the profits.

You are invited to register your company as a VAR Partner. VAR meaning Value Added Reseller. The VAR Network gives you a way to easily enter requirements for your client in a matter of minutes. The suite of services offered includes T1 and bonded T1 lines, ISDN PRI telephone trunks, VoIP SIP Trunking, Integrated voice and data lines, point to point connectivity, Satellite bandwidth, and Metro Ethernet with up to Gigabit per second line rates. As a master agency, they can get the best rates and compare and contrast service providers to come up with the best solution.

What's it take to be part of the VAR Network? Just a few minutes of your time to register your company and participate in an interview to complete your profile. Once activated, you'll have a back office tool that will allow you to enter leads for line services that your customers require. For each one that closes, you'll get a monthly residual commission that lasts as long as the line contract and may be renewed. Many customers means many commissions that can add up to a sizable monthly check.

Another bonus feature is that you'll also get leads from the VAR Network based on your business profile. These will be warm leads from current and prospective Telarus customers who need equipment and services beyond telecom lines. It's one stop shopping for the client and potentially more business for you.

Why not take a few minutes right now and see what the VAR Network has to offer?

Telephone Installers Business Networking

If you make your living selling or installing business telephone systems, there's a business networking service you should be aware of. It can help you garner more warm leads for your products and services, and expand your line card with no additional investment.

What I'm speaking of is the VAR Partner Network, an online service of Telarus, Inc. Telarus is a master agency representing over a dozen competitive voice and data carriers. But it's much more than that. Through its VAR Network Telarus actively seeks businesses who need not only communications line services, but equipment sales and installation work as well.

VARs, or Value Added Resellers, are independent business owners. The VARs who will be interested in this network are those who sell, install or service business telephone systems, point of sales equipment, company LANs, network optimization and security appliances, and related technology. The reason Telarus is recruiting VARs in this field is that many customers who buy line services also desire one stop shopping for their related telephone and network equipment.

Rather than take a pass on this business and risk customers going elsewhere, The VAR Network gathers the prospect's requirements and enters them into an online database. That database actively processes the leads and directs them by email to appropriate VARs who have the necessary expertise and area located physically close to the client. One or more VARs may be alerted to the business opportunity. It's up to the VAR to contact the prospect and close the sale, if desired.

OK. That's how you, as a VAR, get free equipment leads. But how do you expand your line card at no expense? Simple. Remember that most customers for business phone systems not only need a PBX or IP PBX, but they also need phone lines to plug into it. Those T1 PRI digital telephone lines are part of the core business that Telarus seeks. Businesses installing phone equipment are perfect prospects for related line services. So are corporations expanding their network operations. How would you like a piece of that action?

You can easily collect a percentage of every T1, DS3, or Ethernet line that your customers install, for the duration of their service contract. The way you do that is to take a few minutes and input your customer's requirements into your VAR Network online back office. Your consulting partner at Telarus will use that information to get competitive price quotes from appropriate carriers. If your customer elects to go with one of the deals, Telarus will take care of preparing all the paperwork and making sure the line services get turned up as soon as possible. You get a cut of the commissions for... what... ten minutes of data entry?

Pretty sweet deal, isn't it. Actually everyone benefits. Your customers get access to lower cost services than they would typically know about. And they'll probably thank YOU for getting them the deal. You'll probably find that this expansion of your business is actually more lucrative than the equipment leads from the network. That's because you can go out and offer line services to your existing customers as well as any new ones. It's a way of generating additional business income from current accounts with minimal effort.

Would you like to get in on this action right now? You can. There's no cost or obligation to join. Once you're in the system you'll start getting leads and you can approach clients with your new line of bandwidth and telephony services. Take a few minutes to look at the VAR Partner Network and sign-up easily online.

Fiber Optic Cable Gets Limber

Fiber optic and copper cable are currently vying to be the communications wiring of choice for retrofits, upgrades and greenfield construction. Actually, the long term solution is already known. It's fiber. Copper hangs on because it is already widely deployed, as are the switches and routers that connect to it.

Fiber optic cabling might have taken over infrastructure installations sooner if it wasn't for an installation restriction. You can only bend the fibers so far. It's more than just not snapping the fiber strands when the stress gets too high. There's a functional limitation with sharp corner bends that lets some of the light escape the fiber core. Attenuation goes up and signal level goes down.

That limitation has been removed by new developments from Corning. Corning's bendable fiber optic cable introduces a layer of reflective nanostructures into the cladding directly surrounding the core. The nanostructures keep the light beam from shooting out through the cladding when it encounters a sharp directional change. If you tie normal fiber in a knot or bend it ninety degrees, you might lose all of your signal. With the nanostructures guiding the wavelengths around sharp bends, the signal can handle just about anything an installation can throw at it. That includes right angle turns and stapling cable to building studs.

Where is this new single mode bendable fiber optic cable most appropriate? it's a natural for FTTx installations, especially in older buildings not designed with ease of cable installation in mind. But its also likely that this new approach to cable construction will make it the defacto standard for both business and residential wiring.

Is your business ready for an upgrade to fiber optic cabling to support data, voice and video? Or, do you simply want to expand your networks for growth or additional applications? Our network of Value Added Resellers are independent providers of equipment, installation and service. Get competitive quotes now from VARs in your area. No cost or obligation for this online service.

We're Looking For Successful IT Consultants

You're a seasoned information technology professional. Have you already taken your skills to the next level of success by forming your own consulting company? Perhaps you offer your personal expertise in the design, implementation and troubleshooting of voice and data networks. Maybe you've gone further to become a certified partner with one or more equipment vendors so you can earn extra income from selling the hardware and well as your knowledge. Are you that person? If so, we want you.

What is it we're offering? It's a chance to boost your level of business with additional prospects located in your service footprint and additional service lines. Now, don't worry. There's no cost to get involved and no big learning curve, either. Think of it as an fast and easy incremental boost to the business you are already building.

Interested? Good. Here's what's involved. The opportunity I allude to is the VAR Network. You probably already know that VAR means Value Added Reseller, the industry term for businesses that offer consulting and support services related to the hardware they sell. The basic idea behind the VAR Network is to provide an efficient way to connect businesses that need digital voice and data products and services with independent experts who are already selling to exactly those types of businesses. This doesn't change anything you're doing. It just hooks you up with more customers who may not be aware of your availability.

The VAR Network is so efficient because it's based on Web tools that capture customer requests and route them only to VAR Partners in the right location with the right product line and/or skill set. It handles everything from wiring installation to routers and security appliances, to complete enterprise VoIP solutions including handsets, IP PBX, networking and line services.

Line services? Yes, by becoming a partner of the VAR Network you also become enabled to offer your clients voice and data line services such as T1 lines, DS3 bandwidth, Ethernet WAN connectivity, MPLS networks, VPN solutions, and metro to long haul fiber carriers. This is likely business you've been leaving on the table because you don't have the background or relationships with telecom carriers to make any money from line services. Now you will. All you have to do is gather the customer's requirements and the bandwidth specialists assigned to the VAR Network will put together the best price quotes and handle the contractual paperwork. For literally a few minutes work on your part, you can enhance your income with a cut of the monthly commissions on any line services your customers order.

Whether you're an independent professional or manage a good size consulting firm, it's well worth your while to take a few minutes and check out the VAR Partner Network. That will give you an idea of the range of products and services covered and a view of the online customer interface.

Who Says You Can't Sell T1 Lines?

You've built a successful business selling business telephone systems or computer networking services, but you still fall short of offering your customers a comprehensive solution. The one thing missing is the PBX trunk lines or WAN network connections. Wouldn't you like a piece of this business, too?

Of course you would, but isn't that the purview of the phone companies? Yeah, that's what they want you to think. When business owners and consultants see that empty jack marked "T1" they often just call the local telco to provide the connection. They also often wind up paying way too much for their line services and the consultants get nothing or maybe some token referral fee for their trouble.

The reason everyone thinks of calling the local phone company is that as the ILEC, or Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier, they traditionally own the first mile connection. That's the copper twisted pairs that run from a punch block in the telephone closet to the nearest central office location. What's not as well known is that industry deregulation has allowed the growth of competitive carriers for everything from dedicated broadband Internet connections to local and long distance services, frame relay or MPLS networks, Virtual Private Networks, and even carrier Ethernet. In fact, some of the larger competitive carriers can now offer fiber connections from their own offices right to the customer without having to negotiate with the ILECs for first mile connectivity.

Now, here's where you cash in. One of the big reasons that competitive voice and data carriers can offer impressive cost savings is that they don't have the thousands of entrenched local sales offices with huge fixed administrative costs. Instead, most of their accounts are provided by independent master sales agencies such as Telarus, Inc., developer of the VAR Network. The VAR Network is an affiliation of independent marketing agents and business owners, such as yourself, who bring customer needs to them. As a VAR Network Partner, you have the opportunity to earn monthly commissions on those line services you give away to the phone company now.

But, wait a second. Aren't T1 and related line services a specialty unto themselves that requires special expertise and relationships with the carriers? You bet they are. But there's an organization already in place with that expertise and relationships. That's the VAR Network. You only need to be able to relate your client's requirements. The rest is taken care of.

Here's an example of how this works in practice. You've just contracted to design and install a new VoIP system, including running the network wiring and jacks, installing the handsets, and configuring the IP PBX system. You know that your customer needs a dozen outgoing phone lines and maybe 50 DID or Direct Inward Dialing numbers plus Caller ID for all phones. You probably also know that a T1 PRI trunk line is probably the best match for this situation, but there may be other solutions that are also attractive. SIP Trunking is a newer service that may also fit the requirements. You don't need to research that yourself. All you need to do is go into your VAR Network back office and put in a request for quote for a voice line that meets your customer's requirements.

Next, a line services consultant will call you or your customer (your choice) to refine the requirements further and suggest possible options. Detailed price quotes for several competing services will be sent by email. If the customer likes the price and terms, the consultant will send the appropriate carrier paperwork and help you and/or your customer to get it filled out and signed. After a credit check, the lines will be provisioned and turned up. Billing will commence and commissions will be paid. Part of the monthly commission check will be sent to you.

Yes, it's that easy. You've got clients that need line services. Carriers have lots and lots of bandwidth to sell at very attractive prices. You might as well step into the income stream and start collecting those commissions.

And you thought you couldn't sell T1 lines. Or Ethernet WANs or Gigabit Ethernet. Or managed routers. Or any of the many other services that are perfect for your customer's needs. Well now you can. It won't cost you anything to sign up, either. This opportunity doesn't cost, it pays. Learn more and sign-up at VAR Partner site before any more of those lucrative line service opportunities slip through your fingers.

TalkSwitch Supports both VoIP and Legacy PBX

The decision on whether to go with a traditional analog or digital TDM PBX phone system or the newer VoIP telephone system can be a perplexing business decision. Well, why take a big chance when you can hedge your bets with a TalkSwitch system that supports both types of phone technologies?

This is where TalkSwitch is playing the commercial telephone market smart. Take the hybrid TalkSwitch 244vs, for instance. This desktop PBX system supports 2 incoming phone lines, 4 extensions for analog phone sets, and a wealth of user features including voicemail and music on hold. This low cost system also includes support for 10 remote extensions, which are cell phones, home phones and phones on other systems that can be reached by dialing a 3 digital extension. It's like the remote phones are part of the PBX, even though they do not directly plug into the system.

If that sounds like a traditional PBX system, it is. But the TalkSwitch 244vs also supports 4 VoIP trunks and VoIP extension phones. The VoIP features use your company LAN and WAN rather than dedicated telephone wiring. Whether to use analog or IP phone extensions is your choice. It's largely influenced by what you have already in the way of handsets and wiring.

The type of trunk lines to use is also a personal choice. You can simply plug in analog phone lines from your local phone company to the RJ-11 jacks on the back of the PBX console. Or you can use a VoIP provider with the equivalent of 4 lines called "VoIP trunks." Another popular option is to use T1 Integrated service that combines traditional phone lines and broadband Internet service onto a single T1 line.

The target market for TalkSwitch products is small companies or companies spread over multiple locations, perhaps with remote workers. The PBX unit itself can be held in your hand. Multiple units can be networked to a maximum of 16 traditional phone lines, 16 VoIP trunks, and 64 local plus 40 remote extensions.

Remote workers, often operating from their home offices, connect with the main company PBX by using a VoIP Gateway. A typical gateway is the Mediatrix 2102. The teleworker plugs an analog telephone, FAX machine, and computer or wireless router into the Mediatrix. The user's broadband modem plugs into the WAN port of the gateway. This allows the office PBX system to include the remote worker on the phone system via the Internet as if they were located down the hall rather than across town or across the country.

Over 2,000 of Your Competitors Are in This Network

Are you in the business telephone systems or computer networking business? What do you suppose your competitors are doing right now to generate more business? Unbeknownst to you, they're getting free leads from interested business users in their service areas from the VAR Network. While you're waiting for the phone to ring, they're getting email requests to call warm prospects and bid for the jobs. Perhaps that's why their trucks seem to be everywhere on the road while you're wondering how come those expensive ads you placed don't seem to result in inquiries.

Take heart. You can be part of the VAR Network too. It only takes a few minutes to join and you don't have to pony up any cash to get listed. Once your business is listed online, the leads will start rolling in.

Here's the secret of success that many people in the voice and data business don't know yet. Yellow Pages and newspaper ads have their place. So do cold calls, flyers and personal recommendations. That used to be all you need. But in this Internet age, many, many high value customers are savvy enough to be looking around the Web even for local businesses. That's especially true before and after normal business hours when owners have the time to shop for services that they can't quite get around to during the day.

This increasing piece of the business pie is what the VAR Network was designed to capture. It's an automated database system that intelligently assesses the appropriateness of suppliers to the inquiry data provided by prospective buyers. Type of service required, make and model of equipment requested, and geographical location are major factors that determine which dealers are informed about any particular opportunity. The buyer knows that they'll only be contacted by dealers who are ready, willing and able to meet their needs. Sellers know that they'll only be notified of prospects who will be worth their while to pursue. This approach is orders of magnitude more efficient than typical media ads.

So how does a potential buyer find the VAR Network? Mostly through online search engine listings that are specific to what they are looking for, both technically and geographically. Also through online paid ads and offline marking efforts by network agents. The agents are telecom marketing professionals, not competing equipment dealers. Their whole job is getting the opportunity in front of high value prospects needing equipment, installation, and service.

The VAR Network also comes with another strategic advantage. It's owned and operated by Telarus, Inc., a major broker of voice and data telecom line services. If you've ever sold a PBX phone system or Internet router and then told the customer to call the phone company for line service, you've left money on the table. By partnering with agents at the VAR Network, you can offer T1, DS3, PRI, and Integrated voice and data lines to your customers along with equipment and installation for one stop shopping. The VAR Network experts will take care of closing the line sale, including all the contractual paperwork. For a few minutes effort in entering the line service lead into the system, you'll receive a generous monthly commission for the length of the contract. It's like bonus money on every job.

Heard enough to be interested? Remember, there is no up-front cost to be listed or receive leads. You contribute to the VAR network only on sales you are actually paid for. Line sales cost you nothing, you get paid for referring leads that close. Take a couple of minutes and have a look at the VAR Network now. If you like what you see, you can get more information on the business opportunity and enter your application anytime through the VAR Partner site. It's the easiest thing you'll do today to increase your earnings.