Ten main reasons why cloud technology is taking center stage in call centers: Flexibility of OPEX over CAPEX. The shift from upfront capital costs to ongoing pay-as-you-go operational costs means that cloud-based solutions offer contact center managers a way to deploy new technology and scale up or down in a cost-effective way. For outsourcers and telemarketers who may have call volumes that vary dramatically depending on campaign levels, solutions with a flexible pay per usage […]
VoIP
Forecasts from the global analyst firm Ovum reveal that OTT VoIP will cost the global telecoms industry $479bn in lost cumulative revenues by 2020, which represents 6.9% of cumulative total voice revenues. However, new research Future of Voice provides some reassurance to operators that are fearful of the demise of traditional telephony. It suggests that although revenues continue to fall, voice traffic is simply shifting rather than collapsing. Carefully targeted price increases are expected to […]
An interesting infographic forecasting the change in the revenues and growth of cellular, land line and VoIP services through 2015. Source
Building an effective communication strategy through the use of appropriate technology is a key to any successful enterprise, especially in today’s times. Communication technology has undergone a sea-change from just voice-based communication through telephone to the use of collaborative tools in communication, such as email, voicemail, instant messaging, video conferencing, smartphones and the like. In the past four to five years, Unified Communication (UC) has become the next-gen communication methodology of choice for effective corporate […]
VoIP-over-VPN technology protects the privacy of corporate voice communications in industrial networks, while delivering the cost-saving and technology benefits of Voice-over-IP. By reducing or eliminating phone charges, consolidating infrastructure, and streamlining network operations and maintenance, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) offers tremendous cost-savings for oil and gas companies and other industrial sectors. As with any new technology, however, there can be a down-side. Most VoIP gateways compromise communication security by transporting VoIP and data traffic […]
Using the OSI network layer model as a basis, here’s how to derive a simplified three-layer model for SIP-based VoIP and corresponding threats and defenses. The resurgence of interest in VoIP to provide telephone services worldwide is often credited to the use of session initiation protocol (SIP) for signaling. Both residential and enterprise VoIP services are widely deployed. IP telephony may be used either to replace the primary telephone service or to provide additional telephone […]
IP telephony encompasses a set of technologies enabling voice, data and video over existing IP-based LANS, WANs and the internet. Using voice over IP (VoIP) as the enabling technology to transport phone calls allows firms to eliminate legacy circuit-switched (TDM) systems and lower equipment costs by converging applications onto a single infrastructure, while browser-based interfaces can simplify system management. Software upgrades are also much easier to implement, as are adds, moves and changes (AMCs). At […]
If your organization doesn’t actively manage E911 location information you are increasing the odds that an emergency responder may not be able to find a 911 caller in need quickly enough to help. It’s that simple. What should be a no-brainer component of an enterprise workplace safety plan is too often overlooked or, worse, consciously passed over. This isn’t a technology problem; a wide range of hardware, software and cloud-based E911 solutions exist to address […]
Historically, business telecommunications has been a highly exclusive club of well-financed service providers who have been highly dependent upon business models that are pegged to over-subscription, product bundling and oligopolistic market control. Telecommunications infrastructure has been a world of very expensive, highly proprietary equipment and telecom applications such as voicemail, conferencing, three-way calling and caller ID have been developed exclusively within the doors of the large service providers who intended to put them in the […]
Botnets and their masters can communicate with each other by calling into the same VoIP conference call and swapping data using touch tones, researchers demonstrated at Defcon. This gives the botmasters, whose top goals include remaining anonymous, the ability to issue orders from random payphones and disposable wireless handsets, said researchers Itzik Kotler and Iftach Ian Amit of security and risk assessment firm Security Art. Using phones and the public phone networks eliminates one of […]
Businesses can finally replace their old phone systems and get a far more flexible phone solution for a fraction of the cost. But it’s not just replacing one phone system for another. With Hosted voice, you get the benefits of a fully managed phone system, which means you’ll need fewer resident experts to handle things. What’s more, Hosted voice expands communications and productivity by providing a range of advanced features and functionality. And it does […]
Channelling voice calls over IP networks has brought many advantages to enterprise communications, but it also creates some security risks. Though Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services are available for both consumer and business markets, it is from the latter that most enthusiasm for it has come; for this reason, it is also where most of VoIP’s security issues occur. While the commercial sector has, of course, invested heavily in protecting their data networks from […]
Unified communications is entering its own hype cycle, like that of cloud computing, virtualization, and color TV before it, as vendors tout their “me-too” solutions in a familiar history repeating itself pattern. UC brings together such capabilities as voice, videoconferencing, instant messaging, email, document sharing, and more into one user interface so employees of one company, their partners, and even customers can collaborate with each other across the corporate campus or across oceans. A recently […]
Rather than working with applications installed on servers at various office and site locations, the new cloud computing model promises to allow oil and gas companies to centralize increasing numbers of applications within the cloud, drawing on them as required and even paying for them as they are used. This new model is set to reduce costs drastically and improve the flexibility of moving to new software models. Today, CIOs want to benefit from these […]
Back in 1995, the first Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls were made between two PCs. At first, it was just a technological novelty but by 1998, VoIP had begun to establish itself as a means of providing low-cost long distance calls, carrying an estimated 1% of US phone traffic. Jump forward ten years to 2008 and VoIP has revolutionised the way that residential and business communications are delivered. According to Infonetics, around 30% of […]
Phreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a subculture of people who study, experiment with, or explore telecommunication systems, such as equipment and systems connected to public telephone networks. As telephone networks have become computerised or based on VoIP, phreaking has become closely linked with computer hacking. But is VoIP hacking about to hurt businesses? Apr 11, Western Australia Police warned the state’s businesses to change passwords and cap international calls […]
Voice over Internet protocol essentially describes audio communication carried through Internet-based networks – basically, phone calls made over the Web, rather than through traditional phone lines. The term is also sometimes used to describe video-based communication carried over the Web from mobile devices, but is usually reserved for Web-based phone calls. For years, VoIP never really caught on in the consumer market, and even less in the business world. Because the service is dependent on […]
Securing Voice over IP (VoIP) doesn’t have to be a challenge for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). VoIP is basically a phone call over the Internet. It offers the same promises – and pitfalls – as the Internet. The promises are cheap and easy communication over a readily available and easy-to-use public network – the Internet. The pitfalls are the same security weaknesses of that network, which wasn’t originally designed for security – or phone […]
Businesses that implement VoIP (voice over IP) telephony systems on their local or wide area networks must ensure that they have effective protection against the growing incidence of VoIP hacking. That’s according to Graeme Victor, CEO of telecommunications solutions company Du Pont Telecom who says a small Johannesburg company was left with a telephone bill of more than R100 000 recently after criminals hacked into its VoIP telephony system over a weekend. VoIP is steadily […]
Here are the results from a recent Virtual PBX survey that asked more than 600 SMBs about virtual office use — along with the perceived effectiveness, costs, and technology needed to support a virtual business. The most popular drivers for using a virtual office included: employees’ flexibility (61%), business cost savings (54%), geographic distance of staff (42%) and the desire to reduce commute time, cost and pollution (41%). More 60% of respondents work from a […]
If you’ve heard people talk about VoIP (Voice over IP) but you are not entirely clear what it is, or you’ve heard people say you can save money with VoIP but you are a little suspicious, this is the guide for you. Read on for a simple, quick explanation of what VoIP is and how a VoIP phone system can help you save money. So here’s the basic idea: You are a small business and […]
For anyone who has an internet connection, paying attention to your network security should be one of the most important things you can do. With a well maintained and managed network, you won’t need to worry about viruses or compromising sensitive data and access. Here are some simple steps you can take to make sure that you are protected: 1. Install and use a credible Anti-spyware, Anti-virus software package Spyware can present a major problem, […]
The telephone switchboard and landline desk phone may not be dead, but they are becoming relics of the past along with office ashtrays and typewriters. Businesses are increasingly turning away from PBX (private branch exchange) phone systems and toward VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephony, which enables conversations to travel as data across the Internet. By 2013 more than 80 percent of businesses will use VoIP, according to research by In-Stat. Is VoIP Right for […]
Small businesses looking to ditch old PBX landline phones can save big and increase staff productivity by migrating to Internet-based phone systems. The telephone switchboard and landline desk phone may not be dead, but they are becoming relics of the past along with office ashtrays and typewriters. Businesses are increasingly turning away from PBX (private branch exchange) phone systems and toward VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephony, which enables conversations to travel as data across […]
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are beginning to use hosted Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions as an inexpensive substitute to in-house applications, a technical services provider believes. This is because hosted VoIP solutions remove hardware and in-house maintenance costs, a representative from PlanetMagpie has said. As a result, businesses are able to instead spend their money on other areas of their operations, which could be particularly important in the current economic climate. VoIP can enable […]
The SMB market for VoIP services is about to explode and service providers unprepared to meet that demand risk losing a hefty chunk of that key customer base, a new survey commissioned by Metaswitch Networks reports. The 2011 version of a regular survey of U.S. SMBs conducted by market research firm Inzenka showed that 27 percent of the 700 companies surveyed are already using VoIP and another 50 percent are planning to deploy it in […]
By using VoIP (voice over Internet protocol), companies immediately save money on toll charges. Also, you don’t pay any additional per-line feature charges because VoIP runs on your computer network. Regulatory fees, surcharges, and taxes are applied on a per-line basis. As you reduce the number of lines, the line-cost and recurring charges go with them. Reducing or eliminating phone lines If you can eliminate one or more of the lines that you lease from […]
Hosted voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services can level the playing field for small and mid-sized businesses, making enterprise-grade communications available for a monthly subscription fee. At the same time, the flexibility of hosted business telephony offers unparalleled value for larger players as well. Here’s a look at ten reasons hosted VoIP services could be the right choice for your business: 1. Lower upfront cost: VoIP services maintain a system infrastructure on behalf of the […]
A key U.S. Senate committee approved legislation that would authorize state governments to impose hefty taxes on Internet phone services. The Senate Committee on Commerce on Thursday rewrote a bill that originally was intended to shield the fledging voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) industry from state regulation. Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., had intended his legislation to reserve that authority to the Federal Communications Commission. His bill initially said that no state or local government “may […]