VoIP

53 posts

Architectural blueprint for a cafe restaurant, illustrating unified communications virtualization reports

UC Virtualization & Architecture Recommendations

Today, we’d like to spotlight two great reports that may interest our audience. The first report, written by Abner Germanow and Jonathan Edwards at IDC is titled “Virtualizing UC: Reaping the Benefits and Understanding the Issues for Real-Time Communications.” The second report is called “Accelerating UC Deployment with a SIP/XML Architecture” written by Zeus Kerravala, distinguished research fellow at Yankee Group. The reports are sponsored by Avaya and are hosted on Webtorials. The first paper […]

Red corded phone, illustrating VoIP auto attendant for small businesses

VoIP Auto Attendant Streamlines Your Small Biz Communications

With Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) intruding enterprise telecommunications systems, a number of technologies are being introduced to help enterprises manage the VoIP calls. The VoIP auto attendant is one such technology, which helps business offices manage inbound calls and route them to the correct person. A VoIP auto attendant, also known as a virtual receptionist, interacts with the caller to manage calls in a professional manner and enhance the efficiency of customer service. According […]

Man in glasses using smartphone at office desk, illustrating hosted PBX

What is a Hosted PBX?

One of the latest spin offs of business VoIP technology is the Hosted PBX. This technology allows small and medium sized businesses to have a sophisticated telephone system without the investment in telephone equipment. In fact, the entire telephone system is operated and maintained by your voice-over-ip service provider. A hosted PBX lets employees work from their home, a hotel or on their cell phone while still being connected to the same office telephone system. […]

White and blue ocean waves, illustrating business communications moving to the cloud

Business Communications Willl Be The Next Cloud Wave

Cloud computing has quickly established its rightful place in modern IT organisations, helping enterprises become more agile while keeping close watch on costs. As a new mainstream appeal, the new delivery model has proven its stripes with applications like messaging, storage and CRM. Now, technology innovators are applying what they learned. Cloud service delivery has hit critical mass, with the majority of organisations already riding the wave. With that adoption, enterprises have become more comfortable […]

A small storefront with Japanese characters and a bicycle, illustrating cloud computing for small businesses

What Cloud Computing Means For Small Businesses

Cloud computing has been a buzzworthy topic for some time, as more and more enterprises move their computing infrastructure and software to cloud-based solutions. While the cloud continues to be a smart option for them, it’s also arguably even more beneficial for small businesses, whose resources can be miniscule. First of all, what exactly is cloud computing? To take a broad definition, Focus Research describes it as “the ability for organizations to share critical computing […]

A woman sitting at a desk using a cell phone, illustrating hosted PBX for business phone systems

Does a Hosted PBX Make Sense for Your Business Phone System?

Many companies are considering updating or replacing their current telephone systems in order to move to IP telephony or to have access to other modern features, such as UC (unified communications). As is true with other IT-enabled functions, a significant percentage of these companies are exploring or considering remotely hosted alternatives to premises-based PBXes. Several Focus community members have experiences and insights into hosted PBXes that can help decision-makers at these companies to make more […]

A person wearing headphones at a desk with a computer in a home office, illustrating contact centers adopting home working

Contact Centers Embrace the Benefits of Home Working

A recent survey has found that almost two-thirds of UK contact centres have either already adopted, or are looking to implement a remote working strategy. The survey, which questioned 100 UK contact centre managers across both the private and public sector, was conducted last week at Call Centre Expo by Siemens Enterprise Communications. The findings reflect technology industry analyst house IDC’s recent stated view, that the mobile worker population is increasing, with global numbers set […]

People working at desks in open office, illustrating benefits of SIP-enabled VoIP

Benefits of SIP-enabled VoIP

Contact centers that want to easily interoperate with other vendors, partners, and worksites must standardize with Session Initial Protocol (SIP) over their Voice-over-IP (VoIP) communications systems. Once an organization’s VoIP is SIP-enabled, they open themselves up to virtualizing multiple operations, increasing flexibility, reducing costs, and improving overall efficiency across an endless array of communications options. Here’s how organizations are improving customer service with SIP-enabled VoIP communications: Virtualize. An all IP-based solution doesn’t require PBX hardware […]

Black ip desk phone on white table, illustrating SMBs adopting VoIP and IP PBX

SMBs Adopting VoIP And IP PBX Despite Concerns

Small to medium businesses (SMBs) are increasingly turning to VoIP solutions as a way of saving money, according to research from IT analyst firm AMI-Partners. More than 30 percent of small businesses (SBs, 1 – 99 employees) and 50 percent of medium businesses (MBs, 100-999 employees) said that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology would become critical to their business operations. SMB decision-makers said they see benefit from VoIP in improved staff productivity, streamlined dispersed […]

A man holding a smart phone while using a laptop, illustrating businesses adopting hosted PBX

Business Turns to Hosted PBX

Businesses are rapidly switching on to the benefits a hosted private branch exchange (PBX) – or switchboard – environment. That’s according to Graeme Victor, CEO of telecommunications solutions company Du Pont Telecom, who says several organizations have already adopted the new technology that aims to expand voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP). Victor says with the growth and maturation of the data networks and the changes in the interconnect agreements, it is now possible to run a company’s […]