We’ve been talking about the growth of telecommunications networks for a long time now, and how explosively our technologies are taking over the traditional telecom landscape. But a recent prediction form Strategy Analytics really underscores just how popular our solutions are becoming- and just how quickly they’re supplanting the old guard. The news comes out of a recent statement from Strategy Analytics’ executive director of enterprise research, Andrew Brown, who stated that the switch to a hosted unified communications system makes the most sense in our increasingly collaborative workplaces. Brown stated that collaboration “…frequently involves people from different organizations on mobile and non-mobile devices….” and that these new networks further enable the sorts of device-agnostic and location-independent organizational philosophies being adopted en-masse these days. Yet Brown backed up his statements with more than just forward-thinking platitudes, and brought in some hard data to support his assertions. These telecom networks accrued $7.4 billion in revenue over the last year, providing 12% year-over-year growth. At this rate, Brown argues that adoption of these telecom solutions will reach a tipping point soon, and that within two years these remote solutions will earn more annual income than traditional on-premise solutions.
Hosted PBX
Getting the Most Out of Hosted PBX While Traveling
One of the biggest benefits offered by hosted PBX is the ability to connect to an organization’s network and telephony solutions anywhere in the world, at any time. This is great news for employees who want to telecommute and business owners who want to offer remote work arrangements, but it’s even better news for individuals who want to remain connected while they travel for business purposes. However, if your organization and its employees want to get the most out of hosted PBX when they’re on the road for business-related reasons, you need to make sure they can find suitable Internet connection.
Can Your IT Department Handle the Switch to VoIP on Their Own? (Pt 3)
Employee Training
First of all, you can have your IT employees trained to handle VoIP telephony. While we have a clear bias when it comes to this larger question, we admit that it’s certainly possible to train your IT staff to the point where they become proficient enough with the VoIP and Unified Communications technologies to run your PBX systems effectively and efficiently. Training is always an option, and when it comes to switching to IP telephony it can be a really good option, especially if you have a robust IT department that is already experienced in handling your existing phone system but needs to focus on the particulars of the system you’re considering.
Of course if you follow this course your employees should get training in the specific system you’re going to adopt both: as users and as administrators. This will hold true to any new communications system, bet it a hosted PBX or a premise-based system. In fact, regardless of where that system is located, the concepts and operating principles of any IP PBX are pretty much the same.
However, even with training of your IT staff your business may still require consulting assistance from a VoIP expert at some point during your implementation and perhaps later. For that reason outsourced Unified Communications solutions are gaining popularity.
Can Your IT Department Handle the Switch to VoIP on Their Own? (Pt 1)
One of the benefits of switching to VoIP telephony solution is the organizational flexibility it provides you. Now, “organizational flexibility” can mean a lot of things, especially when it comes to current generation telephony technology. Organization flexibility can refer to the fact VoIP telephony provides you with a considerably easier time changing the size and scope of your organization, increasing its scalability dramatically compared with traditional telephony solutions. Yet it also hints at the fact that VoIP can help you restructure the way your organization works, including what staff you require and what systems can be handled by outside parties. Is your IT staff ready to finally switch to VoIP?
The Problem With the Lowest Possible Cost Mentality
business PBX
Price is a factor in every single business decision you will every make, and that absolutely includes making the switch to IP telephony, upgrading your system, or otherwise spending money on your organization’s communications infrastructure. Now, we are not going to argue price should not be a factor. You have a budget for your unified communications solution and you probably can’t budge too hard on that budget, and that’s to say nothing of the fact the most expensive IP telephony solution probably isn’t going to be right for everyone. That being said, the least expensive IP telephony solution is unlikely to work for anyone.
Is Hybrid PBX System a Good Solution?
Technological adoption doesn’t always progress quite as quickly as it should. Even when there’s a superior solution on the market it’s often up for grabs how long, exactly, it’ll take for users to transition from their old, increasingly inferior technology to more current, superior options. This is as true in the PBX market as it is in any other technology-focused market, and it occurs for pretty much the same reasons.
Are Patent Wars Impacting the IP Telephony Market?
Apple and Samsung have been locked in legal battles for years, largely over patents related to smartphones. To perhaps oversimplify the matter Apple has been arguing that Samsung has wholesale ripped off the iPhone’s design from day one, and Samsung is countersuing on points of design minutiae that the Korean company argues Apple has stolen. While it seems obvious at first that Apple has the upper hand here, that just about every smartphone is guilty of ripping off the iPhone, when it comes down to it patent law is extremely granular and both sides have support and detraction from their legal claims.
IP Telephony Market Flooding and Cutting the Wheat from the Chafe (Pt 3)
Finding companies with the right breadth and depth of experience is an important step in making sure you end up hiring the right hosted PBX provider, and if you choose a company with an impressive and relevant pedigree you’re going to avoid most of the pitfalls the emerging IP telephony market is going to throw your way. But if you want to make sure you end up with a truly great hosted PBX provider then you’re going to need to dig a little deeper and start asking some questions, working out a total evaluation letting you know whether or not they’re the real deal.
How Much Access is Enough Access?
First, you want to make sure they offer the provider can offer you nationwide (and international) access. Even with great hosted PBX providers you might run into a case where they don’t offer coverage for some very remote areas, but overall you want to make sure your new provider is going to offer coverage for major metropolitan areas and anywhere you know your organization is going to need to have phone numbers in.
IP Telephony Market Flooding and Cutting the Wheat from the Chafe (Pt 2)
At a very basic level the age of a hosted PBX provider gives you some sort of hint of their quality. Sure, there are some startups that come out of nowhere and truly revolutionize the field with some radical advance of telephony technology, but most of the months-old companies we’re going to see launch in the world of IP telephony aren’t in the market to innovate- they’re going to launch quick to cash in before quickly burning out, and that’s not the sort of provider you really need on your side keeping your phone lines open. VoIP experience comes with time of doing business and it certainly counts.
IP Telephony Market Flooding and Cutting the Wheat from the Chafe (Pt 1)
We’ve said it before, but it needs to be emphasized- the hosted PBX provider you sign up with will determine how positively you view the technology and your switch to IP telephony. Being picky about who you choose to work with is increasingly important as the hosted PBX market grows. Not only will more organizations find themselves joining the IP telephony movement over the next couple of years, but we’re also going to see a whole lot of new hosted PBX providers jumping into the market in order to meet this demand and, unfortunately, to try and make some quick cash on what’s shaping up to be a truly hot commodity.