Consolidate Phone, Internet And Save Money

Is your Internet connection costing your business over $100 per month? Is your monthly phone bill over $300? If so, ITS may be able to save your firm money by consolidating phone and Internet service using Voice over IP (VoIP), or VoIP-based communication. In many cases clients will not even need to replace their existing phone system. Since February 2007, ITS has saved over $3,000 using this technology!

Today's providers can use VoIP to provide phone service to a business, piggybacking on the existing Internet connection. Because the same company provides the Internet and phone, they can prioritize voice packets all the way from the customer's office to their data center, so voice quality remains high, and is often guaranteed. This may contrast with add-on VoIP services like Vonage, or instant-messenger voice chat software, which use a consumer's existing home Internet connection that is not under the provider's control. T1 connections also provide better uptime guarantees and faster repair times than DSL connections, which are often officially limited to "best effort" repairs.

Newer, Faster Internet

If your home or office Internet connection is over two years old you may now be able to receive faster speeds, often at less money. Over time Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have expanded and upgraded equipment, resulting in faster speeds to locations previously unable to receive ADSL, and the faster, next-generation ADSL2 for selected areas. In addition to DSL connections, ITS can also help find you lower costs for T1 (currently under $360) and bonded T1 (under $750) Internet connections, with or without voice service. A "bonded" T1 provides twice the bandwidth of a single T1 connection, at 3.0 Mbps.

Increase Productivity With Next Generation Phone Systems

While many VoIP options do not require a new phone system, modern phone systems do offer additional opportunities to a business, by providing increased productivity and improved customer service, via software that runs on each user's PC. Some options are pure VoIP systems, in which the phones on user's desks communicate out to the provider's data center, and there is no actual "phone system equipment" to purchase. Other systems run in the office, and can use either traditional analog or T1 (PRI) phone lines, or VoIP connections. ITS can help clients evaluate which option makes the most sense, and recommend quality providers.

With software running on each PC, users gain functionality such as using the mouse to put calls on hold, view and play voice mails, drag and drop conference calls and transfers, status of coworkers (on the phone, out of the office, on vacation), and the like. Even pure VOIP systems allow easy configuration of greeting messages and call routing options, voice-mail-to-e-mail forwarding, and viewing call history, via a software or web browser interface.

April 2008

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