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Choosing the right telephone system:
Unlike your residential phone, which you can replace with a quick trip to the local discount store, a business telephone system requires more of an investment of time and money. Because good customer relations are the backbone of any organization, the lines of communication in and out of your workplace must meet your needs and the needs of your customers.

Choosing the Right business telephone System Depending on your daily call volume and number of employees, one of the following business telephone systems may suit your needs:

PBX: A very flexible solution for the modern office, the private branch exchange (PBX) connects employees  within an office, allowing them to call desk extensions directly. Additionally, a PBX telephone system allows for a number of outside phone lines, which are then shared by the employees.There are also many other options available on a business telephone system such as voicemail and PC based applications.

VoIP: Using existing data lines for telephone calls, also known as IP telephony, is a concept that's growing in popularity in the workplace. Your employees can plug handsets into a data point that can be used instantly on your existing network. These phones use "voice over Internet protocol (VoIP)," which delivers a clear and clean phone signal. There are many vendors that manufacture VoIP PBX's but my choice is Avaya seeing that Avaya created the VoIP protocol and have very robust systems available.

Key system units: An old, dependable concept that's still alive and kicking, key system units (KSU) are desktop phones controlled by a row of buttons. The employee selects a phone line by pressing a button and places a caller on hold to take another call by depressing another button. Modern KSU have been called a "hybrid" in many trade publications, joining together the best features of the old push-button phones and the more versatile PBX systems.

The Proof is in the Service

Business telephone systems may look different, but they all operate on the same basic principles. The differences are in the features, such as whether you choose to play music for clients on hold or let your employees retrieve their voice mail remotely.

The name on the phone system is only as good as the reputation that goes with it. A business telephone system truly is the umbilical cord keeping your employees connected with customers, so it is vital to work with a manufacturer that produces a good product and stands behind the quality of its work. A trustworthy, reliable dealer also will help you map out a complete business telephone system solution, taking into account your present and future needs.
 
 
 
 

Securing your VOIP PBX

So with any application, a VoIP telephone system needs to be safe, and this article outlines some crucial things you can do to keep your telephone system secure:

1. Install your telephone system behind a firewallThe most fundamental step that you can carry out is to install your telephone system behind a firewall. Open no more than the ports that you need: If you use external extensions and bridges, you can go for to use the 3CX tunnel and just open a single port intended for the tunnel.

2. Ensure resilient extension passwords

Weak extension passwords are exceedingly risky. Do not use the extension number the same as the pin code or password. Ensure that you use tough, random passwords to prevent remote hackers registering with their soft phone to your PBX. As straightforward and obvious as this may perhaps sound, weak extension passwords are the number one source of security breaches.

3 Keep your windows up to date

Windows can without human intervention download vital updates. This means your OS is protected against serious vulnerabilities. Out of the box, and up to date, a Windows Server System is pretty secure.

4 Check your call logs weekly, better on a daily basis

Check your call logs weekly or better day after day. This way you can quickly pick up on mishandling of the telephone system by either hackers or else indeed legitimate users of the telephone system. Use the inbuilt call reports to check calling trends.

5 Use an IP PBX that is security tested

Even if your Operating system is fully safe, and your firewall is accurately configured, you depend on how securely your telephone system has been coded. 3CX is built on .NET (which has many inbuilt security features) and it is methodically tested by outside security consultants.

6. Use a VPN.

If you require to add an extra layer of security, use a VPN. Avaya telephone Systems fully support the use of VPNs - use the free openVPN for Windows and secure bridges and external extensions with no trouble and cheaply.

7. Lock down which IPs otherwise networks can access the telephone system.

A further extra level of protection is to narrow down from which IPs you will allow registrations. This locks out the rest of the internet and provides a first-rate extra level of security. For example, if you have remote workers that always work from a individual location, you can consider purchasing dedicated IPs for these locations so that you can further limit access to the telephone system by IP. This configuration is done at firewall level.

Introduction to VoIP

This article aims to answer the common question of "What is VoIP?" Many people are asking it nowdays as it seems to have come out of nowhere. Read on for this brief VoIP Intro..... Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology and an emerging set of applications which allows you to make phone calls over a Broadband Internet connection. VoIP can be used to call any telephone anywhere in the world. It doesn’t matter if the person you are calling has VoIP or not, as this is all taken care of by your VoIP Service Provider.

VoIP telephone calls can be made either by using a Personal Computer (PC) connected to the internet, or by a standard telephone which will need to be connected to the internet using a special adapter. Also, newer IP/Broadband Telephones are available, which can connect directly to a cable modem or internet router. Over the last few years, VoIP has become increasingly popular and is already starting to replace existing telephone networks, with some people and businesses choosing to cancel their traditional phone line and use VoIP instead. The main reason people and businesses are switching over to VoIP is because of the significant cost savings that can be made over a traditional service provider. Long distance and International calls are much cheaper, and VoIP Service providers do not have the extra burden and costs to maintain the exiting telephone networks, allowing them to provide their services at greatly reduced costs.
 VoIP provides similar features to traditional phone systems, such as voicemail, call forwarding, call waiting, caller ID, call blocking etc. VoIP also offers new features which do not currently exist on traditional phone systems, for example, the ability to have a virtual number – a telephone number from any available area code. This allows you to receive calls from people outside your local calling area with the caller paying only for a local call.

So there you have it, a brief VoIP Intro that answers the "What is VoIP?" question.

 
 
 
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