The Beneifts of a Modern Phone System

2007-10-17T11:31:00.000-04:00

How do you answer your calls right now? If you’re like a lot of small businesses, you and your staff must be multi-tasking, answering the phone while trying to get the real work done. You might be using telephone company voicemail and other services, or even an answering machine; you might have multi-line telephone sets. And let’s face it, it’s anything but perfect. Answering calls takes up your time, and you still miss some, which often mean lost revenues or opportunities.

That is why you need a modern phone system. Phone system? But that’s for big companies, right? They’re complicated, cumbersome and extremely expensive. Not anymore!

Now it is possible to find a phone system offering the features you need at a price you could afford. Some phone systems are designed specially for small business. It’s easy to use, install and customize. Here are the key features that such phone system could benefit you and your business:

ESI Phone Systems are compact, user-friendly, all-in-one system. It often comes with auto attendants, voicemail, remote extensions and rich call management features. And you can add additional modules or add-ons for more functions if you prefer.

Flexible and expandable. Modern phone system can expand to fit a wide variety of business environments, from one-person consultancies to bigger offices with dozens phone users. It even supports multi-location businesses and Voice over IP calling. You grow when you want, adding extra capacity when you need it.

Easy to install and manage. Even for more robust, full-featured communication system, you don’t have to become a network guru or telephone mystics to get it installed. And the user-friendly PC configuration software puts you in control, making adding and removing employees or changing your call management settings a snap.

Even if you are an independent contractor or run a home office, you can also benefit from advanced phone systems. A good business phone system can let you schedule auto-attendant features in case you're away, forward your calls to your mobile phone, and route incoming fax transmissions. Provide 24/7 availability for those who frequently leave the home office on sales or service calls.

Your business is never too small for a phone system and adding one can help you achieve your full potential as a big business. We make it easy to do business with us. Lane Communications & Network Services, Inc ( www.centralfloridaphones.com) has a very simple proposition: give businesses robust, full-featured communications, but don’t require them to become network gurus and telephone mystics to get it done. For administrators and users alike, the phone system should be almost invisible -- a no-worry, no-hassle conduit for the critical information flow of business.

Give us a call in Ocala or Gainesville Florida at 352-624-3548 and discover how Lane Communications can help you today and in the future. Lane Communications is a leader in the Ocala, Gainesville and Central FLorida area with robust phone systems from ESI and Avaya. We also install and support Acess Control Systems , Video Surveillance Systems and Computer Network Cabling. We offer "Service in Hours, Not Days".

VoiP is not exactly IP Telephony.

2007-10-16T14:02:00.000-04:00

In continuing education about VoiP technology, I feel that it is important to clarify some details about the different ways IP packet effects communications for business today.
When I get asked questions about VoiP I always here a bit of confusion regarding what VoiP is and how you save on long distance and how it will do everything including vacuum your floor. and washing the dishes!

But let's get into some brass tacks about it. In my mind, Voice over IP does not carry the same meaning as IP Phones or IP Telephony. To me, the Voice over IP is "just" (meaning only) the simple act of moving your voice through a data network (which is all IP address based). The big phone companies have been doing this for years as it costs less to move data across the internet than across their own cumbersome phone switching networks (which are really relics if you ask me, but they are slowly moving over to all data.)

Now, IP Telephony is different. To me, IP Telephony is the act of utilizing a special telephone to send and receive data INCLUDING but not limited to Voice "data".

So VoiP is the Voice of an IP data network and IP Telephony is the nature of data and a phone system mixed all together.

A traditional office phone system is sort of limited when compared to IP Telephony. Traditional key systems use their own signaling to send your voice back and forth from the phones to the phone system and have no infrastructure for sending anything OTHER than your voice.

Further, traditional key systems have no provisions for sending a signal to a phone that is not located within enough distance of a phone cable. IP Telephony begins to open some doors and expand the capability of a business phone system. With IP Telephony, the phones are very different. They have an Ethernet port on the back of them AND they use the same network that your computer does. Think of it like this. Instead of plugging your phone into a phone jack you instead plug that phone into your cable modem (just like your computer) That IP telephone uses the exact same network that your computer and cable and dsl and all that stuff run on.
The first important thing to realize is that today's networks are 10 /100 / Megabit fast! They can carry a heck of a lot more information a heck of a lot faster than any phone cable and phone system could any day.

Today its not uncommon for use busy little Americans to have a computer at home so we can KEEP working even when are not supposed to. We even have devices that seamlessly integrate that computer with your office network so you can get to your files.

I'm sure you can already see the ease in concept of extending IP Phones as well, I don't feel I need to say anything further... EXCEPT for the idea of having a soft phone on your laptop :)

A soft phone being a piece of software on your laptop that looks like phone. Travel, plug into your hotel's ethernet port, put on a headset and like the Jetsons you are directly connected to home base.

NOW, these are only a couple of the benefits of IP Telephony. Yes there are some downsides and YES it is way more complicated that I make it sound.

Of course there is also a Hybrid Phone Systems that uses IP technology and Digtal Phone Technology - This is truly the best of both worlds at Lane Communications we Sell, Service and Support the ESI Business Phone System in Ocala, Gainesville and Central Florida. ESI Phone Systems offer a great value, easy to adminster and they will create a more productive and efficient work enviroment.

If you would like more information on Business Telephone Systems, Access Control, Audio and Video Surviellance and Computer Network Cabling please give us a call at 354-624-3548 or visit us on the web at www.CentralFLoridaPhones.com

Business Phone Systems Ocala

The Beneifts of a Modern Phone System

VoiP is not exactly IP Telephony.