A lot of us know that VoIP services come with a lot of advantages. You can pay low overhead for a variety of phone options – and a lot of extra phone time. But there’s something else that these service providers can give you that many of us forget about: they can let you Bring Your Own Device (BYOD).

What exactly is BYOD? Quite simply, it’s when you can use an already-existing device on your VoIP and SIP service, often resulting in a quick setup and a virtually nonexistent phone system transition period. Needless to say, this type of offering has a lot of advantages, for businesses as well as individuals.

Advantage #1: Quick Turnaround

We live in the Internet age, so it can be frustrating when you sign up for a VoIP service and realize that you have to wait 5-7 days for your new device to show up in the mail. This shouldn’t be happening if you already have devices capable of SIP. Instead, you should simply be able to contact your new VoIP service (provided they offer BYOD) and let them know what kind of device you need setup.

This quick turnaround – allowing for an easy transition between providers – will mean that your company won’t miss a step during the changes. This is important for an individual, let alone a business full of employees, many of which could not function without access to a reliable phone.

Advantage #2: Low Price

Of course, just about everyone who uses a VoIP provider will notice that the price of their phone system is entirely reasonable. Some people have a word for this: low! Indeed, BYOD service providers will also ensure that if you use your own device, you’ll find similar savings as people who are switching to VoIP for the first time. These low prices add up to a low overhead at your company – and reduced expenses if you’re simply using BYOD service for your personal use.

Advantage #3: Convenience

Ordering a new phone (and paying a lot of money for it) just so you can run a VoIP service in your office or home can be a hassle. We live in the Internet age, and people shouldn’t have to wait very long for a new service. That’s why it’s important for people to recognize the value of convenience – which is always there if your offering includes BYOD.

Related Articles:

• What is “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) VoIP?
• How is BYOD VoIP Service Used?

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

In Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) VoIP service, you’re allowed to use a previously existing SIP phone system as the hardware through which you run your new VoIP provider.

This process can save you a lot of time, a lot of hassle, and certainly a lot of money – which is what makes it attractive to both businesses and individuals alike.

But too many people stop at this definition and never act on it, acquiring their own BYOD VoIP service.

Why is that?

We simply believe that it’s because too few people even know how to use BYOD. That’s why we’ll provide the solution for that problem in just a few quick steps.

Acquiring a VoIP Service

The first step to ensuring you can even Bring Your Own Device is to ensure that you have something to bring your device to. It’s not a trivial matter. Signing up for a VoIP service can give your company a toll free number, phone forwarding, a menu of options, and unlimited minutes for just a little bit of money per month. Services like CallCentric and VoIP.com are eager to make you their customer for just that.

Signing up with one of these services often requires that you buy some of their SIP-enabled devices. But if you already have devices of your own, you’re ready to move to the next step. (Keep in mind that in this step, you’ll want to ensure you use a VoIP service that offers a BYOD service).

Bringing Your Own Device

Once you have both a VoIP provider willing to setup your BYOD device for usage and you’re sure you have an SIP-enabled device capable of handling the work, you’ll be able to actually “Bring Your Own Device” and get started very quickly. This is a handy way to start out with your VoIP service as you can start making calls in a matter of minutes and not wait 5-7 business days for your new hardware to arrive in the mail.

Of course, a number of devices can qualify for these offerings, so it will be important that you know both which devices are accepted and which ones you have on your hands. It also helps to be aware of softphones, which can help you use a VoIP service while you’re waiting for a hardware device to be either set up or mailed to you.

Once you’ve completed this process, you can make phone calls just as you would at any other time – except you’ll be paying a lot less for them.

Related Articles

• What is “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) VoIP?
• List of BYOD VoIP Service Providers

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

That’s not how it works in VoIP. Bring Your Own Device VoIP often helps the person bringing the device by saving them money on hardware they don’t have to buy from their new VoIP provider. Are we getting ahead of you yet?

If so, keep on reading and you’ll know exactly how a Bring Your Own Device program can save you and your company a nice chunk of change.

What Does it Mean?

Let’s say you’re about to sign up to a VoIP plan for your business and you’re excited about how easy it will make your phone systems. That’s great – but you realize that something’s missing: the actual phone hardware from which you plan on making your company calls.

Many VoIP providers are aware of this problem and will eagerly sell you some great phone hardware that’s compatible with VoIP systems. But many VoIP providers will let you use whatever SIP-ready device you have for their services. You are, essentially, bringing your own device, making the acronym BYOD more than adequate to explain the terminology.

Who Offers BYOD VoIP?

A vast majority of honest, top-tier VoIP providers should have a BYOD program that you can

 use, sometimes at very little cost to have set up. Services like CallCentric, Skype, and VoIP.com are all BYOD-enabled, allowing you to use the hardware you already have on hand to handle your voice and communication issues at your company.

To say that this allows you to reduce a lot of overhead is an understatement. Essentially, BYOD VoIP means that you can have cheap-to-setup, low-monthly phone services that still make your company a professional one…but without the professional prices. In this economy, it doesn’t get much better than that.

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

In earlier posts we looked at several ways for you to use SIP with your device of choice inlcuding SIP softphones, SIP for Apple, and SIP for Android.

Wrapping up this series we can’t leave out the “As Seen on TV” juggernaut, magicJack.

A lot of you have heard of magicJack, a phone system that promises free local and long-distance calling in addition to free call waiting, free voicemail, free caller ID – basically, the whole works.

It sounds like a great offer, and certainly the type of offer a startup business would like to use to reduce overhead as much as possible.

But we live in a digital age, and the Internet makes phone calling via computer a top-flight convenience for businesses of any type. It’s hard to weigh which phone system to use.

The good news is that magicJack uses Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which means you can use the Magic Jack service with a standard VoIP product. Given how cheap Magic Jack is to use – and how easy it is to use SIP and VoIP technology in today’s world – there should be no excuse for any startup to spend a lot of money on expensive phone systems.

Using magicJack SIP

For the same reason a lot of people use magicJack, they turn to other SIP solutions. Chances are they want to make unlimited calls anywhere in the country and not have to worry about exorbitant fees and charges that show up unexpectedly in their business’s expense account every month.

But the appeal of using the magicJack SIP system is that it combines much of the best of both worlds: the cheap, affordable service of magicJack with a simple, easy-to-use interface of SIP.

But how do you use it?

A simple online search will yield you plenty of results – some of which violate the terms of the magicJack TOS and some of which do not. We can only recommend that you use the ones that do not, and for further information on that front you’ll need to consult your magicJack TOS.

Using SIP for Your Business

We should warn you that magicJack, when compared to the power of SIP in a VoIP service, really isn’t all that different from what you can already do for your business. SIP for your company can include softphone technology that allows people to avoid the expenses of hardware altogether – this can be everyone from the CEO to the secretary.

These setups are easy to use and don’t require that you break any company’s terms of service. That’s an easy solution for your company’s overhead no matter how many employees you have.

Related Articles

• How to Obtain magicJack SIP Credentials
• VoIP POTS Emulation on FXO with magicJack
• More on magicJack
• magicJack Plus Review

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

Click here to read the full article, Hosted, Cloud Based VoIP Service Made Easy by VoIP Supply.

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

But there are ways to stay lean in these cases, and one of those solutions for cutting office expenses is to use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) systems for your phones. Not only will this technology often be cheaper than traditional phones, but it will be easier and more flexible to manage.

If you’re already sold on the idea of VoIP, however, one question remains. What are the best VoIP phone systems for accomplishing just that?

Let’s take a look at a few.

Best Phone Systems for Startups

• Nextiva

Starting at just around $21 per month, Nextiva is built for businesses and not just for residents, making it an ideal choice for any start-up. But there are plenty of those around, so let’s ask a deeper question: why is Nextiva so ideal compared to other providers?Well, with Nextiva you’ll get plenty of the usual features such as an auto-attendant, a toll-free number, and on-hold music. Essentially, you’ll sound like a Fortune 500 company in a jiff.

• RingCentral

RingCentral has similar pricing (about $25 per month) as Nextiva, and though the price is a little higher, the benefits and features are just as nice to have at a startup.You’ll also like the unlimited long-distance minutes you get through RingCentral, which is important for a startup that uses technology to talk to clients in every location.

• Aptela

With a price in the area of RingCentral’s and a test drive feature that allows your company to temporarily have free VoIP service, Aptela is another provider worth checking out if you’re a start-up.Lots of features, like integrating remote workers, are available for instant usage and you’ll also find a handy web interface with which you can manage it all.

More Than Just Price 

Do you have to listen to us and choose one of the VoIP service providers above? Of course not. There are plenty of high-quality VoIP providers out there; but what we ask is that you take a little time to discern which is best for you.

Don’t only weigh price, but features: you may find that paying a couple of dollars for a few extra features really helps your start-up in the long run.

Stay tuned for a follow up post that will outline the best IP phones for startups to use with hosted VoIP systems.

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

How It Works

1.  Sign up for the service.

2.  Add only the contacts that you approve.

3.  Install the software.

Thats it.  Your kids stay safe by only being allowed to call the people on your approved list. 

This is great for households that don’t have a landline, rely on cell phones, and aren’t ready to hand over a phone to their young ones.

You have to purchase credits to make calls on the service and as of right now, $5 gets you 100 credits at 1 minute of calling per credit.

Via Lifehacker

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

Take advantage of these two bastions of frugality by reading the highly informative series on how to use Google Voice by David Gewirtz at his ZDNet Government Blog.

Challenges of Cheap

In the Gewirtz installment, Google Voice: a cheapskate’s guide to cheap VoIP, it’s assumed you’ve said goodbye to a land line, are relying on a cell phone, and would like to continue using your old comfortably familiar land line handset.

Gewirtz first compares the OBi VoIP adapter versus Ooma proprietary technology and then how to bridge your Google Voice account with an OBiTALK account if you run with the OBi adapter.

Use Your Existing VoIP Adapters Too

I’d like to add that if you already have an existing VoIP adapter like the Linksys PAP2T or Linksys SPA2102 these can be used with Google Voice too by combining it with sipgate VoIP service that gives you a free phone number for one user.

Note:  As of April 3, 2011 Gizmo5 no longer works with Google Voice – the service has been discontinued.

Help on using Linksys VoIP adapters with sipgate can be found here, here, and here.

Google Voice Series

For lots more information, The Definitive Google Voice How-To Series currently includes:

• Google Voice: a step-by-step primer on ditching your land line while keeping your number
• Google Voice: the ultimate iPhone how-to
• Google Voice: beyond Gmail. Get voicemail and texts using any client you want
• Google Voice: how to consolidate your virtual phone numbers
• Google Voice: a cheapskate’s guide to cheap VOIP (this article)
• Configuring a complex home office (coming soon)

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

Ars Technica explains their use of OnSIP plus Polycom IP phones with such exceptional conference call clarity they joke about “holding staff calls just to enjoy the experience.”  And when it comes to finding a a VoIP service provider, you’re in luck, there’s too many to choose from however:

The bad news is that finding a decent VoIP service for your startup or business is a lot like buying a new cellphone. There are lots of options to choose from, and with a myriad of add-ons and pricing plans, it can be difficult to tell them apart.

It’s Your Call

In this nicely detailed insight, Ask Ars provides a starting point and a few service comparisons to consider:

• A PBX Primer:  In traditional offices a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) handles all incoming, outgoting, and internal calls.   Routing VoIP calls through the internet allows any employee with an online connection to become part of your internal, virtual PBX network.
• OnSIP:  This popular service offers both virtual PBX and VoIP functionality with (3) pricing tiers for SoHo, Small Business, and Medium Business.
• Aptela and 8×8:  Similar to OnSIP but different, these two calling packages are outlined.
• Phonebooth:  A newer VoIP service from Bandwidth.com, this flat-rate montly fee service is examined.

Via Ars Technica

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!

Part I was a look at reasons users might take a step back from the growing VoIP usage and return to a traditional, analog phone system.

Admittedly, VoIP isn’t for everyone which is why there are still other options but after having read Renai LeMay’s story, “Why I’m Ditching VoIP for the PSTN,” I wanted to know if this sort of technological backtracking was a trend or an isolated occurrence.

To get a sense of whether or not VoIP service represents a burger grilled to perfection for some or is still undercooked for others (Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!), I sought the opinions of actual VoIP users.

Didn’t Like it and Switched Back?

As I inquired about peoples experiences I looked for end users who switched to a VoIP phone service and then switched back to a traditional phone service because of issues with reliability, call quality, or problems with the hardware or software. 

At the very least I was interested in what people thought were the pros and cons of both services.  Here’s what they had to say.

VoIP Behind the Scenes

Eric Loyd is President and CTO of Bitnetix Incorporated a small technology consulting company just down the thruway from us in Rochester, NY that specializes in business phone systems, including VoIP.  He explained to me that:

Most people don’t realize that VoIP is used behind the scenes in almost every phone call. You no longer have copper wires connecting the world – they connect end points to switches, which tunnel across MPLS and ATM networks to put your phone traffic into an internet-like cloud (and sometime, the internet itself). It’s just done at a level that’s a few layers above the end user, so you never know it’s there. 

In addition to VoIP’s participation behind the scenes unbeknownst to the average consumer, Loyd adds that Bitnetix Inc. helps “convert companies to VOIP all the time and have yet to have one go back to copper.”

Never Looking Back

In that vein of Bitnetix’s satisfied customers, Mike Arman who’s operating two small business out of Florida and author of “Talk For Cheap!,” adds that he is “never ever, ever, going back” to AT&T’s copper lines after switching to VoIP service.

Arman reports that he’s enjoying  a threefold decrease in his telecommunication costs with VoIP.  A $350/month bill for three phone lines, fax, and email is now down to $105/month with “more features, better service, better customer care.”

Regarding questionable VoIP call quality and reliability Arman adds an interesting point that “Cell phones have lowered quality expectations in telecomm services.” 

Arman admits that copper lines offer the best call quality but the prevalence and acceptance of cell phone call quality, to him, means that “an occasional dropout or cutoff on a VOIP line is not considered worrisome or exceptional.”

Never Looking Back Part II

Yes, “Never Looking Back Part II.”  If you’re thinking that I’m really laying it on thick in support of VoIP well, you’re right!  No, no, not entirely.  There’s more to this exploration than that. 

Klaus Sonnenleiter with PrintedArt, an eCommerce site for selling photography printed on unique display formats, uses VoIP at his business and says he wouldn’t switch back but, for the record he notes a few disclaimers:

We are using VoIP only at PrintedArt and I would never switch back. However, I do have enough nightmare stories to contribute between incompatible hardware, software being hard to configure (we are using Asterisk with Trixbox now and it works well, before we had other Asterisk frontends that were far harder to navigate), and particularly providers coming up with new things to watch out for all the time, it’s certainly a challenge to keep a VoIP service up and running. On balance, however, it is far better than an old style POTS phone, especially when it comes to audio quality and cost.

See, that’s fair, right?  PrintedArt likes VoIP but they had some problems in the past.  Not uncommon.

Unreliable Faxing

VoIP Insider has broached the topic of VoIP faxing before with “Introduction to Fax over IP with FaxxBochs” and “Faxing is Alive and Well.”  The consensus?  It’s not always easy but it’s not impossible either. 

Yuriy Krivenko at Seasonal Staffing Solutions shares his company’s experience when they switched to VoIP in 2008 to save on costs:

The prices seemed so attractive. But, we later found out that we could not rely on the service to send or receive faxes. This was a disaster, and we had to get back to traditional service. 

There are certainly fax over IP myths  to combat but sometimes connection issues are too frustrating for users to deal with.

‘A’ for Effort

Lastly, I was told several stories that VoIP was a great idea but lacking in practical application.  Here’s a couple stories that give VoIP an ‘A’ for effort.

Michael Zipursky of Business Consulting Buzz, a leading blog for consultants, expressed his initial attraction to VoIP that many people have — Price and features.  Zipursky notes that he soon noticed “that the call quality wasnt as good as a standard landline,” changing service was a hassle, and he moved back to a landline. Recently he’s been using VoIP from through his internet cable connection and that lately it’s “been working very well for one of our offices.”

Sandra Holtzman, President of Holtzman Communications, a marketing and advertising company, has similar sentiments as she “loved the concept of VOIP but it didn’t work for [her] in practice.”

Holtzman was attracted to VoIP for lower prices and better service than she’d been getting from Verizon.  But with Vonage, dropped calls at highly inopportune times (calls with clients) became too much to bear along with increasing static on the line.  “Enough already. I went back to the devil I know, ” states Holtzman about her return to a Verizon landline.  Her VoIP experience was entirely bad but she’s still looking ahead to the future beyond VoIP:

The one great thing about Vonage, aside from pricing, better customer service and tech support than Verizon, was that I would get emails on my Blackberry telling me I had a message and who the caller was. This was great when I was out and about since I never had to call in for messages.

I understand that there’s a new technology afoot designed to replace VOIP. I can’t wait!!!

VoIP Scorecard

VoIP versus Landline  – Is there a clear cut winner?  

This small sample size represents the most commonly shared opinions of, and experiences with VoIP.   In other words, it’s still a mixed bag.

VoIP technology is still emerging to an extent and continually being perfected.  It’s not only the future of telecommunications but as Loyd pointed out it’s already being “used behind the scenes in almost every phone call.”

VoIP’s been around a for a little while, it’s still growing, and you’ve already been using it whether you wanted to or not.  It may not be the technology of choice for everyone today but it will be tomorrow.

Are you ready?

This information was originally posted on the VoIP Insider blog.

Need VoIP Phones or a VoIP Phone System? Checkout VoIPSupply.com!