Monthly Archives: May 2012

Cisco Callway – So Easy Even a Caveman Can Do it.. Part 2 in the series
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Part 2 – Installing and using Callway with Video Hardware

Note: This is the second installment in a two part series. Click here for Part I.Cisco_Callway

If you read Part I you understand what Cisco Callway is and why it is a great investment choice over installing your own on-premise video infrastructure so, now let me tell you how easy it is to install and use.

As a product manager, I write the product descriptions on VoIP Supply.com. I read datasheets, watch tutorial videos, and find images. I sometimes help sales on compatibility of the products I manage.  What I don’t do is set up phones or install PBX’s. I can tell you every speed and feed in our catalog but I don’t deploy …

Cisco Callway Part 1 – What is Callway
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Cisco Callway – So Easy Even a Caveman Can Do it..

A 2 part series

 

As the Product Manager for Cisco at VoIP Supply I was recently challenged with getting VoIP Supply Cisco Small Business Telepresence Certified.  Of course I passed all of the exams with flying colors (Yay! We are Certified!) but as many people in the IT industry know passing a test and being able to use that knowledge are two very different things. So I set out to install and use Cisco Callway myself to determine if it is really user friendly and a viable alternative to premise-based video conferencing solutions.

Part 1 – What is Callway?Cisco_Callway

Part of the Cisco SB Telepresence offering is a hosted video solution called Callway. …

Patton Interview Explains Why Gateways are "Set It and Forget It"
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The timing was perfect when Patton dropped by the VoIP Supply office last week for a visit.Tyler Delin_Prod Mgr_Patton

A webinar is airing on Tuesday, May 22nd that explains the symbiotic relationship between Patton gateways and 3CX VoIP phone systems.  Or, rather, how to get started with a VoIP.

So with the event right around the corner, it was a great chance to bluntly ask Tyler Delin, Patton’s Product Manager, “Why should customers choose Patton?”   And instead of a canned response that their stuff “just works” (Well, he did say that but, more eloquently and with a deeper explanation), Delin told me more about the company than I thought I wanted to know.

The wealth of information he provided about Patton gateway performance should be …

Trouble Transferring Calls with Cisco SPA5xx Phones
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There’s a known issue for the line of Cisco SPA5xx phones.  If you’re an administrator/receptionist using this phone you’ll want to be aware of this.

Turns out there’s some trouble when you try to transfer one phone call while an additional phone call is coming in on another line.  The context sensitive soft key “transfer” no longer displays for the initial call because the second call coming in takes precedence and overrides the soft keys.

From the Cisco Support Community forum:

While the second call is ringing, she can no longer hit the “transfer” soft key to send the 1st call to Person B. She has to wait until the call stops ringing for the button to appear.

Again, this is a known …

5 Myths of Hosted VoIP Service
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There’s a great read I’d like to share about the myths of hosted VoIP service from Ben Rife over at the Invoip Hosted Voice Blog.Myths

The 5 Myths of Hosted Voice and VoIP debunks misunderstandings about hosted VoIP and should relieve any anxiety small businesses owners may have in switching to a hosted solution.

Here are the myths Rife hears about on a near daily basis:

1. VoIP means my calls are “free.”
2. If my internet is down, my phones are down.
3. Any internet connection will work.
4. VoIP is not reliable and sounds b-r-o-k-e-n.
5. T1′s and Analog POTS lines are here to stay.

Click here to read the full article.

If you’re interested in hosted VoIP, click …

Virtual Field Trip to the Zoo
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LifeSize Virtual Field Trip

Start your Friday morning off right with a fun trip to the Zoo.

Virtually.

Courtesy of the Virtual Field Trip Extravaganza from LifeSize, a full schedule of visits will be hosted this morning, May 18th, across the country.

All of the field trips will be streamed live on this LifeSize Virtual Field Trip page.

Here’s the schedule:

  • 9:00 am CDT:   Houston Audubon Society- “Birds of the Wild”
  • 9:45 am CDT:   Dr. Cindy Joffrion- “Obtaining Video Conferencing Grants for Your School”
  • 10:00 am CDT:   Indianapolis Zoo- “Adventures with Animals”
  • 11:00 am CDT:   Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas- “Adapt to Survive: Animal Weather Predictors”

LifeSize had such a great response to their first virtual tour that they …

Need Google Voice for Your VoIP Phone?
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google voice_logoConnecting Google Voice on an old analog land line phone is comparatively easy compared to using Google Voice on a VoIP Phone.

You could simply follow the Google Voice: a cheapskate’s guide to cheap VoIP and use an adapter and connection service from Obi.  Or, in the old days you could pair something like the Cisco PAP2T internet phone adapter with the now defunct Gizmo5 phone service to get connected to Google Voice.

For some reason, Google Voice doesn’t connect to IP phones as easily as you might think they should.

However, if you ever wanted to connect your VoIP phones to Google Voice, you need to read this recent article by Voxilla that explains the problems and the solution.

New Google Voice Gateway for VoIP Phones…

Cisco Study Shows how VoIP Supply Ups Consumer Confidence
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Cisco Case Study of VoIP SupplySmall businesses love the quality and reliability of Cisco hardware.  What they like even better is qualified Cisco support to lean on when something does goes wrong.

However, there was something standing in the way of Cisco customer’s happiness.

Not everyone offers Cisco Small Business Support Services and to make things more difficult, there was no simplified process to add this lifeline to your devices.

Until now.

Cisco Support Case Study

Cisco’s latest small business case study, Small Businesses Gain Big Support, looks at the challenges customer’s faced when upgrading or ordering new Cisco VoIP systems.

Once through the complex process of deciding on a VoIP system, customers wanted a high level of peace of mind which, they can now get in the form …

Webinar: How to Get Started With VoIP
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Do you need or want VoIP service for you business but you’re unsure how to get started?

Learn from the experts in the upcoming Complete Turn-Key IP PBX Solutions webinar on Tuesday, May 22nd at 1:00 pm EST / 10:00 am PST hosted by 3CX and Patton.

The first half of the webinar will discuss the benefits of using 3CX as your call solution and the second half will talk about how Patton hardware helps complete the solution.

3CX Phone Systems

3CX is an easy to install, flexible phone system that operates on a number of popular Windows versions.  Start-up companies or large enterprises looking to switch to VoIP benefit from 3CX commercial editions that offer support from two concurrent calls up to 512 concurrent …

Bluetooth Headsets for Polycom VVX 500
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Polycom VVX500

polycom_vvx_500

The Polycom VVX 500 is not Bluetooth enabled.  With everything else this multimedia phone is capable of, is that a little surprising?

The HD handset sounds so great though that it’s hard to really want to use a headset.  But, keeping your hands free is necessary too and it’s even better when the headset works properly.

So, here are some 3rd party wireless solutions that are supported by your Polycom VVX 500.

Supported Wireless Headsets

Since you can’t pair a Bluetooth headset directly with the VVX 500 you’ll need to connect an adapter or base station to the phone.  Below are the top wireless headset options for doing that.

Jabra PRO 9465 Duo

If you’re an office-centric user, the Jabra PRO 9465 DUO headset was …