VoIP News! A Major Update to Digium’s Switchvox Softphone Is Here

December 8, 2016 by Angela Burgin-Logan

Major Update To The Digium Switchvox Softphone App Digium has big news and gift to everyone just in time for the holidays.  Available for immediate download is the new Switchvox Softphone app, version 3.0. What makes this version such big news? It’s all about CallKit, a new feature in Apple iOS 10 that resolves the limitations in previous iOS versions that all softphone vendors experienced. Digium is among the first Unified Communications vendors to release a softphone based on Apple iOS 10 CallKit. And best of all, the app is free!

In previous versions of iOS, users experienced some limitations and challenges with iOS softphone applications. For example,a softphone was considered just another application. If a cell phone call came in, your softphone application was immediately placed into the background and your softphone calls were placed on hold. Of course this was not ideal, as your softphone caller would have no indication as to why they were suddenly on hold. Likewise, if your iOS device was locked or the softphone was in the background, notifications did not always come through.

Major Update To The Digium Switchvox Softphone App With iOS 10 and CallKit, this all changes. Now, the Digium Switchvox Softphone app interacts with iOS 10, just like a regular phone call. Now, all calls utilize the same interface, allowing you to choose what happens when multiple calls occur simultaneously.

Calls to and from the softphone app are no longer interrupted by cell phone calls. Also, any incoming Switchvox call can be quickly answered even when the app is closed and your iPhone is locked.

What’s more, Switchvox Softphone 3.0 uses less battery life than any version of the past. Push technology enables better communication between the server and the app, conserving your data and battery use.

This is a revolutionary update for the Digium Switchvox Softphone app and it takes softphone usage from a nice-to-try feature to a must-have feature. Interact with your Switchvox calls with greater flexibility, call control, and confidence with Switchvox Softphone 3.0.

Small and medium sized businesses can get all of their Digium Switchvox needs from VoIP Supply.  Download the latest version of Switchvox Softphone today from the Apple Store.

The Grandstream UCM IP PBX Product Review: Choose the Right UCM for You

December 7, 2016 by Marc Spehalski

grandstreamucmNote: This is part III of the three-part blog series. See part I & part II.

If you like what you’ve read so far, you are going to want to know which Grandstream UCM is right for you. You typically select the correct appliance based on  your concurrent call and analog requirement. The UCM 6260

You typically select the correct appliance based on  your concurrent call and analog requirement. The UCM 6260 will support up to 30 concurrent calls, and has 2 FXO analog ports. The 6204 supports 45 concurrent calls, and includes 2 FXO ports, and finally, the 6208 can handle 100 concurrent calls with 8 FXO ports. All models will include 2 FXS ports in addition to a T1 interface for customers who require a PRI (Primary Rate Interface) connection.

Finally, the best part: price. The UCM 6202 retails for $379.00, the 6204 is $410.00, and the 6208 comes out at $899.00. Considering what you get, that’s a steal. Start shopping around for FXO and FXS cards that can be used on other systems alone, and you will immediately see why this is such a great all-in-one package.

If you are looking for a replacement for your aging phone system, and you would like something packed with features, no licensing, and an intuitive interface, you should take a long look at Grandstream UCM. It is absolutely one of my favorite VoIP systems, and it comes from a very innovative company, Grandstream. Give VoIP Supply a call to find out more!

Polycom VVX410: Outbound Calls Suffer From a High Degree of Post Dial Delay

Our tech support team at VoIP Supply offers great pre- and post-sales support plus provisioning, consultations, configuration, and installation help. We get a lot of VoIP hardware and software questions and would like to share the solutions with everyone.

In previous Mom’s calling Q&A series, we have discussed: Connect Multiple Agents to the Same Softphone. Today, we have more new real questions and answers from VoIP users just like you.

 

Polycom VVX410 Outbound Calls Suffer From a High Degree of Post Dial Delay

VVX 410Q: We ordered 5 new VVX 410 Phones. They all have the new MAC structure. We provisioned them for our client to an on-prem asterisk server plus 2 other hosted servers (asterisk and broadsoft). In all cases, the phones are running 4.1.7 FW. Inbound calls work splendidly but outbound calls suffer from a high degree of Post Dial Delay. It connects eventually and the next outbound call works immediately. Then we reboot the phone to test it, the same issue happens again on all platforms. Has anyone seen this issue?

A: I would advise you to update the firmware from 4.1.7 to 5.3.3 since there may be some instability issues with older firmware. If certain phones are doing this then I would ping those IP’s on the network to see if there are latency issues with the phones.

 

Stay Tuned

Come back for more VoIP questions and answers next time! If you have VoIP questions to ask us, please submit a technical support ticket or contact our VoIP experts today at (866) 582-8591.

Sangoma’s FreePBX Modules: VQ Plus, Conference Pro, High Availability Disaster Recovery and Class of Service

sangoma-freepbxNote: This is part 4 of the 4-part Sangoma’s FreePBX Modules blog series. This blog series was co-written by Cody Blackley.

Previously we discussed Xact Dialer, Appointment Reminder, Parking Pro, Voicemail and Pin Set Pro. Today we will finish up our last part of Sangoma’s FreePBX Modules blog series by introducing VQ Plus, Conference Pro, High Availability Disaster Recovery and Class of Service. Let’s dive in.

VQ Plus

A virtual queue allows you to change the settings of a queue before a call is routed to the queue. This reduces the need for agents to log into multiple queues. For example, you could give VIP callers access to a VIP virtual queue that moves them to the front of the line in a real queue.

virtual-queue

Learn more for FREE about the VQ Plus module

Conference Pro

Conference Pro allows end users to manage conference settings from the user control panel (UCP). Admin users can also easily create conference room IVRs and choose which conference rooms are part of the conference room IVR.

conference-pro1

conference-pro2

conference-pro3

Learn more for FREE about the Conference Pro Module

High Availability Disaster Recovery

FreePBX High Availability is a commercially developed High Availability solution that has reworked the FreePBX platform to integrate DRDB, Cluster Manager, and Pacemaker. This enables automatic mirroring and failover between two FreePBX Systems. Your phones and devices are registered to a floating IP address, so the failover between systems will be transparent to them. Your SIP Trunks will register to the active node, and if utilizing a PSTN Failover Appliance, your T1 or Analog lines will be directed to the active node as well. When the primary PBX is repaired or recovers, you can then switch back to the primary FreePBX node.

Learn more for FREE about the High Availability Disaster Module

Class of Service

The Class of Service Administration module provides granular control at the extension level to access and set permissions of specific calling features of your PBX. These features include Outbound Routes, Feature Codes, Ring Groups, Queues, Conference Rooms, Voicemail Blast Groups, and Paging.

class-of-service

VoIP SMS Text Messaging – A convenient way to communicate

December 5, 2016 by Ying-Hui Chen

voip-sms-text-messaging-a-convenient-way-to-communicate

You may have noticed that almost everyone is texting around you, or, not surprisingly, maybe yourself is also one of the heavy text message users like me.

83% of American adults own mobile phones and three-quarters of them (73%) send and receive text messages. – According to PewResearch Center‘s research.

Why do so many people love SMS text messaging? Quick answer – it’s simple, clear and fast. Text messaging is a way to communicate privately and precisely. Compared to talking in person, it’s a better way to communicate without being heard by others around you.

instant-messagingOne time I had to contact an online bookstore to ask if they had the book I needed. I was in a quiet library so I had to rush out to make the call. Unfortunately, the person who answered the phone had me wait out in the cold for 20 minutes and came back with a 2-second disappointing answer: “No, we don’t have it”. I was frustrated and gave up my book search for a while.

Luckily things are different now. With a lot of businesses offering instant messaging customer service, I can contact them anytime and work on other things while waiting for the answers. Communication is easier than ever.

 

Giving customers a convenient way to communicate is how a business stands out among their competitors.

VoIP is your best way to give your customers a preferred way to communicate. VoIP service not only provides you instant messaging, chat and SMS tools but also integrates them all together in one place for easy management. You are able to message customers, your co-workers or employees right from  your own desktop computer.

voicemail-to-textEven better, VoIP service also offers voicemail to text features, which transfers your voicemails into a transcription for you to read whenever it’s convenient. You can simply save the important information in a text format for future reference.

A quality customer service and efficient work environment start with VoIP service. Do you prefer SMS text messaging? What are  your reasons? Share with us!

Sangoma’s FreePBX Modules: Xact Dialer, Appointment Reminder, Parking Pro, Voicemail and Pin Set Pro

sangoma-freepbxNote: This is part 3 of the 4-part Sangoma’s FreePBX Modules blog series. This blog series was co-written by Cody Blackley.

Last time, we talked about Paging Pro, VM Notify, Fax Pro, Call Recording and Q-Xact. Today we will look into more Sangoma’s FreePBX Modules including Xact Dialer, Appointment Reminder, Parking Pro, Voicemail and Pin Set Pro.

Xact Dialer

Make your outbound dialing easier and remove any room for dialing the wrong number. Simply create a campaign list and which extension you would like these calls sent to.

  • Upload CSV lists
  • Schedule call times
  • View service call thresholds
  • Complete reports on person/voicemail and duration
  • Route calls based on whether person or voicemail answered
  • Pause active campaigns

Appointment Reminder

With this add-on you’re able to schedule appoints within your PBX and have them automatically call the specified number at a certain time.

Appointment Reminder Example

Get all the details for FREE for Appointment Reminder

Parking Pro

This module gives you the ability to have multiple parking lots for calls that can be handled right away and also automatically announces to your team that a call is in the parking lot.

Learn more for FREE about the Parking Pro module

Parking Pro Example

Voicemail Reports

Allows you to quickly view the voicemail greetings and settings for each user, see who needs to record greetings, and see who is set up to receive voicemail to email.

voicemail-reports

Learn more for FREE about the Voicemail Reports module

Pin Set Pro

Pin Set Pro gives you access to an exportable call detail report and billable hours summary. This information is simple to generate and can be exported to your favorite spreadsheet application.

Pin set Pro

Learn more for FREE about the Pin Set Pro module

Wondering if there’s more to come? Of course. We will be introducing more Sangoma’s FreePBX modules in the next blog: VQ Plus, Conference Pro, High Availability Disaster Recovery and Class of Service.

VoIP Supply Named To Top 100 Western New York Private Companies 2016 List

Top Western New York Private AMHERST, NY (December 1st, 2016) – VoIP Supply, North America’s leading Voice over Internet Protocol solutions provider, has been named to Buffalo’s Business First Top 100 Private Companies in Western New York list for 2016.

VoIP Supply Logo

Since that time, VoIP Supply has exploded with growth expanding its product offerings and services including introducing VoIP Supply’s CloudSpan Marketplace allowing the company to be a true VoIP one-stop shop and providing businesses of all sizes and residential customers everything you need for VoIP.

Benjamin Sayers VoIP Supply President and CEO “Our mission at VoIP Supply is to build a great company, with great people, doing great things. It is a tremendous honor to be named to the top 100 private companies in Western New York list and is a testament to the hard work that the great people on our staff do daily and the great customers that we serve,” said Benjamin P. Sayers.

 

VoIP Supply became Western New York’s first certified B Corporation, is a three-time 500/5000 honoree and has been consistently ranked as one of Western New York’s Best Places to work.

For more information about VoIP Supply, please visit https://www.voipsupply.com.

About VoIP Supply

VoIP Supply, LLC (www.voipsupply.com) is North America’s leading VoIP solutions provider. Since 2002, VoIP Supply has delivered valuable solutions for some 125,000 customers worldwide. With passionate employees, 6,500 products, 20,000 square feet of office space and an unlimited number of VoIP solutions to meet your needs, whether you are a consumer, business, service provider or reseller, VoIP Supply has everything you need for VoIP. For sales and media inquiries contact [email protected].

To learn more, call (800) 398-8647, or visit voipsupply.com and follow us on social media: Facebook (VoIPSupply), Twitter (VoIPSupply) and LinkedIn (VoIPSupply)

The Grandstream UCM IP PBX Product Review: Asterisk and Auto-Provision

Note: This is part II of a three-part blog series. See Part I here.

In the previous blog, you’ve learned why PoE, FXO and FXS matter to Grandstream UCM. Now let’s talk a little bit on Asterisk.

To be brief, Asterisk is a free open source telephony platform. What that means is that it can be used either by itself for no cost (install it on your own server, and you must manually edit config files), or can be built upon like a foundation by companies like Grandstream. Grandstream has added to Asterisk’s code and provided a graphical interface on the UCM series that makes deploying and managing a system a task that most people can accomplish easily. Granstream is not alone in using Asterisk to provide a cost-effective solution, but where they do stand out is how simplified they made the interface, in a good way. For many, VoIP is an obscure and somewhat alien subject, but the UCM makes basic setup very manageable.

ucm

Grandstream also makes some pretty great IP phones as well, which conveniently will auto-provision when paired with the UCM series IP PBX. If you’re not familiar, auto-provisioning is the process of configuring a phone centrally, via the system rather than having to configure each phone individually. This is particularly useful for when you are deploying a lot of phones, possibly in different geographic locations. However, you are not restricted to Grandstream phones. As mentioned before, the UCM is a SIP based system, meaning it built on the open SIP standard. In my years of using the Grandstream UCM, I have not run into a SIP IP phone yet that I could not get to work with it. Of course, you will need to manually provision (log into each phone and configure). That can be a big pain if you want to use Polycom phones and have 100 of them to configure. However, it can be a HUGE money saver if you just threw your old phone system in the trash, because it was terrible, but have 100 Polycom phones that you do not want to replace.

grandstreamucmThe current generation of the Grandstream UCM series is the 6200, and the 6510. You will still see some 6100 series (first generation), but they will eventually phase out. With that said, you can probably get a great deal on the first generation which is essentially identical to the new series, with older internal hardware. If you’re on an extreme budget, look for a 6100 series UCM in VoIP Supply’s Refresh department.

Let’s talk about features. You might expect a skimpy feature set in such a small package, but you’d be wrong. It does just about everything you need a phone system to do. But the best feature is that there is no licensing. Everything is included. You are not limited by concurrent calls, or how may extensions you are able to add. Here are just some of the features:

  • Extensions
  • Ring Groups
  • Call Queues
  • Conference Bridge
  • Voicemail to Email
  • Analog Trunks
  • Multi-Level Auto Attendant
  • Follow Me
  • Dial by Name Directory
  • Automated Callback
  • Call Recording
  • Call Monitoring
  • Paging/Intercom
  • Call Detail Records
  • Automated Backups
  • Integrated LDAP and XML Phonebooks
  • SRTP/TLS Support

In the next blog: The Granstream UCM Product Review – Choose the right UCM, I will guide you to the right UCM you need for your system.

The Grandstream UCM IP PBX Product Review: Why Do PoE, FXO and FXS Matter?

December 1, 2016 by Marc Spehalski

I am what you might call a “phone geek”.grandstreamucm

I’ve developed, supported, and tinkered with just about every popular SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) based VoIP platform out there, and I’ve been in search of a system that every day IT Pro’s, business owners, and even homeowners can install and manage without any real training. I think the best systems are intuitive and un-restrictive. They should be feature-rich, and most of all, competitive in their price point.

I ran across the Grandstream UCM back in 2013, before I had an affiliation with VoIP Supply. I bought a UCM 6102 just because I thought it was interesting, and I was just starting to sink my teeth into the VoIP field. It was a small (similar in size to a consumer wireless router) PoE powered IP PBX with two FXO and two FXS ports. It was Asterisk powered (arguably the leader in open source IP telephony) and therefore SIP based. That meant I could use any SIP based IP phone with it.

So, why does any of that matter? A small form factor means you can put it just about anywhere. This is especially useful for small businesses, who might not have a server room, with a network rack. Something very unique is that you can power it with PoE. What’s PoE? It’s when a network switch delivers power to devices, like phones, wireless access points, or IP cameras over a standard network cabling. The UCM comes with a 12V DC power supply, but, of course, it’s optional since you can just plug it into your (PoE enabled) switch to run it. This gives you a lot of options when deciding where to place, or mount it in your building.

The FXO and FXS ports also add to the flexibility in that you can continue to use your analog service (FXO port), and also use analog devices such as a fax machine, wall phone, door phone, etc (FXS). For a detailed explanation of FXO and FXS be sure to watch VoIP Supply’s video:What is FXO/FXS? You are not restricted to using analog service on the system, as you can also use SIP trunks, but it allows you to transition for one to the other, or use a hybrid of both.

In the next blog of the Grandstream UCM IP PBX Product Review series, we will talk more about Asterisk and some important features.

Smart Ways To Spend Your Year-End Budget

November 30, 2016 by Angela Burgin-Logan

Year-end Budget How To Use It Before You Lose It Maximizing monies left in your year-end budget is top of mind this time of year. The clock is winding down on capturing leftover funds and the opportunity to use it before you lose it!  But having some surplus savvy is what smart managers are looking to do.

VoIP Supply has smart surplus solutions that will help you to save while you spend. How businesses communicate with customers and how they communicate internally is the number one key to success. Enhance your business communication with VoIP solutions that range from corded IP phones, cordless IP phones, VoIP headsets, IP conference phones, video phones and more. Now through December 31, 2016 receive FREE shipping on any web orders over $499 using our promotion code #USEIT. Maximize your budget and your ROI with smart VoIP solutions.

 

Here are smart VoIP products to purchase from VoIP Supply with your year-end budget.

sangoma s700The Sangoma s700 SIP Phone is an executive level VoIP phone with (6) Session Initiation Protocols (SIP). The s700 is equipped with Zero Touch technology that allows for fast and easy out the box configuration with FreePBX.

Plantronics HW251n

The Plantronics HW251N is part of the SupraPlus family a corded wideband headset. With an adjustable T band headband and foam ear cushions for all day comfort.

polycom IP6000 POE

The Polycom SoundStation IP 6000 is an advanced IP conference phone that delivers superior performance for small to midsize conference rooms.

Order Here

  • Featured Posts

  • Popular Posts

  • Read Our Feed

  • Latest

  • VoIP Post Categories

  • Archives