Grandstream held their first annual partner conference and VoIP Supply was there to experience it.
In the video above, Beth Krohn, Brand Manager at VoIP Supply, hints at the new developments from Grandstream coming in Q4 2015 and early 2016.
BYOD, the trend of bringing your own device (laptop, tablet, phone, etc) to your place of employment has now expanded to VoIP connectivity.
French manufacturer Invoxia is making it simple to deploy BYOD VoIP with their line of attractive base units that can turn a smartphone or a VoIP app on a tablet into a desktop VoIP phone with:
VoIP Supply has been the leading hardware supplier for over 13 years and has truly perfected the buying experience for our customers. We knew we were missing a piece of the puzzle and we have expanded our team to fill the gap for our customers. We are now able to offer you VoIP Service!
We would like to officially introduce to you the CloudSpan Marketplace. “The Marketplace is a single place to shop various cloud service offerings, in order to find the perfect match for their business’s size and needs,” said Wes Mathews, Director of Cloud Services.
Here are a few of the benefits when working with the CloudSpan Marketplace:
Our VoIP Solutions Specialists are educated on multiple service providers to make sure each and every customer is paired correctly. We are confident each and every customer is getting everything they want and only paying for exactly what they need.
Along with all types of call features, remote worker attributes and admin features each service provider we are working with offers the option of SIP trunking or Hosted Service for our customers. A hosted solution takes all the burden off of you, the customer. Let the service provider handle setup, troubleshooting and minimal hardware requirements in your office.
Also known as SIP Trunks, this could be a solution option for you. These are best suited for someone that would like responsibility for all aspects of their phone system. We suggest this solution for offices with a well versed and sizable IT staff.
Feel free to give us a call today at 800.305.1427 or email us directly at [email protected]
VoIP Supply is continually growing and striving to make the customer experience better. We wanted to share with you our newest addition to our customer satisfaction tool kit.
We have created an interactive demo lab for use by our sales team, tech support team and any customers who would like to visit. We have all types of equipment in our lab from VoIP Headsets, VoIP Phones, IP Paging equipment and also multiple types of IP PBX Appliances.
Check out the video created by our new Video Production Manager, Stephen Lopian.
It is great for our tech support team to handle any issues or questions regarding products our customers have. The team is able to mimic your situation here in our lab and create a solution for you correctly and more quickly. It greatly helps troubleshooting for us and creates a better experience for our customers.
For the sales team, it allows them to be hands on with the products. For example, if you’re curious about a certain conference phones microphone range we can give you a call from the model you’re interested in and show you exactly what you’re getting.
We are opening our doors to the public. If you ever find yourself in Buffalo, NY feel free to stop in and check out all of our VoIP products. Just be ready if you’re challenged by our Founder and CEO, Benjamin Sayers, to a game of ping pong in our upstairs lounge!
Our tech support team here at VoIP Supply offers great pre- and post-sale support plus provisioning, consultations, and configuration and installation help.
We get a lot of VoIP hardware and software questions and realized that these solutions should be shared with everyone.
Here now are our top three (real) questions and answers from this past week (from VoIP users just like you).
Q: [Customer just bought several new phones from VoIP Supply] For connecting to the network, do they need a hard Ethernet cord connected? Just trying to figure out where we can actually put the phones since our modem is up in the front office as well as our two computers, but we used to have two phones in the back for employees to utilize.
A: Yes, they will need wired Ethernet (Cat5, Cat5e, or Cat6) connections.
You can setup your VoIP phones just about anywhere in your office. But, cabling is not the most fun job so if you get stuck, let us know and we can probably recommend an IT company that does cabling in your area.
Q: The phones that we’re using are the Grandstream GXP2140 and Grandstream GXP2130. When considering a Plantronics Savi W745 headset, what is the correct EHS cable to purchase with it?
A: What you’ll need for those Grandstream phones paired with the Savi W745 wireless headset it the Plantronics APD-80.
Q:Â My business is based in the US and I want to bring analog lines into a PBX locally and then forward those calls to remote extensions overseas. Can this be done with an Elastix appliance or any other solution you have?
A:Â Yes, it can be done with any VoIP system with VoIP phones. The PBX doesn’t care what IP address the phones are registering from, or if that IP address is local or in another country.
It will send calls to phones on the same LAN, remote phones located throughout the US, or remote phones located around the world, all exactly the same.
They should be warned, however, that the quality of the connection in the foreign country could cause audio quality problems. But technically, there is nothing unusual about this setup.
That’s all for this week, stay tuned for next week’s VoIP Q & A.
If you haven’t heard the latest news, Mitel acquired Ontario, Canada-based Aastra Technologies, an equally well-known VoIP phone manufacturer.
They did this to offer you a complete open communication solution.
But, as part of the merger, some familiar Aastra phones were either discontinued, replaced, or renamed.
All Aastra products at VoIP Supply have been relabeled and transitioned over to the Mitel brand and you can still find the VoIP products that were formerly under the Aastra label by visiting the Mitel VoIP Supply page.
We’re currently featuring the Mitel 6800 series, a family of powerful and modern SIP Phones offering advanced interoperability with major IP telephony platforms.
All phones in the 6800 series have a sleek and modern industrial design, HD wideband audio, enhanced speakerphone, and superior audio processing for rich and clear hands-free conversations.
From the 2-line Mitel 6863 SIP phone for light call volumes up to the powerful 24-line Mitel 6869 SIP phone with a large color display for executives, you’re sure to find the right Mitel 6800 Series phone for your business needs.
Click to download Mitel 6800 series brochure/comparison chart
Carlsberg has been using Mitel since 1982 – find out why:
The hospitality industry relies heavily on communication, learn more about why Hyatt is using Mitel in nearly 70% of their North American hotels:
For more information about Mitel products available through VoIP Supply, call 800-398-VoIP or browse all Mitel phones here.
It wasn’t until a few years ago that I began to hear more and more about the idea of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) for remote workers – and it made total sense. Who wants to carry around two laptops, phones, or even tablets while trying to make the most of their work day?
I feel like some days are hard enough to get done what you need to, and having to add the hassle of carrying around multiple devices to accomplish essentially the same tasks, really leads to a lack of productivity and major frustration for workers who are regularly on-the-go.
So how can BYOD improve productivity in the work place? I could spout off all the ways that I think BYOD improves productivity, but let’s take a look at what the others have to say. In 2014, Voxer.com wrote an article outlining the different ways that BYOD has increased productivity in the workplace.
They stated that employees average around 120 minutes of extra working time per day, and also end up sending an additional 20 emails per day as a result of BYOD.
They also stated that companies who implement BYOD in the workplace, are 37% more likely to have higher employee satisfaction ratings due to an increase in the ability to utilize out-of-the-box style creativity and problem solving techniques.
At the end of the article, they concluded that organizations who established BYOD in their workplace were 73% more likely to have increased sales, and also a higher acquisition rate for new customers.
They also stated that, “…54% (of companies) reported a greater ability to bring new products and services to market, and 54% said their companies were more likely to report increased profits.”
So essentially, not only does BYOD make the workday more convenient for employees and is likely to improve their overall happiness, but it also can boost productivity, profit, and business development for the companies that choose to implement it.
Now, there have been some concerns about BYOD with regards to securing these personal devices, but honestly, I believe that this argument has come to an end, as new and always evolving software security programs for phones, tablets, and laptops are being created on a regular basis.
PC Magazine reviews some of the best mobile security software programs today, such as McAfee, Lookout, and Lastpass. So there’s always an option to keep your data secure and accessible.
So, you may be asking yourself, if BYOD actually increases productivity in the workplace, how do I actually go about implementing this? Great question. Our next BOYD blog post will outline the some of the practical applications for two of our BYOD devices – the Invoxia NVX 620 and NVX 220 VoIP Phones.
Our tech support team here at VoIP Supply offers great pre- and post-sale support plus provisioning, consultations, and configuration and installation help.
We get a lot of VoIP hardware and software questions and realized that these solutions should be shared with everyone.
Here now are our top real questions and answers from this past week (from VoIP users just like you).
Q: What is the range of the Ruckus ZoneFlex T300 Outdoor Wireless Access Point? Does it come with software or do I need to purchase software separately? How many users can it support? Does the T300 support IPTV streams?
A: Â The Ruckus ZoneFlex T300 Outdoor Wireless Access Point offers dual-band 802.11ac and is rated IP-67 for outdoor environments. The T300 is specifically designed for high traffic public venues such as airports, convention centers, plazas, malls, stadiums, and dense urban environments.
Let’s take your questions one at a time.
T300 Range
According to Ruckus, the maximum distance of the Ruckus T300 is technically 25 km but, 10 km is more realistic. That kind of distance is can be achieved between two Ruckus access points with line of site and directional antennas.
In everyday applications, your maximum distance is determined by your uplink signal, not the access point downlink. A good rule of thumb for the Ruckus T300 is to plan on a distance of less than a football field for optimal coverage assuming moderate usage.
Ruckus T300 omni-directional antenna
T300 Software
All Ruckus access points can run in standalone mode. But, you’ll get a lot more functionality when you use the T300 with a Ruckus ZoneDirector Software Platform.
Ruckus ZoneDirectors are smart wireless LAN controllers with more features than your typical centrally managed system.
ZoneDirector Smart WLAN controllers use a highly-intuitive Web user interface to provide easy configuration and administration
T300 Max Users
Maximum users for the T300 is rated at:
T300 IPTV Support
Yes, the T300 does support IPTV with built in QoS when used with a Ruckus ZoneDirector
For more information, download the Ruckus ZoneFlex T300 Datasheet.
Q: For the Grandstream GXV3275 phone is it possible to use a USB headset like Logitech with it ?
A: The Grandstream GXV3275, a 6-line multimedia video phone with a 7″ color touch screen, includes dual USB ports.
However these USB ports are for storage and and transferring files to the GXV3275.
GXV3275 Headset Options
The GXV3275 supports:
For more information, check out the video below or download the Grandstream GXV3275 User Guide.
That’s all for this week, stay tuned for next week’s VoIP Q & A.
Our tech support team here at VoIP Supply offers great pre- and post-sale support plus provisioning, consultations, and configuration and installation help.
We get a lot of VoIP hardware and software questions and realized that these solutions should be shared with everyone.
Here now are our top three (real) questions and answers from this past week (from VoIP users just like you).
Q: We have a Sangoma A101DE PRI card. I need to replace the faceplate with the low profile face plate.
Is there a manual or a guide on how this face plate is changed out?
A: Unfortunately there is not a guide to remove or replace the faceplate.
If you don’t have the special tool that fits between the cards, this job can be a little challenging.
We recommend very carefully disassembling the card itself, so you have access to those screws, then replacing the faceplate and carefully reassembling the card.
Q: Where can I find information on how to configure it the Snom PA-1 [Public Announcement System Digital Amplifier for broadcasting announcements over 8 ohm speakers]?
I’m looking for information on how to connect the RJ45 from the Snom and how to connect it to a phone system that is on the same network
A: It’s always better when we can show you how something is done so check out this video from our friend Matt Landis (@matthewlandis) in which he explains how to setup this SIP loudspeaker with PoE, how to use Snom’s firmware, and he even provides a paging demonstration:
Additionally, check out these Snom PA-1 resources:
Q:Â What is the default login information for Aastra 6700i IP phones?
A:Â The default username should be: admin.
The default password should be: 22222.
For more information, download the Aastra 6700i, 6800i, and 9000i Series SIP IP Phones Administrator Guide.
That’s all for this week, stay tuned for next week’s VoIP Q & A.
For quick, impromptu meetings you can grab a co-worker and have an informal conference call right in your office just by using the the speakerphone on your desktop phone.
The desktop speakerphone, that tried and true collaboration tool, has certainly improved over the years with full duplex, HD audio, and echo cancellation.
But really, are the features and sound quality all that great?
When you need to have a real meeting you need to have a real conference phone.
Within your budget, take the five keys into consideration: Room Size, Power Source, Connection Type, Call Recording, Portability. The differences between brands and models, then, may seem slight until you think about how you’re going to use this device.
Here’s the standard definition of a conference phone:
Conference phones are typically used in large offices and conference rooms where multi-party phone calls take place.
Sounds pretty straightforward, right?
Here are five conference phone considerations:
Different conference phones have different microphone pickup ranges and speaker quality. The size of the room will dictate how powerful and robust the device you need.
Some conference phones offer optional expansion microphone kits to expand the audio range for larger rooms with lots of people.
Konftel 300IP with expansion microphones
Standard power options for conference phones are either AC adapter or Power over Ethernet (PoE). If your room is wired for PoE, that’s a great way to simplify installation. If you prefer to use an AC adpater to power the unit, just make there’s an outlet nearby where you plan on putting it.
Other options include USB and rechargeable batteries, depending on the type of conference phone you’re looking at.
The connection type that you need or want for your conference phone is related to power source options mentioned above.
It’s possible now to get a variety of conference phones that connect via:
Konftel 300Wx Wireless Conference Phone
The Konftel 300Wx, for example, allows you to hold wireless conference calls where and when it is convenient. It has an HD omnidirectional microphone that can pick up sounds in an area of about 300 square feet (a 10′ x 30′ room), making the 300Wx a solid choice for executive offices or small conference rooms.
Sometimes a meeting is so great that you wish you could relive it again and again.
That’s probably never the case but, there are times when it’s helpful to record a conference call for:
Some newer conference phone models make it easy to record and store meetings with a built in recording function that enables calls to be recorded to an SD Memory card.
Meetings don’t always happen when you’re in the office.
So the last thing to consider about your conference phone choice is how portable do you need it to be?
If you’re travelling, working from home, or working out of your car; the Konftel 300M was built as a conference phone for the mobile worker that’s:
Conference phones are still an important collaboration tool and now there are many more inspired options to choose from to make your meetings more efficient or, to simply sound better.
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