Migrating to VoIP using a gateway

April 28, 2010 by Brian Hyrek

More and more companies have begun considering a new phone system. Chances are you are looking into one too.

Since the last time you’ve looked into a phone system, though, a lot has changed. Today you have more choice than ever.

Despite the choice and after dragging a fine-tooth over the feature sets and costs savings of VoIP vs. Analog phone systems, you’ll likely find that moving your phone system to VoIP is a conclusive no-brainer.

But that doesn’t mean that the PSTN isn’t useful, nor does it mean that you necessarily have to completely replace your existing phone system – thanks to VoIP Gateways.
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Benefiting from VoIP – Hosted or Premise?

April 22, 2010 by Arthur Miller

A lot of businesses these days find themselves faced with tightening budgets and outdated phone systems deployed 10 or more years ago. I speak with these types of businesses everyday; owners or IT administrators looking at exploring whether or not a VoIP system is a good fit for their organization and how to approach putting a system together or approaching a service provider.

While hybrid solutions exist and the use of a VoIP gateway can allow many companies to deploy VoIP using their existing infrastructure, most people I speak with these days are interested completely replacing their existing phone system.

For this there are two ways to approach this project:

Hosted VoIP Phone Service
Premise VoIP Phone Systems

Each of these solutions bring with them benefits. How substantial these benefits are to you, will of course depend on your situation.
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Metaswitch Forum 2010 upcoming 5/17 -5/20

April 21, 2010 by Garrett Smith

At Aastra we spend a lot of time and money on inter-opt testing with the leading SIP Call Control platforms; whether those platforms are premised based or hosted. One of our key relationships is with Metawitch.

For those who do not know Metaswitch they are a UK based company with a large base of USA customers. They focus on products sold to Carriers which include a “broad range of telephony application server and switching products which are building out next-generation voice networks, modernizing legacy voice networks or deploying new voice applications”.

They sell soft switch technology and within that product sector have a solution called MetaSphere which among other things provides a Hosted PBX (or Hosted VoIP) solution set. Within this product sector their biggest competitor would probably be Broadsoft.
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Polycom IP 5000 – First Impressions

by Garrett Smith

Polycom_SoundStation_IP_5000
The Polycom IP 5000 first hit test benches across North America earlier this month. Based off of initial usage and basic testing, the following first impressions are given. Look for a more formal review in the coming days.

Earlier this month Polycom announced the release of their latest conference phone the SoundStation IP 5000.

Now that the IP 5000 is in stock and shipping across North America it’s a product that is definitely worth taking time to look at.

The Polycom IP 5000 is a SIP based VoIP conference phone that extends Polycom’s world class SoundStation product line down into the smallest of businesses.Following in the rich history of other Polycom SoundStation conferencing units, the IP 5000 comes ready for business in an updated starfish design and with Polycom’s patented Acoustic Clarity technology.

Featuring room filling audio thanks to Polycom’s HD Voice and a price point of just $399.99, the Polycom IP 5000 blends future proof technology and affordability perfectly.

In using the Polycom IP 5000 you’ll find that with it’s vibrant LCD screen, soft button key pad and intuitive feature set the SoundStation IP 5000 looks, feels and performs every bit of a conference phone priced at hundreds more. Plus you can use the Polycom IP 5000 with just about any SIP based VoIP system or service which makes integration and set-up very straight forward.

Best yet the IP 5000 can be powered via Ethernet or AC power giving you flexibility when it comes to powering this efficient conferencing unit.

All of this makes the Polycom IP 5000 the right choice when it comes to voice conferencing for small businesses and larger companies with smaller conference rooms or private offices.

For more technical information click on over to the product page and or stay tuned for our official review.

No Joke – FREE Overnight Shipping on Sangoma Digital PCI Cards

April 1, 2010 by Garrett Smith

While the rest of the world is busy playing jokes, the folks at VoIP Supply have been busy putting together a tremendous offer for those of you in the market for a Sangoma card.

Especially if you’re impatient. Like me.

Starting right now Sangoma Digital PCI card purchases at VoIP Supply come with FREE overnight shipping via FedEx.

That’s right. Buy today, get it tomorrow.

FREE overnight shipping to anywhere in the US 48!

For more information or to order your Sangoma Digital PCI card with FREE overnight shipping check out the product pages below or call a VoIP Supply sales representative at 800.398.8647 today!

Single T1/E1 – Sangoma A101, Sangoma A101E, Sangoma A101D, Sangoma A101DE
Dual T1/E1 – Sangoma A102, Sangoma A102E, Sangoma A102D, Sangoma A102DE
Quad T1/E1 – Sangoma A104, Sangoma A104E, Sangoma A104D, Sangoma A104DE
Eight Port T1/E1 – Sangoma A108, Sangoma A108E, Sangoma A108D, Sangoma A108DE

P.S. You determine the longevity of the offer. So take advantage of it today, so others can tomorrow!

HD VoIP Comes to VoIP Supply

March 24, 2010 by Garrett Smith

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock the last year or are only an occasional follower of the VoIP industry, you should know that the hottest technologies in the VoIP equipment space is wideband or high definition (HD) voice.

Offering brilliantly crisp, clear audio, HD voice is changing the expectations of those who use voice for everyday communications. And everyone from industry leaders such as Polycom, to recent market entrants like Yealink, are touting the HD capabilities of their equipment.
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Xorcom Astribanks Now Available

March 16, 2010 by Garrett Smith

PSTN Connectivity and Failover Solution For Asterisk

Open source based VoIP and telephony solution continue to grow in popularity with businesses of all sizes.

Blending flexibility with low cost, open source based systems have enabled many a business to take advantage of the greater benefits of IP communications. Though, flexible, low cost and packed with features, open source based solutions also come with their own set of concerns and hurdles.

Two of the most common concerns that come up when discussing open source based solutions are PSTN connectivity and failover. Both of which are address quite nicely by the Xorcom product line.
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Multimedia Phone Roundup

January 28, 2010 by Garrett Smith

We are all accustomed to having the ability to send and receive emails, browse the web to visit our favorite sports site or to check up on the weather, download leisurely and productive apps, and let’s not forgot updating your facebook status, tweeting to your friends about cool VoIP Multimedia phones, and confirming your colleague’s friend request on linkedIN.

Yes, this is something we all do on an everyday basis and we have grown accustomed to having this freedom at our fingertips. To the Voice over IP world, these necessities as we call them and that we take for granted, haven’t really met our needs until now!!!

The whole revolution of Multimedia phones came about back in early 2009 where we seen our first multimedia phone’s coming to market.

These have built in XML features that allow them to communicate via the web to your favorite website (such as the ones mentioned above). Another cool feature we are seeing on almost every multimedia phone is the ability to customize your settings, background images, even the phones appearance with “skins” to cover its boring outer appearance.

Also most multimedia phones have built in hardware to support Bluetooth headsets, WiFI for Wireless LAN connectivity so you can move around anywhere in the office without running any extra Ethernet cables or drops, Electronic Hookswitch Support or EHS (Please see my EHS Post on the VoIPInsider for further info), Video support, either built in or with an added video hardware module or software, Color touch screens, HD Voice, Gigabit Ethernet, and much more.

Below is a brief recap of the current lineup of Multimedia phones on VoIPSupply.com and their supported functionality. For additional information on any models below, please contact us and speak to our sales team at 1-800-398-8647.

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Digium Switchvox SMB 4.5 Release Update

by Garrett Smith

Are you a current Switchvox SMB owner? If you are and you didn’t know already, Switchvox has formally announced its SMB 4.5 update which is available immediately. The update brings drastic changes and improvements to Polycom phones and Snom phones provisioned to the SMB solution. If you have Switchvox SMB, you already enjoy the intuitive and interactive, real time switchboard. If you don’t have a Switchvox SMB solution and are not familiar with the switchboard, here is a good look at it.
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Nortel partners with SIPFoundry to offer first OPEN standards Unified Communications Platform

by Garrett Smith

That’s right, I said it, and yes you heard me correctly, Nortel has finally seen the need to address the growing need to get OFF proprietary equipment and move to a more open standards based platform offering.

While most of us in the Voice over IP world are already accustomed to this, me personally, from day one, I always have noticed the added benefits of using an open-source telephony platform over any proprietary based platform, any day of the week, hands-down. It’s a no-brainer. The idea of using any SIP-Based IP endpoint on a solution gives you the ability to meet everyone’s need from a function ability standpoint, price standpoint, and overall maintenance and upgrades or better put, ease of use. So I say to you Nortel, thank you…it’s about time….

Recently, Nortel’s partnership with SIPFoundry and their open-source application sipXecs, has allowed Nortel to venture into waters they have never gone before. Nortel SCS, A software based Unified communication platform (derived from sipXecs open-source software) is now available and now permits its users to use any SIP based endpoint. As Nortel puts it:
“Because SCS is based entirely on SIP, it is fully interoperable with SIP-based products and applications in the industry. Say good-bye to vendor lock-in and hello to building custom solutions that perfectly meet your unique business requirements.”

Furthermore, Nortel even offers full tech support on most Polycom SoundPoint IP Phone models and Audiocodes Mediapack and Mediant gateways.

SCS is a software based Unified Communication platform designed by Nortel that encompasses all of the “bells and whistles” such as integration with softphones, presence and IM, Voice and Video conferencing, Unified messaging, and much more. This is Nortels first “OPEN” platform.

So you may be wondering, how do I purchase this solution, well VoIPSupply currently does not offer any Nortel hardware or software offerings.

You can however, find your SIP-Based endpoints from VoIPSupply. Give us a call and speak to one of our dedicated sales representative on your solution and needs.

Migrating to VoIP using a gateway

Benefiting from VoIP – Hosted or Premise?

Metaswitch Forum 2010 upcoming 5/17 -5/20

Polycom IP 5000 – First Impressions

No Joke – FREE Overnight Shipping on Sangoma Digital PCI Cards

HD VoIP Comes to VoIP Supply

Xorcom Astribanks Now Available

PSTN Connectivity and Failover Solution For Asterisk

Multimedia Phone Roundup

Digium Switchvox SMB 4.5 Release Update

Nortel partners with SIPFoundry to offer first OPEN standards Unified Communications Platform

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