Mona Levinson 2008-06-23T19:53:39Z 2008-06-23T19:53:39Z

Jason, My name is Mona Levinson with New Age Technology Consulting. I agree with Jim James that there are a lot of good and bad options available to you. We provide free needs assessments and evaluate bills looking for the most cost effective network solutions available. We are very familiar with all products and services regarding a healthy telephony and network infrastructure. New Age Technology Consulting has also partnered with Star2Star Communications "The Worlds Most Reliable Business Grade Internet Phone System." My clients are Business Owners that would like to save money on traditional analog lines and eliminate their long distance bills. With the latest technology there is no reason for anyone to be paying long distance charges. As Jim stated there are lots of benefits to VoIP technology. I have listed some examples of them below: For those Business Owners that have multi-site locations, they usually have a separate phone system for each location. There should be no reason why companies would have separate systems; it should act as one system. Let me give you an example. A doctor that has a location in Sarasota, Venice and Bradenton is paying for 5 lines at each location; costing them $500.00 per month for each location for a total of $1500.00. They are only in one office at a time; Sarasota, Monday and Wednesday, Bradenton, Tuesday and Friday and Venice on Thursday. Why should they pay for 15 phone lines at $1500.00 per month when she is only using 5 at a time? She should be able to pool the lines and only pay for the 5 lines used on a monthly basis, hence reducing a major monthly expense. How many people have their cell phone numbers listed on their business cards? If someone gives you a card with a cell number, which number would you call? Is your cell phone making you available 24/7, late into the evening and even on your Anniversary? Wouldn’t it be nice if all the technology worked together as one cohesive system? I only give out one number, my office number. I’ll give you an example of how the phone system works at my office. When a call comes into my office it will be answered by an auto attendant and prompt for my extension. When my office extension is dialed my office phone and my home phone ring simultaneously just in case I’m working from home. If the call is not answered it will then ring my cell phone and if I am still not available the call will then be answered by my voice mail. The voice mail system will then send me an email with a wave file attachment of the message. Once I’m free I can then retrieve the message from my Blackberry and forward it to one of my associates for immediate attention or save it in a file folder for later recall. I always have a business presents through one phone number and I no longer need to give out my cell number. What about Disaster Recovery Plans? Will your business survive a Hurricane like Charlie? If one hit today wouldn’t it be nice to take your phone anywhere and still have a business presence. As an example you could head out of town and your auto attendant will still take calls and direct them to your cell phone and voice mail to email. Your business never stops; it continues to run even with out an office. Lastly, when your phone system goes down, who do you call? Does your phone vendor have you call your provider and your provider asks you to call your phone vendor? Wouldn’t it be great if your phone vendor called you before you called them? I am notified by email if my client’s phone system is down or even if you so much as unplug a phone. With my background in Business Development and Customer Relations I am proud to say that we have a Proactive not Reactive Business. New Age Technology Consulting has been very successful because we are saving Small and Medium Businesses money and giving them the latest technology and in today’s economy this is a growing commodity. Please call me for a free consultation to review all the options you have available. Best Regards, Mona Levinson New Age Technology Consulting Office: 941.750.9966 mona@newagestar2star.com

Mona Levinson 2008-06-23T19:53:39Z Jim James 2008-06-18T04:03:08Z 2008-06-18T04:03:08Z

Jason: VoIP is getting more and more popular in the business environment, especially in situations like yours, in small businesses looking to cut costs. It can be used in a variety of ways.... To replace traditional dial tone from Verizon or another carrier; to allow remote employees to function from home or from other cities as a part of a regional office; or to link branch offices together allowing "free" communication via the internet. It sounds like you are looking for a solution similar to the first example, to replace your current dial tone provider. There are a number of companies that will provide you with this type of service, some good, some bad. If your VoIP service is being provided over a standard broadband internet connection you may have problems. As I like to say, you are at the mercy of the internet.... and slow speeds and bandwidth bottlenecks kill VoIP. Some products can be a stable solution for businesses, and others are provide poor quality and no backup plan. How many lost calls (lost business) would you be willing to have in a month? Is one call worth a cheaper phone bill? Quite honestly with a staff of three you probably have 4-6 telephone lines, so your monthly cost shouldn't be outrageous even with Verizon. Don't get me wrong, going with VoIP could save you some money, but do your homework and make sure that your buying a quality product with a stong company behind it. (see next paragraph) A good small business telephone system may allow your staff to be more efficient, therefore saving money in the long run, without worrying about call quality. Look to one of the large number of CLEC's that are in the area to provide information on dial tone packages available for the small business, XO, Nuvox, Paetec are just a few. Also look at some of the VOIP based phone system manufacturers in the area to learn about their products (Star2Star or IPotomy). Jim James Phone Solutions Inc.

Jim James 2008-06-18T04:03:08Z Jason Scott 2008-06-18T02:42:21Z 2008-06-18T02:42:21Z

Has VOIP come far enough for me to consider using it for business use? We have a staff of three and I'm looking for something that will cost less money in the long run. Would it have a lot of up-front charges? Is there free VOIP for business like there is for home, or is that a bad idea for quality purposes? Any help you can give me would be appreciated!

Jason Scott 2008-06-18T02:42:21Z