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Considering Replacing Your Ancient PBX with a New VoIP Phone System?

Posted by David S. Mulvey on Sun, Apr 06, 2014 Do you have a phone system that is sitting in your back office that has been bolted to the wall for the last 10 to 15 years? Or are you using a key system that isn’t providing you the functionality your employees need? Most old small business PBX’s are extremely reliable, they are built like tanks, and frankly just keep working. If you are like me (and I am a small business owner), you don’t look around in your office trying to replace business equipment that is still working.  If your PBX is operating just like it did on the first day you turned it on, why replace it? Why invest your valuable cash on a new phone system?

If you are like most small businesses owners, you may not realize the potential benefits of a new business phone system.  Today’s modern phone systems provide features nothing like your old and outdated PBX. Let’s take a look at some of the major differences between your old PBX and a modern small business phone system.

Perhaps the biggest differences lie in how the phone systems work.  The original PBX was a purpose built appliance that as we mentioned gets bolted onto a closet wall.  Dedicated wiring connected the PBX to the manufacturers’ specialized phone appliances.  A new PBX connects all of the phones to your company’s Local Area Network.  The benefit here is that you no longer need two sets of wiring in a building: the phone and the computer network.  There are many advantages beyond the simplification in wiring.  Because the phones are now on the LAN, so too are the voice signals, they have all been converted to a protocol called Voice-Over-IP often abbreviated as VoIP.  Because the voice signals now run on your network as VoIP packets on the LAN, they can also travel over the Internet like any other data packet.

There are enormous benefits to using VoIP instead of dedicated wiring.  To name a few, you no longer need dial tone delivered on dedicated data circuits that are expensive: T1’s, PRI’s or analog dial tone jacks.  Dial tone is now delivered over the Internet as VoIP data packets; you can turn off the T1’s and PRI circuits the VoIP phone system doesn’t need then anymore. This reduction in the traditional dial tone circuits can save a small business owner, hundreds to thousands of dollars in reduced dial tone cost every month.  It’s not unusual for the savings in traditional dial tone costs to pay for the new VoIP phone system in less than three years. After that its just money saved and in the bank.

Your old PBX had a fixed number of dial tone inputs and a fixed number of extension ports.  It cost additional money to connect more phones than the system had in ports. You needed to buy and install more port cards as your company grew.  Using a new VoIP system, there are no physical port connections, just a single LAN connection.  So you can add phones as your company grows, in fact, you often don’t even need to buy new VoIP phones to connect additional users, because your phone system can also load a software application on your desktop that emulates a physical phone. And we can tae that through further, you can load software on your Apple iPhone or Android phone that also emulates a VoIP phone.

There are so amazing implications to that ability to turn your cell phone into an office phone by using software.  So imagine if every employee had a Direct-Inward-Dial (DID) phone number, in my office my number is 267-628-1033, and instead of that number always ringing on a dedicated PBX phone wired into my office, now the DID will ring wherever you I am located when I have my cell phone with me.  So essentially I can answer my DID from home, in the car, on vacation or at work.  Imagine your employees ability to better serve your employees from within the company and also your vendors and clients? No more voice mails, no more waiting for answers, every employee is essentially always available to speak to a business contact.

I can program my VoIP cell phone application to ring me during the day and send calls to voice mail at night.  I can also have the VoIP system announce who the caller is and let me decide if I want to accept the call after hours.  The level of flexibility the VoIP system will bring and your employee’s ability to answer their DID line from outside the office will bring additional productivity improvements to your clients and your business.

I am just scratching the surface of what you can expect from your VoIP phone system.  My next blog will discuss what Unified Communications is and how your VoIP phone system can change the way you communicate within your business today!  Are you interested in learning more about VoIP? I am holding a Free IT webinar; click the link below to register for the VoIP information session to learn how VoIP might be the perfect choice for your small business. 8 Comments Click here to read/write comments

Topics: VoIP Phone, unified communications, VoIP solutions





 
What is the Advantage of IT Outsourcing for a Small Business? 

IT Outsourcing as a business model: 
Data Security Breaches: Not just a Big Business Threat.

Posted by Scott Persechino on Mon, Feb 17, 2014 If a big company like Target or Neiman Marcus can suffer a Data Security Breach, it can certainly happen to your small company. In fact, it’s probably more likely to happen. And though no business, big or small, is ever guaranteed to be completely protected from a data security breach, if a company does not take the proper proactive security steps, it will almost definitely happen.

After millions of shoppers fell victim to massive data breaches at Target and Neiman Marcus, investigations revealed that the mastermind behind the malware used in the attacks was a 17-year-old boy. For reference, malware is destructive computer software that interferes with normal computer functions, or sends personal data about users to unauthorized parties over the Internet. That is exactly what happened in these two breaches. Investigators have revealed that the teen allegedly created the malware last March, and started selling it to an unreported number of cyberhackers in Eastern Europe. The teen is from the Ukraine, and authorities believe the malware leveraged in these breaches was used by hackers in Russia. Up to 110 million Target shoppers had much of their personal information like credit card numbers, PINs, and even personal addresses compromised because of the breach. Can you imagine how your customers would react if they were victimized like this because of a network security breach at your company?

Companies, regardless of size, rely on critical business data to succeed and flourish. Based on a recent study, more than 78% of organizations have suffered from at least one data breach over the past two years.  Your company may face considerable financial liabilities if it loses sensitive data. Even worse is the damage to your reputation, especially since most consumers say they would entirely stop dealing with an organization in the event of a security breach. Even small businesses with antivirus solutions in place are prime cybercrime targets.

Three surprising ways that small companies are more likely to suffer a worse data breach:

Three Myths and Facts the Small Business Owner should be aware of:

MYTH #1: My business is too small to be a target.
FACT: Size does not matter. Believing you are not susceptible to a breach, combined with the vast amount of data your business holds, potential employee negligence, and a lack of a dedicated IT staff makes your business a prime target for attackers. In fact, the majority of small businesses agree they can’t do enough to protect their data using the measures and technologies they currently have in place.

Cyber criminals do not discriminate. As long as they can gain profit and find anything lucrative to exploit, they will. Understanding the threats your business faces, their potential impact, and the regulations you need to follow is really the least any business owner should be doing.

MYTH #2: The antivirus I have is good enough.
FACT: Traditional antivirus software is not a cure-all. An advanced persistent cyber threat can manage to stay undetected in a network or system for a long period while progressing toward its goal—usually to steal data. An advanced persistent cyber threat’s ability to bypass blacklisting allows it to move within the network without detection and steal corporate passwords in order to gain access to other systems.

Since attackers consider small businesses prime targets, relying on traditional security technologies can also put you at risk for a customized malware attack in which hackers identify their victims and purposefully infect the user's computer to steal data. Customized malware attacks account for most data breaches and the chances of a data breach are higher when businesses believe that their traditional antivirus is enough to protect their assets, particularly against customized attacks.

MYTH #3: I can trust my employees and don’t have to worry about enforcing data security policies.
FACT: A company’s greatest asset—its employees—can also be its weakest link. The top reasons cited for data loss were employees’ tendency to open attachments or click links embedded in spam, to leave their systems unattended, to change their passwords too infrequently, and to visit restricted sites. This negligence puts critical business data at risk from data-stealing cybercriminals and malicious insiders. Research shows that 56% of employees frequently store sensitive data on their laptops, smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. This means there is more than a 50% chance that confidential information can land in the wrong hands should they lose these devices.

What you can do about it:

Start with these IT security best practices:
• Secure, encrypt, and password protect sensitive customer and employee data.
• Set rules for your employees; don’t let Social Networking compromise your data.
• Dispose of sensitive documents completely and securely.
• Limit access to sensitive data.
• Ensure that all software and systems are updated as needed.
• Put up firewalls to block hackers.
• Establish secure remote access protocol.
• Establish and adhere to a privacy policy.


Patch the holes in your organization’s walls. Identify which information is critical, who could and should be able to access it, then investigate the best ways to protect it with the aid of a trusted IT advisor or your Managed Service Provider. Like holes or cracks in walls, areas where your company data is most vulnerable can cause your security perimeter to crumble.  ANP is offering a free IT Webinar for business owners this month regarding how to secure your company data. Register by clicking on the button below: 
Topics: data security, IT security, network security, data security breaches