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Keep Up With Technology To Stay In The Lead!: What We Can Learn From BMW

As Bob Dylan sings, “The times they are a changin,” and so it is true for the business world. As technology advances, the way we conduct business changes, and for many in the business world, technology is leaving them behind! In order for a business to stay competitive in today’s marketplace, it must be able to keep up with and utilize the latest technology in its products, services and the way it operates.

BMW started out in 1916 as a small manufacturer of aero-engines. In 1922 they moved into motorcycle production and in 1928 they began their journey into car manufacturing. Over the course of 85 years they grown and have now managed to move out in front and stay in the lead of car and motorcycle manufacturing with their stylish and innovative designs. They now manufacture their products at 28 sites in 13 countries on four continents! How are they managing to remain the world’s leader in the luxury car industry?

Their strategy is based upon four pillars which are: “Growth, Shaping the Future, Profitability and Access to Technologies and Customers.” For any company to remain a leader in their industry, they must grow in market share and in profitability. BMW has managed to do this by utilizing the latest technology at their disposal to improve their products, and connect with their potential clients in the luxury car market.

If you look at BMW cars over the past 85 years, there has obviously been advancements in technology, and the car industry, much like other industries must apply these advancements to their product in order to appeal to consumers. The same can be said for almost any company, whether you are selling cars, computers, software, telephone systems, or technical gadgets. Even many services are at risk of falling behind the times by avoiding new technology.

If we look at the development of BMW’s 3 series line of cars, they have been one of the most popular of their lines since 1977 when the first one rolled off of the production line. The series was launched as an advertised improvement to their 2002 series line. Over the course 37 years BMW has modified its beloved 3 series model by changing engines, body styles, interior layout, options, features, the suspension, etc. The company has managed to keep their product relevant for the times by being flexible and innovative. For example, would a 1984 BMW be competitive on the market today? The obvious answer is no. Yet many companies are trying to stay alive by selling their outdated products and using inefficient means of conducting business.

Although the BMW body styles have remained intriguing and eye catching over the years, the 1984 car would pale in overall comparison to any modern car. Can you imagine BMW trying to stay on the racing circuit with 30 year old technology? They would get hammered on the track. This same also goes for BMW marketing. If BMW did not have a well maintained website and well-connected company structure that allowed them to work efficiently and connect with potential clients, would they be the world’s leader in luxury cars? Case in point, you also have to run your business in the same fashion. If you don’t stay up with times in how your company operates and in the products and services you offer, you will not be a leader in your industry.

Here are a few points to ponder.

1. Website: Do you have an appealing, updated website for your company? Is it easy to navigate and does it compel you to act? If you look at BMW’s website, it has a clean easy to navigate interface that encourages you to explore their product models, and play with the configuration of the cars. It’s easy to make payments on it, it’s easy to navigate and find a dealer near you, and the personal portal has useful information on it. The site is also appealing to the eye with images that tend to capture your imagination, and make you want to put yourself behind the wheel of one of their cars. What about their cool tag line, “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” What is yours? Is your website outdated? How much useful information do you have on it? Does it compel your visitors to act?

2. Product Innovation: Do you offer the latest technological advances in your product market or service? Are you still offering old technology because you are comfortable with it and are afraid to change? Are you willing to take the time and make the effort to keep learning new technology to improve your product line? I have had two 328i BMWs, and the difference between my 2011 model and my 2013 model are substantial. It has a more sophisticated on board navigation package and more digital controls and apps on the user interface. The suspension has improvements and BMW now has an improved Efficient Dynamics package which reduces fuel consumption without sacrificing power. Notice how they market Efficient Dynamics: “BMW Efficient Dynamics stands for the noticeable reduction of consumption and emissions with a simultaneous increase in performance and driving pleasure. Intelligent energy management and lightweight construction as well as aerodynamics and engine efficiency measures mean sustainable mobility is already standard in every BMW.” How are clever are you in marketing your product or service?

3. Getting Connected: Are you using the latest accessible means to stay connected with your existing customers as well as increase your connections with new prospects? Are you the expert in your field who provides useful information to people, and do you use the latest social media to distribute it? Are you using the latest mobility applications to make your company, service and product more relevant? Do you give them a reason to stay connected with you? The key question is, are you to be found where your customers are looking for your product or service, and when they find you do you peak their interest?

While there are certainly more lessons to be learned from analyzing BMW’s success in the luxury car market, these few points are certainly food for thought. Are we really making an effort to learn and apply the latest and greatest technology to grow our businesses and put ourselves at the front of the pack?

ACD and Q Manager Desktop Call Presence

Q Manager with ACD by Matthew Bellisario

IPitomy's Emergency Notification

IPitomy Emergency Notification by Matthew Bellisario

Be a Leader in Today’s Competitive PBX Telecom Market!

There are many PBX companies in the telecommunications industry all competing for a limited market share. Many businesses are hanging on to their old phone system as long as they can, and those who have decided to invest in a new system are not quick to move. This equates to a much higher level of competition than ever before. What are some factors to consider when choosing a PBX product line to keep your business competitive? There are several elements to keep in mind to determine the overall value of a PBX manufacturer. Once you determine this and take on a new product, then you must also differentiate yourself on how you market your company and product.

1.       Price Point: Although only about 30% of businesses buy on price alone, having a lower price point on your equipment purchase does not necessarily have to equate to a rock bottom price to your buyer. Yes, you want to have a very competitive price point so that you can come in under your competitor. But most importantly, you want the flexibility to have the margins that you need to make a profit.

2.       Quality and Loyalty: Having the best price will not get you far if you do not offer a quality product and service. Your equipment must be reliable, and your company must also be reliable. It no longer suffices to keep your customers “happy.” You have to keep them loyal, and that means you must earn their trust. One of the most important factors is equipment quality and personal service. Keeping in touch with your customers earns you loyalty. Don’t be an ‘install it and disappear’ kind of company.

3.       Value in the Product: Overall value does not end with price. Being able to offer more features and flexibility with your PBX is extremely important. In order to differentiate yourself from the competition, you should look for a VoIP phone system that is rich in features and does not require extra licensing for every feature the customer wants. A PBX with a large standard feature set out of the box is more valuable to a potential client than one you have to keep adding licensing costs, even if the PBX is cheaper on the front end. Watch out for those back end costs. You also want a product that is easily upgradable so that when the latest features and applications are developed, you can upgrade at a reasonable cost to obtain the latest and greatest.

4.       Premise Based and Cloud Based Platforms: Since many businesses are looking at running their communications solutions in the Cloud, it is wise to find a manufacturer that can give you the best of both worlds. While premise based systems are here to stay, it is imperative to be able to offer a Cloud solution to those companies that desire it. Look for a manufacturer that offers a robust VoIP PBX as well as a Cloud based solution. Ultimately, the Cloud based solution would be one that lets you retain control and direct contact with your customer. A hosted option in which you are only a reseller for a hosted company builds up their customer base, not yours!

5.       Customer Service: No PBX can fit the value mold without support from the manufacturer. Being able to contact personnel in the US who can actually help you with your challenges is extremely important. You must also receive the proper training to install the systems and maintain them. Does the manufacturer charge for tech support and training, or do they offer it as a value in the dealer partnership?

6.       You Are The Final Differentiatior: Once you have chosen your product line, it is now up to you! You must now make the effort to personalize the PBX solution to match the desires of your potential clients. Your company must be known for its commitment to helping customers obtain an efficient and well managed communications solution. Sales is not a part time job, it’s a fulltime commitment to introducing your company to as many people as you can as many ways as you can. Utilize every avenue available to you to communicate the expertise of your company. Use manufacturer brochures, videos and testimonials to build an effective website. Remember, when you meet a potential client they are buying you first! Once they buy you, then they will consider your value offering.

Meeting the requirements of these six key elements will have you well on the way to being a leader in today’s telecommunications industry.

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IPitomy Hospitality by Matthew Bellisario

IPitomy Auto Call Record Flyer

IPitomy Auto Call Record by Matthew Bellisario

IPitomy Puts the Value in VoIP

IPitomy Puts the Value in VoIP! by Matthew Bellisario

IPitomy's New DVPBX Cloud Communications Platform

IPitomy DVPBX 'Changing the Way Cloud Communications is Done!' by Matthew Bellisario

IPitomy HD Phone Flyer

IPitomy HD Phone Flyer 2013 by Matthew Bellisario

Utilizing the Power of "Smart" Call Routing

With all of the cool features available on today’s VoIP phone systems, many people forget the primary reason for having a phone system, which is to route callers efficiently throughout the company. With the increasing use of auto attendant, there is a need to automate the ways calls can be routed.

IPitomy’s “Smart” routing allows you to route calls by including or excluding a number or numbers programmed in the system through expressions. There are many applications for this feature, which can be used in any number of businesses, small and large. The digits can be collected by caller ID or even after the system has answered through the auto attendant.

If a company were to have 3 branch offices for example, perhaps one in New York City, one in Rochester and one in Buffalo, it would be possible to route calls by area code to the appropriate branch office. This ensures that those customers who live nearest to the Buffalo area would rout to the Buffalo office, alleviating the need for an operator to take the time to find out which office they are closest to and then transfer them manually. The phone system can easily be programmed to automatically route calls by the first three numbers of the caller ID.

Many companies have the need to route their customers to an appropriate individual or group based on an ID number, account number, etc. For example, a company may have tiered technical support where a platinum member may route to a different group than a gold member, or can even be queued behind a platinum member. Once the caller rings into the main menu through the auto attendant, the caller would be asked to enter their ID number and they would be instantly routed to the appropriate call group. There are endless scenarios that this function would fit into nicely.

This feature is extremely powerful, and several expressions can built in the system for dynamic call routing, where you can discriminate according to the incoming numbers in great detail depending on your needs. This added feature gives even more depth to an already robust, efficient call routing platform.  Be sure to check out IPitomy’s website for more information on its impressive IP-PBX lineup. 

The Economy: A Curse and a Blessing (Utilizing Social Media)

Today's extremely competitive economy is both a curse and a blessing. For those who want to run their business on an antiquated model, a decade behind the times, it is a curse. Those who are taking advantage of new technology and learning a more personalized way of of doing business are seeing it as a blessing. The Internet and social media have changed the way we do business. We are now connected to one another in a variety of mediums which are able to communicate data in a very personalized manner. No longer do we have to fly all over the country to introduce ourselves to prospects. It no longer takes millions of dollars for a start-up company to compete against the big boys. Now you just have to be smarter, more creative, and more personable.

Every day you wait to engage in social media, you fall behind your competition. Devote an hour a day to Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, Linkedin, and YouTube. Write interesting articles that offer value to people, and create videos for YouTube so people know who you are and can identify with you on a personal level. Find ways to add value through these avenues and find ways to be creative in making new contacts with people. Remember, be personal. Tweeting out advertisements for your business all of the time is not a great way to build rapport with people. It would be like you going to a dinner party and and blabbing about your company and product all night to everyone you meet.  Once they know and like you, they will know what kind of business you have, and be willing to do business with you when the opportunity presents itself.

Is a Hosted PBX Solution Really Your Best Value?

IP-PBX VS the Average Cloud Product

The Dilemma

Many companies today are faced with a dilemma of sorts in trying to decide what direction to take their business communications in. Do they go with a premise based IP-PBX solution, or do they take their company in the offsite hosted direction? Hosted marketing material boasts a low monthly cost and a low maintenance model, while the premise based solution boasts more control and the advantage of not being tied to a monthly cost for the life of the business’s communications needs. In order to make a good choice based on the facts, we must closely examine the real cost, features, and benefits of each. 

Are You In Control?

As soon as you make the decision to hand off your communications needs to a hosted company, you are no longer in control. Although your hosted company may boast of having essentially no “downtime” you are still at the mercy of the hosted provider’s connections, data center issues and your local internet company. Also, you are not able to troubleshoot issues as easily as you can with a premise based system. Having a hosted solution adds another layer of support to your model; just like calling the phone company. That means you have to rely on someone who may be located halfway across the globe to help you troubleshoot your problems. Your local IT group or local communications vendor can be available in person to troubleshoot your premise based solution. Finally you can customize and make changes to a premise based system much easier than a hosted. You control the system, its upgrades and growth. The key question is, do you want control? 

Is Hosted Really A Better Value?

The short answer is no, it is more expensive. To start with, in order to compare apples to apples we are going to break both solutions into a monthly cost. The one misleading marketing tactic that the hosted providers do is compare a large upfront cost of a premise based solution vs. an apparent low monthly cost of the hosted. They also fail to tell you that you are going to be paying their monthly cost forever, as long as you use their service. The truth is, once you break the IPitomy premise based solution down to a monthly payment, the hosted solution begins to lose its shine. Additionally, when you begin to compare them feature for feature, the IPitomy premise based system for example, really leaves the hosted competition lacking. 

Is Hosted Really Invincible?

A hosted PBX runs over the Internet! No Internet, no phones! Are you really going to forward all of those lines to cell phones while the cable or Internet company fixes that outage? On a premise based system you can have two service providers. A traditional PRI for example, and Internet based SIP lines. Why put all of your eggs in one basket when you can diversify? Can a premise based system crash? Sure, save your backups and use a RAID drive and a redundant power supply to drastically reduce your chances of an outage. If you have a reliable interconnect, you will have the proper backups and replacement equipment available to get back up quickly in case of an outage. Finally, one good reason to use the Cloud, is for backup. You can have your IP phones hit the Cloud in an emergency if your premise based system completely dies. To sum it up, a premise based system gives you more options for system redundancy that a pure Cloud solution. 

Well What About Service Costs?

The great pitch of the hosted salesman is to tell you that you never have to worry about service again! Even with hosted, phones still go bad, and if you have a bad one, you have may have to wait to get a new one mailed to you. If you are experiencing problems, dropped calls, buttons not working, etc., you have to call someone on the phone and haggle with them to determine what the problem is. Then you may still be wrong and find out you have a network problem! Is it really worth paying all of that extra money every month to have to do the troubleshooting yourself? Why not save those hundreds of dollars a month, and when you have a problem, someone can actually come out and talk to you personally and solve it for you? I guarantee that the amount of money you will spend on service will not even come close to the money you are wasting every month for that “invincible” system that you still don’t own. Looking at the comparison example, which you will see on the next page, once the equipment is paid for a business would save close to $4000.00 a year for a small 20 phone system. 

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Sales tip #5: It is Not About Statistics and Features, It is About Personalization

One of the major mistakes sale people make, is that when they have the first opportunity to speak to a prospect they quickly tell them as much as they can about their product or service. It is like a fire hose gone wild! No one wants to waste a valuable opportunity, and we certainly want to make the most out of it. Unfortunately rattling off all of the features and statistics about your offering is not really making the most out of your opportunity, its wasting it. There are a few key rules to keep in mind when you make a sales call.

Do They Like You?

People don’t usually buy from people they don’t like. If at the first opportunity you start listing off every feature you can remember about your product or service, they probably are not going to like you very much. They think you just want to sell them something, and that is usually a big turn off for people. Be friendly, ask questions so you can learn about your prospect and start to build rapport with them. As you begin to understand who your client is and what his wants, needs or desires are, you can then begin to advise him on how your product or service could benefit them.

Do You Personalize Your Product?

Prospects don’t necessarily care about features, they want to know what value you can provide. For example, I work in the telecommunications industry. Instead of telling a prospect that your phone system can have remote phones, why not personalize the feature for them? For example, do they ever wish that their key employee who is home with their sick kid could answer some important calls instead of being completely out of commission for the day? Have they ever considered letting some employees work from home to save costs on office space? Personalization is extremely important.

Do You Know Your Prospect’s Motivation To Buy?  

What idea does the prospect have in mind when considering this new purchase? It is important to determine why your prospect wants to buy. What benefits do they perceive, and what outcome do they desire? When you go shopping for a car don’t you normally picture yourself driving that shiny new cool BMW or Lexus before you buy it? Then you decide test drive it, and finally you desire to have that imagined outcome become a reality and then you buy. Everyone who buys something has an outcome in their mind which motivates them. If you do not know that motivation or desired outcome you will have a hard time selling.

If you keep these three questions in mind when you approach new prospects you will have a much better shot at completing the sale. 

Why Choose An IP-PBX For Your Next Phone System?

Don't Get Left Behind!

Today there are many options to choose from when you are shopping for a new business phones system. Many companies are still manufacturing systems utilizing outdated technology and passing it off as the latest. VoIP is the direction that the telecommunications industry is moving in. As voice over IP technology advances more businesses are able to take advantage of it. This technology however is not just about new cool apps, it is about saving money and increasing efficiency. There are many ways that an IP-PBX will benefit your business.  Here are just a few of them.

Direct Cost Savings

An IP-PBX can often pay for itself by utilizing SIP lines that work over the Internet. Phone bills can often be reduced by 50% or more which means that financing that new phone system may not cost you anything out of pocket! That combined with other robust features like conference bridges and remote workers for example, makes purchasing a new IP system a no brainer.

Scalability

A true VoIP system provides a business with the ability to grow without having to add expensive equipment. SIP phones work on any network and all you need is a switch to plug them into. No more adding cards in the phone system. An IP-PBX also allows you to use SIP trunking, which is a way to make calls with a provider over the Internet. SIP trunks are less expensive than traditional phone lines and often offer robust long distance plans. They can easily be added or removed depending on the needs of your business. This adding and removing of trunk requires no cards or extra equipment.

Trunking Redundancy

The ability to use more than one type of dial tone connection, or trunking, is a great benefit for communications redundancy. Companies that have two types of trunking, for example, a PRI combined with SIP trunks, will have more stability if one of the dial tone carriers experiences a service outage. If one were to lose the Internet, their PRI would still function, and if one were to experience an outage on their T1, if their Internet was still working their SIP lines would not be affected.

Remote Workers

Companies are finding ways to cut costs and keep their employees connected through their phone system no matter where they may be located. An IP-PBX gives you the ability to use remote office phones at their homes or remote office and still be on the same system, using the same caller ID and incoming phone numbers. All the SIP phone needs is an Internet connection to work of the system remotely. For those who travel, they can utilize soft phones on their cell phones while they are at the airport, and any location that has 4g or WiFi and work off of the phone system as an extension. Try that on the old systems!

Efficient Call Routing

The main purpose of a phone system of course is to route calls the proper personal at the desired times. An IP-PBX usually has built in flexible routing options such as call groups and queuing that can route callers efficiently to make sure customers receive stellar customer service.

Staying Up To Date

If you are looking at an IP-PBX you will want to shop for one that is easily up-gradable and easily programmed remotely. Many of the new IP-PBXs are primarily software driven, which means that new features and upgrades can be done remotely so that your business always has the latest and greatest applications as they are developed. There are always new applications being developed such as built in conference rooms, emergency applications, and others that will benefit your company without having to keep buying a new phone system.

Summary

There are many reasons to make your next phone system purchase a pure VoIP based platform. Technology is not stopping to wait for anyone, and as companies realize the many benefits of VoIP, more and more development is going to be focused on that platform, not the older TDM platform. Support will also be more of a problem for those who opt to go with an older type key system. No one would consider using a horse and buggy anymore for their commute back forth to work, we now have the automobile. Try putting an AC unit on that buggy and see how it works! Choose VoIP, it’s the future of telecommunications!

Ditching Your Old Phone System? What Type of Trunking (Dial-tone) Should You Use?

Upgrading? Understand Your trunking Options. 

When you are looking for a new phone system, one of the first questions you are asked is “What kind of trunks do you have?” Much of the time the response is “what are trunks?” Put in laymen’s terms, trunks are the means in which your phone system communicates with outside world. It is your dial tone. There are generally three groups into which we classify trunking, and each have pros and cons. We will briefly discuss them.

POTS Lines

In the old days you pretty much had one standard trunking solution which was a pair of copper wires, which we call POTs lines, or Plain Old Telephone Lines. Anyone who has had a land line at their house can relate to this type of line. Two wires go from your house to the central office of the telephone company and then are routed to another pair of wires when you call another subscriber. The main difference with businesses is the need for several of these lines so their employees could make and receive simultaneous calls. Having these multiple lines required a way to integrate them into the business, which was largely done by a telephone system. There are still many of these lines in use today, although many of these “POTS” lines are now just simulated by digital devices. The days of true analogue lines are gradually going by the wayside, and AT&T has vowed to phase them out over the next 7 years or so.

What are the pros of POTS lines?

For the small business with limited access to high speed data, the POTs line is still an effective solution. Although they are gradually being replaced by SIP solutions, they still have physical connections which afford a somewhat more consistent reliability being that the local phone company still maintains them directly.

What are the cons?

POTS lines are slowly being phased out since they are outdated technology. Those hanging on to their old phone systems are going to have to upgrade sooner rather than later. These lines are also more expensive, and if high bandwidth Internet is available which allows for the utilization of SIP trunking, you can decrease your telephone bill by 50% or more. Also, many POTs lines are not physical copper lines anymore, and are digital interfaces which are converted to an analogue interface on the phone system. This conversion also means there can be loss of call quality. As technology advances POTS lines are going to be a thing of the past.  Purchasing a phone system that is designed as a TDM system and requires POTS lines is obviously a poor investment.  Your investment dollar is much better spent with a system that fully embraces the next generation technology; avoid systems that are designed around the old technology.

PRI/T1 Trunks

The PRI/T1 interface has been around now for some time. Once only utilized by large businesses because of high cost, they are now found in businesses of all sizes. A PRI is a digital circuit which runs on 2 pairs of wire and delivers 24 channels, one being used for negotiation. The other 23 channels are channels used for voice lines, giving a PRI a robust 23 voice channels. There are also shared T1s which can also be used for both voice and data. This however s not utilized so much anymore since a whole T1 is only 1.54 Mps.

What are the pros of the PRI?

A PRI can still be very cost effective voice solution for your business. With the cost averaging between $350.00 to $450.00 a month for 23 lines, a PRI can make a lot of sense. Maintenance on the PRI is also usually easier to manage since your provider maintains it up to the telco demark, and your phone vender is responsible for it after that point into the phone system. Call quality is usually consistent on a PRI. For businesses with a lot of DIDs and the need for several phone lines, a PRI is a viable option that will be around for the foreseeable future, yet will be losing market share to SIP trunks..

What are the cons?

Although the cost on a T1 has come down over the past 10 years, it can still be a bit much for those business that do not need 23 lines. It also costs your business more to interface a PRI into the phone system since it requires a PRI interface card. This makes the PRI perhaps a bit much for the business that may only need 10 phone lines for example.  With all of the service provider consolidation happening in the industry, T1/PRI providers are being acquired by a few large companies.  This has had the effect of reducing customer service to very low levels in some areas.  Make sure to take this into account with your vendor.  The T1 and analog service providers are in a diminishing business sector.  They are rapidly losing market share to the SIP providers.  This trend will not be reversed.

SIP trunks- The Wave of the Future

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) trunking is the new kid on the block compared to POTS and PRI solutions. It utilizes the Internet to make voice over IP phone calls. A PBX that is SIP based only needs an Internet connection with adequate bandwidth to utilize SIP trunks. Essentially the IP-PBX hangs on your local network which is connected to the Internet. This allows your IP-PBX access to set up VoIP calls. I would make sure that whatever system you buy has SIP compatibility, and even better if the system is SIP ready out of the box. Watch out for systems that have SIP licensing as an add-on. SIP trunking is becoming an extremely popular form of trunking and appears to be the way communications will move in the future.  New looking systems with a TDM core instead of a true pure IP PBX may be something to avoid, as they may become obsolete as parts become scarce and the old technology is displaced by IP PBX systems that are software based.

What are the pros of SIP?

SIP trunks are a very cost effective way to bring dial tone into your business. They are somewhere around 50% less expensive than POTS lines, and often include great long distance plans. This can mean huge monthly savings on your phone bill. They are fairly easy to integrate into the phone system and there are many companies to choose from. You can also choose how many SIP trunks you need based on your business traffic and you can add them easily as you need them. SIP provides you with the best scalability. SIPs also provide the best redundancy since they can be utilized with a Cloud in the event that your premise based system crashes and your Internet is still up. VoIP call quality when set up correctly is very good.  As the “new kid” on the block, SIP carriers are much more customer centric than the old wire line carriers, hence customer service is essential to be competitive in this growing sector.

What are the cons?

SIP trunks are still new technology and bandwidth plays a critical role in having call quality. Depending on how many simultaneous calls you need, you must calculate then needed bandwidth and make sure your slowest speed will suffice. Companies that have only DSL speed may have problems depending on their need. Maintenance is also sometimes a bit more difficult to deal with since you have more parties involved. You not only have the SIP provider, but you may also have a different Internet provider to work with as well, which can directly affect the quality of SIP trunking.

Summary

Depending on your business’s situation and needs, any of the above trunking solutions may be utilized. There are some areas where you have no viable option other than to use POTS lines. However, as Internet service becomes more popular, and higher speeds and reliability increase, so will SIP trunks. The PRI is a nice way to go if you need several lines and want maximum stability. Finally, I would always encourage using more than one trunk solution for redundancy. Even if you only have a few SIP trunks, I would recommend complementing the traditional PRI or POTS lines with SIP. Your premise based IP-PBX provides your business with the best redundancy when it comes to trunking. I recommend buying a system that will grow tih you on the SIP side of things, and systems that are SIP ready with no additional licensing for SIP trunks wil be the most cost effective. I hope this information helps you when you go shopping for your next phone system.

Sales Tip #3: How Important is Following Up? "Being a Pest, or Being the Best?"

There is a fine line between being a pest and being the best!

Did you know that the average close of a sale takes place after at least five meetings or conversations with the prospect? Most sales advisers only make one or two attempts to close a prospect. Those who do follow up more often make the mistake of guessing how long to wait before calling on the prospect again. If you persevere by continually following up with your prospects in a professional manner, you will be much more successful than those who throw in the towel after one or two attempts, or those who make their prospect cringe when they see their number show up everyday on their caller ID.

Here are a few tips that may help you in following up with your prospects. 

1. Ask permission to follow up
 Nothing disarms your prospect like asking permission to call on them again. It also allows you keep your relationship alive and lets you know that the prospect is still somewhat interested in building a relationship with you and your company. If you make a lot of phone calls to prospects, put a sticky note on your monitor, "ASK FOR FOLLOW UP"

2. Ask for a specific day and time to follow up 
Asking for a date and time takes the pressure off you as to guessing when it is appropriate to contact them. Nothing is worse than trying to guess how long to wait before calling on someone again. The line between being a pest and being the best is a fine one.

3. Have new material to share when you do follow up
Always try and have some new material available when you do follow up. This is easier said than done. We all have the tendency to spill all of our beans when we have the first opportunity to do so. We are so excited that someone is interested in speaking to us that we can exhaust everything we have at one time. Start off with an enticing introduction to get the prospect's interest, and then add more detailed material as you go.

4. Build up your relationship with each follow up
Don't be the sales guy who just talks about yourself and your product. With every follow up opportunity you have, you have an opportunity to build rapport with them.

5. Don't be afraid to ask for the sale
At the end of the day, your follow ups are not going to be of any use unless your willing to ask your prospect for their business. Although building a relationship is important, you are not calling your prospect once a week or once every few weeks to only chat about the Yankees. Don't be afraid to ask them what barriers are keeping them from doing business with you, so you can address them and hopefully close the deal! Good luck!

A Softphone Integrates Your Business Into Your Smartphone!

Cell phones have revolutionized the way we communicate. There are few people who do not have a cell phone, and many have completely replaced their home land lines with cell phones. While businesses do not have the luxury on doing away with their premise based phones, cell smartphones do have their place in the business world. Although you can ordinarily forward your business phone to your cell phone, there is a limited capacity to use your cell phone with your business phone system. A softphone alleviates these limitations and allows your cell phone to have a higher integration with your business system, provided it is an IP system.

A softphone is a software app that you can run on your smartphone, laptop or tablet which allows you to use Internet access to make and receive phone calls off of your business VoIP system. There are some things you should know about using your cell phone as a softphone. When calling from a softphone on your cell phone there are some pros and cons. The pros surely outweigh the cons, but knowing some of the limitations will be helpful in getting the most user friendly experience with your new softphone

Pros
1. A softphone works as an extension off your VoIP system which gives off the caller ID of your business rather than your personal cell number. As you know, there are times when you would rather not have your personal phone number being broadcast when making business calls. It is also beneficial to broadcast your business caller ID so your customers can call back the appropriate number. This makes your cell phone a transparent component of your business phone system.

2. When you have your softphone registered on the VoIP PBX you can also put that extension into groups which can allow cell phone users to answer calls in groups while being mobile. You can also transfer calls just like you would if you were in the office. You also have the ability to put callers on hold with hold music.

3. By using the softphone in conjunctions with WiFi, you do not use your personal minutes up while talking, nor do you use packets your data plan.

Cons
1. Softphones are known for wearing down your battery on your cell, so have an extra battery available, or your charger. Make sure you can completely disable your softphone so it will not drain your battery when you are not using it. Check out the reviews for various softphones. Some of the free ones are not easy to disable and can kill your battery quickly.

2. Do not completely rely on your 3G or 4G data to make calls on your softphone. Always try and use a WiFi hotspot for reliable bandwidth. Voice is very susceptible to packet loss. Slow or inconsistent data speeds will present you with delayed or choppy voice or no voice at all. I have made calls while driving around in Sarasota utilizing 4G on my Metro PCS plan, and my calls did stay up, but the call quality is not quite as good as a normal cell call, and there are times when I had a little delay causing me to talk over the other person.

Summary
Softphones on your cell phone allows you to stay connected to your business VoIP system while traveling. For those sitting in an airport this can be very helpful for conducting business before and after flights. Your softphone gives you superior integration with your business and you will enjoy some of the benefits of your VoIP PBX while you travel. As far as recommendations go, I can say personally that I have Sipdroid on my LG-MS840 Android smartphone and it works pretty good. It was easy to install and setup and works well on WiFi and I can make calls on 4G while driving, with occasional quality issues. When you are not using the app, make sure to go into your settings and turn off the 3G feature so you can use your cell to make normal calls Some apps are easier to navigate than others so be sure to try a few to see which works best for you. There are a variety of free and paid softphones out there such as Counterpath, Zoiper and Sipdroid to name a few. Have fun with your new softphone!

Saving Money With SIP Redundancy

In today's market nothing is more important than a company's ability to communicate. There are various ways for businesses to build disaster recovery into their communications platform. One of the most overlooked methods is not an expensive proposal, and in fact can put money back into your pocket every month! For those businesses who have moved into the VoIP era, their premise based VoIP system can utilize multiple trunking types and multiple service providers to prevent business interruption by the loss of communications.

The SIP service provider market has been growing exponentially over the past few years. It is
an excellent way to provide redundancy for your business as well as save you money every month. Many businesses are still running on POTS (traditional) lines, which can cost over 50 dollars per line, per month. A SIP line which runs over your internet into your VoIP system can cut this cost in half per line, and also provide you with competitive long distance plans. Many companies have gone completely to SIP trunking for this reason. There can be a benefit to having a combination of trunking. This a blind spot for those who have chosen to subscribe to a hosted cloud solution. When the internet goes down, your business will experience catastrophic business disruption. Even if your hosted provider can set up call forwarding to mobile phones or voice mail, it is still a major disruption to your business continuity. Not so with a premise based VoIP solution that has combined trunking. With combined trunking, an Internet outage forwards calls to your traditional phone lines automatically with no disruption in service. The same thing if your analogue lines should fail, the SIP service is available for all calls. In most cases, using the combined provider scenario actually reduces phone costs. What could be better; disaster recovery, business continuity and reduced telecom expenses?

To improve business, rather than discarding all of your old traditional phone lines, you can choose to keep some of them, and replace some of them with SIP trunking. Premised based VoIP systems such as the IPitomy allows you to easily set up outgoing and incoming routes based on your diversified trunking configuration. For example, your long distance may route out on your SIP trunks, while your main number may remain on your POTS lines. You can build priorities on your trunking allowing you to fail over to another in case one provider fails. This can also work with companies who have a PRI. It can be combined with SIP trunking to add additional redundancy to your system. If the internet goes down, you would still be able to fail over to your POTS lines or PRI. If your POTS service or PRI service fails, you can fail over to your SIP trunks, which operate over your internet provider.

Being creative with your premise based VoIP system trunking is not only beneficial to keeping your communications alive in times of outages, but it can also put real dollars back into your pocket every month. Examine your phone and internet bill and then implement a plan that will integrate SIP trunking into your premised based VoIP communications platform, so that you can have the best of both worlds; disaster recovery and monthly savings!

Matthew J. Bellisario 2013

IPitomy IP-PBX VS Hosted

The Dilemma

Many companies today are faced with a dilemma of sorts in trying to decide what direction to take their business communications in. Do they go with a premise based IP-PBX solution, or do they take their company in the offsite hosted direction? Hosted marketing material boasts a low monthly cost and a low maintenance model, while the premise based solution boasts more control and the advantage of not being tied to a monthly cost for the life of the business’s communications needs. In order to make a good choice based on the facts, we must closely examine the real cost, features, and benefits of each.

Are You In Control?

As soon as you make the decision to hand off your communications needs to a hosted company, you are no longer in control. Although your hosted company may boast of having essentially no “downtime” you are still at the mercy of the hosted provider’s connections, data center issues and your local internet company. Also, you are not able to troubleshoot issues as easily as you can with a premise based system. Having a hosted solution adds another layer of support to your model; just like calling the phone company. That means you have to rely on someone who may be located halfway across the globe to help you troubleshoot your problems. Your local IT group or local communications vendor can be available in person to troubleshoot your premise based solution. Finally you can customize and make changes to a premise based system much easier than a hosted. You control the system, its upgrades and growth. The key question is, do you want control?

Is Hosted Really A Better Value?

The short answer is no, it is more expensive. To start with, in order to compare apples to apples we are going to break both solutions into a monthly cost. The one misleading marketing tactic that the hosted providers do is compare a large upfront cost of a premise based solution vs. an apparent low monthly cost of the hosted. They also fail to tell you that you are going to be paying their monthly cost forever, as long as you use their service. The truth is, once you break the IPitomy premise based solution down to a monthly payment, the hosted solution begins to lose its shine. Additionally, when you begin to compare them feature for feature, the IPitomy premise based system really leaves the hosted competition lacking.

IPitomy Premise Based Solution

IPitomy IP1100 SIP ready with 20 phones

Features included:

IPitomy IP320 phones with 12 programmable buttons

Busy lamp fields

1000 hours of voicemail with no port limitations

32 party conference bridge

20 park zones

Unlimited Music on hold options per phone, groups, menus

Unlimited auto attendant

Unlimited call groups and queuing

Voicemail/Email integration

Find me follow me

Click to call

Unlimited Paging

16 Q-Manager desktop call management software licenses

Remote phones

Branch offices

Ad-hoc call record for all users

Cost for IPitomy premise based system

20 Phone IPitomy System	$7000.00  $117 (60) month
6 SIP Trunks unlimited	$131.00 month constant
Total monthly 60 month	$248.00
After system payoff	$131.00 month

          Business Savings per month   $328.00

Average Hosted Solution

Hosted with 20 phones

Features included:

Non-proprietary phone (Panasonic/Polycom)

Voicemail/Email integration

Voicemail in the Cloud

1 Auto Attendant

Find me follow me

Click to call

Park zones

Typical Add on Features:

Busy lamp fields

More auto attendants 5.95 month, 49.95 setup per.

Queuing- 49.95 setup

Conferencing $1.50 month and 10 cents per minute

Call record if it is available from your hosted provider

What they don’t typically have.

No desktop call management software

Cost for Hosted Solution without add on features

20 Hosted Phones	$3780.00 $57 (60)month
22.95 per seat unlimited	$459.00 month constant
Total monthly 60 month	$516.00
After phone payoff	$459.00 month

           Business Deficit per month $-328.00 

Notes: If you wanted analogue lines added for dial tone redundancy it would be about $50.00 a month per line; this is something that hosted cannot offer. If your internet goes down you have no service. Even with several backup lines on your premise based system, your monthly cost is still much less than hosted.

Both solutions need adequate internet bandwidth, hosted typically uses more due to cloud routing for all calls.


Reliability

The number one point of failure for any IP network is the Internet pipe, which is needed for both a premise and a hosted solution. Both are equally susceptible to this failure point in regard to outside calling. The premise based system however would still be able to call extension to extension without the Internet.

Premise Based Dial Tone Redundancy

One option that the premise based solution will offer if your internet goes down is that your premise based system can host another type of dial tone, such as backup analogue lines or a PRI which would give you redundancy that your hosted solution cannot provide if the Internet goes down.

Traditional Dial Tone as Primary

Some customers prefer the traditional phone service over Internet phone Service. This is possible with IPitomy and IMPOSSIBLE with hosted. Traditional Digital phone service such as PRI is now available at very affordable prices due to strong completion between carriers. Using a traditional source of dial tone can also be combined with SIP trunks to reduce costs while having a built in redundancy as the SIP trunks will use the Internet and the traditional dial tone use the phone network. Having two providers reduces the chances of catastrophic failure and greatly increases reliability at a minimal cost.

Redundancy

IPitomy systems have the advantage of redundant drives and redundant power to reduce downtime. All of the phones can be programmed to use a secondary server during an outage which can be automatically deployed in the unlikely event of a serious equipment failure. IPitomy has several plans for redundancy that can be quickly deployed when required at a reasonable cost.

New Features and Upgrades

IPitomy offers free software updates for its IP-PBX, which contain new user features that integrates with our proprietary phones. Hosted features are not typically as extensive or robust as our premise based solution, IPitomy can easily integrate new user features into your system.

Contracts

The average hosted provider has the business locked into a three year contract for their entire service. If you have your own PBX the only contract you are locked into is with your Telco provider. If the hosted provider goes out of business you could have problems getting your phone numbers back. With your premise based system you could have a SIP provider along with some analogue lines or even a PRI all with different carriers, which offers you more options for porting, etc.

The IPitomy IP-PBX Makes Sense

Setting QOS Is Important for VoIP

There are many threats that can jeopardize voice traffic on a network.

1. Bandwidth/Packet Loss- The first key to having voice run on your network is having enough bandwidth to handle the amount of voice trffic you will typically have on your network. The IPitomy system typically uses the G.711 codec which uses about 160kbps for each active call. It is mportant to calculate the maximum amount of simultaneous calls you will have to ensure your bandwidth will meet your requirements, otherwise you will experience packet loss.

2. Latency- Latency is another term for delay. As packets pass through the network they are often delayed by network congestion. This is not as big of a problem for data as it is for voice traffic. Anything more than a 250ms roundtrip delay for voice traffic will most likely be noticeable to the caller. Common symptoms of this problem may be echo.

3.  Jitter- Jitter is how much variation there is in that packet delay over a period of time. As the delay time changes it causes what is known as jitter. For example poor LAN connections are a common source of jitter. Setting Quality of Service on the data switch ensures that voice packets have priority on the LAN.

The QOS Solution

Quality of Service gives preferential delivery to your VoIP traffic on your network. This substantially reduces latency, jittter and packet loss. The IPitomy system is capable of many QOS settings. Default it comes set up for DSCP 24 (CS3). On your Netgear Switch, turn on DSCP and then go to DSCP mapping and set CS3 to the highest setting. This will match up your default IPitomy QOS setting (PBX setup/SIP/Advanced) to your Netgear.

 

Note: Not all Netgear GUI interfaces will be the same.

Sales Tip #2: Attitude Matters

In today’s economy many small businesses are doing more with less. It is not uncommon to have an employee filling two roles, that of a technician and a sales adviser for example. Coming from personal experience, it is very hard for most technicians to see themselves as “sales” advisers  It is true that there are many people in certain industries in the field of sales which have given the name “sales” a bad image. We all have experienced that used car salesman who is more concerned with moving a pile of junk off his lot, than he is concerned for the needs of his customer. We should not however let this stereotypical image ruin the image of what real salesmanship is and should be. Whether or not you are exclusively in sales or you wear two hats, attitude is of the utmost importance.

I have spoken before of the importance of building relationships with customers and filling their actual needs and wants. In other words, we need to listen, and then fill a need that we are capable of filling with our service or product. As important as this is to being a successful sales adviser  nothing can make up for a bad attitude. No one likes a sour personality, no matter how great their product or service may be. There has been much said about positive thinking, and much of it is useful. If we have a tendency to be negative, much of our outcomes in life will be negative. Negative people are generally not as successful as positive thinking people.

Part of being in sales is the reality of dealing with rejection. Surveys regularly confirm that there are two top fears that all people have. The top fear is death, and the second is fear of rejection. They say that 75% of sales people fold in the first 90 days because they simply cannot deal with rejection. If they do make it through the first 90 days many develop a negative attitude towards selling, and their sales numbers are poor. Rejection often paralyzes them from making sales calls.

While it is true that not everyone has the calling to be involved in sales, most of us, if we have the right attitude and drive, can be fairly successful at it. If we have the right outlook on ourselves, our product, and on those we will be engaging with, “sales” becomes an art in finding solutions for people, rather than being a numbers game. When we are genuinely concerned with the needs of others, and we have a positive attitude to drive ourselves towards meeting their needs, the negative aspect of rejection disappears.

Here are a few pointers that will help you to realize the importance of a positive attitude.

1. Act: If you have a product that you really think will benefit your customers, then what are you waiting for? They are not coming to you, you have to go to them. Call on companies by phone or in person and introduce yourself. You are never going to sell anyone anything if they do not know anything about you. Procrastinating is the worst thing you can do in sales. If you do not act each day to make contact with as many people as you can, then chances are you are missing a lot of opportunities, and others will cash in on your lack of action. Procrastination and lack of action result from dwelling on negative thoughts. True action follows from positive thoughts.

      2. Introduce Yourself: It is important to make a good first impression. Most people do not like overly aggressive sales people. The key point to understand is that you want to introduce yourself, your company, and your product briefly, for an opportunity that may arise in the future where you can help them find a solution to a challenge or need. Never aggressively imply that you are assuming that they want or need your product when you first meet someone. Always bring down the barrier by letting them know that you are not assuming they are looking for a new product or another company to do business with, but that if in the future, should the need arise, here is what you have to offer. This takes the pressure off you and the customer, but leaves the door wide open for a future relationship. Most sales do not happen the first time you meet someone. Rest assured, if they are in need of your product at the present time they will let you know once you briefly introduce it.

      3. Believe: It is important to believe that you will succeed in winning over your potential customers. A lack of confidence is easily spotted by most people. Confidence, not arrogance, puts people at ease. It conveys the idea that they are going to do business with a well-established person and company. If you don’t believe in your product, neither will they.

      4. Smile: No one likes an angry looking sales advisor. A smile is worth a thousand words and can open up doors very easily. Nothing can turn away a potential customer faster than an unenthusiastic stick in the mud. Present yourself positively and with genuine enthusiasm.

      5. Follow Through: Once you make initial contact with a possible customer, do not wait for them to call you back unless they explicitly tell you not to follow up. Always let them know that you will check back with them in a defined period of time. This allows you to further develop your relationship and to see if they have any questions or feedback for you. If you say you are going to call them back in two weeks, be sure to follow through on that promise. If they are not available be sure to leave a message to let them know that you were following up as promised.

      6. Keep the Doors Open: Always do everything you can to keep relationships alive even if there is no immediate probability they will do business with you. A ‘no’ today can often be a ‘yes’ several months or even years later. There is nothing wrong with a periodic check in to see if anything has changed for them.

      7. Know When To Drop It: Sometimes there will be instances where you cannot meet the needs of the customer. Although these instances should be rare, when this happens it is crucial to let your customer know that your product or company is not a good fit for them. They will appreciate the honesty in not trying to sell them something that is not going to work for them. There are many times where they will even refer a friend of theirs to you, who you may be able to help.