IPitomy's Emergency Notification

IPitomy Emergency Notification 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. 

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. 

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 #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. 

    

IPitomy Call Routing Configuration

This video is part II of the last trunking video. It covers the configuration of call routing on the IPitomy IP-PBX. 

IP Telephony and VoIP Tutorial

Welcome to the IPitomy tutorial. 

The modules below contain the basics of IP Telephony and VoIP. This tutorial includes information which will help you to decide how to use IP Telephony and VoIP technology in the most advantageous way for your business environment. Reading through the tutorial will allow you to become more familiar with the terminology and technology.

Don’t let the terms confuse you. IP Telephony is the term we use to describe the telecommunications application that provides the PBX services for your business. The IP Telephony application in a business environment is sometimes called an IP PBX. VoIP is the technology that puts voice into packets so it can be used on a Data Network.

Principles of VoIP

VoIP converts voice into data and sends the voice packets over the network. These packets get mixed with other voice and data packets and are reassembled into voice by an endpoint device (telephone). The result is a telephone call. When the network is well designed, the quality is as good as or better than that of the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN).

IP Telephony and VoIP systems function by using standard protocols to communicate. The major protocols to consider in a business communications system are largely invisible to the users, and most likely result in the same application and quality. The most important consideration with standards is what protocol will provide the richest application and the most interoperability. SIP (Session Initialization Protocol) is the most promising standard and is the most widely adopted. When you utilize SIP based telephones, which adhere to open standards, you secure a great degree of investment protection as the phones can be used with any SIP based IP PBX.

An IP Telephony system consists of several components. There are the endpoints, also known as telephones. These can be either an IP telephone or a soft-phone residing on a PC. The role of an IP telephone is identical to that of a traditional telephone. An IP telephone connects directly to a LAN (local area network) instead of a traditional telephone connection. The soft-phone is a program that runs on your PC while performing all of the same functions of a telephone using your multimedia speakers and microphone (plus video in some instances). In an IP PBX, the endpoints are very intelligent.

To control routing calls to and from endpoints there is an IP PBX. This performs similar functions to a legacy PBX/Key System. The IP PBX is the server that all of the endpoints log into. When a smart endpoint wants to make a call, it tells the IP PBX who they want to communicate with. The IP PBX checks to see if that endpoint is available. If it is logged in and the called party will accept the call, then the call is put through. Many of the features in an IP PBX reside in the endpoint, as opposed to a traditional PBX where the features are housed in the central control unit.

When an IP endpoint requires connection to a phone number on the PSTN, a gateway is required. The endpoint tells the IP PBX that it wants to make a call to a specific number. The call is then routed to a gateway device, where the number gets dialed into the PSTN and the call progresses as a normal telephone call. A traditional PBX/Key System that supports IP Telephony and VoIP is referred to as a converged system. This means that the PBX supports traditional telephones, IP endpoints, IP Telephony and VoIP access to another PBX, remote offsite endpoints or all of the above.

Another IP Telephony and VoIP system configuration is called an infrastructure based system. It is identical to the above converged system except it does not support traditional telephones. All of the control for the infrastructure based system resides on a server in the network and in the IP telephones.

Most business solutions will require connection to the PSTN for the majority of their telephone calls. To connect to the PSTN from your legacy PBX, there is nothing to do since PSTN lines are already connected. To connect to the PSTN from a LAN based IP PBX solution, you must install a gateway. A gateway converts LAN based IP Telephony and VoIP packets to traditional telephone transmission and provides a connection to the PSTN. IPitomy utilizes internal analog and T1 gateway modules to connect to the PSTN.

The equipment for IP Telephony and VoIP varies depending on your application needs. The exact list of equipment will be determined by the specific requirements of your business. IP Telephony and VoIP over the LAN often require some infrastructure changes and add traffic to the LAN. Extending IP Telephony and VoIP calls outside of the LAN to remote users over the Internet or WAN (wide area network) links require additional bandwidth planning.

Installing an IP PBX is fairly straight forward. It is actually less complicated than installing a legacy PBX. Since the IP PBX and your IP telephones are located on your LAN, there is no need for additional wiring. The most important issue will be ensuring that your LAN is well designed and working optimally.

The major advantage to using an IPitomy IP PBX is that it is an all in one solution. All of the features you need to provide a great business application are included in one comprehensive package. The phone system, voice mail, conference bridge, ACD system and music on hold are all included. This design also makes everything much easier to set up, configure and operate. The web based administration features are simple and easy to use.

Advantages of IP Telephony and VoIP
From a purely technical sense, one must consider the way the PSTN currently handles telephone calls. Each call is set up and delivered from a pair of dedicated copper wires from the caller to the called party. This creates a dedicated physical connection for a single call with extremely good quality. The technology is sufficient to carry one call at a time over the pair of dedicated copper wires.

VoIP technology “packetizes” the voice turning it into data packets. These packets are then sent to the network. The same copper wire is now capable of carrying significantly more than one conversation. Now, the device used to send voice is also capable of sending other “packetized” information simultaneously like data, video, and instant messages. Consequently, IP Telephony and VoIP are much more effective at transporting voice. Additionally, they will produce a much richer experience for the user when one considers the enhanced features of IP Telephony like remote users, enhanced conferences, and lower costs.

IP Telephony and VoIP Practicality 

Changing over to a new IP PBX system is a major move. The move will affect your company for years to come. The average PBX system has a useful life of 7 years. The decision you make now will be with you for a long time. It makes the most sense to make the move to an IP PBX sooner rather than later. Continuing to invest in older proprietary technology will just increase the risk that the system will need replacing before the seven year useful life. Investing in an IP PBX system will provide a platform for the future that will support software updates and enhancements well beyond the useful life of legacy technology.

Over time, legacy PBX’s will all be replaced with IP Telephony systems. Be sure to consider the underlying technology. SIP is the standard that the industry has embraced. Keep in mind that open standards SIP based IP telephones are the best investment protection you can have.

Benefits of IP Telephony and VoIP

The primary Benefits of an IP Telephony IP PBX System are:

One Wiring system Instead of separate wiring for telephones and separate wiring for data, all data and voice are on the LAN. There is usually plenty of bandwidth available on a well designed LAN.

Web based administration With an IP Telephony IP PBX, all system administration functions are performed on the network, usually through a browser based administration program. If required, the system can be modified from anywhere.

Leveraging the Internet for telephone calls When calls flow over the Internet, long distance charges are avoided. This is ideal for your remote workers who can stay logged into the office all the time without incurring any additional charges.

Peer to Peer phone calls All calls are Peer to Peer. This is a big advantage over the traditional PSTN. After the call is set up by the IP Telephony server the call flows between the two endpoints. All of the voice or video traffic is direct between the two endpoints reducing the congestion at the server.

Unified Dialing Plan Everyone who is logged into the system is capable of receiving and originating calls. If your employee is at a remote office in Seattle and a call comes into the corporate headquarters in Chicago, the call can be directed to the employee in Seattle just as if that person were in Chicago. Use of the corporate communication resources such as voice mail, automated attendant, and email can be centralized simplifying all support and maintenance.

Remote users All users who are logging into the system are part of the IP PBX. This could be a traveling employee at a hotel with Internet access from a room, a user at lunch with a wireless connection at a café, or one of your employees logged in from home when they are feeling under the weather.

Presence Management IP Telephony and VoIP applications can take advantage of presence management. This is a function of the system that allows your users to set how other users view their presence on the system. Most systems have tremendous flexibility. Your presence can be set as busy, available, off line etc.

Reduced Costs Cost reduction in operating an IP Telephony system covers just about all areas of the business.

Investment Protection IP Telephony and VoIP products (particularly those that are SIP based) offer a high degree of investment protection. Since it is apparent that all communications will be IP based within the next 5 years, it makes good sense to begin the shift toward IP Telephony and VoIP as soon as practical. Investing now in an IP Telephony solution that provides interoperability with the new technologies that are available makes a lot of sense.

IP Telephony and VoIP and Security Opening up your network to the Internet poses some inherent risk. Most LANs have some form of security. This security can put some limitations on IP Telephony and VoIP applications. Most LAN administrators are aware of the vulnerabilities of their network to attack from the outside. IP Telephony and VoIP can operate well in a tight Internet security environment.

Multi-site businesses have most likely established a secure data connection between locations making the introduction of IP Telephony and VoIP an exercise in bandwidth management.

Most successful single site IP Telephony and VoIP deployments only use the Internet to connect remote users to the other users in the system. Use of VPNs (virtual private networks) for remote users is a secure way of connecting all of the users without exposing the network to extreme risk.

IP Telephony and VoIP Quality of Service The voice quality of an IP Telephony and VoIP phone call should be at least as good as what the PSTN can provide. This is true as long as enough bandwidth is available for the call. If bandwidth is somehow constrained, quality of service can be affected. In a condition where adequate bandwidth is not available, the call can begin to degrade in quality not unlike a bad cell phone connection.

Quality of service is controlled in several ways. Calls within your LAN environment should not get degraded if the network is well designed. If you extend your IP Telephony and VoIP calls outside of your LAN over a WAN or out on the Internet, then quality of service does become an issue. Routers and switches are available that can prioritize voice packets to maintain good quality of service. On the Internet, there is really very little that you can control when it comes to bandwidth. In real world experiences, the Internet does seem to be able to provide a good option for IP Telephony and VoIP calls with surprisingly good quality when using broadband connections. Use of a high quality bandwidth provider will provide the best quality management. We will be glad to provide you with the assistance required to design your application.

Getting Started with IP Telephony and VoIP IP Telephony and VoIP systems will provide an advantage to just about any business. There is a lot of information to become familiar with when purchasing a new system. We hope this guide has increased your understanding of how the basic technology may fit into your business application.

Step Into The Future With IPitomy

Which Way Are You Going?

Big changes are taking place in the way telecommunications services are delivered.  The old analog voice network is being phased out in favor of new technology based upon VoIP.  This change will impact all users of old outdated equipment ... PBXs and key systems alike.

The inevitable transition from analog to VoIP is similar to the transition from broadcast to digital (DTV) recently experienced in the television industry.  In fact, choosing between a SIP-based IP PBX and an analog/TDM PBX is very similar to the process of deciding between purchasing a flat screen HDTV instead of purchasing an older, outdated model that requires an adapter box to receive content ... converting from digital High Definition to the old format so the older model TV can still work.  For the informed buyer, it makes much more sense to invest in a new flat screen TV for a lot of reasons, but probably the most important is the high definition programming.

Your business telecommunications system is your direct connection to your customers, clients, suppliers and vendors.  It is also a major investment that will be with you for years to come.  It makes sense that your investment in the future of your business be an investment in current technology (SIP-based VoIP) rather than in products that will be obsolete almost as soon as you purchase them (analog TDM technology).

If you were buying a new TV, would you invest in an obsolete tube TV or in a flat screen HDTV?  Your decision to use a SIP-based IP PBX is a similar one but one with significant impact on the success of your business.  Who could justify an investment in TDM technology with all the great options for richer applications and money saving opportunities that exist for capitalizing on the trend toward VoIP?

 Advantages

Advanced products with enhanced features all for less money than traditional analog/TDM PBX systems.

Save up to 50% on your current phone bill when you subscribe to VoIP services with your IPitomy IP PBX.

Create an “all in one” communication platform that is flexible, easy to use, and administered from a user friendly web based administration console.

Erase boundaries by connecting remote workers and mobile employees with the office.

Enhance your business communications by integrating your multi-site locations into one converged dialing plan.

Collaborate easily and affordably on webinars and meetings using the built-in conference bridge with support for up to 32 participants.

Take control of your communications ... advanced features and an easy to administer user interface add unprecedented control that saves money on moves, adds and changes.

Hardware and software are supported locally and on site service is available through your IPitomy Dealer whenever you need it.

Let us put you in touch with one of our dealers today!

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IPitomy: The Total VOIP Solution

IPitomy is the total solution that you and your customers have been looking for. IPitomy is a pure IP telephony – VoIP solution that offers the best advanced technology and service at a surprisingly affordable price.

IPitomy is a new breed of product that has been in development for several years. It is based on an incredibly powerful open source IP telephony engine. This powerful software core has been tested in the global market for many years, evolving into a phenomenon. IPitomy is based on this core technology with a stable base supporting a tremendous feature set. This design keeps the cost of development low resulting in a lower price for your customer.

IPitomy has developed an incredible range of products and services that meet the demands of small to mid-sized businesses. When you become an IPitomy Dealer you will be introducing a new phenomenon into the market. You will, without a doubt, be selling the most cost competitive business communications system in the industry.

Now you can provide your customers the technology they need for their business. IPitomy Systems are extremely flexible and can be configured with a variety of telecommunications connections from analog lines, T1 and PR1 lines, and most importantly, SIP trunks.  IPitomy allows SIP trunks without any additional expense or hardware.  SIP trunks can provide reduced dialtone costs and more flexibility than analog TDM trunks.  With the drastically reduced cost of SIP trunks combined with an IPitomy system, users can step up to IP technology with an amazingly low cost when compared to their legacy phone bill; in many cases, the result is the savings more than cover the cost of the equipment from month one!