Archive for the ‘telecommunications’ Category

BT Helping Out in the Credit Crunch

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

One of the most annoying things is when you have a car accident you desperately need to ring your insurance which is a 0800 number, but your mobile phone provider still charges you for this. We know that ringing 0800 numbers will cost you a fortune because you will be on the line for ages.

But thanks to BT things could be changing, they have recently announced that they will be the first company in the UK to offer free 0800 number calls. This is a great step for the company to make especially now during the credit crunch when people are trying to save as much money as they can.

There is nothing worse then trying to get hold of your broadband supplier or call a plumber when your phone says “the call will be charged at standard rate” or “You have no calling credit, please arrange a top up”.

So will other companies follow in BTs footsteps? Well only time can really tell but it is something that everyone should take note of. The public have for so long been paying ridiculous rates for free phone numbers and it is just so not acceptable at all.

Another great approach by BT is that Millions of BT customers will no longer have to pay to call numbers starting with 0870 and 0845 after Britain’s biggest landline supplier announced it would abolish call fees to the controversial numbers.

Starting on the 16 January, around 14 million customers with any of British telecoms call deals will benefit from free calls to what are normally premium rate lines.

I believe this is all thanks to the government who announced a big review of charges that are being made to a 0800 phone number, 0844 numbers and 0845 numbers. This is great news for the public but not for companies who have been making a healthy profit.

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Fax is Still Key to Many Businesses

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Email may have supplanted facsimile transmission in personal communications, but in several crucial business sectors fax is still the preferred transmission option, especially for those organisations that require paper documentation for statutory or legal requirements. Lawyers or solicitors are professions that still insist on paper.  Banks, the health service and your local GP are others that require communication in hard copy where there is a clear audit trail. 
Integrating fax in your existing IT infrastructure is therefore still an issue to consider.   Fax to Email capability is one effective and efficient way of conveniently integrating communications technologies and avoiding additional costs by not having to purchase dedicated fax equipment.
Fax to Email presents incoming faxes as email attachments.It’s a quick, convenient and confidential way of receiving, storing and forwarding important fax documents. t also beefs up security as confidential faxes no longer sit on a shared, public fax machine.  Using Fax to Email services Your “fax machine” is never engaged and incoming faxes are immediately flagged for your attention on receipt.Filing and accurate archiving also becomes much simpler with Fax to Email services.
Fax to Email services can also be integrated with VoIP telephone lines,   cheaper than conventional PSTN and you can receive many faxes simultaneously (unlike most fax machines) without worrying about running out of paper or toner.Fax documents are pre-scanned for storage in TIFF format so they can be printed out easily.  Using VoIP Fax to email services means voice and fax calls can be treated differently, so the same telephone number can be used for both - your customers are diverted to a member of staff for voice calls while incoming faxes are diverted to a mailbox and stored.
Setting up a Fax to Email service is remarkably simple and costs as little as 40 pence per day to operate.In fact, depending upon the number chosen to run your service, there might even be revenue paid to you.service setup, alerts and administration is normally free from reputable VoIP and IP telephony companies.

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Business PBX Phone System

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

As a small business owner, you need to have a way for your clients and customers to communicate with your business. Phones are still the most common and convenient form of communication in the world today. Shouldn’t your existing small business phone service be doing more for your small business?

Allowing your current business phone service to do more for you is all that a business PBX system is about. Working with your existing business phone service, a hosted small business PBX phone system greatly enhances your most basic form of communication.

Making your existing phone service behave like a bigger company’s telephone service is what a small business PBX service specializes in. If you have ever called a bigger business that has an automated telephone system that greets you and allows you to pick an employee or department to talk to, then you know exactly what a business PBX will do for your business.

Utilizing your current phone lines, a hosted IP PBX service gives you either a local or toll-free phone number that acts as your business’ primary phone number. When a customer calls this telephone number, they are greeted by your auto attendant and offered the choice of where their call should be routed.

You have full and utter control of incoming call routing. You can set up your business PBX can route inbound phone calls to any telephone, at any location. So you can be vacationing in the Bahamas and have your business calls sent to your cell phone.

With plans beginning at under $10 per month, you have to have a small business PBX service for your company. The largest virtual office phone services are RingCentral and GotVmail. Our testing shows RingCentral to be the better choice, offering the best feature set with competitive pricing and a free 30-day trial.

From powerful virtual auto attendant features, to call screening ability, to online voicemail, a small business PBX really brings tremendous value to your existing small business phone service.

If your company relies on telephone service to deal with customers, you have to give a good look at a small business PBX phone service. You will be surprised at how much one of these communication services can really change your current business phone system.

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