Welcome to the 1pbx Blog
Keep up to date on all things VoIP.
Special emphasis on security and custom integrations. Let us know if there are any topics you would like covered!
Monitoring Phone Extensions from an IP-Device Most VoIP solutions include BLF (Busy Lamp Field) as a standard feature, though not all IP-phones support it. Sometimes, manufacturers refer to BLF as DSS (Direct Station Selection), so check your documentation for both. Devices with this capability make it easier on administrators to monitor several extensions within a…
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One question that comes up a lot is, "How do I make and take calls online?" Really, this depends on preference. Most systems work with commonplace hardware like landlines and mobile phones. With that said, virtual phone solutions are compatible with a bevy of SIP phones. These devices send and receive audio over the internet rather…
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Tuesday, 26 November 2019 11:48
How to Make Your Conference Calls More Useful
Written by Aaron Shames
Conference calls serve a variety of purposes. They allow for quick, democratic decision-making and last minute debriefing. Among friends and family, they make staying in touch easier. Regardless of the purpose, conference calls bridge big distances and save time. That is, so long as they run smoothly. The push towards virtualization in today’s modern office…
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Thursday, 21 November 2019 14:19
Why Your Business Needs a Toll-Free Virtual Number
Written by Aaron Shames
A toll-free number is a great asset to businesses with customer bases spread across a country. It allows callers to reach the company without paying long-distance fees. Instead, the business covers all inbound charges – an act of professionalism and gratitude. The per-minute fee is quite low, especially over VoIP, making it a small cost compared…
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Hosted PBX adoption rates continue to climb year-over-year. Businesses recognize huge savings potential, along with myriad other advantages. Unfortunately, the misconception exists that hosted PBX satisfies only business needs. The truth could not be further from this. Hosted PBX benefits residential users just as much as businesses. The size of the phone system does not determine…
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Thursday, 21 November 2019 13:05
Select the Best Hold Music for Your Phone System
Written by Aaron Shames
Music on hold reduces the perceived time waiting in a call queue. AT&T; found that a 30-second wait without background music feels more like 90 seconds. Considering wait times average 38 seconds, businesses should purge silence from their phone system. After all, most callers abandon queues around the 2-minute mark. Anything done to reduce the lengthiness—either…
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Thursday, 14 November 2019 02:22
When Your Hardware Causes Poor VoIP Quality
Written by Aaron Shames
The internet is one of the biggest culprits of bad VoIP quality. Factors like bandwidth, codec and security all affect audio data passed to and from a network. Likewise, the components in said network play a major role. Cheap hardware—although not always the case—often worsens VoIP performance. This is because there are few quality assurance…
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Thursday, 14 November 2019 01:29
Chief VoIP Advantages for the Global Business
Written by Aaron Shames
Perhaps the most obvious VoIP advantage is its cost efficiency. Calls over the internet cost less than those over the PSTN. Long distance and roaming do not exist online either. The fact that online telephony requires fewer components also means cheaper overhead. In regards to functionality, VoIP saves big with value-added features. Most systems come with…
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Monday, 11 November 2019 17:27
The Value of a Missed Call and How to Recover from One
Written by Aaron Shames
Modern businesses encourage prospects to get in touch through many channels. But as popular as social media and email are, most consumers still prefer to call for information. Research compiled by Answer-4u estimates that 80% of inbound communications occur over the phones. The response timeframe for a phone call is considerably smaller than other modes…
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Voicemail etiquette applies not only to your inbox, but to the messages you leave for others as well. While a single rule may not exist for recording business voicemails, there are a series of “best practices” one should adopt to increase the effectiveness of the message. Business Voicemail Greetings Straight-forward, courteous, and concise — three…
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Friday, 01 November 2019 09:51
Hosted Phone Systems for Hotels, Motels and Inns
Written by Aaron Shames
In modern hotels, guests expect amenities like cable, internet and phone. Yet most overnighters never take advantage of such services. Hosted phone systems can help hotel owners offer cheaper, fuller phone services. With discounted per-minute rates, plus free access to professional features like call forwarding and conferencing, guests see more reason to pick up the…
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Thursday, 31 October 2019 10:26
When IVR Hurts Customer Service and How to Correct It
Written by Aaron Shames
Most businesses rely on some form of auto-attendant to greet and process callers. An auto-attendant, also called IVR (interactive voice response), tells callers how to navigate a phone system. Through voice recordings, it describes the paths callers can take and prompts them to select a single destination. A report from Software Advice illustrates the importance…
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