The Major 5 Benefits of Using Cloud Based Phone System for Small Businesses

Phone systems are always an inevitable part of businesses. Businesses of all sizes are relied upon business phone systems for expanding their business communications. Business phone systems are of various types based on the underlying technologies used within them. One of the recent and most advanced technologies used with the phone systems is the Cloud PBX based business phone systems.

Cloud based phone systems are heavily suitable for all scale businesses such as small scale companies, medium scale organizations or even large enterprises. For small businesses cloud based phone systems offer a wide range of features and benefits. In the case of small size businesses cloud based phone systems provide a huge room for scaling their businesses by exploiting the features of the phone systems and the infrastructure.

Cloud telephony exploits the power and merits of the cloud technology for establishing business communications. The major benefits that a small size business can attain through cloud phone system are as follows;

   1. Cost Efficiency

A major problem faced by most of the small businesses is the lack of budget to manage internal IT departments or infrastructures. As a result any fault of the hardware based phone system will incurs considerable amount of money and time. Hence the employees have to suspend their works, contact the service provider for assistance and wait till the problem gets solved. The on-site management of the phone system and hardware causes unexpected cost and creates overhead for the business.

In the case of cloud telephony the phone system is kept off-site. That is, the phony system will be kept at the service provider side which may be far from the business sites. This helps the businesses to reduce the hardware cost, service charges, call costs, and many more miscellaneous expenses. The off-site management of phone system also saves time. Many repairs and modifications will be done silently at the remote locations by the cloud telephony service providers without harrowing the business activities. Most of the service providers offer free calls between the offices and sites. This helps businesses to save the money efficiently.

  2. Easy Implementation

An attractive feature of cloud phone system is that it is very easy to implement and maintain. This is so because it doesn’t require any hardware to be installed or maintained on-site. Also it doesn’t need to visit the company’s premises and all to set up the new business phone system and make it running. Hence the implementation and management of the cloud phone system quick, easy and effortless.

  3. Minimum Downtime

Another advantage of accessing the phone system from the Cloud is that one gets the maximum up-time available. There won’t be any issues such as the phone system going down, unable to make calls, network busy, etc. Cloud telephony ensures smooth and reliable communications over distant locations. If any disruption occurs with the cloud then the service provider will take care of it instantaneously.

  4. Cloud Telephony Expands With the Business

One of the important features of the cloud based phone systems is the ability of the cloud telephony to grow with the business. This proportional expansion of cloud telephony helps the businesses to easily add new connections with the existing cloud. This supports the dynamic growth of the businesses without worrying about upgrading the business phone systems. All sorts of additions and deductions are carried out remotely through a simple phone call or email to the service provider. This feature of cloud telephony promises the fast and reliable growth of businesses within short span of time.

  5. Multiple location servicing

Most of the businesses today are managing multiple offices or branches at different locations. Usually in such cases the company has to maintain multiple phone systems and contracts to coordinate the various branches. The Cloud phone system has the capability to service multiple locations with one phone system. This helps to considerably save the company’s money and time. Only requirement is to expand the Cloud system to the newer area. Almost all processes are carried out by the service provider based on the company’s requirement.

 These are the major benefits that small businesses can enjoy by using the cloud based business phone systems. The benefits are not ending here. Not only small businesses but also all size businesses are heavily depending on cloud telephony. This shows the real adequacy of cloud telephony. 

Cloud Integration is Growing at a Rapid Pace

Businesses today are starting to make changes, and they seem to be making those changes en masse. More and more companies, of all sizes, are starting to choose to use cloud integration and computing for their business. In fact, experts believe that, by 2014, at least 25% of small and mid-sized businesses will have chosen to use virtual integration. Choosing to use a cloud software vendor for many of the different programs they need is going to be a cost effective and easy option, and that’s the reason that cloud integration is really coming along so quickly. Of course, people weren’t always quite so giddy about using a cloud software vendor, and they certainly didn’t understand the idea of virtual integration.

Why People Feared Cloud Integration

People have quite a few different reasons that they give when asked why it took some time to choose a cloud software vendor for applications and to get on board with virtual integration. One of the fears was that they didn’t know how easy the cloud integration actually was, and believed it to be a complex affair. They also weren’t sure about which applications to choose from the cloud software vendor. Sometimes, the businesses wanted to wait until their favorite application and software developers were acting as a cloud software vendor, so they could be sure they were getting access to the applications that they needed.

Cloud Integration Catches On

Times are changing though, and those fears no longer hold as much sway. More and more are turning to cloud integration, and they are finding that it’s easy. The virtual integration is a simple way to make applications available to the business. All manner of applications are available, and it should be possible to find a cloud software vendor that will be able to offer just about anything that the company needs. Cloud integration with great software can even offer the company better and more accurate analytics.

Many small and mid-sized businesses want to have a cloud software vendor that is going to be able to supply them with as many of the solutions they need as possible. They find it easier to work with a single cloud software vendor whenever they can. One of the options that some companies are using today is BroadConnect Telecom's Cloud Business Applications, which has much of what a small business or a medium sized business could conceivably need. Packages that have it all are helping to sway even more businesses to cloud integration. 

For more information on Cloud integration, please feel free to contact one of BroadConnect Telecom's skilled support agents.

Design Tips for Auto Attendants

Commonly referred to as an “IVR” or a “digital receptionist”, the Auto Attendant is one of the most popular features offered to BroadConnect’s Hosted PBX customers. An Auto Attendant is designed to facilitate call transfers without the need for a receptionist.  As callers dial the business number they are greeted by a customizable message directing each caller to dial the extension or department they wish to be connected to. Once the caller has inputted the correct extension, the Auto Attendant automatically routes the call to the correct destination.

BroadConnect’s Auto Attendant offers many rich and business-enhancing features, such as:

• Sub-greeting as an extension of the primary greeting. Such as: local directories, office hours and locations
• Department directories (press 1 for service, press 2 for returns, etc.)
• Dial-by-Name
• Multi-language support.

• Call routing to a live operator

How to Design Your Auto Attendant

• The Auto Attendant layout should clearly indicate what options are available to clients, but, it is important that the greeting now run longer than 15 seconds
• Once of the most important features to never overlook is the live operator support function. Many callers press 0 to bypass the computerized greeting and reach a live receptionist
• Always have the scripting written out before the greeting is recorded
• Be sure to record the greeting in an area that is free from outside noise or interference
• Never use a land-line or mobile phone to record your greeting, such phones do not allow for high definition call quality or clarity

As an added bonus for BroadConnect customers, we offer professional recording services for a one-time fee. Electing to utilize our professional recording services will ensure that your callers are greeted with a recorded message that is in perfect volume and pitch. The recording and all additional system prompts will be unified and polished ensuring that your business appears professional at all times. 

The provisioning team at BroadConnect Telecom is available now to assist you in designing an Auto Attendant that will compliment your businesses communication needs.

Avaya and Samsung Work to Make Android SAFE

In this case, SAFE stands for Samsung Approved for Enterprise. This program from Samsung should help them and one of their partners, Avaya, to create high quality devices that will be able to use Avaya One-X. In the effort to attain unified communications throughout all of the different aspects of a company. The Galaxy S III is the first Samsung Device that bears the markings of the SAFE program. This means that the device will be able to work with many different tools designed for unified communications, including Avaya One-X, right out of the box. One of the best features, equally as exciting as the unified communications possibilities, is the fact that SAFE could help IT teams no longer have to worry about Android fragmentation.

Those who are using other types of phones right now might want to consider the Safe2Switch program that Samsung is offering. They will let users of other phones trade in their devices and choose a Samsung smartphone. If you already have a Samsung phone, it will be possible to trade up for a newer device. Those who want to use Avaya One-X should find this to be an enticing offer. Even though the Galaxy S III is the first to have the brand of SAFE on it, there are actually 20 SAFE devices on the market right now.

Samsung decided that by having the SAFE brand more noticeable for their devices, starting with the S III, it will make it easier for IT departments to make a decision on the phones that they choose for their company. IT wants to find phones and devices that are going to work well and that will not need repair all the time. They want something that is able to provide unifiedcommunications for their company and customers. The S III, with Avaya One-X is proving to be a popular choice for IT departments.

 

In addition to Avaya One-X, Samsung also works with VPN providers, such as Cisco, for IP encryption. Avaya is one of the primary steps in ensuring that the device is going to work great for businesses. It can connect all aspects of the company, offering unified communication and better all around service.

When choosing the phones for your own company, consider the Galaxy S III and the features that it offers. Make sure that you are working with a phone that is going to be able to give your employees the access and the unified communications they need for a seamless operation.

RADVISION Reports Better Than Expected First Quarter 2012 Results

TEL AVIV, May 14, 2012 – RADVISION (Nasdaq: RVSN), a leading technology and end-to-end solution provider for unified visual communications, reported today that revenues for the first quarter of 2012 were $17.4 million. This compares with revenues of $20.8 million in the first quarter of 2011.

The operating loss for the first quarter of 2012 was $7.5 million on a GAAP basis and $5.5 million on a non-GAAP basis.  For the first quarter of 2011, the operating loss was $3.5 million on a GAAP basis, and $2.6 million on a non-GAAP basis.

The net loss for the first quarter of 2012 was $6.7 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, on a GAAP basis, and $5.4 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, on a non-GAAP basis.  In the first quarter of 2011, the net loss was $3.3 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, on a GAAP basis, and $2.4 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, on non-GAAP basis.

The non-GAAP amounts in the first quarter of 2012 exclude $1.2 million of merger costs related to the acquisition of RADVISION by Avaya, which was approved by RADVISION shareholders on April 30, 2012.  Also excluded are income of $0.6 million for prior year’s tax adjustments, $0.4 million of amortization of purchased intangibles, $0.4 million for the effects of stock-based compensation expense in accordance with ASC 718, and income of $0.1 million due to the other than temporary impairment of certain Auction Rate Securities. The total amount excluded for non-GAAP purposes was $1.2 million, equivalent to $0.07 per diluted share.

The non-GAAP amounts in the first quarter of 2011 exclude $0.5 million of expense for amortization of purchased intangibles, $0.5 million for the effects of stock-based compensation expense, and a loss of $0.01 million due to the other than temporary impairment of certain Auction Rate Securities. The total amount excluded for non-GAAP purposes was $1.0 million, equivalent to $0.05 per diluted share.

For the first quarter of 2012, total revenues consisted of $15.2 million for the Video Business Unit (VBU) and $2.2 million for the Technology Business Unit (TBU).  This compares with $15.9 million for the VBU and $4.8 million for the TBU reported in the first quarter of 2011.

The Company’s guidelines for the first quarter of 2012 as reported on February 8, 2012 and updated on April 4, 2012 were for revenues of approximately $17.0 million, a non-GAAP operating loss of $6.9 million, and a net loss of $0.47 to $0.49 per diluted share on a GAAP basis, and $0.37 per diluted share on a non-GAAP basis.

The reconciliation between GAAP net income and Non-GAAP net income is provided in the tables at the end of this press release.

The Company ended the first quarter of 2012 with approximately $89.5 million in cash and liquid investments, equivalent to $4.82 per basic share, a decrease of $1.1 million from December 31, 2011. The decrease reflects $2.3 million used in operating activities and $0.3 million for capital expenditures offset by $1.5 million received from the exercise of options.

Boaz Raviv, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Our Video Business Unit exceeded our expectations in the first quarter due to higher than expected sales of both our infrastructure and endpoint products.  This strong performance more than offset lower Technology Business Unit revenues.

“Over the past two years we have been successfully transforming RADVISION into an end-to-end videoconferencing solution provider with leading technology.  That transformation has continued in 2012.  In March, we debuted the first and the flagship product of our next generation video system, the SCOPIA XT5000. Designed for the high end market, the SCOPIA XT5000 is the most powerful HD video conferencing system in its class available on the market.  In April, we expanded our next generation HD video conferencing room system portfolio with the SCOPIA XT4200, which offers outstanding value and cost-effective HD video communications, especially suited for the smaller and mid-sized conference room.  We are gratified by the market response to our new portfolio.

“Since our founding in 1992, RADVISION has been a leading innovator in video communications technology.  We are excited to continue that tradition as part of Avaya, a leading global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions. By joining forces, we plan to create a very powerful force in the unified communications marketplace.”

The Company noted that RADVISION and Avaya expect their merger to be completed in the second quarter of 2012.

GAAP versus NON-GAAP Presentation

To supplement the consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"), the Company uses non-GAAP measures of operating results, net income and earnings per share, which are adjusted from results based on GAAP to exclude other than temporary impairment of available for sale marketable securities, the expenses recorded for stock compensation in accordance with ASC 718, amortization of purchased intangibles, prior year’s tax adjustments and merger-related costs. These non-GAAP financial measures are provided to enhance overall understanding of the current financial performance and prospects for the future. Specifically, the Company believes the non-GAAP results provide useful information to both management, and investors as these non-GAAP results exclude other than temporary impairment of available for sale marketable securities, the expenses recorded for stock compensation in accordance with ASC 718, amortization of purchased intangibles, prior year’s tax adjustments and merger-related costs that the Company believes are not indicative of the core operating results. Further, these non-GAAP results are one of the primary indicators management uses for assessing the Company's performance, allocating resources and planning and forecasting future periods. These measures should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for or superior to GAAP results. These non-GAAP measures may be different from the non-GAAP measures used by other companies.

About RADVISION

Founded in 1992, RADVISION (Nasdaq: RVSN) is a leading provider of video conferencing and telepresence technologies over IP and wireless networks. RADVISION teams with its channel and service provider partners to offer end-to-end visual communications that help businesses collaborate more efficiently. RADVISION propels the unified communications evolution forward with unique technologies that harness the power of video, voice, and data over any network.

(Source: Radvision, BroadConnect Telecom, Avaya.BCT)

#####