Important Things to be Considered while Choosing a Hosted PBX Service

VoIP technology and Hosted PBX services have a critical role in moulding the business communication strategies. To enjoy and exploit the full features and benefits of the hosted PBX system, a proper service provider should be chosen. Nowadays a number of VoIP service providers are available. In this competitive market, it is very hard to choose a right one that serves your business in the desired way. Hence it is not easy and simple to select a right service provider. Considering some factors will help you to select an appropriate hosted PBX service for your business.

There are many things to be noted or kept in mind for choosing the most appropriate hosted PBX service.

  1. Coverage Efficiency

A major thing to be considered is whether the service provider has coverage in your area. That is, find out whether the service provider can port your business telephone number to their service. If they couldn’t provide service in your area, then you cannot use their service. Some of the Canadian hosted PBX service providers deliver their service only to restricted local area. Hence it is crucial to make sure that the service provider you choose has service coverage in your area. It is better to be with a service provider who has a wide coverage area to support expansion plans.

  2. Satisfies the business requirements

Another important thing to be checked is whether the service provider is capable of satisfying your business and communication requirements. For this, first identify your business needs. The needs can be broadly classified into two; business features and call control features.

       Business features include the following;

The business phone system should support you in branding businesses and operations such as multiple phone numbers for marketing purposes, Possible to keep analytics of your call data, Call recording feature for ensuring customer service and also for further training, and additional features such as Multi-party Conferencing, Dashboard Application to control and modify your system, Call analytics, etc.

       Call Control Features consist of the following;

       Features like Call Forwarding, Call Holding, Call Transferring or  Diverting,Caller ID, etc are important nowadays. It is more efficient if the service provider could extend its services to incorporate big business features such as Call Queue’s, Ring Groups, or Apps for advanced phones.

  3. Infrastructure Facility

The Hosted PBX service provider should review your current network infrastructure for flexibility and compatibility. For example, many businesses lack PoE (Power over Ethernet) which transmits power to the devices plugged into the switch. This can be a phone, camera, wireless access-point or other similar IP device. If you don’t have a compatible switch, then collect one or more from the service provider to support the quantity of phones.

  4.  Security

Security is always a major concern hence ensure that the voice network is secure. There are chances of various hazards such as hacking one of your devices or providers devices and using to launch an international calling blitz can, external interruptions or crosstalk, signal failure, etc. therefore high security should be provided for voice transmission. So choose a hosted PBX service provider who can ensure the safety of communications.

  5.  Quality of Service

The most important factor that determines a best hosted PBX provider is the quality of service. A reliable internet connection and network are essential to support VoIP traffic. The key measures of quality are jitter, latency and packet loss.Jitter is defined as a variation in the delay of received packets. Congestion in IP packets causes jitter. The congestion can occur either at the router interfaces or in a provider or carrier network if the circuit has not been provisioned correctly.

Latency refers to a delay in a VoIP call that is, the time it takes for your voice traffic to go from one spot to another. Most companies recommend that the entire voice path, the Internet, the service provider and your own network should have a combined latency of less than 150 ms.

Packet loss is a dangerous thing and it affects VoIP networks very drastically. Even a 1 percentage of packet loss is intolerable.The good hosted PBX provider will have a fair balance of these three metrics. So choose a service provider who efficiently uplifts quality of service by reducing these measures.Selection criteria of a good hosted PBX service provider include many more factors. Taking into account of these factors will help you to get a fully compatible hosted PBX service for your business. 

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. 

The Many Advantages of a Fiber Broadband Network

The Internet is quickly changing and today’s businesses need to keep up with technology in order to stay current. In order to stay competitive and to keep your employees productive it is essential to provide connectivity to the Internet using a technology such as a fiber connection. Fiber Internet connections offer an effective way to connect to the Internet using a more technologically advanced method.  A fiber connection is an advanced way to connect and is much more sophisticated than a simple copper connection. Fiber Internet offers many advantages over other types of connections.

A fiber broadband connection is an efficient way to provide connectivity. The fiber Internet connection provides some advantages over other types of connections. Some of these advantages include fiber connection speed, fiber broadband reliability, and fiber Internet capacity. The fiber connection is able to provide faster speeds than other types of connections allowing your employees improved productivity. A fiber connection is an ideal way to improve the abilities of your system.

The use of fiber broadband is certainly going to increase in the coming decade. The need for increased speed to accommodate additional available services will be one driving factor adding to the need for fiber Internet. Businesses can now enjoy FTTP (fiber to thepremises). FTTP offers faster and more reliable Internet services than ever before. Fiber Internet offers higher speeds than other types of connections. This allows businesses to use new technology that requires increased bandwidth that can be done easily using fiber broadband.

For example, 3D video and videoconferencing require more bandwidth in order to work properly and can easily be completed using fiber Internet. The increased bandwidth of Fiber broadband allows you to easily use these types of demanding services with ease. With more advanced features becoming available, businesses will need to improve their connectivity by utilizing fiber Internet.

It is important to note that businesses can use fiber connections for both voice and data needs. Using a fiber broadband connection allows you to incorporate telephones and other streaming communication over the same fiber connection. You won’t be able to do nearly enough with your communication if you don’t upgrade to a fiber connection. An FTTP connection is an ideal way to add more speed to your communications. This added speed from a fiber connection will accommodate many types of applications as they become available.

Adding a fiber Internet connection to your business will position your company towards future growth. Outdated connection services won’t be able to handle the type of digital communications necessary to keep your company moving forward. The fiber broadband connection allows your company to handle current needs with ease and to be poised for upcoming needs as well. By combining the various communication needs of your company into one fiber connection you’ll be able to save money while increasing productivity.

Businesses looking to improve their services should consider adding fiber Internet services to their company. FTTP services are available through reliable providers such as BroadConnect Telecom. They offer a wide variety of communication options for businesses including FTTP services.

Determining your Office Telephone System Needs

Many types of phone systems are available for business usage. Whether you have a small office environment or a large company, selecting the right office telephone system can help you stay ahead of your competitors. Spending some time in understanding your business requirements can help you opt for the right system that will help you increase your productivity and profitability. It is worth thinking about the features that would benefit your business, before contacting phone system vendors and dealers.

It is advisable to start off with an assessment of your business needs. You need to determine how many lines and extensions you need right now how many would be required in future. Failing to plan for your future growth can cost you more in future. Switching from one phone system to another to accommodate the needs of growing business is not only expensive, but is highly time consuming as well. If your business is expected grow over time, you need to choose an office telephone system that is easily scalable. Hosted PBX and VoIP phone systems are the best options that can help you meet your growing business needs with minimum effort and costs.

You need to determine the features and services your business will need, before investing in an office telephone system. Effective incoming call management, call holding, call recording, call forwarding, call parking and call waiting are some of the essential features of growing businesses. Direct inward dialing and speed dialing are the best features for efficient outgoing call management. Voice mailbox, monitoring features, reporting facilities, user directions, and password protected security and conference facilities are some other essential features to look for in a phone system, as they help you handle your business communication requirements in an effective manner. It also helps to build a good impression in the minds of your customers and clients. Apart from these essential features, some phone systems offer advanced features like call queuing, call flipping, automated call waiting and Fine- Me. Optional features can surely give you an extra edge. However, it is advisable to assess whether your business actually needs all these features, so that you can avoid incurring unnecessary expenditure.

It is also important to check whether the office telephone system vendor you want to use is a reliable one. You need to look for their customer service policies and find out whether they set up the phone system in your office and train you and your staff with the telephone system. You also need to make sure that the vendor will offer ongoing support, so that all problems are resolved quickly and effectively. If the vendor or dealer offers a demo of the phone system, you can make use of that opportunity to check whether it offers all the features that are required in your business.

You can spend some time in comparing quotes from various vendors, before spending your money on a particular office telephone system. Though the cost of the phone system is not the sole determining factor, you should try to find out a vendor who offers the best phone system that suits your needs and budget.

For more information on our Office telephone Systems features and support, please visit BroadConnect Telecom today.

Looking at the Avaya IP Office

Avaya IP Office is a data and voice communication solution that offers facilities such as customer management as well as messaging. Since this system runs on IP telephony, it is capable of giving improved functionality at reasonable rates. These phone systems are extremely helpful for business communication. It allows inter-organizational communication as well as conversations with customers. However, the true quality of this phone lies in its simplicity and ability to keep remote workers connected. Features such as Voice over IP (VoIP), networking, call/time management and conferencing, facilitate effective communication and also cut down on costs.

These phones are great for all kinds of businesses. Whether you have a small business or a large one with branch offices and multiple locations, Avaya IP Office systems can offer tailor made solutions for your requirements. Again, these systems are a great option whether you have 5 or 500 employees. Features such as single-number reach ability, message and call forwarding, as well as other flexible options make it much easier for you to be mobile.

So, now, you can forget about paying huge sums of money to third party teleconferencing services. With these phone systems, you can take up teleconferencing with ease. This way, even if you have branch offices, you can still operate as one entity with these communication tools.

Switching to these phone systems implies an upgrade in quality and much needed savings. Avaya IP Office phone systems are available in a wide variety. For every kind of budget allotment there is a suitable Avaya phone system. Also, if you are going for these phone systems, you will find financing or leasing plans that are really easy to get. You can use the phone a requirement basis as well. And, with facilities such as conferencing and VoIP services, you can definitely save substantial amount of money.

Phone systems from Avaya are truly the next generation of telecommunication. These systems offer you everything an ordinary phone system would offer. However, with an Avaya system, you can always expect a bit more. Advanced intelligence used in Avaya IP Office makes them capable of processing and storing complex data such as calls per hour, calls per day, peak calling periods, call-to-sale conversion rate, etc. Analytical information of this nature surely makes it much easier to handle a business and move towards the right direction. For more information on our products, please visit our website.

How an IP Phone or VoIP Phone can streamline your business

IP phone and VoIP phone’s for business are gaining an increasing popularity in today’s marketplace. They do not only function as an alternative to your traditional phone system, but are also the ideal choice for getting greater functionality, reducing costs, boosting productivity and improving customer services. IP telephony is an advanced technology that uses a single infrastructure for data and voice and allows sending and receiving audio and video files as well as wired and wireless communication via a unified network. There are many reasons that justify the decision to make the switch over to IP and VoIP phones.

You can enjoy the benefits of seamless extension dialing between branches on your private network, by using IP Phone and VoIP phone’s. It is very easy to use and is inexpensive. As well, when compared to traditional phone systems, it helps to connect all your offices together; no matter which Provence or country they are located in and helps you manage them as one large office. This not only helps in the improvement of the effectiveness of your office management, but also helps to eliminate long distance charges between your branch locations. In order to fully reap the benefits of IP and VoIP phones, you need to choose a reliable service provider, who would offer all the essential features at an affordable price.

Scalability is one of the most important reasons behind the popularity of IP phone and VoIP phones for business. Adding a new phone to the existing phone system is very easy and inexpensive. You need not incur expenditures on installing a new line. You can add a new phone to the existing infrastructure quickly and easily, which is impossible in case of traditional phones. Improved voice quality is another important advantage of IP and VoIP phone. Once you choose this phone for your business, you need not worry about packet loss or latency problems that affect voice quality. The voice packet stays on the private network, ensuring that the quality is higher, rather than when run over the PSTN. This method does away with all issues regarding consistency and quality.

As the virtual office system is becoming more popular, many companies are looking for an effective solution that would help them keep in touch with their home-based employees. If your office has home based workers, using an IP phone or a VoIP phone for business can provide you with plenty of benefits. You can connect with your home based workers easily and cost effectively via DSL or cable internet. You can locate your employees from anywhere in the world. IP phone and VoIP phone also helps to connect with traveling workers without any difficulty. The arrangement that makes use of IP phone combined with VoIP using internet makes it easy to manage your business operations easily, economically and effectively.

With an IP phone or VoIP Phone for business, they help you to get rid of the troubles of making bulk investments to meet your communication needs. When compared to a traditional phone system, it is cheaper and much more effective. It not only helps saves you money, but also offers significant time savings. The maintenance charges are extremely reasonable and you can diagnose and solve problems effortlessly and quickly too. For more information on IP Phone Systems, please visit our website.

What is the best performing phone system for business?

Effective communication is the most integral aspect of any successful business, so choosing the best phone system for business can help you gain a variety of benefits. With an effective phone system, you can offer better service to your customers, increase the productivity of your employees and enhance the way you carry out your business operations. There is no single best communication solution for all businesses. A phone system that works great for one company may not be suitable for another. Therefore, you need to first determine your communication needs and the projected budget. Doing a little bit research on the popular commercial phone systems on the market can help you make an informed decision.

While looking for a phone system for business, you need to consider the volume of business that your company handles. The total number of external phone lines used by your company and extensions required for every piece of equipment within your company connecting to the phone system are the major factors to be considered. A phone system may handle your current business communication traffic effectively. However, you need to make sure whether it can accommodate the consequences of your growth in future as well. The best system is one that can be easily updated or modified in a very cost effective manner. It scales well, no matter whether you are a small, medium or large business. It does not even require the help of professionals to expand the lines. You can simply do it by following the instructions provided by the service provider.

You need to opt for a secure and reliable phone system for business, which provide you with all the essential features. Auto attendant is an important feature, especially for small businesses that cannot afford to hire a receptionist or office attendant just to attend calls. This feature is crucial in a phone system, even if you have higher volume of calls. Conferencing is another important feature to look for. Phone systems like VoIP offer teleconferencing, video conferencing and three way conferencing at extremely affordable charges. The phone system that comes with rich features helps increase your business productivity dramatically. If these features are not included in a phone system, you may need to pay separately to avail them, which makes it an unnecessarily expensive option.

Before selecting a phone system for business, ensure whether it is compatible with your existing communication equipment. Also ensure that it is easy to access. Choosing some phone systems may require you to give complete training to operate and maintain. Many employees are not willing to devote time to learn how to use a phone system, so you need to ensure that the phone system you choose is user friendly and its functions are uncomplicated and intuitive.

If your business needs to use the phone system extensively, you need to look for some advanced features like automatic call forwarding and call convergence. The phone system for business that offers these features at affordable rates is worth considering. If your business involves handling high volume of calls, choosing the right phone system that handles them effectively can help enhance your efficiency in day to day operations. It is also important to choose a business phone system dealer that offers reliable services to meet your business needs as and when they arise.

For more information please visit Broadconnect Telecoms business phone system section.

What makes the best, VoIP Provider?

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a great alternative to traditional phone systems for businesses, both small and large. A lower operational cost is one of the most important benefits of VoIP. You can gain access to many useful features like low charges for long distance and local calls, ability to get connected with your employees from any place and much more. With more and more people turning to options for VoIP technology, many VoIP providers have come up with an extensive range of services. Choosing the best VoIP provider can help improve your business productivity and reduce your operating costs significantly.

If you have decided to switch to VoIP, you need to do some research and find out the right VoIP provider who offers the features that meet your exact business needs and falls within your budget. The quality of business communication is crucial for the effective functioning of any business model. Hence, it is important to check whether the service provider takes care of delivering crystal clear voice quality. Some VoIP providers offer a trial period of service. You can make use of this offer to check the efficacy of hardware and service provided. You can also confirm that the service provider allows you to keep your existing phone numbers, so that your business communication process remains unaffected.

Cost is an important aspect to consider while choosing a VoIP provider. Compare the charges and features offered by the service provider and determine whether their charges are affordable. Ensure that you compare the same type of VoIP service and cost between various VoIP providers. Taking a decision based only on the cost may not be wise. Shop around and choose a provider who offers the most reliable service at the most affordable rates. You also need to confirm whether the service provider will offer prompt service, so that you can carry on your business operations without any interruption.

If you have branches or clients in foreign countries, you need to choose the VoIP provider who allows you to make unlimited international calls at a reasonable charge. Also check whether the calling plan you want to choose comes with emergency services, so that you can avoid many complications in business communication in future. If you are new to VoIP technology, you can go for a service provider who requires you to download nothing. You can check whether the service provider offers the right guidance to build your business communication infrastructure quickly and easily.

An established VoIP provider would offer a lot of add-on features for free, such as call waiting, call forwarding, teleconferencing, three-way calling and video conferencing. The service provider that offers impeccable customer service and technical support would need to be sought out before making a decision. They help simplify your business communication network and deliver powerful solutions that are easy to use. They also offer various scalable options, so you can increase your calling capabilities easily. Choosing a service provider who has experience and expertise in providing VoIP technology can help you get the best out of your communication system. You can also save hundreds of dollars in your phone bill.

For more information on our Hosted Services please visit BroadConnect’s Website for more information on our VoIP Services.

Things to look for before choosing a business phone system

The recent advancement in technology has revolutionized the way communication is carried out in a business setting. Business phone system is available in various configurations, offering an extensive array of features and benefits. With so many phone system options available, you may be confused as to what would be the right choice for your business. Considering some important aspects can help you make a smart decision. It is worth to ensure that your phone system is flexible enough to meet your current and future business needs and handle all communication avenues in an effective manner. You also need to make sure the phone system you choose is compatible with the equipment you already own, such as cabling, headsets, handsets and conferencing equipment.



Before planning to implement a new business phone system, you need to do a thorough introspection into your business requirements. You need to check whether your work force requires rich media conferencing tools or whether the employees need a phone number that rings on multiple devices simultaneously. Video conferencing, wireless IP phones allowing employees to access data easily, mobile soft phones and unified messaging are some of the important features required by any modern office to make business communication effective. Look for these features in the phone system you choose.


Making the decision for the appropriate phone system that offers a lot of optional features can give you an extra edge over your competition in crunch situations. You can check whether the phone system offers auto attendant feature. This feature not only frees your staff from answering the calls every time, but also helps build a stronger brand image for your business. If you want to expand your business and hire more employees in future, you will need more extensions and phones. You need to consider possible future growth potential while choosing a business phone system. Your business may be small now and it may need very few lines and phones. However, if you are planning to expand in the next 2 or 3 years, switching the entire phone system to add some new lines will obviously incur huge costs and pose to be a technical nightmare. The scalability of the business phone system is therefore an important feature to be considered. It should allow you to add or remove some new lines without any hassles.



The cost of business phone system is another crucial thing to be considered. Number of employees in your office, future upgrades and specific features play a vital role in determining the price of the phone system. If you have more than 100 employees, you can consider choosing the PBX phone system. Though the initial cost is more, it is definitely worth the money you invest. If you are on a tight budget, but want to use an effective phone system, hosted PBX may be the right option for you. Hosted PBX requires you to incur fixed monthly operating expenses, which make it an attractive option for small businesses.



Business phone system is the lifeblood of any business, regardless of whether it is a small organization or a large one. The functionality and growth prospects of your business depends largely on an effective communication system. Hence, choosing the right phone system after considering all the crucial factors is important. For more information please visit http://broadconnect.ca/

IP Office 8.0 Phone System

The Brand spanking new IP Office 8.0 is speculated to be out shortly after December 13th 2011! They’ve introduced a large number of new features and shiny new hardware to go along with the update. One of the major changes introduced into the Office Phone System is the amalgamation of the SD Card, Basic Mode and Partner Version; and renamed it the A-Law SD Card.

Other highlights include:

Supported on IP500 V1 or V2 Cabinets
One SD Card for all Versions- Basic Mode, Partner Version
Upgrade with license to Essential, Preferred or Advanced Edition
Avaya IP Office Web Manager: System Management via Web Browser
Supports the following web-browsers:
Firefox
Internet Explorer
Safari
Chrome
New Hardware: (Preferred Edition Only)
UC110 Unified Communications Module
Requires a slot in Main Cabinet
Supports Preferred Edition without Server
Supports User Productivity Packages
Supports Mobility Server
Basic Edition, Partner Mode- V2 Cabinet only
Upgrade to Essential Edition with Keycode
Mobile Worker (Mobile Twinning) not supported, requires upgrade to Essential Edition
No new feature enhancements with the exception of the voicemail
Voicemail Enhancements:
Intuity Audix Commands
Call Screening
Allow System Administration while Users are on a call
Essential Edition
Requires a keycode to upgrade from Basic Mode
Comes with Mobile Twinning Feature for all users (requires SIP Trunks or PRI)
Comes with the ability to have 2 remote workers - requires VCMs, does not require VPN or IP Endpoint License (9600 series Phone)
Anything more than 2 remote workers requires an IP endpoint license- and maybe used for 1600 or any other IP Phone that requires VPN router
Coaching Intrusion, Silent Intrusion and Whisper
Preferred Edition
Requires Dedicated PC, Server or UC110 Module
Requires purchase of Essential Edition License
Required Keycode to use Office Worker, Teleworker or Power User Productivity Licenses. If a customer with User Productivity License upgrades to Release 8.0 and does not have Preferred Edition, they must purchase this license in order to keep the User Productivity Licenses. Otherwise they will no longer work.
Required for Multi-Site Networking at minimum of 1 site even if Centralized Voicemail is not required
Multi Time Zone Support
MAPI Exchange Integration on Linux
Call Screening
Advanced Edition
Agent Monitoring and reporting via Customer Call Reporter Updates for 8.0
Avaya one-X Portal for IP Office: Agent Control Gadget, World Clock Gadget
System Talk Time Report Enhancements
APF- Agent Productivity Factor (Agent Time Card Report)
15 & 30 minute reports for Call Summary Report and Call Detail Report
Custom Reports

When I get my hands on more detailed information, perhaps a video or two, you’ll be the first to know! In the mean time; check our latest offerings!

http://avaya.broadconnect.ca