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. 

How Hosted PBX Simplified Company Stress during the Holiday Season

Many businesses quickly realized exactly how hosted PBX phone systems simplified the stress of doing business, during the holiday season. The hosted PBX system provided the company the opportunity to use a single phone number that could be easily answered at a variety of locations, unbeknownst to their customers and clients.

During the holiday season, companies often experience a lack of employee resources, as many take additional time off to be with their loved ones. Using a hosted PBX system, their communication lines were simply rerouted to available employees on their landline phones, cell phones, smartphones or nearly any remote location.

Having the ability to offer a single point of contact, with one single phone number to represent the entire organization, was the easiest way for the businesses to operate their communication systems. It allowed each business to function completely without the need of a traditional main office. This could happen because the hosted PBX telephone system instantly linked employee personnel to the business, with complete functionality of all of the communication system’s features.

Relieving Holiday Business Stress

Offering an extensive multi-modal contact, each employee quickly gained access to the entire company network through a whole host of telecommunication devices including landlines, ISDN, cell phone and VoIP. The hosted PBX telephony system instantly provided phone extension ringing to a single location in succession, or to multiple locations at the same time. This allowed instant 24-hour phone support seven days a week, and relieved stress on the company by always providing an employee or employees to handle any situation, even during hectic seasonal times.

Lowering Costs

Because there is no need to purchase PBX equipment when using a hosted PBX service, these companies were provided an effective call routing service at no additional cost. All unanswered incoming calls for the business were managed automatically by the PBX system by providing numerous features including voicemail, call records, faxing, automated messages, and conference calls, along with call routing touchtone menus.

Without the need of any excess additional cost for expensive software or hardware, and no cost for upgrades to change existing phone hardware, hosted PBX telephone systems offer viable solutions for many small, medium, large businesses.

These companies saw the advantage of using a hosted PBX system through the holiday season as their business increased. It gave them the ability to expand lines, without additional phone numbers. With the added flexibility and reduced cost of 24-hour client phone support along with never missing a call throughout the holidays, the hosted PBX systems offer each a viable telephony alternative.

How Small Businesses Can Harness Social Media

Small businesses make up an enormous portion of the American economy, and in many ways, they represent the portion of the economy that is best situated to take advantage of social media. After all, many small businesses rely on close, personal relationships with their clients to sustain and grow their business. These relationships can be extended if the small businesses make proper use of social media. However, a recent survey found that fully 88 percent of businesses don’t believe they are making the best use of social media.


The problem often times is that these companies wade into the social media waters without a clear idea of how they should approach social channels, or which social channels are best for their needs. As a result, they end up using Google Plus, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Tumblr, and doing none of them particularly well. The goal with social media should not be simply having a presence in all of the different channels that are available. Instead, it should be having an effect presence in one or two channels, and then perhaps expanding to others once the first channels have been mastered.


An important part of mastering social media is re-framing the way companies view it. Rather than looking at social media simply as another tool for broadcasting to consumers, companies should view it also as a means of gleaning information from their established customers and potential clients. Companies, especially small ones that stand to benefit from close relationships with a few clients, should use social media to learn about what’s happening with their clients, and then keep in touch based on those happenings. For instance, a small note from a business when a client’s birthday comes up on Facebook can make a big impression. Too many businesses miss out on such opportunities to talk to their customers.


The best part about a limited approach to social media is that it saves time. When a business spends time spreading itself thin across a range of social media, typically that’s just time wasted that could be better spent on other projects. By limiting their focus to just one or two social media channels, businesses will cut time lost to other channels, and encourage themselves to take full advantage of whichever channels they do choose to engage in. And whatever approach they choose, small businesses should always remember that the goal of social media is to strengthen their relationships and ties to customers.


When those customers start calling, you’d better make sure your phone system is ready to take on the new influx of calls! Have you looked into a Hosted PBX or SIP Trunking lately?

BroadConnect Brand, Call and Contact Centres

BroadConnect Telecom has been providing solutions for contact centres for quite a while now and has developed a reputation for quality, easy set up and only minimal investment risk.  Thanks to BroadConnect’s technology, now contact centres can improve upon their infrastructure without having to learn a very complex new system. 

Enterprise Class Technology Comes to the Contact Center

Using BroadConnect technology, now companiescan oversee and operate multiple call contact centres through one centralizedsystem.  This is a great advantage to outsourced centres, as they will be able to quickly and easily scale in operation whenever there is a centralized change.  More importantly, the system allows users to scale up or down, depending on their needs. 

Scaling is a Great Advantage

Naturally, this is a major concern as many technology companies have qualms about planning for the future since it’s hard to estimate where technology will be.  Of course, the beauty of BroadConnect is that it allows companies of multiple sizes to scale things according to their own pace.  The system lets company owners or managers add or remove agents, according to business developments. 

Furthermore, BroadConnect’s web technology allows clients to access the system through a web browser directly, on any PC or any web-friendly device, for that matter.  Since the operations are very easy to learn, managers can change the number of agents available for customer service within minutes.  Why, managers or company owners can even add an agent or move them around between different contact center “groups.”

Customizing Your Experience

The ability to add new agents or subtract them only as needed is a tremendous opportunity for companies that are attempting to control costs by outsourcing.  Customers will no doubt have very different requests and so BroadConnect maximizes flexibility.  The system allows businesses and contact centers to add and remove functionality as needed.  For example, they can change statuses or IVR options by just clicking the mouse.  Debit and credit card actions are also easily handled using only a web browser.  Flexibility means companies can evolve as rapidly or slowly as they require. 

Consistency is Key

IVR, CTI and ACD (via network) allow companyworkers to use the same scripts, messages and databases to conductbusiness.  This will help to make customer interactions consistent and reduce misunderstandings and miscommunications, which can be quite costly. 

Live Viewing

The fact that the company lets agents see “live” changes helps tremendously with keeping the entire contact center operation accurate and standardized.  Why, managers can now even monitor staff when they are online.  This is ideal for studying performance and for access statistics from live phone calls. 

A Boost for Remote Employment

Remote workers are certainly at an advantage with this amazing system, as they will not have the ability to make or receive calls from anywhere in the country or beyond, using only a telephone or web browser.  Managers and CEOs will be able to setup new users easily and offer remote work for a reduced cost.  The integrated, highly flexible and centralized system will allow easy management of agents, to the point where it is a virtual office staff, with little or no room for unmonitored performance. 

Disaster Recovery and Maintenance Reduction

Lastly, consider the advantages in cloud-based disaster recovery (meaning permanent and continual backups of information) as well as lower maintenance cost.  Perhaps what’s most amazing about the system is that it is remotely based and there is no physical hardware or installable software to worry about.  Customers pay only for what they use.  Goodbye huge investment costs and ongoing maintenance fees. 

The business model of pay-as-you-go contact center telephony is bound to revolutionize how we conduct remote business and customer service! For more information or to speak to an account manager please visit our websites at:

CDA www.broadconnect.ca

USA www.broadconnectusa.com

Did You Know That Expertly Made Telecommunications Systems Can Still Be Compromised?

You would think brilliantly designed and supposedly foolproof technology would be impenetrable; that’s not always the case. If you’re talking about telecommunications systems from overseas, you would be wrong.  What a lot of people don’t understand about technology is that it is far from standardized.  Consider that hardware and software provided by foreign suppliers ARE vulnerable to attack.  This is especially true in the cases of companies that have strong government ties. 

What Could Go Wrong?

In theory, you could be opening your telecommunications systems to a major threat from overseas.  If you are doing business with a company from another country, you are not governed by the rules and standards of the United States or Canada.  You are buying hardware or software that is outside of your country’s jurisdiction.  You have no control over what the software or hardware might be doing to your system.  This could even leave your system vulnerable to security threats,hacking attacks or all sorts of spyware.   Professor David Skillicorn at the school of computing at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario states that "If you buy…software that's essentially produced by the government of another country, then you have no control over what that [system] might be doing.”  Skillicorn added, "It's the reason we don't buy fighter planes from the Russians. If you're running on hardware that somebody else built, and you don't trust the somebody else, then it's never going to do.”

Indeed, trust is a major concern in these matters.  And since globalization is a relatively new phenomenon, this principle of trust must be emphasized to North Americans who naively download everything on the net, regardless of its origins.  Thomas Dean, a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at Queen's stated that “[Companies] can hide things in software.  Hardware components…can record things.  They can transmit things.”

Yes, some so called telecommunications systems that you find overseas could literally be built just to be a “backdoor”, just a thinly veiled attack on your system.  Canada recently had an altercation worth reporting.  The government allowed China's Huawei Technologies to do business with major Canadian companies, including Bell, Telus and WIND Mobile.  This raises the threat of rogue telecommunications systems, and it’s all the more scary when you consider that the United States and Australia have already blocked Huawei Technologies from doing virtual business in their territories.  Accusations have been made regarding Huawei performing espionage for China, though predictably, the company denies such allegations. 

These supposed rogue telecommunications systems are largely conspiracy theory at this point, since even suspicious computer experts cannot produce any evidence that any tampering has occurred.  Huawei stated publicly that “All stakeholders, including governments, have a clear understanding of the tools we use…We've worked openly and transparently in consultation with our customers and governments…”

Naturally, if the company were corrupt and performing clandestine operations they could not openly admit it.  This is hardly a “new” issue, as intelligence agencies have always been cautious when dealing with foreign-controlled technology.  After all, such a company would have easy access to North American secrets, or could ever install a virus or malware program to disrupt business.

It’s not only a matter of countries doing war, but even international competitors who are itching to get ahead in business.  Skillicorn further commented, “It means that if you buy a switch from a company it [could] take a copy of everything that passes through it and send it off to another [country].”

Why It’s a Risk

Why can’t North American competitors simply inspect the telecommunications systems and ensure there is no tampering?  Because you’re talking about very miniscule additions, the likes of which are not easily found.  Companies and computer experts would literally have to tear the units to pieces and examine them…hardly worth the investment! 

Skillicorn expressed confidence that intelligence briefing between Canada and other countries on friendly terms would not consider using any overseas company for secure communication.  However, there is a certain laxness at the so called “next level down.”  For instance, consider the fact that governments are already using encrypted communication over shared channels.  Shared channels,in essence, means public infrastructure.  That means you are open for a threat, just as with “shared hosting.”  Now it’s just a matter of determining, more like hoping, that your encryption is strong enough to protect your information. 

Remember that even if data cannot be extracted from supposedly secure telecommunications systems that it is fairly easy for an expert programming team to disrupt a system using what is called a kill switch.  That could have huge ramifications for the military, not to mention commercial companies.  So how secure is your country, your company, your business?

If you're concerned with your present telecommunication security levels, please feel free to contact one of BroadConnect Telecom's experienced staff.

American Contact Information

Canadian Contact Information

VoPI™ vs. VoIP: (Yeah, It’s a real acronym)

Some competitors (You know who you are) are trying to discredit VoPI as unreliable, unsecure and not suitable for mobile workers. They also want you to believe that due to the dedicated private lines, it FORCES our customers to be locked in to lengthy contracts. This is simply NOT the case and couldn’t be further from the truth!

Let me break it down for you:

All VoPI is VoIP but not all VoIP is VoPI. Why does this matter, you ask? It matters because VoPI isn’t just one specific product or technology; in fact, it has been conceived and achieved over a multitude of different criteria.
When we use the term VoPI, we refer to Voice over IP service that meets certain standards:

• A connection that is not shared with other subscribers
• Provided by an ISP (internet service provider) who controls the voice service, as well as the internet backbone upon which the service rests
• A process which employs multiple SBC’s (Session Based Controllers)

Privacy implies security (which is abundantly important) but what VoPI really does is provide great stability. It’s a platform you can actually have faith in; as it rarely goes down.  Most importantly, it’s fully managed by us, the provider. Why does it matter if it’s fully managed? Well, because that means, in the event of a service outage (on the network side) we can take full responsibility. We can actually pin point and fix virtually any problems you may incur because it’s happening on our network!

**WE GUARANTEE 99.9% UPTIME! Who else has the “you know what” to offer that???**

Here are some excerpts from the competitor’s blog (I’ll let our web-savvy readers find the source):

“Recently we’ve come across competitors using the term “VOPI”, or Voice over Private Internet. It’s their way of trying to confuse and complicate, [...] to convince you that their technology is superior. Dive into the details and you’ll see that VOPI is actually a Hosted Voice providers’ way of selling you inferior connectivity in the guise of increased security.”
By no means does our voice solution operate over “inferior connectivity”! IT’S JUST AS GOOD as any other connectivity! What we do to deploy VoPI is first determine the best type of internet connection for our customers, and then create private connections to ensure that voice quality is never compromised.

Another excerpt:

“Companies will tell you that a private connection is more secure because your telephone calls do not traverse the public internet. [...] If you are in an industry where security is paramount to you or eavesdropping is a common occurrence, then absolutely you should investigate the private option.
If that is the case, I’m sure you are quite familiar with this device, the STU-III, which is an analog telephone encryption device that you *must have* used up to this point to secure your calls. What? You mean you were using analog lines without them being private [...] or without encryption in any form?”

The writer then goes on to suggest that distributed workforces, operating over the public internet somehow negates any perceived benefits of a private enterprise platform, VoPI™. South Park fans may be familiar with the term “Chewbacca Defence”, that is: making an argument soooo nonsensical that the reader’s brain shuts down and is forced into a receptive position. The fact of the matter is, unless you work for the US Military or National Security Agency, you will have never heard of the STU-III. It is proprietary and expensive technology that never experienced mainstream use.  The attractiveness of VoPI™ is that it does not cost more; it just requires that you pair with a thoughtful provider that operates a privately-owned and managed broadband network. Similarly, off-net users who connect to your office phone system via the public internet are not damaging, or defeating the purpose of your private connection. They’re just the public extensions of a very strong private network.

I don’t only say this because I work for BCT and they pay my bills. I say this because day in and day out I hear the horror stories of disgruntled end users YEARNING TO BE RELEASED FROM THEIR CONTRACTS and switch to our far superior service. It’s no fluke that Bradconnect Telecom has become one of the largest hosted providers in Canada. We revolutionized the industry back in 2005 as Canada’s first hosted provider and strive to be the pinnacle hosted provider across North America! (Btw, did I happen to mention we opened up shop in the States? Here’s the link, www.broadconnectusa.com , check it out.) None of our Canadian counter parts can say that… #JustSayin!

Smartphone Integration Makes Being Late to Work Less of a Hassle

Times are certainly changing in the world of business, and smartphone integration is certainly one of the key reasons for this. More and more companies are making use of Smartphone PBX and other technologies that mean being late to work isn’t quite the offense that it once was. With the cloud and smartphone integration, many employees are actually busy at work long before they even get to the office. Working remotely, before work and after work, is becoming the way that many do business.

In fact, a large percentage of bosses – 73% according to a survey from Mozy – are less stringent when it comes to the clock. Many of those employees are using smartphone integration to work even when they are not on the clock, so it doesn’t make sense to be upset when someone is a few minutes late to work. Of course, most of the employees don’t realize that the bosses are more lax on the lateness today than they would have been before smartphone integration.

With tools such as a Smartphone PBX, employees are finding that it is possible to have a work schedule that is a bit more flexible. The smartphone integration can make it much easier for people who might have other things that they need to do outside of the office. Companies, such as Broadsoft, are looking to create and help to integrate the best possible mobile solutions for smartphone integration.

Interesting Facts for the Mozy Survey:

Most bosses in North America will be fine with employees coming in up to 37 minutes late, while those in the UK are okay with employees who are up to 24 minutes late. The survey also found that bosses in the United States seem to be more lenient when it comes to longer lunches and taking care of personal business. Even with smartphone PBX`s though, and even though the employee might be using smartphone integration, it is best not to push one’s luck! Try to make it a habit to be on time.

With a smartphone PBX`s, it is possible to work from just about anywhere, and that’s why more employers are even starting to let some employees work from home. With cloud computing, networking, and a smartphone PBX, it is possible to complete just about any task from the comfort of home.

For more information on Smartphone PBX`s, please visit our hosted PBX section of our website:

BroadConnect USA

BroadConnect Canada