Microsoft Teams Adds NEW Business Admin Center, Security & Compliance Center, and more

April 6, 2018 by Ying-Hui Chen

As Microsoft continues to roll Skype for Business into Microsoft Teams, they are getting better with more improvements and updates. Let’s see where they are at as of today:

New Business Admin Center

To allow IT administrators to easily manage the various aspects of Teams and Skype for Business services, Microsoft announced a new roll-out of Microsoft Teams & Skype for Business Admin Center.

This new center provides you with a unified experience to manage both services under one roof with additional functionality such as the ability to manage messaging settings on a user level. You will also be able to access the Call Analytics and Call Quality Dashboard right from the same platform.

Office 365 security and compliance center

Now, under specific users or groups, your admins have the ability to proactively make the decision of keeping and/or deleting certain content including conversations, chats, and channel messages based on a time duration. This will help your organization stay compliant with regulatory policies.

More new features available in this release include:

Ability to assign policies and configure your users
Guest access and account switching on iOS and Android mobile
Ability to manage federation settings
Ability to configure dial-in numbers and settings
More languages support – Indonesian, Romanian, and Vietnamese

Are you using Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business? Are you curious about how they are comparing to other hosted services in terms of service plans, costs, features, etc.? Click here to see a comprehensive comparison!

Digium’s New A30 IP Phone Wins the 2018 March Mayhem Championship!

April 4, 2018 by Ying-Hui Chen

The fans have spoken! Digium’s new A30 IP Phone has been voted as the winner of 2018 March Mayhem!

Digium A30 Executive-Level Gigabit Phone with 5 Line Registrations

Digium’s A30 is part of Digium’s new A-Series Asterisk IP phones. The A30 is a 6-line VoIP phone designed for executive users who desire a personalized communication solution while sticking to a budget.

Addition to the standard features such as call waiting, call transfer and auto answer, the A30 is also equipped with a beautiful full-color LCD display, a scroll key for accessing up to 45 accounts, and 2 switched 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet ports. A perfect model for your most demanding users who require gigabit networking!

Click to learn more about the A30 here.

The A30 is truly a ”budget-friendly, without compromising quality” VoIP phone! Congratulations to Digium on winning this year’s March Mayhem! We are excited to see more customers benefit from this new unit in the near future.

What is the difference between Sangoma’s FreePBX system and PBXact?

by Ying-Hui Chen

Our tech support team at VoIP Supply offers great pre- and post-sales support plus provisioning, consultations, configuration, and installation help. We get a lot of VoIP hardware and software questions and would like to share the solutions with everyone.

In previous Mom’s calling Q&A series, we have discussed: Is The Polycom IP 7000 Phone Compatible with a Shortel Phone System? Today, we have more new real questions and answers from VoIP users just like you.

What is the difference between the Sangoma’s FreePBX system and the PBXact?

Q: What is the difference between the Sangoma’s FreePBX system and the PBXact?

A: PBXact is the commercial version of FreePBX. It’s a more robust platform with an easier-to-configure interface. It comes pre-loaded with some modules that are add-ons with the FreePBX. Also, it features the Zulu UC application.

PBXact is based on Sangoma’s FreePBX, but different in the following way:

More secure as the firmware is more tightly managed
Include most of the commercial add-ons of FreePBX
More intuitive web GUI

Sangoma PBXact phone system is also offered in software and hardware options.

Q: Will these systems work with POTS lines?

A: They will, you can load either an analog card or use a VoIP gateway for incoming calls

STAY TUNED

Come back for more VoIP questions and answers next time! If you have VoIP questions to ask us, please submit a technical support ticket or contact our VoIP experts today at (866) 582-8591

Join The Sangoma Partner Program Through VoIP Supply

March 30, 2018 by Steve Lopian

I know what you’re thinking, “why wouldn’t I just join the Sangoma Partner Program through Sangoma?” Well, we have the answer for you!

As we all know, VoIP Supply is the most trusted name in the VoIP industry, but that doesn’t just go for end users, it very much applies to resellers as well!

By joining the Sangoma Partner Program through VoIP Supply, you will still get your Sangoma partner level pricing, but the savings don’t stop there! You will also save on shipping costs, and will gain the extremely valuable knowledge of a dedicated VoIP expert!

But don’t take my word for it, click the video above and let one of our VoIP experts tell you himself! Brian Hyrek has been with the company for over 10 years and has a wealth of industry knowledge.

Brian, as well as the rest of our team, will be with you every step of the way, helping you deliver Sangoma’s amazing products to your customers! It’s just what we do! And we’re really good at it too!

10 Best VoIP Headsets to Improve your Softphone Call Quality

by Ying-Hui Chen

Note: This post was updated March, 2020. Click here to read the recent post!

VoIP Headsets are probably the last thing that comes to mind when talking about VoIP; however, the headset you are wearing now actually plays a more important role.

Choosing the right VoIP headset for your softphone will help you improve the phone call quality and further optimize your overall communication experience. Looking at all kinds of headsets on the market and don’t know where to start? Check out these 10 best, dedicated VoIP headsets designed specifically for softphone applications!

Corded VoIP headsets for Softphones

VXI TalkPro headsets are ideal for contact center, office, and Unified Communications environments, the VXi TalkPro headsets are equipped with the new microphone to provide even better speech recognition accuracy.

Improved noise-canceling microphone
lightweight and even more comfortable
Compatible with Windows® and Macintosh®

Jabra UC Voice 550 MS Mono is optimized for seamless integration with Microsoft Skype for Business and Microsoft Office Communicator. It is made for light-to-medium use by desk-centric professionals who work both inside and outside the office!

Crystal clear wideband sound
Comfortable leatherette ear cushions
Flexible boom arm tip for easy microphone adjustment

ClearOne CHAT 10D is designed for Unified Communications (UC) applications. The plug-and-play installation makes it easy to setup and get started right out of the box. The in-line call controller features call control (answer/hang-up), volume up/down, and mute with LED indicators.

Acoustic Shock Protection (ASP) prevents volume spikes or high-pitched tones
Durable, high-quality designs with modern styling
Audio compatibility with in-line volume control for Avaya, Cisco, IBM, Skype and more

Plantronics Blackwire C435 has a low profile design that’s ideal for video conferencing, PC and other multimedia applications. The ultra-discreet design and superior audio quality ensure workplace productivity and effective communications.

Durable, portable design easily tucks into travel case, ideal for professionals on-the-go
A dynamic EQ feature optimizes your voice quality
Enhanced Digital Signal Processing (DSP) provides more natural sounding voice

Jabra UC Voice 550 Mono is designed for light-to-medium use by desk-centric professionals who occasionally work remotely and need to take the headset with them.

Crystal clear wideband sound
Adjustable speaker chambers for optimal coupling to the ear
Flexible boom arm tip for easy microphone adjustment

Wireless VoIP Headsets for Softphones

Plantronics Voyager Legend UC B235 is an advanced Bluetooth headset that ships with a USB Bluetooth dongle for use with laptops and desktop computers. It allows it to automatically answer a call when you place it on your ear and transfer between your mobile phone and VoIP headset.

Portable USB Bluetooth mini-adapter can stay in your laptop port for always-ready connectivity
Precision tuned triple-mic with enhanced DSP for superior noise cancellation
Integrated A2DP lets you listen to streaming media from your mobile phone or tablet

Jabra PRO 9470 comes with a stylish touch screen base that offers a wireless range of up to 150m. The simple SmartSetup wizard helps you connect your VoIP phones and choose preferences to get started with the PRO 9470 within a few minutes.

Touch screen base with SmartSetup wizard
Full hearing protection with Jabra SafeTone
Future-proof investment with free software upgrades via Jabra PC Suite

Sennheiser D10 USB offers a full workday of talk time up to 12 hours and a noise-canceling microphone for all users in loud work environments. The D10 USB headset offers fast charging allowing users to regain 50% of power within only 20 minutes.

3-way Conferencing on 1 Base Station
Hearing Protection Technology to protect users
Standby Time up to 100 hours

Plantronics Savi W730 is one of the lightest DECT headsets on the market. Optimized for Unified Communications, the Savi 730 updates your status to “busy” so colleagues can see your availability. This intelligent system combines best-in-class sound quality, hands-free mobility and hours of talk time for ultimate efficiency.

One intelligent headset to manage your PC, mobile and desk phone calls
Transfer audio from headset to mobile phone with a press of a button to take mobile calls on-the-road
Energy efficient adaptive power system optimizes for range and talk time

Plantronics Savi W720 is one of the most popular VoIP headsets for softphones. With the three-way connectivity, you are able to easily manage and switch between PC, desk phone, and mobile calls from one single wireless headset!

One intelligent headset to manage your PC, mobile and desk phone calls
Automatically routes calls to the mobile phone or headset
Transfer audio from headset to mobile – take mobile calls on-the-road

Don’t see your perfect match? Call our VoIP experts at 1-800-398-8647 today, we’ll be happy to find you the ideal headset that meets your specific requirements!

Plantronics Announced Acquisition of Polycom for $2 Billion!

March 28, 2018 by Ying-Hui Chen

March 28, 2018 – Plantronics, a learning electronics manufacturer for audio communications equipment, announced today that they have entered a definitive agreement to acquire Polycom, a multinational VoIP provider for video, voice, and content communication collaboration.

This acquisition is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2018 with a cash and stock transaction valued at $2 billion. This acquisition deal will allow Plantronics to become a big part of the communications and collaboration industry.

Significant benefits that will come out of this acquisition

Polycom’s global leadership position in voice and video collaboration will accelerate Plantronics vision of delivering advanced communications experiences.
Plantronics will be able to expand its portfolio to provide more communication and collaboration products and services across the global ecosystem.
This acquisition will provide additional opportunities across the Unified Communications (UC) market and increase growth opportunities.
Polycom will significantly expand Plantronics offerings in management and analytics services.

This news definitely came as surprise this morning but Polycom and Plantronics are great partners of VoIP Supply and we are very excited to see what develops out of this acquisition.” – Paula Griffo, President and CFO of VoIP Supply

March New VoIP Hardware Roundup: HT818 Gateway, GDS3705 Door Phone, 2900e SBC

by Ying-Hui Chen

Last month, we had lots of great new releases such as Digium’s A-series IP phones and Grandstream’s GVC3200 video conferencing unit. This month, we are seeing more exciting new VoIP hardware that will take your unified communication system to a higher level. Let’s check it out!

Grandstream HT818 8-Port VoIP Gateway

The HT818 is an 8-port FXS gateway that facilitates the conversion of analog lines to VoIP. With an integrated Gigabit NAT Router and strong encryption, the HT818 is a reliable and safe gateway/router for VoIP deployments. If you are looking for a quick way to add analog ports to your SIP-based phone system, the HT818 can be a perfect fit!

Key Features:

8 FXS ports
Strong AES encryption
Automated & secure provisioning options using TR069
3-way voice conferencing per port
Wideband HD codec
Supports T.38 Fax for reliable Fax-over-IP
Supports dual Gigabit network ports

Grandstream GDS3705 IP Door Phone

The GDS3705 is an entry-control VoIP system that provides a secure and rugged touchless entry system. This device comes with a built-in RFID card reader and can be easily managed through the IP network. The built-in microphone can pick up noises/voices up to 1.5 miles away!

Key Features:

Echo cancellation
Managed through the IP Network giving users the ability to easily check alarms, add/remove users, change setting, etc.
Rated IP66 for protection against the elements and rated IK10 for protection from vandalism

EdgeMarc 2900e PoE Intelligent Edge

The 2900e PoE is ideally suited for Hosted PBX applications that require POE functionality to power IP endpoints. This solution enables service providers to easily support locations with less than 12 phones with a single device.

Simply combine the 2900e with the EdgeView Service Control Center to remotely monitor and manage your VoIP phone system anywhere anytime!

Key Benefits:

Single device solution makes installations easier and reduces the number of SKUs to manage
Single user interface for configuration of both SCB and PoE functions
Fully managed design allowing for VLANs and advanced management
Type 1 PoE device, providing a full 15.4 watts per port
Dual 1Gb/s Ethernet or optical fiber connections backing today’s bandwidth speeds

Download the datasheet

Telecom Reseller Podcast: VoIP Supply at Enterprise Connect 2018

March 27, 2018 by Ying-Hui Chen

VoIP Supply is once again featured on Telecom Reseller podcast! This podcast was recorded at Enterprise Connect 2018. This time, our President and CFO, Paula Griffo, talks about what separates the VoIP Supply team from the competitors and highlights the whole dedicated VoIP Supply team with active interest in every sale, before, during and after every purchase.

During the podcast, Paula also explains how VoIP Supply’s reseller partner program and fulfillment program help VoIP resellers and VoIP service providers make efficient and accurate sales while offering a wider range of finance options to facilitate transactions.

She also highlights the new VoIP Supply Rental Program that will be rolling out in the next couple of weeks!

“We are there for the customer every step of the way,” says Paula Griffo, President and CFO, “The whole team of VoIP Supply works behind the scene really cares about their customers and cares about what they do.”

Click to listen now to learn more about the VoIP Supply team!

The VoIP Addict’s Guide – Polycom (Poly) and TFTP

by Marc Spehalski

Simply put: Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is a no-frills method of moving files from one place to another. There’s no authentication, and there’s no encryption. It is, however, one of the most common ways to place a select version of firmware on a phone, and for our discussion, a Polycom phone.

Why Polycom? Well, it’s the golden standard by which we measure all other phones. Also, because it has the most confusing firmware.

So, why even bother changing firmware?

Well, you might not need to. However, we may change firmware on a phone for a few reasons:

There might be a software bug
There might be a vulnerability
There might be an interoperability issue
There might be a new feature

Typically, upgrading your phone system will require a phone firmware upgrade. Documentation might suggest making a phone firmware change to leverage a new feature. If you are an installer, or integrator, and want to be good at your job, always read your system’s firmware release documentation.

How to Upgrade a Polycom (Poly) Phone Firmware

Let’s get down to business. First, install a TFTP server.

Luckily, most TFTP servers are free, just like the best things in life. We recommend the one from SolarWinds.

After installing, open the TFTP server.

By default, TFTP uses UDP port 69, and c:\TFTP-Root as the root directory. You’re welcome to change the root directory by going to File -> Configure, and going to Storage, but for our purpose, we’ll leave it as it is.

Next, download the recommended firmware from Polycom. Double check your documentation for the correct version and also check your bootrom version currently on the phone.

Bootrom is code that is run when a phone first starts, and it executes the actual firmware. Older bootrom versions will not always be compatible with newer firmware, so when downloading from Polycom, make sure to RTFM (Google it if you don’t know) before proceeding with an upgrade because you end up in a boot loop. Luckily you should be provided with the correct bootrom file for the intended firmware version.

Extract the files you downloaded into the TFTP root directory, which is indicated on the bottom of the TFTP server window. Make sure the firmware files AND the bootrom file in included in the root directory to avoid any mishaps.

You’ll also notice that there are two types of downloads, combined, and split. Combined is a single universally accepted firmware across a range of phone models. The split has the firmware broken out by phone model. The split will load faster due to the files being much smaller.

Now configure your Polycom phone to connect to the TFTP server:

Plug in your Polycom IP Phone and press the SETUP button to stop the auto-boot process when prompted.
Enter the password 456 when prompted
Scroll down and select server menu
Edit the server type to “Trivial FTP”
Edit the server address to the IP address of the PC running the TFTP server
Exit the server menu, and exit the setup menu.
The phone will prompt you to save and reboot, select OK
After rebooting, the phone will go through its auto-boot process again, and then display “Uploading Bootrom” on the screen
You will also see verification on the TFTP Server as the bootrom and firmware files are being uploaded to the phone
When the phone completes its boot cycle, it will briefly display a welcome screen, which shows the current firmware version loaded
If you see this version, you have successfully upgraded your Polycom phone

Using the DHCP option 66 method:

DHCP option 66 is a pointer some devices read when they receive their IP address information. By setting option 66 in your DHCP server to the IP address of the TFTP server, you can avoid manually setting the TFTP server address in all of the phones you are upgrading.

Multiple phones may upgrade at once, but if you are using the combined firmware, you could experience a much-delayed process.

Also keep in mind that because TFTP is an extremely unsecured protocol, you’ll want to keep these file transactions on your local network.

Thanks for reading and happy VoIPing!

Marc Spehalski’s Review of The Grandstream HT802 Analog Telephone Adapter

March 23, 2018 by Steve Lopian

There are a lot of ATA’s out there, and believe it or not, they are not all a good fit. It is important to know what you are getting into when purchasing your new Analog Telephone Adaptor. How many ports does it have? What is the interface like? All of these things can play a factor when choosing what is right for you.

One of the more popular ATA’s that’s available is the Grandstream HT802. This compact VoIP adapter is packed with features and can deliver exceptional functionality to your VoIP setup.

But don’t take my word for it! Check out the full review from Marc Spehalski in the video above, and let him shed some light on the VoIP adapter that should be on the top of your list.

Are you currently using an ATA? If so, what are you using? If you’re familiar with the HT802, then let us know your experience in the comments below.

Microsoft Teams Adds NEW Business Admin Center, Security & Compliance Center, and more

New Business Admin Center

Office 365 security and compliance center

Digium’s New A30 IP Phone Wins the 2018 March Mayhem Championship!

Digium A30 Executive-Level Gigabit Phone with 5 Line Registrations

What is the difference between Sangoma’s FreePBX system and PBXact?

What is the difference between the Sangoma’s FreePBX system and the PBXact?

STAY TUNED

Join The Sangoma Partner Program Through VoIP Supply

10 Best VoIP Headsets to Improve your Softphone Call Quality

Corded VoIP headsets for Softphones

Wireless VoIP Headsets for Softphones

Plantronics Announced Acquisition of Polycom for $2 Billion!

March New VoIP Hardware Roundup: HT818 Gateway, GDS3705 Door Phone, 2900e SBC

Grandstream HT818 8-Port VoIP Gateway

Grandstream GDS3705 IP Door Phone

EdgeMarc 2900e PoE Intelligent Edge

Telecom Reseller Podcast: VoIP Supply at Enterprise Connect 2018

The VoIP Addict’s Guide – Polycom (Poly) and TFTP

How to Upgrade a Polycom (Poly) Phone Firmware

Marc Spehalski’s Review of The Grandstream HT802 Analog Telephone Adapter

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