VoIP Supply CFO Paula Griffo Promoted to President

August 5, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

Paula Griffo, newly named President and CFO of VoIP Supply

VoIP Supply is honored to announce the internal promotion of a valued executive team member who has been a tremendous leader in transitioning VoIP Supply’s finance department.

VoIP Supply CFO, Paula Griffo, has been named as President and CFO to oversee the company’s entire day-to-day business operations including a improving processes and procedures, employee development programs, and strategy and business development.

Griffo holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Accounting, has a Certified Public Accountant License and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

New Sense of Urgency

Since 2007 Griffo has been responsible for the operation and management of the company’s finances. After the 2008 recession, Griffo eliminated VoIP Supply’s debt load while increasing cash flow partly thanks to the use of the word “No.”

She was empowered to veto VoIP Supply CEO Ben Sayers’ entrepreneurial whims.

This has allowed the company to accomplish such things as purchasing the company’s first corporate headquarters building (2011) and have the resources to stock larger amounts of inventory so that we can offer the pricing and availability that our customers need.

“VoIP Supply is always pleased to promote dedicated, passionate, and creative employees like Paula Griffo,” said Benjamin P. Sayers, Chief Executive Officer of VoIP Supply. “Mrs. Griffo has earned this promotion by her outstanding work that has put VoIP Supply in the best financial position the company has ever been in.”

Griffo is now creating a new sense of urgency in the company by proactively pushing and freeing up Sayers to pursue new opportunities that will ultimately provide better service to our customers.

What Is Content Marketing and Why Do Businesses Need It?

July 31, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

Back at the end of April, VoIP Supplys’ Garrett Smith joined his fellow local marketers on the panel, Why Content Marketing Matters, hosted by the Ad Club of Buffalo.

In attendance that evening was Jennifer Wozniak, Marketing Assistant at Yourbrain Media, Inc. and writer of WNY Online and Social Media Marketing News, who wrote a great recap of the event that also serves as a helpful how-to guide for content marketing.

Wozniak’s article, In content marketing, consider your audience first, first explains that, “Content marketing is more than talking about your product; it’s about understanding your audience, knowing their interests and creating content for them.

She then laid out three key tenets of content marketing.

Why use content marketing?:

“It engages the user to keep a relationship with us and the company and that’s what we are going for.” – Mitch Mirksy, Fisher Price Digital Marketing Manager

What should I post?

“What is this content going to support? Maybe it’s a new category launch, new product or service. Develop campaign specific metrics: reach, traffic, number of downloads or direct sales. Who’s the audience, what do they want? Use Google trends and keyword search tool to see what people are searching for and see what’s trending on Twitter.” – Garrett Smith, VoIP Supply CMO

Content Planning and Scheduling

Wozniak sums up the panels thoughts on planning and scheduling by noting that:

Most marketers on the panel agreed that creating a calendar helped insure they had material ready and also helped meet their objectives. However, most cautioned that you should allow a certain amount of flexibility to react to real-world events.

[Crista] Finn Geary [of Crista Geary Creative] and a co-worker planned out a calendar a month in advance with daily postings. She said posts received the most engagement from fans at 7 p.m.

For more examples and stories on how to customize a content marketing strategy to your unique fan/customer-base.

How to Use Hotel Phone for Internet On the Road

July 30, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

No WiFi in your hotel room? No worries.

You can still save money by using dial-up (yes, that old thing) through your hotel phone. This video shows you how:

Via Science Channel

How To Private Label Cloud-Based Unified Communications With ADTRAN ProServices

July 29, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

How do you provide more value to your customers while gaining trust, loyalty, and recurring revenues?

One way to achieve all those is by offering your customers cloud-based Unified Communictions (UC) via ADTRAN’s new ProServices suite of network deployment services. Jon Arnold, independent telecom industry analyst, explains the opportunity in his recent article, Reinventing the Network – ADTRAN’s ProServices.

Like a lot of other networking and communications equipment vendors, the ADTRAN business model is continuing to follow the convergence from analog to IP-based systems and now, they’re listening to the latest customer demands to provide cloud-based communications.

Arnold explains that, “While it’s not clear whether this is really the best choice long-term, that’s where the value seems to be now – perceived for sure, and possibly for real. Regardless, vendors can’t afford to ignore this trend, and ProServices is meant to be an end-to-end set of capabilities that can support channels however far they want to take the cloud/hosted/managed route.”

UC is a Service, Not a Product

Customers want value and if you’re just supplying them with the hardware for a hosted UC solution, you’re going to be facing a lot of competition with low margins. Arnold describes the current market in a vendors versus carriers scenario:

As often stated, UC is a service not a product, and as cloud and virtualization both play bigger roles, it becomes easier for carriers to own the end customer. Previously, the business was shared, with carriers providing connectivity and vendors providing the premise-based solutions. Now, carriers can provide everything, potentially cutting out the vendor and minimizing the role of the channel.

This is where you can step in with ADTRAN ProServices to private label your own cloud offering to “maintain ownership of the customer” because “at the end of the day [that’s] all that matters, and the best way to do that is provide value in ways that resonate with those customers.”

Cheng Zhang from Yealink Talks About the New Yealink SIP-T4 Phones

July 26, 2013 by Tom Costelloe

In May Yealink announced a new series of VoIP Phones that marked a change from their current line of SIP-T2 and SIP-T3 VoIP phones. To get a better understanding of the decision to release these new models and how Yealink seems them fitting in the current VoIP phone market I talked with Cheng Zhang, Marketing Manager at Yealink.

VoIP Supply: While I am looking forward to learning more about the new Yealink SIP-T4 phone models before we start for those who aren’t familiar with Yealink would you be able to tell me a little about Yealink?

Yealink：Founded in 2001, Yealink is the Global Top5 SIP Phone Supplier and a leading provider of VoIP Phone and IP communication solutions. Yealink focuses on VoIP products characterized by high cost-performance, easy deployment and affordable price. Based on solid core technology, Yealink benefits customers with its flexibility and broad interoperability with the major IP-PBX, Softswitch and IMS in the market. Chosen by famous carriers, enterprises and clients from over 80 countries, Yealink delivers SMB and diversified customers worldwide with the best choice for extending their value of network communication.

VS: Taking a quick look at the new SIP-T4 series phones the first thing that strikes me about the phones is that they are quite different then the Yealink phones I have been used to seeing these last couple years. What prompted the new design and what are some of the benefits of the new phone design?

Yealink: Yealink T4 Series IP Phones– including the SIP-T46G, SIP-T42G and SIP-T41P – are designed specifically for consumers who expect integrated communication to come with excellent functionality and ultra-smart design.

The SIP-T46G, SIP-T42G and SIP-T41P all represent the next generation of VoIP phones for business users who need a range of rich telephony features, a friendly user-interface and superb voice quality. All three are seen as a future-proofed infrastructure investment capable of providing a seamless and low-cost switchover to modern GigE-based, or in the case of the SIP-T41P cost-efficient 10/100M Ethernet, high-speed broadband networks.

The SIP-T46G and SIP-T42G have dual-port Gigabit Ethernet connections that offer a range of flexible installation options. They also ensure much lower cabling costs. Extra-large 4.3 inch 480 x 272 pixels, high-resolution, TFT color display screens mean that caller information is always shown very clearly with high illumination. In addition, the user-interface (UI) for each model is designed for clarity and intuitive operation.
Further features include USB Bluetooth support for easy Bluetooth earphone use. Enhanced sound quality is delivered by the Optima HD Voice system which meets TIA 920 certification standards.

Revolutionary in appearance with many advanced technical features, the convenient and easy use of the T4 Series is designed to make pen and paper redundant in busy office environments and represents the cutting-edge of contemporary VoIP technology in action.

Two accessories enhance performance. The first is the Yealink EXP40 Expansion Module for the SIP-T46G. This is designed to take SIP phone functional capability to a new level. It uses a large backlit graphic LCD and two pages of 20 flexible buttons. These are shown on the display and can be programmed for up to 40 productivity-enhancing features.

The second accessory is a Bluetooth USB dongle which adds connectivity to the SIP-T46G through a wide variety of Bluetooth headsets. This allows users to receive calls wherever they are in the office.

VS: What type of users can benefit from using the new phones?

Yealink:

People who require high value phones or paperless office environment,
Enterprise customers
Carriers / service providers who already use Yealink IP Phones. They can have T4 series in their product portfolio for high end customers.
Low end gigabit IP Phone markets. For example, some new schools, and new hospitals where gigabit Ethernet switch is already deployed and gigabit connection is required by PC.

VS: Yealink has been quite busy so far in 2013 with the release of new SIP-T4X and before that the Yealink SIP-W52P and SIP-W52H DECT units, can we expect more new releases from Yealink in the coming months?

Yealink: Two new VoIP Phones targeted the low end market can be expected to be released in the 4th quarter of this year.

Why Switch to VoIP?

July 24, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

If you’re still thinking about switching to VoIP, check out this infographic from Elite Telecom that outlines the benefits, steps, and reasons why VoIP is good for your business.

And if you want some real world stories of people that switched to/from VoIP, read my posts Making the Switch…From VoIP – Part I and Part II.

VoIP Hackers Shut Down Hospital Phone Lines

July 23, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

Is your VoIP phone system secured against attacks?

LA Times writer Paresh Dave reported that a San Diego hospital was the victim of a distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS) when an “extortionist who, probably using not much more than a laptop and cheap software, had single-handedly generated enough calls to tie up the lines.”

For two days phone lines appeared busy to the outside world.

Who Is Affected?

David writes that according to vague mentions in law enforcement documents telecom industry insiders, there have been a range of VoIP victims including:

Hospitals, nursing homes, and medical centers
A public safety agency and an emergency operations center
A manufacturer
Wall Street firms
Schools
Media
Insurance companies

There are more but “Many of the victims want to remain anonymous out of fear of being attacked again or opening themselves up to lawsuits from customers.” And the FBI is reporting that victims have paid up to $5,000 just to get the attackers to stop.

In the case of the San Diego hospital, the attack was stopped was using a “computer firewall filter.” There are devices available like Cisco security appliances that can reducing exposure to threats and unauthorized access.

Ongoing Problem

Two years ago the ClueCon VoIP conference featured a VoIP security discussion centered around the Lulz Security threats of the time, noting that,

Right or wrong, their hacking activities have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt two important points: Security is important, and good security is hard to find.

Couple that with the fact that there are hundreds of millions of VoIP endpoints installed around the world with more every day. IP PBX’s and SIP trunks are ubiquitous.

Skype has well over half a billion users. VoIP security matters, whether you are a developer, a provider, or even simply the end user.

Now as VoIP adoption rises, so too does the threat. One Australian business lost $120,000 because of VoIP hackers.

The FCC is working on a solution, reports David, but that may be a couple years away.

Until then, you should do as much as you can to protect your networks and be aware of the threat because as Frank Artes of NSS Labs was quoted as saying, “For all the money spent on Internet security, companies often overlook protecting their telephones.”

via LA Times

Security Issues Addressed for Cisco Unified Communications Manager

July 22, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

Cisco has announced that certain versions of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) are vulnerable to remote hacker attacks such as

Blind Structured Query Language (SQL) injection
Command injection
Privilege escalation

Temporary Fix

Cisco explains how they found out about the problem through independent researchers:

On June 6, 2013, a French security firm, Lexfo, delivered a public presentation on VoIP security that included a demonstration of multiple vulnerabilities used to compromise Cisco Unified CM. During the presentation, the researchers demonstrated a multistaged attack that chained a number of vulnerabilities, which resulted in a complete compromise of the Cisco Unified CM server.

A Cisco Options Package (COP) file has been released as a temporary fix to shore up the weaknesses and can be found on the Cisco download page. Look for the file named:

cmterm-CSCuh01051-2.cop.sgn

Vulnerable Products

These versions of Cisco Unified CM are known to be vulnerable:

Cisco Unified Communications Manager 7.1(x)
Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8.5(x)
Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8.6(x)
Cisco Unified Communications Manager 9.0(x)
Cisco Unified Communications Manager 9.1(x)

These additional Cisco products might be vulnerable to the same products but, they haven’t been confirmed yet:

Cisco Emergency Responder
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express
Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal
Cisco Unified Presence Server/Cisco IM and Presence Service
Cisco Unity Connection

Lucian Constantin at PCWorld is also reporting that Cisco has warned users of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks could affect these products:

Cisco ASA 5500-X Series Adaptive Security Appliances
Cisco IPS 4500 Series Sensors
Cisco IPS 4300 Series Sensors

Via Cisco and PCWorld

First Look: Grandstream UCM6100

July 19, 2013 by Tom Costelloe

The phrase “champagne on a beer budget” gets a bad rap in my opinion. When used it seems like there is usually a negative connotation associated with it but I don’t think that should always be the case. Sometimes it could be used to imply that you are getting more for less, which isn’t a bad thing. One example of how you could use the phrase in a positive manor is to describe the new Grandstream UCM6100 series of IP PBXs; where you get many of the features of an expensive enterprise grade IP PBX without the price tag or champagne on a beer budget.

WHAT IS IT?

The Grandstream UCM6100 is a series of 4 new IP PBXs that have been targeted at Small to Medium Businesses or SMBs. The full featured UCM6100 appliances provide many of the features and functionality usually associated with more expensive and/or enterprise grade IP PBXs but without the hefty price tag or any additional licensing fees.

While the four different models in the UCM6100 series share many of the same features there is some difference in both the chassis of the appliances, port configuration and capabilities.

Grandstream UCM6102 – Wall mountable and desktop chassis design, 2 FXS and 2 FXO Ports, dual 10M/100M/1000M RJ 45 Ports, up to 30 simultaneous calls, up to 3 conference bridges with 25 simultaneous participants

Grandstream UCM6104 – Wall mountable and desktop chassis design, 2 FXS and 4 FXO Ports, dual 10M/100M/1000M RJ 45 Ports, up to 45 simultaneous calls, up to 3 conference bridges with 25 simultaneous participants

Grandstream UCM6108 – Rack mountable and desktop chassis design, 2 FXS and 8 FXO Ports, single 10M/100M/1000M RJ 45 Port, up to 60 simultaneous calls, up to 6 conference bridges with 32 simultaneous participants

Grandstream UCM6116 – Rack mountable and desktop chassis design, 2 FXS and 16 FXO Ports, single 10M/100M/1000M RJ 45 Port, up to 60 simultaneous calls, up to 6 conference bridges with 32 simultaneous participants

For all of the slight differences the four Grandstream UCM6100 models do share many of the same features and functionalities:

1GHz ARM Cortex A8 application processor, large memory (512MB DDR RAM, 4GB NAND Flash), and dedicated high performance multi-core DSP array for advanced voice processing
Hardware DSP based 128ms-tail-length carrier-grade line echo cancellation (LEC), hardware based caller ID/call progress tone and smart automated impendence matching for various countries
Flexible dial plan, call routing, site peering, call recording, central control panel for endpoints, integrated NTP server, and integrated LDAP contact directory
Strongest-possible security protection using SRTP, TLS, and HTTPS with hardware encryption accelerator
Supports for a wide range of popular voice codes (including G.711 A-law/U-law, G.722, G.723.1, G.726, G.729A/B, iLBC, GSM), video codec (including H.264, H.263, H.263+), and Fax (T.38).

For a complete overview you can read the Grandstream UCM6100 Datasheet and the user manua.

Who Is It For?

As I previously mentioned the new Grandstream UCM6100 appliances have been designed with SMBs in mind both from a design, feature capabilities and pricing aspect.

One tools that makes it such a good match for SMBs that may not have a dedicated IT person is the Zero Configuration provisioning. This tool allows users to provision phones and IP Cameras via a simple web user interface allowing for a quick set-up and easy management. While a full list of supported phones and cameras has not been released yet but it almost certain that Grandstream phones and IP Cameras will be on the list.

Pricing

The pricing for the Grandstream UCM6100 models is:

Grandstream UCM6102 – $395
Grandstream UCM6104 – $495
Grandstream UCM6108 – $899
Grandstream UCM6116 – $1,699

There are no additional licensing fees or extra costs for features, users or firmware upgrades.

How Small Businesses Save on Shipping Costs

July 18, 2013 by Nathan Miloszewski

Small business owners are always looking for ways to cut costs and one great way to help that effort is by taking a closer look at shipping processes and procedures.

VoIP Supply was recently featured in this Launch Grow Joy article by Andreea Ayers that includes the advice from over 30 other entrepreneurs who shared their experiences on how to save on shipping.

Here’s how VoIP Supply works to keep costs low:

Make your packing materials work for you. VoIP Supply reuses or recycles every box that comes in. Boxes in good shape get shipped back out and all the others are taken by a recycling company that pays us to pick them up so, we save on the cost of a cardboard dumpster. We haven’t purchased peanuts or bubble wrap in 5 years because they’re easily reused and paper void-fill is also very cost effective. Also, work on your box size versus product size because express shipping will charge based on dimensional weight (DIM) so, it’s a good idea to have a variety of box sizes on hand to reduce that cost.

Via Launch Grow Joy