Connecting a VoIP System to the PSTN

May 25, 2010 by Brian Hyrek

The PSTN still (believe it or not) has its place in today’s telecommunications world.

With communications being the “beating heart” of your business, you certainly cannot afford to be without the ability to send and receive valuable phone calls. It is possible, with VoIP, that your network crashes or Internet connectivity can be lost. Meaning, of course, the your ability to send or receive calls, emergency included, is stripped.

That’s the problem and I herein present you with the solution: an FXO VoIP Gateway!

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Selecting a Phone for use with Skype

by Garrett Smith

Last week we took a look at how to select a headset for use with Skype.

In that post we went through the basic options available to Skype users and how to go about ensuring that you select the right headset for your needs.

Now we’re going to take a closer look at selecting a phone for use with Skype

Types of Skype Phones

As Skype has continued to grow in popularity, equipment manufacturers have rushed to release a variety of phones designed to meet the different needs of Skype users.

Today one will find four different types of phones for use with Skype:

USB – USB phones are the primary type of phones that most consider when using Skype. These USB phones connect directly into your PC or Laptop and come in standard versions as well as speakerphone versions.
Desktop – Desktop Skype phones perform similar functions to USB phones, but they do not require you to connect to your PC or Laptop. Desktop Skype phones plug directly into your network via Ethernet and have soft-buttons to control the various Skype functions.
Conference – Skype conference phones are more like speakerphones than full blown room conferencing solutions, but they do the trick if you are looking to do a lot of small group meetings.
Wireless – Wireless Skype phones are, as the name suggests, 802.11 b/g phones that provide Skype users with a mobility solution. Wireless Skype phones are excellent for use in small home environments and for those who spend a lot of “talking time” in cafe’s or hotspots.
Video – Skype Video phones are the latest phone type to hit the market. Skype video phones allow you to take advantage of Skype’s voice and video capabilities and can be found in USB, Ethernet and Wireless versions.

Selecting a Skype phone

Now that you have a general idea of the different options when it comes to Skype phones the next things to do is narrow down the choice based on need and preference. This can be done in three easy steps:

Step One – Where will you be using Skype? The easiest way to start the search for a Skype phone is to first define where you will be using Skype. For example if you normally use Skype at your PC or Laptop, a simple USB Skype phone might be a perfect fit. Or alternatively if you’re constantly on the road, you might want to look into a Wireless Skype phone that can be used anywhere a wireless internet connection is available.
Step Two – What Skype features and functions are needed? Everyone uses Skype differently and not every Skype phone supports all Skype features. To avoid purchasing a Skype phone that does not support some of the features and or functions you may wish to access via the phone, write down some of your “must haves” and then compare those with the supported Skype features and functions of the phone.
Step Three – What is your budget? The last step is determine what you are willing to shell out to buy a Skype phone. Skype phones range in price, from under $50 USD to over $300 USD. You should expect to pay more for Skype phones with more functionality, so if you have a laundry list of needs from Step Two be prepared to pay more.

Yealink IP Phone Test Packages

by Garrett Smith

yealink
When it comes to evaluating which equipment you should be using with your VoIP system or service nothing beats hand-on testing.

Sure you can do your research online. You can chat with other companies and professionals to what they are doing.

But in the end nothing beats putting a piece of equipment through it’s paces in a testing or live environment.

Yealink IP Phone Test Packs

You may have heard that VoIP Supply recently brought on the Yealink line of IP phones.

Throughout our lab and live internal testing (using our call center), the Yealink IP phones performed exceptionally well. (That’s why we brought them on.)

However you may have never heard of Yealink AND you might be a little skeptical that a new market entrant has a polished product that is ready for the demands of your environment.

That’s why VoIP Supply has put together two Yealink IP Phone test packs.

These test packs give you a low cost way to test the various Yealink models to see if they are a fit for your offering or organization.

Yealink Voice Bundle

The Yealink Voice Bundle combines three of the most popular Yealink IP phones into one single test pack. The kit includes one T22PEX and OEM power supply, one T22P and one T28P. Each of these SIP based phones can be powered by either PoE or AC, support HD voice and are interoperable with most SIP based VoIP systems and services.

For more information, visit the Yealink Voice Bundle page.

Yealink Voice and Video Bundle

For those of you who are interested in exploring video conferencing or just want to see what else Yealink has to offer, we’ve created the Yealink Voice and Video Bundle. Like the Yealink Voice Bundle, the Voice and Video bundle contains one T22PEX and OEM power supply, one T22P, one T28P, as well as the Yealink VP-2009P video phone. Each of these SIP based phones can be powered by either PoE or AC, support HD voice and are interoperable with most SIP based VoIP systems and services.

My Favorite Business VoIP Phones

May 20, 2010 by Garrett Smith

I remember when I first walked through the doors of VoIP Supply.

The industry was in its infancy and VoIP phone choices were made for you rather than having to decide on what you wanted due to the limited number of manufacturers and offerings at that time.

Today, the market is very different.You have the “pick of the litter” with so many choices ranging from Polycom, Cisco (Linksys), Aastra, Snom, Grandstream, Yealink, Siemens (told you there were a lot out there) you really have to think what functions and features you need when settling on the phone of your choice.

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Selecting a Headset for Skype

May 19, 2010 by Garrett Smith

Four Easy Steps to Selecting a Skype Headset

Most folks who are utilizing a VoIP service these days don’t realize the importance having the right equipment plays in a quality calling experience.

This is especially true for Skype.

If you’re not yet familiar with Skype, it’s a free piece of software that allows you to make voice and video calls (alongside IM, conferencing and content sharing). Today it is the most widely used VoIP service in the world, with over 1 billion downloads and 5 million active users at any given time.

Now just because Skype is free to download, use and offers low cost international calling options doesn’t mean that it is a low quality service. Skype is actually a very capable service that even overs high definition calling with its SILK codec.

But in order to take advantage of Skype’s audio quality and utilize Skype’s SILK codec for high definition calling, you need to make sure you have the right equipment. That’s why selecting the right hardware for Skype is important.

Today there are number of devices for use with Skype. From headsets to web cameras to desktop IP phones, there is a piece of Skype hardware for everyone.

For now lets focus on Skype headsets and how to go about selecting the right one!
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What do you need from a phone system?

May 18, 2010 by Arthur Miller

In my last post we took a look at the benefits of a hosted VoIP system versus that of a premise based solution.

Today we’re going to take a look at what you need from your phone system. More specifically, what features you will need from a phone system.
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Yealink IP Phones

May 17, 2010 by Garrett Smith

Three years ago the under $100 IP phone market was dominated by Grandstream, fueled by it’s popularity with those deploying open source PBX systems.

At the time, most manufacturers were staying away from the low end of the market. It was either difficult for them to produce a quality product at that price point or they were totally unaware of the market demand.

Not today.

While Grandstream continues to have the dominate position in the under $100 IP phone market, almost every major manufacturer of IP phones has an offering under $100. From Polycom to Cisco, finding an IP phone for less than $100 is not difficult.

And new solutions are coming out every month.

One such manufacturers that is emerging as a strong player in the under $100 IP phone market is Yealink.
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Introduction to Fax over IP with FaxxBochs

May 14, 2010 by Garrett Smith

Since you’re reading the VoIP Insider it likely that you’ve decided to embark on the road of implementing Voice over IP (VoIP) or already have.

Congratulations!

Whether for reasons of cost, service availability, feature set, or ease of mobility, VoIP is a fantastic technology. However, it does have one major drawback that has been unreliable until recently, fax.

Who needs fax?

You may immediately question the need for fax.

Isn’t fax technology something from the past? Who really uses a fax machine anymore when we live in a world of “eFax”, scanners, and email?

Simply put, many people.

Fax is a secure method of document transmission that is still relied upon by many in the medical, legal, real estate, and other business fields. Well, no problem. If we need fax, let’s just plug our fax machine into an ATA/DTA device and fax away.

Right? WRONG.
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U.S.A Broadband Demand up in the first Quarter 2010

by Garrett Smith

A recent article and report published by Durham NH based Leichtman Research has indicated that broadband services were up for the first time in a long time in the first quarter of 2010.

This report is great news for those end users and carriers interested in selling Hosted VoIP services; Net new broadband circuits probably means that Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) is on the way out for these same businesses.

The Aastra Carrier sales team has several Hosted VoIP carriers who use the embedded base of POTS service as a lead source, of sorts. That is to say if a customer has a lot of older cooper POTS lines or circuits, billing anywhere from $35 to $65 / month / circuit (depending on where you live), the Hosted VoIP carrier will offer SIP Trunking or Hosted VoIP service to replace these connections.

The net result is the customer can disconnect these lines and receive concrete savings as a result of going to the new, broadband based SIP trunk or Hosted VoIP service. Broadband, for both internet and now voice, is becoming the mean vehicle to deliver these services.

I envision the day when the multipurpose, broadband circuit will be all the only wired carrier service needed to run a business. If this happens get ready for the regulated phone companies to go crying to their local department of utilities for a rate increase for those POTS lines.

Follow-up to Metaswitch Forum 2010

by Garrett Smith

Did you ever plan a summer party and then it rains and blows the plans? All of your provisions are sitting in the fridge with know one to serve them to (maybe except the wine and beer which somehow always finds a home).

Well that’s nothing compared with what Metaswitch encountered in the last two weeks when their forum venue, the Gaylord – Opryland Hotel and resort was flooded and their Annual User Conference needed to be canceled.

See photos of the hotel at this link.

The organizers have not announced the rescheduling of the event. I’m sure the more than 800 customers and vendors will find something else to do next week, and I’m also sure that the we all feel for, the Opryland Hotel staff and the people of Tenn. who have a much bigger task ahead of them, rebounding from this event.

Connecting a VoIP System to the PSTN

Selecting a Phone for use with Skype

Types of Skype Phones

Selecting a Skype phone

Yealink IP Phone Test Packages

Yealink IP Phone Test Packs

Yealink Voice Bundle

Yealink Voice and Video Bundle

My Favorite Business VoIP Phones

Selecting a Headset for Skype

Four Easy Steps to Selecting a Skype Headset

What do you need from a phone system?

Yealink IP Phones

Introduction to Fax over IP with FaxxBochs

Who needs fax?

U.S.A Broadband Demand up in the first Quarter 2010

Follow-up to Metaswitch Forum 2010

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