Distant Learning Checklist: Gear Up for Virtual Learning!

March 17, 2020 by Ying-Hui Chen

With the right tools and equipment set up, distant learning doesn’t have to be difficult or less effective than in-class experience. Our team of VoIP experts are here to help you get what you need and gear up for virtual learning!

Distant Learning Checklist

#1 VoIP Headset

A robust headset is a must for all students and faculty to learn and teach remotely. Noise-canceling, comfortable wearing style, and the quick disconnect design are just some of the useful features you may need while away from your classroom. Check out these popular VoIP headset options for online courses:

#2 Camera

Video is a quite effective way of conducting an online class. You will be able to teach and learn more advanced courses through presentation slides or live demonstrations. Therefore, having a high-quality camera set up is also very important! Logitech offers great quality cameras at an affordable price. Check out some popular options:

#3 Video & Recording

Don’t want to miss something important during a class? Vidyard can be handy! Vidyard is an online video platform for users to communicate effectively. It’s a very easy way to create and share your videos with students. Plus, it’s free to sign up. Why not give it a try: https://www.vidyard.com/

YouTube is also a great and probably the most popular video platform for recording and sharing videos. You can video and record lessons and share them easily with your students on YouTube. Private video options are also available.

#4 Instant Message & Chat

What if you need someone’s attention right away? Try instant message and chat platforms like Google Hangouts. You can also have the mobile app version to send out messages instantly.

UNESCO’s website has a list of useful online learning tools, click here to check them out.

Are you ready for distant learning and online courses? If not yet, you are not alone! Our team is here to help you set up and get ready for remote lessons. Call 1-800-398-8647 to learn more!

7 Best Headsets for Working From Home (WFH)

March 12, 2020 by Ying-Hui Chen

Are you prepared for working from home? Remote working can be quite different from working in the office. Noise cancelling, quick disconnect, binaural or monaural, ….there are so many features you have to consider. Why not let our team do the research for you? Check out our 7 top-pick headsets for working from home employees.

#1 Jabra Evolve 30 II

The Jabra Evolve 30 II UC Stereo Headset is a mid-range professional headset with plug-and-play connectivity and a call control unit for call management, so you can easily connect to a smartphone or PC. These headsets come with 40mm drivers, a noise cancelling boom mic, and more.

#2 Jabra Evolve 20

Jabra’s Evolve 20 is another great VoIP headset for working from home. Mono and binaural options are both available. These headsets feature Digital Signaling Processing (DSP) for reducing background noise. They also come with comfortable foam ear cushions and an adjustable mic boom to make this a convertible, versatile headset!

#3 Jabra Evolve 40

Similar to Jabra’s Evolve 20, the evolve 40 is a corded stereo headset for VoIP softphones, mobile phones and tablets. This VoIP headset is built with great noise cancelling technology and it is adaptable with USB using its 3.5 mm jack to connect to your device.

#4 Poly (Plantronics) Blackwire C3220

If you are looking for an easy to deploy headset that you can set up quickly for working at home, you can’t miss out on Poly’s Blackwire C3220. This headset is super lightweight and durable for all day use. The wideband audio and noise cancellation features will make sure you can hear and be heard clearly.

#5 Poly (Plantronics) Blackwire 3210

For a multi-tasker like you, you need Poly’s Blackwire 3210, a corded, one-ear versatile headset that offers USB-A connectivity. This headset is equipped with a variety of connectivity and wearing options, perfect for softphone users and WFH staff.

#6 Poly (Plantronics) Voyager 5200 UC Headset with BT700

The Poly Voyager 5200 UC Headset with BT700 is a sleek and comfortable pocket-sized headset that is perfect for professionals working from home or in the office. The 5200 is a Bluetooth Headset that works with a desk phone, PC, or mobile device. With six layers of WindSmart technology and four omni-directional microphones to reduce distracting background noise, nothing gets in the way of a clear connection.

#7 Poly (Plantronics) Voyager 6200 UC

Another great wireless headset option for working from home is Poly’s Voyager 6200 UC. This professional-grade earbud neckband headset works perfectly outside the office environment. It is certified for Skype for Business. You can pair these earbuds with up to 8 devices at a time and connect them with any two devices at the same time, saving you a tremendous amount of time switching calls back and forth!

What headsets are you using for your work? Staying connected with your colleagues outside of your office doesn’t have to be difficult! Call one of our VoIP consultants at 1-8000-398-8647 and we will be happy to help you find out the best VoIP headset and equipment you need!

See More Softphone/ USB Headsets

Lifesize and Serenova Have Merged!

March 11, 2020 by Ying-Hui Chen

Lifesize, a global innovator of video conferencing solutions, and Serenova, a leading contact center-as-a-service (CCaaS) provider, announced a merger. With this merger, these two companies expect to provide customers a complementary platform of enterprise-grade, cloud-based, HD video collaboration and contact solutions together.

“Lifesize has a long track record of innovation in business communications and a strong dedication to customer success,” said Serenova CEO John Lynch. “The synergies between Serenova and Lifesize solutions will allow us to revolutionize how businesses communicate with their customers and will deepen the value we can offer to our existing contact center customers worldwide.”

Read the full press release here.

Learn more about Lifesize products here!

What is a VoIP Number?

March 10, 2020 by Ying-Hui Chen

In the previous post, we talked about what a VoIP phone is and how you can take advantage of it. Now you may be wondering about what a VoIP number is. Let’s talk about it!

What is a VoIP Number?

A VoIP number is the number you use to make voice calls with your contacts. Depending on how you set up your service, these VoIP calls can be completed through a VoIP desk phone, a regular landline telephone converted by an adapter, or even through your cellular phone. Basically your VoIP number is the number that will show on the other end of the phone call so your contact can recognize you.

International Direct In-Dial Numbers (DIDs)

Most of the VoIP service providers now are able to provide you with international DIDs. This will give your business a worldwide presence with direct in-dial numbers, making it easy for you to expand your international reach.

More VoIP Call Features

That’s not all! VoIP has a lot of potential. There are many more VoIP call features you can take advantage fo to make efficient calls such as:

Find Me/Follow Me – you control how your calls are directed!
Voicemail to Text – instantly transcribe and send your voicemail to your email
Auto Attendant – a personalized greeting that allows your customers to choose the person/ department they want to reach
Call Queuing – organize different departments into queues so that callers can be routed accordingly
See More Features

If you are new to VoIP and would like to learn more about how to leverage it, be sure to check out our new to VoIP page and download our free VoIP guides!

WFH Checklist: Is Your Business set up for Your Employees to Work from Home?

March 6, 2020 by Ying-Hui Chen

Many businesses are set up for employees to work from home, is yours ready? Our team put together a simple checklist in this post to help you get prepared for working from home or anywhere you need to be! Let’s check out what you will need:

#1 Mobile App/ Softphone

When you are out of your office, your mobile phone plays an important role. Almost all VoIP service providers now provide their own mobile app for Android and iOS users. Check with your service provider to make sure you have your cell phone set up for VoIP calls so you can stay connected wherever you go!

Some popular softphone options:

#2 Video Conferencing Solution

What about hosting a meeting remotely? A video conferencing solution is all you need! To help you choose the best video conferencing solution, let’s break down your options into three room sizes:

You may also want to check out Lifesize’s bundle solutions. Lifesize provides tailored solutions based on how many participants you will have and their systems are very easy to install and get started. Try Lifesize Go, a free video conferencing platform on the go, today!

Check out thei r video conferencing options here!

#3 Speakerphone & Camera

For executive-level professionals, you may want a personal camera and/or a reliable speakerphone in your home office so that your team can see and hear you clearly. Logitech has some affordable portable HD cameras available such as the BCC950 and the C920 camera. See more popular options below:

Jabra PanaCast Video Conferencing camera
Grandstream GVC3210 Video Conferencing Camera
Poly EagleEye Cube HD Camera
Yealink CP700-BT speakerphone – compatible with Teams!
Poly Calisto 7200 speakerphone – with 4 directional mics
More speakerphone options

#4 Noise-Cancelling VoIP Headset

Let’s be honest, how do you stay focused when your dog is barking and your kids are crying in the same space? A great quality VoIP headset with advanced noise cancelling features will come to rescue!

Monaural, binaural, wired, wireless,….choose what works best for you! Here are some popular VoIP headsets with strong noise cancelling features:

#5 VoIP Phone & VoIP Service Features

Remote collaboration can be quite different from face-to-face interaction. Don’t forget to take advantage of the VoIP features that will enhance your team efficiency:

3-way conference
Call recording
Transfer or send to voicemail
Instant Messaging
Fax over IP
Slide sharing
More VoIP features

There you have it!

If you are not planning on getting new equipment for your employees to work from home, be sure to have enough power supplies for them to take their phone and headset home!

Are you all set for working from home? I am!

Call one of our VoIP consultants at 1-800-398-8647 to learn more about VoIP equipment for remote working!

What is a VoIP Phone?

March 4, 2020 by Ying-Hui Chen

In the last post, we talked about what SIP is and how it works. Today, we are going to go one step further to discuss what a VoIP phone is and how to select your VoIP phones. Let’s get started!

What is a VoIP Phone?

A VoIP phone is a telephone with built-in IP technology and transport protocols that is used in conjunction with a VoIP phone system or VoIP service allowing you to send and receive calls. VoIP phones are similar to a traditional desktop telephone (landline) except it uses a different underlying technology (IP).

VoIP phones come with many varieties including corded VoIP phones, wireless VoIP phones, USB phones, video phones, conference phones and more! Click here to see more types of VoIP phones!

How to select your VoIP Phones

There’s a VoIP phone for every role! Selecting your ideal VoIP phone doesn’t have to be complicated. You can start from answering a few questions:

1. What phone system or VoIP service provider are you using?

It’s important to make sure that your phone is compatible with your VoIP phone system or service provider! Many of our customers thought they could just plug in the phone and get it work with any provider. That’s not true! You can download our compatibility guide here to learn more about it.

2. Who will be using these VoIP phones?

An executive probably needs several line appearances to accommodate multi-party conference calls; while a manager might need a VoIP phone that has the ability to pick up, transfer and juddle several calls at once. Determine the role first will help you narrow down your options quickly. From there, you can decide what features and functionalities are necessary for your user.

3. What’s the typical call volume?

Your typical daily call volume will determine how many line appearances your VoIP phone should have. Usually 3 to 5 lines will be sufficient for an average office worker, however, for receptionists and operators, you will probably need more than 10 lines.

4. What’s your budget?

Believe it or not – a VoIP phone price can range from $40 to over $400! While price should never be the most important factor in selecting an IP Phone it is important that you have a budget set for your IP phones, since you don’t want to overspend. A budget will also force you to take a hard look at what features and functions are most important to you.

The easiest way to find an ideal VoIP phone? Call one of our VoIP consultants at 1-800-8647! We have an experienced team here to help you, why not take advantage of it?

Check out our FREE VoIP Phone Guide to learn more about VoIP Phones! This educational guide to VoIP phones covers the phone technology, features and functions, phone types, purchase instructions, user based phone recommendations and more!

Are You Compliant with Kari’s Law for 911 Communications?

March 3, 2020 by Ying-Hui Chen

Kari’s law and Ray Baum’s act went into effect earlier this month and many of our partners and customers are nervous about how this new law can affect their business. Let’s learn from the basics:

What are the requirements under Karis’s law and Ray Baum’s act?

Kari’s law and Ray Baum’s act are created to make it easy for people in distress to contact 911 for emergency events. Multi-line phone systems in the United States are now required to:

Enable direct dialing to 911 centers.
Notify designated personnel when the call has been made
Transmit critical data directly to 911 centers

Note that every state has its own specific requirements so you will want to check with your lawyer to find out more details.

How to become compliant with Kari’s law with 3CX

3CX v16 Update 5 Alpha 2 introduced new features to further assist emergency response units. Now our partners are able to set rapid response emergency number options:

Custom Outbound Caller ID – You can now set a custom Caller ID for each of the emergency number’s defined routes. This ID represents an Emergency Location Identification Number (ELIN), that you can associate through your VoIP provider’s portal with an Emergency Response Location (ERL).
Emergency Policy Name – The “%%EMERGENCYRULENAME%%” parameter can be added to the message template to transmit more data to help in an emergency situation.
Learn more about 3CX emergency number management here

To configure the new emergency number options, go to settings> general> emergency numbers and from there you can:

Add emergency numbers
Add message template
Set notifications
Learn more details

Are you all set for being compliant with this new law? What actions or strategies have you taken? Share with us!

VoIP Supply Announces their New Affiliate Program

February 28, 2020 by Ying-Hui Chen

Buffalo, NY – VoIP Supply, a leading VoIP provider in North America, is excited to announce their new affiliate program. VoIP Supply has emerged as the leading VoIP hardware and service supplier in the VoIP market space and this is one of the easiest programs to join and participate in.

By joining the VoIP Supply Affiliate Program, partners are able to work with an authorized partner to ensure their customer’s products are supported and provide their customers access to one of the largest VoIP hardware catalogs out there.

Affiliates will track all referring traffic via a unique URL placed on their website and receive a commision payout when a transaction is made.

“ We are very excited to be able to offer this type of program to our partners. It saves them valuable time and ensures their customers will have a great customer experience. At VoIP Supply we pride ourselves in delivering the best customer experience and having this program allows us to extend that to other partners in the industry. ” – Paula Griffo, Managing Director at VoIP Supply

Submit your application here and wait for approval emails within 48 hours. Learn more about VoIP Supply’s Affiliate Program here: https://www.voipsupply.com/affiliate-program

About VoIP Supply

VoIP Supply, LLC is your trusted source for everything VoIP; from our large selection of name-brand hardware to our CloudSpan Marketplace. VoIP Supply provides you with a fully staffed inbound call center with licensed, certified and highly trained VoIP experts that can help you with any problem you might have. Whether you are a home user, business, reseller or service provider, VoIP Supply has the products, experience and expertise to make your deployment a success.

VoIP Supply is a three-time Inc. 500/5000 honoree, listed by Business First as one of WNY’s Most Admired Companies, as well as being consistently ranked one of Western New York’s Best Places to Work. VoIP Supply is also the first Certified B Corporation in Western New York.

Our dedicated Solution Specialists are here to help, so call us today at 1-800-398-VoIP or visit our website at https://www.voipsupply.com

What Hospitality Platforms Are Fanvil’s H Series IP Phones Certified On?

February 26, 2020 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: Fanvil X6 IP Phone Failed to Transfer Calls via PBXs. Today, we have more new real questions and answers from VoIP users just like you.

Are Fanvil’s H Series Hotel Phones Certified with 3CX?

Q: What Hospitality Platforms Are Fanvil’s H Series IP Phones Certified On?

A: As of now, Fanvil’s H Series hotel phones are certified with 3CX and 3CX has its own hotel modules.

The 3CX Hotel Module is an optional module for 3CX Phone System and turns it into a full featured Hotel PBX. The 3CX Hotel module is available with or without PMS (Property Management System) integration. Learn more about 3CX hotel module here!

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

What is SIP and what is it used for?

by Ying-Hui Chen

IP….I’ve heard of that before. That’s right! Most of you must have heard of IP. IP stands for Internet Protocol. It’s a method of transporting packets across your local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). But what about SIP?

What is SIP?

SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol. It is a communication protocol used for initiating and integrating real-time multimedia communication sessions including video, voice, messaging and other applications.

What does SIP do? SIP bridges communication services between multiple endpoints. Basically, you need SIP to set up a call through the Internet and get two or more telephones to talk to each other.

Utilizing a combination of hardware, software, and voice protocols, your conversations are carried over the IP network to its intended destination. A VoIP system converts the analog audio signals (your voice) into digital data that can be understood by the VoIP devices and transmitted over the IP network to the other end of the call.

Now that you know what SIP is, how about we explore the types of SIP phones and the pros and cons of using a SIP phone?

If you are new to VoIP and don’t know where to start, be sure to check out our new to VoIP page!