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business telephone selection – services and hardware – get your office the service back up it requires

Author: Zak CooganOn: Mar 16Categories: Broadband Connectivity, Business, General, Phone Systems, Small Business, Support, Technical No Comments

Be sure to select a communications provider that can provide your business with what it needs – not what they want to supply you.

A supplier should have a number of vendor and supply options.

Often we have been in competitive situations against a ‘One-man-band’ or ‘man-and-a-van’ whilst a customer may save £50-£100 with such an out fit, there are many downsides, we recommend you look for all these in any new comms provider.

1) Support – a depth of back office support, in telephony, adsl, and mobile technologies

2) A selection of vendor equipment (for features, look and feel, integration to other systems in the business)

3) A selection of Tier 1 network providers, with proper wholesale relationship to provide a higher level of service than if you were direct

If you are a small business looking to save money it may be a false economy to buy cheap today, but have to reinvest a year down the line if the cheap option purchased can’t handle voip or voicemail etc..

Business Phone System from just £12.50 per month

Author: Zak CooganOn: Feb 17Categories: General, Phone Systems, Small Business, Technical No Comments

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Ideally every small business should have at least two phone lines and a Phone System to field calls, with professional voicemail and features similar to those used by large companies. People working from home do not want to use the domestic phone line and number for their business.

Smartinfo offer SmartHorizon – The Professional Solution

SmartHorizon gives all the features of a fully blown Phone System, at a fraction of the cost.

We supply you with a Cisco business phone which connects to us via your broadband. The phone is delivered already set up to your configuration – Phone no. etc.

You will have a new phone number, with an area code of your choice.

Do not worry if you want to alter your set up as you will have access to a web ‘portal’ which will enable you to make changes.

A few of the benefits that come with SmartHorizon:

Line Rental is included in the £12.50 monthly fee. Each phone has a line.
Never miss a call. If you are engaged and someone calls they will be put through to voicemail.
Call log. All calls – including missed – calls are logged.
Voicemail. Voice mail messages can be sent to email.
Directory – Create your directory by capturing the caller’s number.
Twin your phone with your mobile – both can ring simultaneously or sequentially.
‘Night service’ message. Different message for when the office closes – You choose the time.
Auto Attendant – press 1 for Sales, 2 for Accounts etc gives the impression of scale.
You can even record calls. During a call instruct the system to record and it will do so from the beginning of the call. You then simply download the ‘file’.

The only additional cost is a £200.00 one off set up fee which includes the pre-configured Cisco Phone. You simply plug the phone into your Router and start making and receiving calls.

SmartHorizon uses the Broadsoft platform (the world’s largest hosted provider) to power our services. The system evolves from us implementing our client’s wishes. Consequently there are all the features you would expect with additional ones being added all the time.

We look forward to helping you resolve this common issue for a monthly charge that is less than the rental of a BT Business Analogue Phone Line.

Smartinfo Ltd are available to help.

Cisco phone system for small business

Author: Zak CooganOn: Feb 10Categories: Business, Cisco, General, News, Phone Systems, Small Business, Technical No Comments

Cisco phone for small business

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Smartinfo can supply and configure a Cisco phone system for you small business. Based on the Broadsoft r17 platform, customers can manage their extension online and upload auto attendant and music on hold online.

POE (Power over Eithernet) switches, cat 5 installs, and fax to email solutions are also available.

CTI phone system intergration to your PC, network and calendar schedule

Author: Zak CooganOn: Jan 18Categories: Alcatel, Business, Mitel, News, Phone Systems, Samsung, Small Business No Comments

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For owners of Samsung, Mitel and Alcatel Phone systems; we can integrate them to you network and desktop PCs, giving you popping of your Outlook contacts on an incoming call, or dialling out straight from an Outlook contact record.

Many of the CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) can also dial out simply by highlighting a phone number on a webpage of PDF document, from the initial call adding to the address book is as simple as ‘add new contact’

Samsung Xchange, Mitel Communicator (previously YA, or Your Assistant) and Alcatel Pimphony (personal information manager) have also moved into the realms of “Presence” put simply your phone or mini-message-window can be set depending on your activity, such as in a meeting, on a call, out of the office, Some can even look up your calendar to set your phone/cti ‘presence’

Music on Hold for business phone systems

Author: Zak CooganOn: Jan 17Categories: Alcatel, Business, Mitel, Phone Systems, Samsung, Small Business No Comments

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Music on hold for business telephone systems provides a great marketing tool as well as enhancing the marketing image of your business to both customers and suppliers.

A music on hold player is an easy and cost effective addition to any phone system. Most music on hold players nowadays are MP3 players – so have no moving parts ensuring a long life.

As the new MOH players are MP3, most come with a memory card to load music or messages on, simply pop the card into your PC and use the bundled software to create and upload your audio file.

MOH is now more commonly know as Messaging on hold, as companies use Holding as a free marketing slot. Some examples of pertinent marketing messages:-

1) Details of Special Offers

2) To cross sell other product ranges

3) To launch new product ranges, or announce new office or store openings

4) to make company informercials, such as web address or direction details

Many of the MOH systems we supply include loyalty free music and some have professional recordings included. Smartinfo also have partnerships with studios and actors to record a professional message, and overdubbed on your choice of music type from classical to retro to pop or rock.

Customers who added MOH to systems have always been ecstatic with the results and ‘band for buck’ image it purveys.

Phone system for Islington (N1) Estate agents react to market conditions using Smart Telecom technology

Author: Zak CooganOn: Jan 17Categories: Alcatel, Business, Mitel, Mobile Phones, News, Phone Systems, Samsung, Small Business No Comments

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Smartinfo have an estate agent customer in Islington, London.

The estate agent was started by two partners and had grown to 2 offices, the main in Islington and the second in Hampstead.

Their traditional incumbent provider had failed to keep abreast with the latest developments in telecoms technology, both in relation to telcom services and phone system features that can enable their business model.

Initially we consolidated their ISDN and analogue lines, and converted them into SIP trunks – this enabled more efficient line usage, ie they could cut down from 8 lines to 4 Sip trunks (Sip trunks can also be increased and decreased instantly at busy times, on a monthly basis).

All new Sip trunks are now delivered into the main Islington office. Calls to Hampstead are delivered into Islington lines, but ring in Hampstead on IP (Voip) phone extensions, unless unanswered in which case it can overflow identified to Islington N1 HQ.

As the market over the last couple of years has fluctuated the partners have used the phone system to react, where bigger players could not and as a consequence folded. The Hampstead branch office was closed as a physical office, but calls were not taken by its staff in Islington, with no noticeable change to the public clients.

As an entrepreneurial pair, one decided to emigrate to South Africa, to replicate the same business model there. He took an IP phone and was able to continue his administrative role (Accounts and legals) as if still in the UK. (With the use of some cloud based access to London PCs).
As he embraced his new SA lifestyle he also had a requirement for his SA mobile to be attached to the sytem, to take calls at un synchronised hours and on the school run – this was achieved with Mobex so he had full call control, so the ability to transfer the call from his SA mobile back to a London Extension seamlessly.

Mawi designer jewellery uses Global comms solution

Author: Zak CooganOn: Jan 13Categories: Alcatel, Business, General, Mitel, Mobile Phones, Phone Systems, Samsung, Small Business No Comments

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Mawi has been a long term customer of Smartinfo, there retail operations are connected to HQ and Studio, as there operation has grown due to the phenominal success of their unique and funky jewellery design, the Smartinfo communications solution has helped enable their growth.

As the chief designers need to travel all around the world for fashion shows, to visit suppliers and travels for creative inspiration, softphones were also set up on laptops so calls back to the office, logistics and Shops are free.

Some people see retail as a low tech – foot fall only marketing operation, but a case study such a Mawi shows a modest but smart and sophisticated operation can integrate multiple fluid sites using technology such as a phone sytem to operate on the global scale expected by their piers.

Telephone Systems for Schools and Colleges

Author: Zak CooganOn: Jan 13Categories: Alcatel, Business, General, Mitel, Mobile Phones, News, Phone Systems, Samsung, Small Business, Support, Technical No Comments

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Smartinfo have installed many new phone systems for schools and colleges. Many companies just remove old switchboards like for like, misssing an opportunity to add greater functionallity to a schools facility management.

Some of the features we like to install specifically for schools are:-

1) An Operator console – to enable the receptionist to handle a large number of calls at the busiest times

2) Texting from the desktop to allow student or parent realtime updating of urgent opening times info

3) Mobex – to allow mobile phones to replace DECT systems

4) Paging through phones

5) Scalling of lines up and down at busyest times such as admissions for 6th form colleges

6) Mobile gateway to reduce mobile call costs by 60%

If your supplier has not recommended any, or all, of the above they are not looking after a schools functional needs!

Phone System Maintenance

Author: Zak CooganOn: Jan 13Categories: Alcatel, Business, General, Mitel, Phone Systems, Samsung, Small Business, Support, Technical No Comments

It is recommended all owners of telephone systems take out a maintneance contract on their phone system.

A maintenance agreement gives a number of benifits over a pay as you go call-out structure.

A specific telephone system maintenance agreement gives you 1. A contracted SLA (service level agreement) 2. HArdware and Labour cover

As an added benefit Smartinfo also throw in some free moves and changes into our maintenance contracts, that is we provide a number of free dial-ins over the term of the contract, often refered to as MOCs – or moves and changes, such as phone name changes or ring group tweeks.

What is often overlooked is the cheap cost of maintenance, on our survey of our customer base Telephon system maintenance if less than 10% of the price of IT support for the same company. If you consider a company still uses telephony for customer contact at least as much as email and web this offers great value. Also most IT contracts do not offer hardware cover, whereas a smartinfo phone maintenance contract covers all hardware failures and the labour to replace or fix, within an SLA of commonly 4 or 8 hours.

If you refer to our life of a phone system blog post it is interesting to note that maintenance or service contract also covers software upgrades.

Some people relate a service contract to consumer items such as washing machines or fridges, or even business products like photocopiers, but these items tend to have a single mechanical part, and a modernday phone system is software driven and a business critical component – in fact we would argue as important as the business premisis, or staff.

Investment payback on a Phone System

Author: Zak CooganOn: Jan 13Categories: Business, General, Phone Systems, Small Business No Comments

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Most business owners are unaware of the potential life of a telephone system for their small business.

Many phone systems we are replacing are 10-15 years old and potentially new phone systems could have an even longer life.

A modern phone system (or PBX) has less moving parts and is software driven; so the main driver for future replacement would be new available business features.

As new systems are software driven 99% of features will be made available simply by upgrading to a newer software level (such a mobex, or CTI screen popping). (Please read our post on Phone System Maintenance)

An obvious phone system benefit to us vendors in the industry is the prodctivity a PBX can add to a business, they far outweigh the small investment cost. Please see our post on phone system productivity.

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