nexVortex SIP Trunking for Business
If you are currently using a SIP trunking provider for your business, have a look at what nexVortex has to offer. Compare it to your current provider and see how they stack up!
Homeland Secure IT became a partner with nexVortex after researching many other providers… We needed a reliable provider who could offer the features our clients needed at a price they could afford. We found that the quality of service and the feature set offered by nexVortex fit the bill, as did their pricing!
For instance, the nexVortex Business Elite Plan offers unlimited concurrent calls, 5000 minutes of outbound (US continental & Canada), 5 DID telephone numbers, E911 and disaster recovery for only $100/month. That is everything most of the businesses we work with require, though they do have a Business Pro Plan that is even less expensive at $40/month, and that has 2000 minutes of outbound calls, unlimited concurrent calls, E911 and one telephone number.
Need 50 DIDs? How about 100, or 1000? nexVortex can provide that too, saving you lots of money in the process in many cases!
If you would like more information in the Greenville or Upstate, SC area, please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com. If you are outside of our area, that’s okay, click on the nexVortex logo and you can find everything you need on their website.
Unable to use SIP trunking due to an old phone system? We can help with that! We are have a solution that is right for your business! Please call or email today!
Pardon the pun with the “dollars & sense” thing, but really that is what it comes down to, whether it makes sense, not just the dollar amount.
In my previous post, we looked at a company we will call “Business One”, a local small business using PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) with their old key phone system and asked the question “Are you paying too much for your business phone service?”…
Obviously, there was money to be saved by simply changing how they have always done things, however, there was expense involved, which came in the form of the need for a new phone system. Let’s look at what is involved to move “Business One” from an aging key phone system to a new VoIP (Voice over IP) system.
First, let’s see what the current system comprised of:
- 8 total extensions
- 3 outside phone lines
- Paging to a speaker (broken)
- Paging to phones
- NO music on hold option
- NO Automated Attendant capability
- NO voice mail (Simple answering machine turned on manually)
- NO voice mail going to email
- NO Caller ID display
We’re talking a very basic digital key system. It has accomplished what they needed, and nothing more.
So what would we be putting in place?
Cisco’s new UC320W Unified Communications system, which is one unit that controls the local VoIP system, provides a security router, gigabit switch, wireless 802.11n and more. This is the baby brother to the UC540 system, and it supports up to 24 extensions, 4 copper phone lines, and a fax/phone/credit card machine port.
With additional modules, it can support even more phone lines, at the expense of losing one extension for each additional outside line over 4. (If you had 8 phone lines, you could only have 20 extensions).
For desk sets, Business One has determined they need only the basics, no color display, bluetooth or MP3 player needed here.
We opted for the Cisco SPA504G, a 4 line display phone with outstanding audio quality, crystal clear speakerphone, dedicated headset port, message waiting indicator and an AUX port to connect the optional 32 button sidecar which allows the programming of single button speeddials, transfers, etc. These phones also have a network passthru for the connected PCs and Power Over Ethernet (POE).
To enable the two people who answer phone the most there the ability to easily transfer calls to other worker voice mail and extensions, we added two of the 32 button sidecars (SPA500S). They can tell if someone is using their extension at a glance, and transfer a call they answered easily to another extension, or send it straight to that extension’s voice mail with the push of one button.
The old phone system does not use CAT5 wiring, so new wiring was required to several extensions, and since there are no power outlets in some of those locations, a Cisco ESW-520-8p switch was in order. This switch provides 8 ports of 10/100 ethernet WITH Power Over Ethernet (Meaning, all 8 extensions would not require to have a power adapter plugged into the wall)
The client had an existing 10/100/1000 (gigabit) network for their computers, but it was decided that keeping the networks isolated would be desirable. That fact, combined with the desire to have Power Over Ethernet and long runs of cabling that were required to the warehouse area made for a more costly solution than may be necessary in many cases. However, the complete, turn-key solution rang in at about $4500 dollars. By turn-key, we mean, start to finish: Consultation, installation, configuration & training.
By switching to to this VoIP solution and to the SIP trunks as outlined in the previous post, in less than 2.5 years, the new VoIP system will pay for itself, while providing many features this client has never enjoyed!
New features that Business One can enjoy:
- Automated Attendant (Many calls are handled by the phone system)
- Voice Mail for each extension (will replace a single answering machine)
- Night Attendant will provide different greeting/functions after hours
- Music on Hold
- Voice mail is sent to their email to listen to on a smartphone
- Caller ID so they can screen those salespeople!
- Display phones loaded with features
- Ability to transfer a call to their cell phones, or even forward all calls
- Full call logging, see at a glance every incoming/outgoing call
- 8 Simultaneous calls through SIP (instead of the 3 they had before)
- Ability to use inexpensive SIP trunks for service!
That’s just the tip of the iceberg! Their old system has seen better days, so switching to a full fledged VoIP solution and taking advantage of a decrease in service will pay for itself…
Now, if they would just consider the Cisco SPA525G2 phone, with its beautiful color display, built-in MP3 player, bluetooth connectivity to headsets and cellphones, then they would be stylin!
If you would like to talk about how a system like this could be implemented at your business, please call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com. We are your Greenville / Upstate SC Cisco SMB Select Partner!
SIP Trunking Provider - nexVortex
In assisting clients recently with their IT needs, we have been discovering a number of them are paying too much for their business phone service. After thinking about it, I decided to contact a sampling of our clients, all in the SMB (Small and Medium Business) segment, and ask them if they would share some information with us so we could compare what they are currently paying with what they COULD be paying if they made the change to a technology called Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking from standard copper phone lines, T1s or PRIs.
First up, we have “Business One”, a small custom manufacturing and sales place, has a total of three usable voice phone lines with one incoming number, they have one additional phone line used for their FAX, alarm and credit card machine. Their internet is provided by AT&T via a 6 meg down, 0.5 meg up connection. Their current costs are $433.31 including taxes for their long distance and local phone service and their internet connection.
$433.31 is not too bad, however, we thought we might be able to beat that… We had our Charter Business req quote a 25 meg down, 3 meg up connection, and bundled one single phone line with that in the quote, which will handle the FAX, alarm and credit card machine. Then we opted for the Business trunk package from our SIP provider (NexVortex) which includes 5000 minutes of incoming and 5000 minutes of outgoing talk time, UNLIMITED concurrent calls, 5 DID telephone numbers, Disaster Recovery Routing. Total cost? $270.oo
Improvements:
- Bandwidth up from 6/0.5 meg to 25/3.0 meg (400% increase)
- Usable phone lines up from 3 max in use to unlimited
- Ability to give five key personnel their own individual direct phone number
- Cost savings of $163.31 per month or $1959.72 per year
The cost savings could be increased to over $220 per month ($2640/year) if they only needed ONE phone number, 2000 minutes and no disaster recovery.
Of course, the main thing to consider is, the old analog phone system at Business One is unable to support SIP trunking. Their 15 year old system will need to be totally replaced…
In my next post, I will give an example of the cost to upgrade Business One to a brand new VoIP (Voice over IP) phone system from Cisco that can handle the SIP trunking and give them new features that they currently do not have, such as Caller ID, voice mail that goes to email, display phones, etc. I also hope to give several other examples similar to this one.
Here is a link to the Wikipedia article on SIP
Would you like more information about SIP trunking and how it can save your business money? Please email us at info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864.990.4748. We are your Cisco Select partner in Greenville & Upstate SC, offering the latest in Cisco VoIP technology, as well as a partners with SIP trunking providers such as NexVortex!
The time has come to replace that old analog phone system in your small business and upgrade to VoIP (Voice over IP) technology! The prices have never been better.
One interesting option is the Cisco Small Business Unified Communications 300 series. A few features include:
The UC320 system’s specific features:
If this sounds of interest to your Greenville / Upcountry business, please give Homeland Secure IT a call at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com. We are a Cisco Small Business Select Partner offering sales, support and consultation!
Do you have a SIP Voice over IP system in use at your business? Then you may want to take a couple minutes to read this…
It seems that many of these systems are being setup without any consideration for security at all. Leaving the potential for a malicious person to do things such as attack your system by sending a DoS flood to it, or even to make phone calls from your VoIP system! (This is referred to as “Toll Fraud”)
So how do you protect yourself? The best thing to do is to cut off access to your VoIP server via a firewall. If you don’t need access to something, disable it.
Try not to put your VoIP system in the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) that offers no protection.
The most obvious way into your system is via the web configuration, usually on port 80. If that is wide open and default passwords are in use, a person could log into your box, add extensions, voice mail, etc. So be sure to change your default passwords and disable access to the machine from outside, unless you NEED access from outside, and then if that is the case, setup your firewall to allow connections ONLY from specific IP addresses you use.
The standard SIP port of 5060 is another gaping hole. If you must have SIP open to the outside world, consider changing the port from the default to something else so it doesn’t easily show up on the radar of people who might be doing port scans. You could also set your firewall to only allow connections from known outside IP addresses.
Either of those options can help prevent a SIP flood which could make your VoIP system unusable.
The SIP extensions probably have default passwords when you create those, depending upon which VoIP system you are using. Do not be tempted to use easy passwords…
One of the best ways to protect your SIP VoIP system is to use a VPN connection from any location that will be connecting to your main site. Cisco SPA 525g phones have the capability built-in to connect via VPN, making them a great phone to deploy to those who work out of their home.
If you would like further information, please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com. We sell Cisco, Polycom, Digium and other VoIP systems, phones and components, and offer consultation, installation and service in the Greenville / Upstate SC area.
iPhone Switchvox app lets you take your office phone with you!
How many times have you left your office while waiting for an important call to come in? What did you do? Set a special voice mail greeting? Forward all calls to your cell phone?
That’s what most people have done, until now. If you are lucky enough to have a VoIP phone system such as a Digium Switchvox solution and an iPhone or Blackberry, you can literally take your office phone with you now.
Your VoIP system is configured to allow mobile API, the firewall is configured to allow the proper ports through to your VoIP system and your phone gets the app loaded and configured. That’s it, you now have full access to your phone system. You can make and receive calls on your phone either from the cellular provider phone line, or via your VoIP system at your office.
You can call extensions, change your voice mail greetings, and any other function that you could from your desk phone. You would never miss an incoming call, and possibly more important to some, calls made from your cell phone while in the field, via the VoIP system, would never reveal your private cell phone number.
Another added benefit is that using the VoIP system will let you use your phone calling plan from your office, and bypass the phone plan on your cell phone entirely. This could save you hundreds per year!
Official apps are available for the iPhone and Blackberry, and some unofficial apps are available for Android phones.
If you would like more information about or would like to purchase a VoIP phone system, we are partners with Digium, Cisco and work with all Asterisk based systems in the Greenville & Upstate area. Please call us at 864.990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com with questions!
