With telephones being the major form of internal as well as external communication at the workplace, making the right choice of a phone system for your business is an important decision. As a business owner, you need to take into consideration the current needs of your business, as well as the probability of future expansion while choosing a telephone system. It is advisable to shortlist vendors and options of telephone systems, and take your time to review all your options, and if possible even test a few, before finally deciding in which one to invest.

VoIP, short for Voice Over Internet Protocol is a godsend for small and medium business enterprises, and is emerging as the choice of communication among most contemporary businesses. As the name suggests, VoIP calling makes use of the internet, which means that you can stay in touch using your office number, no matter where in the world you are. Some of the major advantages of VoIP for business calls are-

• You can make free calls after paying for your mobile data plan, since calls made on VoIP are routed over the internet. This is opposed to traditional PTSN phone systems, where time literally is money.
• VoIP is especially advantageous for businesses that involve a lot of remote work, since it allows you to contact employees on their notebook PCs and other computer devices. With hot-desking and flexible working hours becoming the norm in most companies, it is important to have a way to keep in touch outside the brick and mortar setting of your office. 
• If your business involves making a lot of international or long-distance calls, VoIP can result in substantial cost efficiency, by lowering your telephone bills. Research shows that you can save 40% on local calls, and up to 90% on international calls using VoIP.
• VoIP also offers several useful additional features like call conferencing, call transfer, retrieving voice mails, presence technology, unified communication etc., which can help to boost both employee efficiency, as well as customer satisfaction.
• By opting for a hosted VoIP telephone system, you can save a lot of time and money in the initial investment, as well as troubleshooting and future expansion. Your VoIP provider will be able to manage all aspects of your telephone system over the internet.
• If your business bills clients directly for time spent on the phone, VoIP can make it easier to monitor call time.

We at Folkerson Communications LTD provide you with state-of-the-art business phone systems at affordable price. For more information on our various solutions and products call us at Austin: (512) 977-0055, Temple: (254) 742-0064, Killeen: (254) 698-0016 and Waco: (254) 662-2255.

The purpose of any business is to make profits, and one of the numerous ways of achieving this is to cut down on the running costs. Businesses today are switching over to hosted phone systems as a means of improving their efficiency and saving on their costs. These phone systems use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for the company’s communication needs. It is an extremely reliable way of making calls within the office and its branches all over the world.

The following is a list of some of the major benefits of using hosted telephone systems:

• Companies feel they can focus better on their business activities without having to worry about a snag in the communications system of the business, as the hosting company will take care of the installation, maintenance and upgradation.  In the old PBX systems, any fault in the telephone line would make everything go haywire, wasting the precious time of the business and leading to additional costs of repair.
• The VoIP systems are very neat as compared to the old phone systems as all the telephone infrastructure is kept at a different location and the business premises only have the phone sets.
• Hosted phone systems have cheaper installation and operating costs.
• A lot of time is saved as there is no need to punch different numbers for contacting one another in the office and just a single number will suffice.
• These systems are highly scalable and change according to the growing requirements of the business without interrupting the day-to-day operations. Multiple extensions are added to the existing system without any additional costs or equipment.
• VoIP phone systems have an automated attendant who performs the role of a virtual receptionist cutting on the expenses of a real one.
• Employees enjoy greater flexibility as they can even work from the comfort of their own homes provided they have a computer and a reliable internet connection. This is good for the business too as employees are always connected to their work irrespective of whether they come to the office or not thus increasing the productivity.
• Such a system also improves the customer services as you can instantly have access to important customer information the moment you receive a call or email from him or her. This saves on your time with each customer and increases your efficiency.

If you are looking for Hosted VoIP phone system for your business, contact us at Folkerson Communications, LTD. We provide customized and affordable VoIP services in and around Central Texas. For more details, you can call us at Austin: (512) 977-0055, Temple: (254) 742-0064, Killeen: (254) 698-0016 and Waco: (254) 662-2255.

Choosing a VoIP phone system for your business can be a tricky affair, with the myriad features to choose from. While it is important to ensure that you are making the most of the service and are not missing out on any essential features, it is equally important to cut on the cost by eliminating some unnecessary features. Enlisted below are the top features that every hosted business VoIP must have-

• Lines and extensions- This is one of the first things that you need to determine while choosing the service that is right for you. You need to know how many of your employees will need direct lines, and how many will need extensions (usually all employees).
• Unlimited calling plan- While this is a very commonly found feature in Canada and the United States, you should ask your service provider for it if you are stationed elsewhere.
• Unified messaging- This is a time-saving option that integrates your voice mail into your e-mail, hence helping you in deciding which voice mail is important and which isn't, without having to hear them all.
• Smart phone integration- Using this feature, you can use your smart phone to access voice mails and even make unlimited calls from your VoIP number, when you are out of your office.
• Auto-attendant- If you wish to get that “big business feel”, this might be a feature worth considering. It automatically attends calls, and routes them to different numbers.
• Internet fax- You can use your business VoIP to send and receive faxes over the internet, without the need for an analog phone line.
• Conference calls and web conferencing- This feature eliminates the need for a bridge number, and is especially useful for businesses that have employees stationed at remote areas.
• Toll-free number- This is a great feature for companies that regularly receive calls from customers.

You need to take the individual needs of your business, and the purpose that you would like to achieve from your business VoIP into account, to decide which of these features you need to include in your service. While most of these features require a negligible extra amount to be paid, they can go a long way in making your VoIP service a complete communication solution for your business.

We at Folkerson Communications provide complete and affordable VOIP solutions for businesses in Austin and other Central Texas areas. For more information about our services, feel free to call us at Austin: (512) 977-0055, Temple: (254) 742-0064, Killeen: (254) 698-0016 and Waco (254) 662-2255.

IP telephony has come as a major revolution in communication in the business world. It refers to the use of Internet Protocol (IP) network to enable a wide range of communications, ranging from audio and video to wireless communication. IP Telephony has effectively replaced PTSN (Public Switched Telephone Networks) in most business firms, thanks to the wide reaching benefits that it offers. Some of them are listed below-

• Cost-saving-

1. IP telephony helps to streamline communication by converging voice and data networks, hence reducing costs. Businesses that have switched to IP telephony are making long-distance calls for just a few cents per minute.
2. The consolidation of voice and data networks also helps in cutting down on Information Technology costs, by eliminating the need to have two separate teams to handle each of these entities.
3. The business firm does not need to invest in any physical ports, with an Internet based server being the only requisite in terms of infrastructure.               

• Enhanced productivity-

1. IP telephony has also been found to enhance the productivity of employees supporting a wide range of applications and devices. It enables employees at various locations of a single business firm to work in synchronization through a single converged network.
2. Employees can make use of a variety of calling features like web conferencing and IP video conferencing to make the most of this multi-site connectivity.
3. They can also incorporate their phone functionality into their computer, to facilitate mobile connectivity.
4. With each user having an independent IP phone profile, it makes no difference where the employee is located at the time of communication.
5. This is especially beneficial for call centers, where users can sign in on the system from wherever they are, and join in the call center team instantly.

• Better functionality-

1. From the business point of view, IP telephony helps to improve resiliency owing to the ease of troubleshooting offered by a hosted services. Any error in the functionality can be corrected within minutes, and data, voice/video traffic can be automatically redirected around such failures.
2. Moreover, considering how important effective communication with customers is for any business, the improved customer responsiveness offered by IP telephony is also an added advantage.
3. Such a system is more adaptable to changes in terms of the number of systems or the business location, without the need of an outside vendor.

By evaluating the cost of your current telephone system, as well as your employee productivity and customer service benefits, you can make the decision of whether you are ready to switch to IP.

For VoIP Phone Systems in Austin, Waco, Dallas, Killeen and other Central Texas areas, kindly contact us at Folkerson Communications. We can be contacted at these numbers - Austin: (512) 977-0055, Temple: (254) 742-0064, Killeen: (254) 698-0016 and Waco (254) 662-225.