Effective communication is the lifeline of any business, whether small or large. Considering this, a phone system remains to be one of the most important components determining the success of any organization and, hence, should be chosen wisely. With so many phone systems available at present, deciding on the one that suits your business’ requirements requires a lot of deliberation. It needs to have a perfect balance between advanced technology and cost.

Here are some tips that can help you choose the right hosted phone system for your business in Central Texas:

• Evaluate your needs: Firstly, you should assess the telecommunication requirements of your business. Determine the number of employees who need a phone line at present as well as a few years down the line. The phone system that you choose should be scalable to accommodate your needs as your company grows.
• Decide the features: You should be absolutely clear about the features you need in your hosted phone system. There are a wide range of features included in the systems but you should choose only the ones that are essential for the efficiency of your business operations. Make a list of all such features, such as auto attendant, call forwarding, video calling, find me follow me call routing etc. and review it while comparing the phone systems.
• Telecommuting perks: If your business operates through multiple locations in Central Texas, you need to invest in a phone system that offers remote connectivity without the need of separate hardware. With a hosted phone system, you can have the option to stay connected to your office, no matter where you are.
• Easy To Operate: The phone system that you choose should have a simple functioning so that your employees can make the most out of its features. Also, it should be easy to add new features or phone lines whenever required, without the need to install any hardware. You can ask your phone system provider to demonstrate the usage of the phone system for the convenience of your employees.

If you are looking for hosted phone systems in Central Texas, consider Folkerson Communications, Ltd. We are a leading provider of quality and affordable hosted phone systems that can help to increase the efficiency of your business operations. For more information, you can call us at (512) 977 – 0055 (Austin), (254) 742 – 0064 (Temple), (254) 698 – 0016 (Killeen) and (254) 662 – 2255 (Waco).

Every business, whether small or large, aims at reducing overheads. One of the most commonly overlooked elements in this regard is the phone bill. Communication is an essential component of a successful business and taking certain steps to reduce the phone bills can significantly contribute to the overall profits.

Here are some strategies to lower business phone bills:

• Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP): Switching from your traditional phone system to VoIP can help to cut down on telecommunication costs. VoIP offers affordable international calling, less hardware and equipment as well as various other features. A VoIP system improves connectivity among employees and assists in better customer service. It offers voicemail, conferencing, and music while hold, call forwarding, auto-transfer, call waiting etc. These features enhance the communication and professional outlook of the company.
• Choose wisely: While selecting the phone system provider, it is essential to ensure that you make an informed decision. You should ask for discounts, more features and reduced rates. You must conduct a proper research and select a company that offers the most profitable deal. You can also compare the rates according to the features provided by the phone company.
• Reduce Equipment: When lowering phone costs, it is essential to consider reducing the phone equipment installed in the company. Excess hardware, wires and equipment are expensive and require costly repair as well as maintenance. A hosted phone system requires minimum wiring or bulky equipment.
• Phone plan: You must determine the usage of the phone system and choose a plan accordingly. Assess your business activities and choose the phone system features. You must consider your requirements and stick to the features essential to your business. Paying for anything that is not required will only increases the business costs.
• Update package: With changing times, the company may offer new features, discounted rates or a membership discount. You must always look out for any special deals to ensure that your business has the most profitable phone system installed.

Reducing business phone bills can assists in improving the overall profitability and efficiency of your organization. It is essential to research and select the most suitable phone system for your company.

We, at Folkerson Communications, Ltd. offer a wide range of business phone systems in Austin, TX. For more information, you can call us at (512) 977 – 0055.

Phone systems are an essential part of any business’ daily operations. Therefore, it is essential to choose the one that facilitates and streamlines your telecommunication requirements. Nowadays, a wide range of phone systems are available which offer different features suitable for both small and large businesses. Opting for the right one can save you time, efforts and financial resources.

Given below are few considerations that you should keep in mind before selecting a phone system for your office:

• Budget: You should have a clear idea about the number of phone lines you require for your office. Assess the number of employees you have at present and those that you plan to hire in future. Accordingly, decide how many of them need a phone system to work efficiently.
• Internet: Many VoIP phone systems allow you to make local and international calls through the internet. You should ensure that you have all the necessary hardware and software required for the phone system. A high speed internet connection is also important for high quality voice and video calls.
• Network: The type of network available also determines the phone system to be installed in your office. The new phones may require a separate network or can be combined with the existing one. Depending on the availability, you can choose a phone system accordingly.
• Plans for Growth:  Any plans for growth should be considered before purchasing a phone system for your office. If you have 20 employees at present but planning to expand your company up to 50 members in the near future, you must look for a phone system that allows easy addition of extensions without much cost. 
• Features: VoIP phones offer many features such as call forwarding, call waiting, speed dialing, voicemail to email transcription, caller ID, automated attendant etc. you can choose the features according to your company’s requirements. For instance, call waiting and caller ID are a good option for businesses that handle a large volume of inbound calls.

We, at Folkerson Communications, Ltd, offer hosted phone systems for business firms in Central Texas. We provide advanced and feature rich phone systems customizable according to the needs of your company. For more information, you can call us at (254) 662 – 2255 or visit our office at 1412 S Robinson Dr, Waco, TX 76706.

With new telecom technologies replacing old ones all over the world, the focus is firmly on the optimum and effective use of these new technologies to best serve a business’s needs and interests. Audio visual communication is one of the most effective ways of business communication and companies are slowly getting used to the idea of using video calls and, audio and video conferencing as part of their business communication processes. With the gaining popularity of VoIP technology, companies can now use this advanced technology to make the most out of audio and video conferencing. With VoIP, setting up and carrying out conference calls is a breeze as the communication platform is perfectly in tune with handling multiple-person calls in an efficient and intuitive manner.

VoIP and its Advantages

VoIP is a modern and innovative communication medium which, instead of using hardware components and meters of cabling, uses specially made software and the powerful medium of the internet to connect calls. With VoIP you are not just restricted to voice calls but can make use of a plethora of other features like video calls, conference calls, electronic fax, email and data transfer. VoIP is extremely versatile, completely scalable and can also be accessed from remote locations or while on the go.

Conference Calls with VoIP

When it comes to conference calls, VoIP is particularly efficient. Conference calls are tricky because there are multiple callers involved and the sheer amount of voice or video data that needs to be transferred is significantly large. Fortunately, VoIP is tailor-made for this task and has the native feature of compressing audio and video data while making communication transmissions. The larger the number of callers in a conference the more this feature comes into play. By reducing the resolution of audio and video content and compressing the content according to the bandwidth requirements of the call, VoIP systems can successfully connect people in conference calls irrespective of their location and the number of people on the call at the same time. If you want to carry out large conference calls, such as carrying out board meetings from remote locations or team-wide conversation about a project in progress, VoIP can deliver without any issues.

For businesses that routinely have the need to make large amounts of conference calls, VoIP is definitely a better option that is cost effective too.

VoIP or Voice over IP is one of the most intriguing and popular telecommunication technologies of this day and age. It benefits thousands of businesses all over the world, enabling them to have a solid, reliable telecommunication solution which is rich with great features and is cost-effective. In principle, VoIP brings to the table the same functionality as wired telephones and PBX systems, with the difference that instead of relying on dedicated hardware and cables, VoIP takes advantage of the internet and its capabilities to facilitate communication. As a result, a number of different, exciting features can be used with VoIP, which makes it a great choice for many industries. There are some businesses which can make full use of the entire feature set a VoIP provides and these are the businesses that can best utilize the full potential of this technological marvel.

Retailers

For retailers, VoIP presents a unique opportunity. It is a really affordable way to organize and execute all important communication within the company and externally, with clients and customers. Retailers usually experience heavy call volumes, handling product enquiries, business enquiries, customer calls and after-sales service calls. For such a large call volume, VoIP is the perfect mode of communication, as it takes away the need to install elaborate hardware and cabling, and presents the company with an easy to install and easy to use alternative that does not take much time or resources to set up. Also, retailers employ servicemen who are usually on the move, and VoIP makes it extremely easy for them to maintain communication while on the go, using internet connectivity and a device like a laptop or smartphone.

Hospitals

Hospitals usually consist of a lot of different sections and departments and seamless communication is a crucial requirement. VoIP can come in extremely handy in these situations as it provides a way for an extremely mobile hospital staff to communicate internally. Since VoIP does not depend on elaborate hardware and cabling, it is a much more reliable mode of communication and much needed in a place where any delay or disruption of communication might mean the difference between life and death.

Call Centers

Calls centers are also prime businesses for VoIP. VoIP features enable call center employees to route calls to assigned workers, and team leaders can use VoIP to listen in on conversations for performance assessment. Calls can also be recorded for further assessment, and senior managers have the power to take over a conversation at any time if the need be.

For businesses, it is extremely important to have a phone system which allows for effective communication between personal, departments, clients and outside resources. Business phone systems also need to be easy to use, easy to maintain, scalable and full of features which have the potential to make the business process easier and more intuitive. VoIP is a system which fulfills all these requirements while remaining extremely cost-effective and really simple to set up. The immense flexibility offered by a VoIP system is something that businesses can use productively in their own context to further improve their processes and incorporate new degrees of efficiency in their communications.

Here are a few features of VoIP systems that make them a perfect fit for all business requirements –

• VoIP systems are extremely easy to setup. There is no need for structured cabling or elaborate hardware to be installed and configured. A centralized server equipped with special VoIP software handles all communications and can be tweaked to accommodate particular business communication needs. Since there is no cabling and the maintenance required is very little, VoIP comes across as an easy transformation.
• VoIP systems are full of great features that can be put to good use in a business context. Since communication through VoIP is essentially Internet-based, a number of different modes of communication and data transfers can be implemented very easily. Apart from voice calls there is support for features like voicemail, video calls, videoconferencing, call conferencing, electronic fax, email, file transfer, and collaboration tools for projects. Used correctly, these can prove to be an asset for your business.
• VoIP systems are extremely flexible and scalable. Adding new units to a VoIP system is a breeze and Folkerson Communications Ltd installs VoIP phone systems for businesses in Austin without having to work a lot on the infrastructure. The flexibility offered by VoIP systems is also an important advantage in a business context. Since VoIP uses the Internet, business VoIP systems can be used even from remote locations where Internet access is readily available. For people who need to travel, this is a perfect way to stay in touch with their co-workers.
• VoIP systems are extremely cost-effective. Since there is no need to install cabling or expensive hardware, initial costs are low. Call rates are usually cheaper than those of wired telephones, particularly when you are making a large number of international calls for business purposes. VoIP systems also do not need as much maintenance or repair as wired phone systems.

VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is a term used to describe the technology related to transmission of phone calls over the Internet. Just like an email, voice data can also be transferred over the Internet. These days, many businesses are making the shift from the conventional analog telephone systems to VoIP. The most obvious and significant advantage is the reduction in costs. Read on to know more about how VoIP systems are beneficial for businesses.

• Money is the key driver of any business; with VoIP you are bound to save significantly on transmission costs. As companies switch from telephone systems to VoIP systems for making calls, the costs go down considerably. Another advantage is the fact that VoIP systems are easy to upgrade as they are built on software. This is not the case with conventional telephone systems that are made of physical hardware which is quite expensive to upgrade or replace.
• VoIP systems increase the efficiency of business operations as they are easily accessible through remote systems as well. Teams across multiple geographic locations can connect on conference calls and interactions to discuss important business issues.
• VoIP systems are scalable in nature. In the event of expansion of a business or moving it to a new location, a VoIP system can be easily scaled up to cater to the requirements. That is not the case with a conventional analog telephone system like telephone systems where a major overhaul would be required to expand the infrastructure for an existing business.
• Another benefit of implementing VoIP systems for conducting business is the remarkable quality that they offer. The quality of sound is crystal clear, whether you are making a call to a branch office within the same city, or communicating with a client sitting in some other part of the world.
• VOIP phone system helps in considerably lowering the response time as well. In today’s age of competition, time is money; making the right response at the right time is what differentiates winners from the losers. VoIP systems enable businesses to react quickly to opportunities for growth and expansion. These systems are highly reliable and make it possible to move ahead of the competition in no time.

Therefore, if you want your business to reap the benefits of a cost and time-effective mode of communication, VoIP systems are the way to go. They offer quality, efficiency, scalability, and robustness for your business.

VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is gaining considerable acceptance across a host of organizations as a means for fast and reliable communication. There is a diverse spectrum of industries where VoIP is finding applications right from Information Technology to scientific research and exploration, telecommunications, and many more. With VoIP touching so many important sectors, it is quite obvious that it is suitable for the healthcare industry as well.

At Folkerson Communications Ltd, we provide reliable and extensive VoIP phone systems that can be implemented in medical centers in Austin.  We constantly endeavor to help our clients leverage the powerful tool of VoIP to facilitate communication within their organization, and save significantly on the costs.

Read on to know some of the salient features of a VoIP system when it comes to medical centers.

• The dynamics of the medical industry are ever-changing. With the growing number of patients and increase in medical prowess of our physicians through new breakthroughs, it is imperative to have in place a robust and scalable VoIP system. We help you in implementing the same, at very economical prices.
• When you choose us for a VoIP telephone system in Austin, you can be assured of a secured network that is in compliance with all the norms and regulations. The VoIP systems also help you to track the various calls for security reasons, if needed.
• The medical profession is something where a missed call could be the difference between life and death. With our VoIP systems, you can be rest assured that you will not miss any critical call from your patients. Our systems come with a provision to redirect calls to another medical office in case they are not received in the first place. This helps patients to reach out to doctors in times of emergency.
• A VoIP system also offers a lot of flexibility to the medical employees- doctors, nurses, and support staff. Employee mobility becomes easy; a physician could move to any desk or floor in the hospital premises, and use the same number and extension irrespective of the location.

The medical industry is making rapid strides and growing like never before. With a VoIP system, all communication needs- telephone calls, Internet, and fax, can be integrated into one. Moreover, you can save a lot of money by using our cost-effective solutions. Thus, a VoIP system is ideal for the healthcare sector, and both the doctors and the patients can benefit out of it.

Contact us today at (512) 977-0055 to learn more about our VoIP phone systems.

Whether you own a small or a large business in Texas, your most important priority is increasing your efficiency as well as savings. You constantly need to devise strategies that can help you perform better and have an edge over your competitors. To enhance your business communication, you can consider hosted VOIP phone systems, which involve engaging an outside provider to manage business communications. By using highly advanced VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology, you can ease your burden and focus on core issues of your business.

Due to numerous benefits of hosted VoIP phone system, more and more businesses in Texas are embracing the technology and flourishing in their businesses. Some of the benefits of VoIP phone System that make it crucial for the businesses include:

• Easy Installation: The biggest benefit of using VoIP hosted phone system is that the equipment is not only easy to install, but also cost effective. By choosing an economical plan offered by your hosted business phone system provider in Texas, you can substantially lower your communication expenses.
• Easy Transition from traditional system to hosted VoIP system: Once you decide to install VoIP, you can easily make transition from your traditional hard line phone system to advanced VoIP system, which offers convenient access to your important phone numbers and addresses.
• Amazing calling features: The hosted VoIP system offers an array of calling features, which are not present in traditional hard line system. This helps you work easily as well as make better plans for your day. You can get personalized numbers and personal extensions, using this feature, customers can directly contact required departments and persons.
• Voice mailing systems and auto respondent: Another advantage of using hosted VoIP phone system is that you can choose auto respondent facility and voice mailing system. Both these features ease your work pressure and streamline your calls. The provider can provide group telephony systems to make your work more productive.
• Screen unnecessary calls: An effective VoIP phone system not only screens the calls to eliminate unnecessary calls, but also allows you to prioritize the calls and attend them accordingly. Various features present in VoIP system makes business processes quite easy. You can choose to receive call based on preferences.
• Customize your voicemail: Hosted VoIP systems help you customize your voice mails by using personalized greetings, playing music, which ultimately improves the communication and make it more effective.
• Link various numbers: Mobile businesses draw great benefits from the attractive feature of VoIP system that includes linking employees’ numbers with the office number. This allows all the numbers to ring when someone calls until any of these is answered.

Using hosted VoIP system not only boosts your business image and reputation, but also help you deal with your clients and suppliers in a better way. Sound communication leads to better business relationships and more productivity.

As owner of a small business, you might be questioning whether making the leap from your traditional phone system to VoIP would be a smart move, and understandably so. Entrusting the voice of your business to the internet does take some deliberation, but most business owners have already made the switch, and VoIP is definitely here to stay. Voice Over Internet Protocol or VoIP is the new face of voice communication, and offers numerous advantages to small business enterprises that are looking for the perfect mix of reliability and affordability.

The top reason for small and medium business owners to consider VoIP for the business communication, is the significant reduction in cost that accompanies it. VoIP allows you to make extremely cheap calls to anyone across the globe (VoIP to VoIP) or voice calls at local rates despite the distance between the two callers (VoIP to other number). In whichever way you choose to use VoIP, you shall experience a reduction in your phone bill, which can range from 20% to as high as 80% depending on your usage.

However, that is not where the benefits of VoIP end. By choosing a hosted VoIP provider you can also save significantly on the infrastructure needed to setup voice calling for your business. This is an especially great advantage to new startups, that would otherwise have spent largely on investing in a conventional telephone network for the workplace. With hosted VoIP, the provider houses all the infrastructure, leading to a minimal upfront cost. Another major advantage of this is that it allows for easy upsizing or downsizing of the business in the future.

Along with reducing costs, hosted VoIP also boosts productivity in several ways. The major one of these is the increase in employee efficiency that accompanies the use of VoIP for calling. The additional features that accompany most VoIP systems, such as automated receiving and call transfer, call conferencing, call holding, voice mail-to-email transfer, call barring, etc. make the phone system a lot more interactive, allowing employees to make the most out of it. This increases in better customer satisfaction, which is the ultimate goal of any business.

In addition to this, VoIP also offers a great amount of flexibility, making it possible for business owners to make and receive calls from their office number on the go. This feature also improves connectivity with remote employees, which is an increasingly common trend among upcoming businesses nowadays.

We at Folkerson Communication, LTD provide affordable and efficient hosted VoIP services to small and medium sized businesses in Central Texas. For more details, call us at Austin: (512) 977-0055, Temple: (254) 742-0064, Killeen: (254) 698-0016 and Waco: (254) 662-2255.