Page 23 - Telecom Reseller FebMar 2015

February/March 2015
Telecom Reseller 23
Nortel Notes
eventually have to happen, though. I heard it’s here are license costs for each deskphone or For alternatives, the obvious one is what you’ve
possible to use the same programming for both
sotphone you program. Each sotphone you add experienced so far. Don’t do it. Of course, it’s not
a desk phone and a sotphone. What should I will cost about $250-300 (all dollar igures are my so simple when the department managers start RUFFIN
expect if I recommend doing this? he IP phones estimate, not guaranteed). If the sotphone is an pushing their weight in upper management, so
are still new here, but it looks like they will only ACD set, there’s another separate license that will if your company is like most of them I’ve seen, by Phil Rufin
increase over time.
add another $150-$200. Assuming they are ACD it’s just a matter of time. Still, there are a couple
QAagents, for comparison, I imagine that’s around of ways around the cost, each with its own pros
: I have a department whose manager : Yes, it is possible to share a single TN what you would pay for an additional computer and cons.
wants to begin using sotphones at home with a desk phone and a sotphone, but for each of these users. So you can see why What if you just collected the desk phones and
and on the road. My manager is of the opinion
there are some caveats, and not small ones. First, management would be interested in avoiding this only gave the users sotphones. Is that too simple?
that the cost is going to blow his budget, so let’s consider why you would want to do that in expensive proposition, especially if the number of he PC can be conigured to ring on the speakers
he’s resisting the requests. I’m certain it will
the irst place.
users can go up into the hundreds.
and carry voice on a USB headset. he PC is
already on the desk (assuming it’s a laptop). he
sotphone is only an app, ater all. When the users go home, they just use VPN on the PC (they were
going to, anyway) and start the app. Simple.
Ah, but maybe they will balk at losing the desk
phone they’ve gotten used to, and besides, it’s YOUR TICKET TO BECOMING A CLOUD
already purchased. In that case, they can share the
TN between the PC and the desk phone. Not all at COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER
once, mind you; only one at a time can work. he
other gets a “Duplicate” error. So the user has to
remember to unplug his/her phone before leaving
work, so the sotphone app will be able to use the Vodia's cloud-ready IPPBX software offers an unparalleled go-to-market hosted
same TN. Oh, do you have users with 1165 sets or IPPBX solution for managed service providers (MSP) of all sizes through a robust
other more advanced ones? he app only shares platform that delivers the highest levels of service uptime and scalability. Vodia
with an 1140 set. Nothing else works.
So, let’s say your users decide to share an 1140 IPPBX software is purpose-built to help new service providers realize economies of
set on the desk with the 2050IP sotphone app on scale and drive down startup costs by being able to serve multiple client
the PC. What happens when Mr. Smith forgets to
unplug his phone before leaving? Or what if he organizations on a single hosted PBX server in the cloud, and eliminating the need
didn’t plan to work from home the next day and for dedicated hardware for each individual customer. The subscription-based SaaS
let his phone plugged in? Do you have someone
in the oice who can go to his desk and unplug the phone at any hour? Could be trouble. Maybe pricing model is further designed to help keep IT costs consistent or even lower
you’ll have to drive in to do it. Hey, but you saved than packaged software for the end-customer while providing a steady recurring
a few hundred dollars.
revenue stream for the service provider, creating a win-win situation for all. With
No, it’s not my money on the line, but I much
prefer spending the money up front to do it right plug-and-play endpoint set up, multi-tenancy, advanced contact center
instead of frittering it away dealing with the functionality, enterprise mobility and rich collaboration features, you now have all
issues over the long haul. hink of the bad image
you can develop for Telecom over a short time.
the tools you need to start your own cloud communications business in no time and
Qprovide a great user experience to your customers.
: One person in the oice keeps getting
calls from what sounds like a fax machine.
What can I do to help when it happens?
A
: I assume you mean the calls are coming  Zero startup costs
 Recurring revenue stream
from an outside line, but if not, you need to  Unlimited extensions and call paths  Full control of minutes
give the user a display so it will be clear what fax
machine is calling.
 Multi-tenancy
 Free server redundancy
A quick, not too painless way to end the misery
is to have the user quickly transfer these calls to
a nearby fax machine extension. If done quickly  Full white labeling
 Plug-and-play setup
enough the fax machine will answer and print out  BYOD
 Call and data security
the fax for your user. hen it should be pretty clear
who is sending the fax, so you can contact the  Full admin level control
 Pay-as-you-go
sender and nicely (or not) ask them to reprogram
their device.
If for some reason that’s not an adequate
solution, you can temporarily forward all calls
Call us today:
to a voice mailbox. Assuming you use CallPilot
(or another system with similar capabilities), the
greeting can instruct the user to dial certain digits +1-617-399-8147
to have the call transferred to the user. You could
also do this part with a Call Center Manager
or similar script-based system. here is a more
expensive alternative (I’m sure that’s not what you
were hoping for) called a voice irewall. I only
know of one, but there may be others.
Q: www.vodia.com +1-617-399-8147 sales@vodia.com
How do I back up the personal directory
on a 3904 set before replacing the hardware?
A: You don’t. here is no way to back it up VodiaNetworks VodiaPBX
except writing it down (or typing it, of
course). ■

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