Monthly Archives: June 2007

Tips On Maximizing Your PBX

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Sure, you know about the basic features that come with your PBX systems. Features such as call forwarding, voicemail, call accounting, configurability, etc. But for those who haven’t been able to explore the full extent of their PBX’s features yet, this article will give you an idea of the more advanced PBX features you might have overlooked. Hope this post will teach you how to take full advantage of your business phone system.

1. Consolidation – this takes on the “unified messaging role, bringing together all of your telecommunications devices into a single convenient system. The technology works by linking all of your office devices together, and messages you on the appropriate device based upon your availability.

2. Personnel Locator – need to know exactly where your employees are? PBX systems can keep track of where your employees last interacted with the system, data which will allow you to pinpoint their exact location. Some PBX systems are even going as far as incorporating GPS and RFID technology into their locating software.

3. Email Integration – PBX telephony has the ability to merge with email clients (such as Microsoft Outlook) and retrieve contact information on the various customers you’re on the phone with. This will give you a better idea of who you’re dealing with and how to better serve their needs.

4. Total “Business Intelligence” Integration – Properly incorporating business intelligence and your PBX will allow for more streamlined and targeted customer relations, as employees will immediately know background information about the customer, that customer’s history with the company, past issues they have had and whether they have been flagged as a particularly important or problematic client.

5. Call Routing – this allows for calls to be routed based upon certain criteria including caller importance, length of wait, time of day, day of week, etc. Just as with call holding, caller mapping is the key to an efficient call routing scheme. Unless you know all the variants of calls the your company receives, you cannot begin to create a PBX routing system that will properly treat all of those callers.

6. Analog vs. IP Phones – you can setup your PBX so that calls may be directed to either analog or VoIP phones, depending on which calls would be more cost-efficient.

7. IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) – IMS allows users to send and receive multiple types of media across a network rather than just hearing voice on a standard PBX system, or reading text on a SMS system. For instance, you could video conference or give an extensive presentation in real time.

VoIP Phones For Mac Lovers

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For Mac users, finding a VoIP phone that works with Mac in this PC dominated world, and providing you with high-quality calls can be challenging, but it is doable.  I’m not talking about the iPhone.  For all you Mac users out there, here are some (other) Mac compatible phones you might want to check out:

  • The Keyspan VP-24A – the Keyspan is a cordless phone made for Skype users. It can access your Skype contact list allowing you simple push button dialing to anyone on that list. You can use it as a microphone for iChat as well as device for your Skype.  Sound quality is similar to that of regular cordless phones.
  • The Cyberphone W – this phone has the distinction of being the first Skype-certified device to be available in all Mac stores. It incorporates the sleek design Mac users love. One feature that stands out is that when the phone is lifted from the cradle, Skype is automatically started on your computer. It also provides easy access to your voicemail with single button access.
  • The Ipevo Free-1 -  the Ipevo is a current favourite among the Skype phones.  Fashionistas love it – the white or black phone is accented with green buttons and is ergonomically sculpted to fit the face. It also appeals to geeks with it’s full range of features. There are ten ring tones, echo elimination and, most interestingly, the phone allows you listen to music while you make calls. Audio quality is top notch, and resembles that of a mobile connection.
  • i2Telecom Voice Stick – the Voice Stick is a great option for those who love making VoIP calls on the go. It’s tiny enough to be carried on a key chain or in a pocket.  The phone works with the Voice Stick software, which is available for a range of fees.
  • The Linksys CIT310 – the Linksys phone works with Yahoo Messenger and it allows you to make calls using the free Mac-to-Mac feature, as well as Yahoo Out.  You can also access many of the Yahoo features through the phone.  Another plus is that the phone also has a jack so that it can be hooked up to standard phone lines as well.
  • The VTech IP8100 – the VTech was engineered specifically for Vonage users. Features include one-touch access to Vonage Voicemail, a fifty-entry phone book, and hands-free speakerphone. Mac users should be wary, however. While the phone itself is compatible with Macs, some of the features and accessories, like the portable V-Phone, have had compatibility issues.

VoIP and Echo

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Nowadays echo seems to be troubling my VoIP. Back in my childhood days, yodeling and echoes were an instant form of amusement for me, but now it’s a bit frustrating. Now what “echo” am I talking about? Well it’s that really annoying effect that you hear on a call hearing your own voice like a nagging conscience well it actually varies depending what’s causing the echo.

Echo on voice networks actually there’s 2 of them,a hybrid echo and an acoustic echo. Hybrid echo is a linear electrical signal reflection that occurs at the 4-wire to 2-wire conversion point in a PSTN network. Hybrid echo can enter the VoIP network wherever there is a connection between VoIP and PSTN networks. Acoustic echo is non-linear and is caused by poor acoustic isolation between the speaker and the microphone of a user’s device. well it’s the handset, headset, speakerphone. It can invade from any source.Those forms of echo are more noticeable and annoying to us the addition of the delay of the IP network. The delay is so frustrating you would likely abandon the call.

Coming Soon: Asterisk 1.6

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Internet News recently reported on the latest Asterisk news. In a keynote session at the Asterisk and Open Telephony Conference in Toronto, Kevin Fleming, senior software engineer at Digium and co-maintainer of Asterisk, announced he is now concentrating his efforts on the 1.6 release, which could be out by the end of this year.

In terms of actual new features that will land in the upcoming 1.6 Asterisk, Fleming highlighted additional Call Bridging functionality as a key deliverable. The goal for 1.6 is to provide flexible multi-channel bridging such that channels that can be added and dropped so calls can instantly be converted from two party to multi-party. That functionality will enable the use of advance features, such as in call announcements and call center monitoring, by a third party.

Improved call handling capacity and performance is also set for the 1.6 release. Fleming explained that the idea is to reduce the thread/memory footprint for handling large numbers of media streams. Initial tests already show a 100 to 200 percent improvement in the number of streams that a server can handle.

Support for asynchronous events will also appear in 1.6, enabling modules in Asterisk to communicate with each other across a cluster. Fleming told the audience that, with current Asterisk versions, voice mail needs to be on the same server as your call is on in order for call notification to actually work.

Better reporting through a new call event logging capability in Asterisk 1.6 will allow complete tracking of events that take place during a call. The goal, according to Fleming, is to provide more detail than traditional CDR (Call Detail Recording) features offer and to allow for more granular tracking and auditing.

Fleming also reported on the latest 1.4, as well as a new Asterisk appliance effort called AsteriskNOW. He also boasted that Asterisk developers have overhauled how they deal with security issues. Security issues are now handled by a core team within 24 to 48 hours from the initial report. There is now also a formal Asterisk Project Security Advisory reporting system that will provide full disclosure into reported issues and what Asterisk is doing to fix issues.

In addition to the improved security vulnerabilities, Fleming said that the Asterisk community is working on an effort called Asterisk Network Edge, which will enable an Asterisk deployment to better integrate with security devices such as firewalls.

To read more about the article, visit the site here.

Digium and Vyatta Enters New Partnership

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Here’s some news for all you Asterisk lovers out there. Asterisk’s parent company, Digium, just entered into a partnership with Vyatta, a company that specializes in open source routing, firewall and VPN solutions. It’s a collaboration that could have a big impact in the world of open source networking.

Digium and Vyatta have announced a partnership to collaborate on open-source voice and data networks. The two companies will work together to make it easier for customers to purchase, deploy, and maintain high-quality, integrated voice and data platforms.

The partnership is aimed at helping SMBs and large enterprises. SMB and enterprise customers are increasingly seeking telecom and data communications solutions that are more flexible, efficient, and tailored to their specific needs. Open source-based products are uniquely capable of rapid integration and feature flexibility, making them an ideal choice as “unified communications” move up on the IT and business priority list.

The partnership involves both technology and marketing initiatives, and includes efforts to improve VoIP quality of service and security features in both Digium and Vyatta products. The companies will also focus on making it easier for customers to install and configure a secure, integrated voice and data environment using Digium’s Asterisk and Vyatta’s open-source networking solutions that include routing, firewall, and VPN functionality.

Speaking to CXOtoday.com, Dave Roberts, vice president of strategy and marketing at Vyatta said, “Presently, various VoIP don’t interact well with traditional security devices. For instance, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) doesn’t go through firewalls and Network Address Translation (NAT) devices. Traditionally, firewalls try to detect what a VoIP session is trying to do. In most cases they are detected, but in the case of SIP it is hard. Essentially, our collaboration would enable PBX to notify the firewall of the exact happenings.” Roberts also added, “Voice over IP is now a mainstream technology, and we are poised to do the same with open-source networking. By combining the efforts of Vyatta and Digium, the two technology leaders in our respective areas, and working together to expand our marketing reach, we can drive rapid adoption of our solutions.”

Digium also commented, “A partnership between Vyatta and Digium is a natural fit that will leverage our very complementary core competencies to enhance a common mission – to provide SMBs and enterprises with open-source alternatives to expensive and proprietary solutions,” said Bill Miller, vice president of marketing and business development.

Securing your Wi-Fi Connection

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I’m sure all of you who have tried Wi-Fi networking have experienced the ups and downs associated with it. It can feel like a great gift when it works, but it can also be so frustrating when it doesn’t. There’s nothing more irritating than a wireless connection that fades in and out. There are ways, however, to create a more stable, wireless connection. Here are some of them:

  • First, try changing channels. Interference is a likely cause of intermittent connections. Wi-Fi gear, radios, Bluetooth devices, cordless phones, microwave ovens, baby monitors, and wireless surveillance equipment, all share the same spectrum, which is 802.11b and 802.11g networks operating at 2.4GHz. When these devices compete for the same airspace, they interfere with each other, potentially blocking each other’s signals. Luckily, there are ways to sidestep and minimize interference in many situations. In the United States, 802.11b and 802.11g devices can be configured to operate at any one of 11 channels. The best way to sidestep and minimize interference is to reset your wireless router to a different channel. The only 3 non-overlapping channels, and your best options would be channels 1, 6 and 11.
  • If you’re using a cordless phone, replace it. Cordless phones are among the worst sources of interference for wireless networks. They tend to transmit at a higher power output than Wi-Fi gear, making them louder and therefore harder to talk over, and they tend to transmit frequently, especially when the handset and base station are separated. It’s also not a good idea to place a cordless phone next to a Wi-Fi router. Try to make sure your phone and network won’t be sharing the same airspace and won’t interfere with each other. If you’re using a 2.4GHz cordless phone, select a channel which is different from the frequency of your wireless router. You may also want to consider replacing your 2.4GHz phone with a 5GHz phone.
  • Expand your wireless network. The farther you are from your wireless router, the greater the potential for interference to block or to slow your connection. You can strengthen the connection with antennas or repeaters. Or, try using a power-line bridge to import the connection from your router, and feed it into a power-line access point. Instead of the weak signal from your distant router, you now have a strong signal from an access point placed right where you want to buttress your coverage area.