Tag Archives: collaboration

5 Ways Hosted VoIP Supports Collaboration

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Employee collaboration is essential to productivity in any size company, but particularly important to small companies just getting started. Effective productivity can mean the difference between a growing start-up and a failed business.

hosted pbxFortunately, Hosted PBX and Cloud PBX offer collaboration tools with valuable benefits to even the smallest businesses.

1. Faster collaboration

Unified communications enables employees to share resources and information more quickly. This can be done through a variety of features including screen share, video conferencing, drag-and-drop instant conferencing, status presence, instant messaging, mobility, etc. You can find all of these features and more in gloCOM softphone.

2. More options than email

While email still has its place in business, VoIP opens up several other channels that may be more effective. For example, dragging users into an instant conference will lead to a quicker conclusion than a lengthy email thread. Written communication can lend itself to misunderstandings and delays that are avoided with voice or even video tools.

3. Customer service

In addition to collaborating quickly with one another, unified communications users can also respond to customers more quickly and efficiently. Whether this means reaching a solution and getting back to the customer quickly or bringing the customer right into a conference call or screen-share, customers will be pleased with the rapid service.

4. Budget- and growth-friendly

Even start-ups with the lowest budget can afford many unified communications tools and apps to get started. Hosted and cloud solutions in particular have low or no up-front costs and little maintenance. Best of all, most of these solutions are highly scalable and can grow as your business grows.

With all of the VoIP tools available today, there is no excuse not to get started. Contact us or visit our website to start planning today!

Read more about collaboration tools for small businesses at VoIP-News.

7 Collaboration Tools You Should Be Using

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collaborationOne of the most valuable features of Unified Communications is increased collaboration. A plethora of UC tools make collaboration possible outside the confines of an office or meeting room. Below are just a few collaboration tools you should be using

  • Presence – Colleagues can interact as if they were in a physical office when using presence.
  • Screensharing – A fast way to convey ideas and information without miscommunications or long explanations.
  • Recording – Users that miss an important call or presentation can catch-up with a recording as soon as they are available again.
  • Conferencing – One of the older tools, conferencing with unified communications can be spontaneous and quick.
  • Mobile – Most unified communications tools are now available on mobile, putting collaboration in the palm of your hand. 
  • Messaging – Instant messaging can get quick answers even when users are busy or on call.
  • Integration – Email, CRMs, and more can be integrated with unified communications to bring more tools to your fingertips.

Tools like the above can increase productivity and save time on a daily basis. Get these tools and more in an application like gloCOM.

5 Implications of Decentralization with Hosted VoIP

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hosted voipContinuing our previous post on 5 Ways Hosted VoIP Supports Decentralization, today we discuss some of the implications of decentralizing your business with hosted VoIP.

1. You will need to outsource your telephony.

The first step in decentralizing with Hosted VoIP is accepting that you will need to outsource your telephony system. If you are hesitant to make this decision, consider how much progress VoIP has made and how popular it has become. VoIP is quickly surpassing legacy and is certainly a stable solution that is here to stay.

2. You will need to use the cloud.

Similar to the first, the second step is deciding to trust the cloud. There is no way around using the cloud for successful decentralization. Like VoIP, the cloud has become a prevalent solution that can be trusted. You will find that the cloud can serve your business even beyond basic telephony needs in the form of unified communications.

3. You will use SIP Trunking.

Yet another modern technology, SIP Trunking has many advantages over legacy trunking. Much like the cloud, you may be surprised to find what else SIP trunking can do for you. The use of these technologies will open the door to unified communications and collaboration in more ways than you anticipated.

4. Your office will change.

With all of these technological advancements, it is no surprise that the office itself is changing and transforming. While one large, central office was the norm for years, hosted VoIP and decentralization allows for many smaller remote locations of even home workers. Consider the advantages this can afford to your employees and customers.

5. Your business will change too.

Finally, hosted VoIP and decentralization will cause your business to change and progress. Whether this means expanding to a few new geographic markets or becoming an entirely virtual company, hosted VoIP is bound to lead to growth for your company.

Ready to get started? Contact us today!

5 Ways Hosted VoIP Supports Decentralization

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hosted voipMost businesses want to grow. In today’s global market an important part of growth is geographical expansion.

This type of growth has not always been easy or even possible, especially for SMBs with a tighter budget. Legacy telephony would have required a new, expensive phone system for each new office or location.

But Hosted VoIP has made geographic growth possible for even the smallest budgets. Ziff Davis came up with five ways that hosted VoIP supports decentralization:

1. Hosted VoIP offers the ability to work from home.

While working from home was previously undesirable to employers and detrimental to collaboration, cloud VoIP makes it an ideal situation. Modern VoIP tools like gloCOM make it so that home workers perform as if they were in the office, or maybe even better. Clients will not know the difference and coworkers or supervisors can be in constant, real-time collaboration.

2. Hosted VoIP makes growth more cost-effective.

With hosted VoIP, telecoms can add new locations without investing in a new telephony system for them. With as little a local Internet connection, offices across the world can connect to the central hosted VoIP system and function immediately. This makes growth less of an economic risk.

3. Hosted VoIP is flexible.

Along those same lines, growth with a hosted VoIP system is more flexible. The low economic risk means lesser consequence in case of slow or no growth. With SIP trunking, it easy to scale up or down and use only as much of the system as needed. For example, during peak times it would be easy to add temporary extensions that would later be removed.

4. Hosted VoIP gives you peace of mind.

Another benefit of hosted VoIP and decentralization is continuity. With on-premise systems, disaster recovery is up to the company. But with hosted VoIP, the system is in a remote data center and mirrored and different locations. In case of natural or other disasters, service should continue uninterrupted in all locations.

5. Hosted VoIP necessitates less IT.

Finally, hosted VoIP takes the burden of IT maintenance and support off the company. The provider can do as little or as much as needed. This is particularly useful for companies with multiple locations and home workers that do not want to hire IT staff all over the world.

If you are a telecom that wants to grow, hosted VoIP may be the right option for you. Sign up for a FREE account to learn more today.

3 Ways VoIP Promotes Collaboration

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Collaboration: a new but popular buzzword in the world of telephony. Not only about productivity, collaboration also positively affects team morale, company loyalty, and customer service.

It is easy to see why so many companies are interested in a telephony solution that supports collaboration.

VoIP promotes collaboration in several ways. We’ll start the list with three points:

  1. Mobility – To start, VoIP frees users from their desk phone. By remaining connected at home, on the road, or even across the world, employees can be in constant communication with one another. This allows constant and consistent collaboration that is not disrupted when out of the office.
  1. Conferencing – VoIP offers a variety of conferencing options. From spur-of-the-moment conference calls to video conferencing, coworkers can quickly and easily communicate. This extends beyond voice too. Applications like gloCOM offer screen sharing and file sharing that instantly connect users regardless of locations.
  1. Integration – Finally, VoIP integrates all of your communications applications. Streamlined access to your CRM, contacts, or any other application makes it easier and quicker to collaborate without losing time in the process.

What would you add to the list? What does collaboration look like in your office?