Phone System Services -Chicago, IL 

Whether you need a legacy phone system maintained, or an entirely new communications system for multiple offices, Andromeda Technology Solutions is the answer you have been looking for. As our expertise also includes complete data network solutions, you can rest assured that we can fully integrate a communications system that will best leverage your existing or future IT infrastructure.

In many cases, your telephone system is the first thing people will experience when dealing with your business.

• Does it show your company in a good light?
• Is it set up so your clients have a good experience?
• Does it help maximize employee productivity?

Let us show you how a phone system should be set up!

Experience the simplicity of having an experienced company to handle all aspects of your communication systems, letting you focus on running your business.

Contact us or fill out the Request form on this page now to ask us to contact you!

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Hybrid PBX and IP-based Phone Systems

We support a host of major phone systems—from Avaya, NEC, Panasonic to Toshiba— and are a certified Panasonic dealer for both a traditional PBX system, as well as a true IP-based VoIP system. The beauty of these systems lies in their very extensive feature set (over 800 features) and their mix-and-match capabilities. Each system can mix analog, digital and IP phone sets to match almost any application. Also, each system has extensive functionality built-in for incorporating branch offices, work-at-home employees and other remote workers.

We spend a great deal of time understanding all your requirements, so we can select the system and functions that are exactly what you need.

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The Phones Become the Network

If you are considering an IP-based telephone system, it is important to understand these systems are more data systems than phone systems. Unlike a traditional PBX system, a VoIP system puts a significant burden on your data network, and requires specific equipment and configuration to ensure everything is running properly.

Many traditional telephone service companies lack the skills to properly install and maintain a VoIP system. Andromeda Technology Solutions excels in all aspects of voice and data, and will ensure you get the system that is right for you.

Whether Cloud-based, Hosted/virtual PBX, or completely on-premises, we have the knowledge AND experience to guide you and implement your voice communication system to perfection.

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Replacement of Legacy Phone Systems

We have many years of experience upgrading/replacing legacy phones systems from: ComDial, Nortel, Toshiba/Mitel, and Samsung just to name a few. If you would like to experience service from a truly customer-focused organization, call us when you are ready to replace and upgrade your existing legacy telephone system.

			KX-TA KX-NCP KX-TDA KS-TDE
			IP Office Definity Magix Legend Partner
			Aspire Elite IPK I-Series DS/DSX

AndroPedia Tech Library

As part of our service, it is important to keep our client-partners well informed on Telephone system developments, news, and best practices. Here is just a sampling of typical items from our AndroPedia^SM library archive:

It’s that time of year. The winter holiday season is prime time for criminals and scammers. In fact, it is estimated that fraud attempts increase upwards of 30% during holiday shopping season. There are multiple different techniques and we covered a few of the more popular smartphone scams last year too. You can find our two part series here:

• Popular Phone Scams & How to Avoid Them
• Popular Phone Scams & How to Avoid Them – Part 2

Now, let’s dig into some scams we are seeing in 2018 including some smartphone scams you’ll want to avoid.

Verify Information Smartphone Scams

Criminals and Identity Thieves know that your personal information is valuable. A criminal can use it to open up fraudulent credit cards, empty your bank accounts, impersonate you or they can even steal it and sell it on the dark web for a quick profit.

With this in mind, criminals are always looking for new ways to get ahold of your data.

This popular phone scam begins with a criminal impersonating a representative at a company you probably already do business with or subscribe to. Many times, criminals will impersonate your insurance provider (Blue Cross Blue Shield is very popular).

The criminal calls you and informs you that they are making a routine call to update and verify information on your account . . . sounds innocent enough . . . but don’t fall for it!

Some ways you can defend yourself:

• Most of the time these big companies automate this process through pre-recorded messages. If you get a call from a real human being asking to verify your information – this is your first sign of fraud. Your best bet is to get off the phone and call the company direct. Confirm that they are the ones actually trying to update your info that way.
• Don’t fall for threats or bullying! Often, when you resist these criminals they will begin threatening you and try to intimidate you into giving the info over. “You can lose your insurance” “You will face fines” If these kind of threats and bullying techniques are being used, you’re almost certainly being scammed.

The Tech Virus/Issue Scams

This scam has been around for a while but it tends to pick up traction during the holiday season.

You get a call from a tech company of sorts letting you know about some issue with your equipment or software. The criminal on the phone may direct you to download a ‘patch’ or the solution to your problem. In reality, the criminal just got you to download and open a file with a virus attached. You weren’t infected before but your equipment is now.

The criminal, still impersonating a tech employee or customer service rep, now explains that they can fix the problem for a fee.

The most popular version of this is a Microsoft scam where criminals call you to inform you that your computer is infected (wouldn’t that be some awesome customer service!). Once they get you to your computer they either have you change settings that will allow them to wreak havoc on your comp and steal data from you, or they prompt you to download a file/visit an infected website.

Once you are infected they extort you to get the outcome they desire.

At the end of the day, there are very few companies who are going to call you and tell you about a virus or an issue on your computer or smart device. If you get a call like this . . . disregard. If you want to make sure you don’t have a virus on your computer, contact your IT support staff instead.

Text Message Phishing or SMShing Smartphone Scams

With smart phones at our fingertips most hours of the day, criminals have turned their focus to these devices as a great way to steal information and cause trouble.

These text message phishing scams and SMS phishing (SMShing) smartphone scams use the same techniques you’ll see in an email phishing scam. They will send you messages via text designed to get you to click links, download programs/apps and they try to trick you into handing over personal information.

There are some techniques you can use to discover and avoid these scams:

• If you don’t know the person texting you or don’t recognize the number, don’t click links in their text messages.
• Your bank and other financial institutions aren’t going to text you to verify password info – if you do get a text from someone claiming to be from your bank etc. go direct to the website and handle things that way.

Fake or Look-alike Apps

A big new scam on the market, fake applications are designed by criminals to look like real applications you’d download and use on your smartphone. These applications are designed with malicious hidden code designed to steal your personal information, access your contacts, send spam messages from your phone to your network and even track your location via GPS tracking.

These bad applications are more common on Android devices because the application marketplace is a bit easier for criminals to navigate but that does not mean that you don’t need to be on the look out if you are an iPhone user.

• Make sure you only download applications from trusted web stores and application stores.
• Take a look at the developers of the app and do some research. Make sure they are reputable and trustworthy.
• Read through the terms and conditions of applications before you download. Be sure you know what permissions you are giving developers and programmers when it comes to the data on your phone and usage.

These scams are some of the more popular ones in the market but there are many more including popup smartphone scams, IRS scams, Utility scams and the ‘yes’ scam.

The key to defending yourself is educating yourself and others on these criminal tactics as well as the techniques used to identify and outsmart them.

The post Beware! Popular Phone and Smartphone Scams And How To Defend Yourself appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

For those of you following this series, this is the third and final installment of a 3-Part Series: Enhanced Phone Features For Enhanced Business. If you’re just tuning in, make sure to check out part 1 & part 2. In the last two articles we’ve covered twinning and the different functions it has in your office as well as hunt groups and the multiple forms they come in. Both of these features can increase communication within your organization as well as productivity. In this final article we are going to dive into two more enhanced phone features: Queuing and Hot Desking.

Enhanced Phone Features: Queuing

Queuing allows calls to a Hunt Group to be held in a queue when all extensions in the group extension List are busy.

For example, when you call your local pharmacy and direct your call to the pharmacist, you are placed in a specific call queue for that department. That is a combination of the hunt group and queuing feature.

When an extension becomes free, the queued call is then presented. Queue limits can be set so that only a certain number of callers can be in line at any one time. While queuing, a caller can listen to a recorded message or be directed to leave a voicemail for call back if this is configured in your system.

Enhanced Phone Features: Hot Desking

Hot Desking allows multiple users to use the same extension on your phone system. Every user is assigned their own identity so they can receive calls and can access their own Voicemail as well as other functions.

For example, your outside sales staff who visit the office infrequently can be provided with telephony and Voicemail services without being permanently assigned a physical extension. This is also a valuable tool for remote workers. If you have employees in multiple states etc., they can still have a physical extension.

As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, this is the final portion of a three part series on phone features and how they can enhance your business. Make sure to check out the first two sections:

• Enhanced Phone Features Part 1
• Enhanced Phone Features Part 2

You have a phone system already (we hope) but there’s a strong chance you aren’t leveraging it to full potential. This month we are offering a free consultation meeting to review your current solution and what features best compliment your business. This offer expires 9/15/17 so make sure to take advantage!

Fill out the form below to get in touch with a representative or give us a call today to schedule your consultation.

The post Enhanced Phone Features for Enhanced Business Part 3 (3 part series) appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

When is a right click more than just a right click?� When Google reveals its latest changes to Gmail, of course!

The tech giant has recently announced that they're going to be overhauling Gmail's right click menu options. This will enhance its value by adding more and better functionality, with an eye toward improving the overall user experience.

The current right click menu offers the following functionality:

• Move to Tab
• Archive
• Mark as Read
• Delete

The coming changes will expand to include:

• Search options
• Reply and Forward functionality
• Snooze
• Mark as Unread
• Movement Options
• Labeling
• The option to open an email in a new tab

You won't have to take any action to gain the benefits of these new features.� The pending update will make them available to all Gmail users automatically.

In terms of a time frame, Rapid Release domains will begin receiving the update on February 11th 2019 although it can take up to fifteen days for the new features to become visible. The roll-out to the general public is slated for February 22nd, although it could be up to three days before the new menu options become visible to all users.

These are fantastic additions and we can hardly wait to start using them.� Odds are excellent that Google's recent changes will have ripple effects that extend far beyond Gmail, too.� The reality is that menu functions tend to get taken for granted.� At this point, they're so well established and entrenched that most people don't even consider the possibility of tweaking them to improve overall functionality.

That's unfortunate, but given the coming changes, the hope is that it will prompt other email providers and software vendors in general to go back to the drawing board and reassess their time-honored menu options to see what other improvements can be realized.

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