Phone System Services -Chicago-Ridge, IL 60415

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:

We’ve all been there. . .you’re on the line with tech support, trying to figure out why a piece of equipment isn’t working properly. You’ve been connected with a friendly (hopefully) employee at a help desk somewhere and they ask a few famous questions:

“Did you check to make sure it’s plugged in?”
“Is your internet working?”
“Did you try turning it on and off?”

These questions can seem a bit ridiculous when you are on the phone, but you wouldn’t believe how often something as seemingly simple as checking a cable, power source, or on/off switch can be the solution to some of your technical issues.

These strategies don’t just work for your office PC or your entertainment system at home either. The questions might be a little different, but you can do some basic troubleshooting on your business phone system when things are acting up.

Read on to learn three basic steps you can take to troubleshoot common telephone system issues before calling in your telecom vendor for advanced assistance.

Top 3 Common Professional Phone System Issues

1. Check to See if Your Power Source is Functional

There is almost nothing worse than walking into the office in the morning to find your professional phone system is down. This is a big deal and you’ll want to get the system back up as soon as possible: but before you panic, you’ll want to head to your IT closet (or wherever the PBX box is stored). Once there, our technical team recommends locating the power cord and your backup power source or UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). Unplug the PBX power cord from the UPS and plug it directly into your electrical outlet. If the system receives power and turns on – you know that the issue isn’t your phone system. You just need a new UPS.

An average life cycle for a backup power supply is approximately 3-5 years. So having a spare is a good way to avoid issues related to UPS failure.

If plugging your system directly into your electrical outlet doesn’t get you up and running, it’s time to call your telecom service provider and get advanced technical assistance.

2. Check Phone Cords and Handsets

Sometimes your professional phone system is working, but call quality is on and off. For example, you are on the phone and you can hear the caller, but they can’t hear you speak or vice versa. You may also feel that the sound quality is distorted from time to time.

Often, these issues can be resolved by replacing the cord that connects your phone to the physical handset. If that doesn’t work, you may want to consider replacing the entire handset. It can be helpful to keep a few spare parts like these at the office to quickly change things out and fix these small issues. If you end up needing to replace an entire handset, you may need to call your professional phone system support team so that they can program your handset. In some cases if you have your system configured properly, this can be accomplished remotely and you don’t even have to have a technician come on site.

3. Determine if All of Your Lines are Down or if Only Certain Lines are Down

Sometimes for a number of reasons you may have one, multiple or all lines ‘down’ (no ring tone and no ability to make outbound or take inbound calls). Before you reach out to your service provider or your telephone system vendor, it is a good idea to determine which lines are impacted.

To do this, all you have to do is grab a list of your various phone lines and try to make an outbound call from each. If you can make a call, that line is working fine. If you don’t get a dial tone and can’t make a phone call – you’ve got a dead line.

Your next step is to call your telephone service provider and have them troubleshoot the issue to get your service reconnected.

It should be said that you can always call your professional phone system support company to help you troubleshoot any issue you have with the telephones at your office. That’s what we are here for! But, you can save yourself some time and potentially even some money by going through some of the tests above before scheduling a technician to come out on site or work on your system remotely.

The post 3 Professional Phone System Troubleshooting Techniques for Common Issues appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

There will most likely come a time when you decide you want to change service providers for your business internet and telephone.

That makes sense.

In fact, we would suggest that you audit your phone service and bills at least once a year if not every 6 months. (For more on auditing your phone bills – read here).

The telecom industry term for the date you go from one service to the next is the “cutover date”. Basically, this is the day that you cut service with your old provider and begin service with your new provider.

You’d think this is as simple as the switch of a button but there are actually a lot of ways that a cutover can cause trouble for you and your business.

The last thing you want is for a cutover issue to mean loss of profit or productivity in your office. After all, every minute your phones are down costs you.

With this in mind, we thought you would enjoy a quick checklist to ensure your telephone service cutover goes as smooth as possible.

Andromeda Technology Solutions Telephone Service Cutover Checklist: 6 Things to Do Before Your Cutover Date

1- Bring your IT/Telecom Service Provider Up to Speed

First things first, the moment you start thinking about changing telephone/internet service providers; you should get your IT group involved.

A good vendor will guide you through the process of preparing for your telephone service cutover date.

A GREAT Technology Partner will guide you through the prep for your cutover but they will also help guide you in the right direction when it comes to your service levels and providers.

There are a lot of important factors to consider when choosing a telephone/internet provider.

• Customer Service Reputation
• Bandwidth options
• Type of service
• Availability in your area
• Impact on other technologies and departments in your business

It is important to get your IT/Telephone Solution Provider involved for your cutover but it is just as important to get them involved as soon as you make the decision to shop service providers.

This will allow you to avoid a lot of headaches and it will also prepare you properly for everything you’ve got to get done.

Keeping your technology partners in the loop is one of the best ways to steer clear of speedbumps.

2- Notify your current vendor that you’re switching service.

This one is very simple. Once you’ve decided to switch service providers, you need to notify your existing telecom service provider.

Most companies require 30 days’ notice or they will charge cancellation fees.

You’ll also want to make sure you aren’t under a contract. If you find that you are still under contract, you’ll need to figure out what types of penalties or charges the existing vendor has in place for early termination.

As a general rule, you always want to be aware of your contract dates. Even if you aren’t switching vendors, your rates might rise if you aren’t under a long term contract with your vendor. This is best practice and ensures you aren’t being overcharged for your services.

3- Get a “cut sheet” from your current service provider.

The cut sheet is a list of all of the necessary work prior to your telephone service cutover. This is a great way to make sure you have all of your ducks in a row before the official telephone service cutover date.

Once you have the cut sheet you need to make sure and get a copy of it to whoever manages your telephone system.

This sheet includes any equipment you’ll need, programming needs as well as a list of all the numbers you need ported over.

By providing this to your technology partner you ensure that they can schedule technicians to get the required work done prior to the big day.

4- Check your IT closet or equipment room out.

Changing service providers may require some new equipment. Make sure to find out what space that will require and ensure that you have the space available.

Be clear on who will install the new equipment and where you want it as well.

5- Map out your current setup

You’ll want to map out all of your existing set up.

Make sure you have a list of all phone numbers and extensions.

This is something you can do yourself or you can request that your phone system vendor does this for you. They will dive a little deeper and check for dial tones, testing ports and checking for local & long distance capability.

Just be sure to request that your vendor provides you a full report of your findings.

6- Get the date on your calendar and notify anyone who might be impacted

It might sound obvious but you want to make sure that everyone knows your cutover date.

Andromeda recommends that you let all employees know the date and time. Additionally, you’ll probably want to schedule and send out a few emails to customers in case there is any service disruption.

Communication is key with these types of projects.

Customers won’t be upset that they can’t reach you by phone if they know that you can be reached via email or other communications.

This will also make sure that everyone is prepared just in case the cutover doesn’t go as smooth as planned. If your phones are down for longer than expected, you’ve covered your bases on the front side and shouldn’t feel a backlash from employees or customers for the temporary disruption of phone service.

As you’ve probably noticed – most of these steps and the checklist recommends that you communicate with your telephone system vendor. These projects are pretty simple but can easily go wrong if everyone isn’t on the same page.

If you are thinking about switching phone service providers make sure to get in touch with whoever manages your phone system.

You’ll be glad you did.

The post 6 Things You Need To Prepare Before You Change Telecom Service Providers: Your Telephone Service Cutover Checklist appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

Back in October, Microsoft issued an update for Windows 10 that was a bit of a disaster.� It wound up deleting some user files and sparked a completely justified outrage.� The company pulled the update back, taking it offline so more people wouldn't be impacted. Then they recently re-released it, this time, without the file deletions.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the first time the company had stumbled where updates were concerned.� In fact, many of Microsoft's recent patches and updates have been problematic.� The company has promised to make changes in the way they're doing things and to be more transparent about their processes.

They've taken a few preliminary steps in that direction. It hasn't seemed to help, at least not based on their rollout of a recent patch designed to "fix" Outlook 2010.

The November 13 security update, Kb4461529 addressed several flaws and vulnerabilities.� In one instance, however, the company addressed a security flaw which would allow a hacker to remotely execute code via a specially crafted Word document.� The company's "fix" to protect Outlook 2010 users was to simply disable the program entirely.

Needless to say, Outlook 2010 users were not amused. To make matters worse, Microsoft advised users not to uninstall the patch, but rather, to wait for the next patch (released on November 21st).� That patch, KB4461585, the company promised would fix the crashing issue.

Sure enough, the second patch worked as advertised, but sadly, people who took Microsoft's advice were without their email for two weeks and that's simply unacceptable.

All companies stumble.� All companies make mistakes.� That's inevitable.� Unfortunately, Microsoft can't seem to stay out of its own way where patches and security updates are concerned.� The last several months have been a parade of blunders.� Here's hoping the company can identify the flaw in its process sooner, rather than later.� For all our sakes.

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