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!

^
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.

^
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.

^
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:

Last month we brought you the first portion of a three part blog series dedicated to enhanced phone features and what they can do to enhance your business. If you missed it, please check it out here. As we mentioned in our first article, your phone system can and should do a whole lot more than simply ring. There are many features that can make your day to day simpler as well as more productive. Today we area going to focus solely on hunt groups and their functionalities.

Phone Features: Hunt Groups

A Hunt Group is a collection of users, typically users handling similar types of calls, e.g. a sales department. An incoming caller wishing to speak to Sales can ring one number but any number of extensions assigned to that Hunt Group can answer the call.

There are several styles of Hunt Group and each phone system has different options. For the purpose of these examples we are going to use an Avaya IP Office phone system and the phone features available. If you would like to learn more about the different Hunt Groups available on your specific phone system, feel free to reach an Andromeda rep at (815) 836-0030.

• Sequential

  One extension at a time rings sequentially always starting at the top of the list.

• Collective

  All extensions in the Hunt Group ring simultaneously.

• Rotary

  Start with the extension in the list immediately following the extension that answered the last Hunt Group call.

• Longest Waiting

  Start with the extension that has been free for the longest time.

There are more extensive features available as well such as “Assign Call On Agent Alert” that allow for overflow or after hours call forwarding features such as night service/out of service modes. If you would like to learn more about these specific features or want to discuss how they can fit into your daily operations don’t hesitate to reach us. Feel free to fill out a contact us form or give us a quick call.

The post Enhanced Phone Features For Enhanced Business Part 2 (3 Part Series) appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

There is a whole lot of hype and buzz around VoIP Phone Systems (Voice over Internet Protocol). This solution differs from its main competition (digital on-premises PBX) in a few ways but the main difference is the source of service.

While digital systems pass information over traditional analog or POTS lines, an IP or VoIP system uses your internet to transmit data and make phone calls.

When it comes to VoIP there are both on-premises options and cloud based options. On-premises VoIP solutions are often hybrids that offer the advantages of IP solutions and digital solutions in one.

Hosted or Cloud based VoIP systems have no “head end” hardware in your office. That hardware is hosted in the cloud along with all of the programming and interface for your system. You simply have handsets in your office that plug into computers and use the magic of the internet/the cloud to make and receive calls.

Many business owners and decision makers are attracted to the versatility, hardware cost and high tech features of hosted VoIP options.

With that in mind, implementing hosted VoIP sounds like a no brainer but it is important to consider certain requirements and factors before making the switch.

5 Things You Must Consider Before Installing a Hosted VoIP Phone System At Your Office

1.  Is your internet steady enough and robust enough to handle the added demand of a phone system?

An internet outage is one of the most frustrating things isn’t it? Unless you have a failover it slows down productivity, prevents you from using certain programs and if you are in the cloud you can’t do anything at all.

Cloud based solutions require an internet connection to operate. That is true for cloud based software and it’s also true for a hosted VoIP solution. The issue doesn’t stop at a complete outage though. Any disruption of service will impact the quality of your phone calls. You may experience poor reception or you might drop calls completely if your internet connection isn’t steady and strong.

So, what do you do about that? For starters you can implement a failover. This failover service will take over if your main provider goes down allowing you to keep moving in the event of an outage.

Additionally, you should consult with your internet service provider to ensure that your bandwidth can handle your typical call volume. If you don’t have proper bandwidth, your internet won’t be able to keep up with your system and you won’t be happy with the quality of your service.

2. Is your network infrastructure compatible with a VoIP solution?

Every business has their own specific requirements when it comes to network infrastructure and a hosted VoIP solution but there are some standards you can look for right away.

In regards to your cabling – industry standards now recommend at least Cat6 wiring. Andromeda suggest a minimum of Cat6e cable to support all IP solutions.

You will also want to connect your IT partner with your VoIP provider to make sure any other requirements are met.

Some of those might include:

• Quality of Service Routers/Switches
• Optimized Network
• Backup Power Source
• Redundant POE Switching
• Gigabyte Network Support

As mentioned before, hosted VoIP can be a much more cost efficient choice when it comes to the actual system hardware (basically just the phones), but there are many instances where the infrastructure updates needed are just too hefty.

3. Do you own the equipment? If not, who does?

It is important to look into who actually owns the equipment when you purchase a hosted VoIP solution. Many times, your purchase is part of a leasing program where you pay a small fee every month to ‘rent’ the phones.

This is most common with hosted solutions and far less common with on-premises solutions.

It may not look like a lot of money at first but over time it adds up.

For example – in a typical three year contract, your handset costs might start at approximately $15.00 per month (this is just the cost of the equipment – not service). If your office has 20 handsets that means you are spending $3600 annually and almost $11,000 across the lifetime of your contract on equipment you don’t even own. Not to mention the monthly service charges and taxes involved.

These costs only increase when you add in higher quality phones and special features.

4. Have you looked into the tax rates applied to VoIP services in your area?

“Taxes, surcharges and fees apply” – Cryptic right?

Statements like this are used often when VoIP vendors pitch their solutions and too often, business owners aren’t made aware of the taxes required for their VoIP solution on top of the basic equipment and service fees.

Each state and region has their own tax codes and it is not unheard of for these taxes, surcharges and fees to reach hundreds and hundreds of dollars a month.

All of a sudden that cost savings you were anticipating is chewed up and spit out by these hidden fees.

The worst part is many national VoIP providers don’t even give you the hard numbers when they deliver their proposal. Imagine opening your first bill, expecting to see a $600 total and finding that you owe $900! Now multiply that out over the course of your contract and you get the picture.

For Illinois specifically you can learn more about VoIP specific taxes here.

5. Have you looked into who will support your phone system if there are programming or equipment issues?

With a hosted solution, you don’t have the head end equipment in your office. There isn’t a box or piece of hardware that a technician can come work on when things go wrong. Instead, there is cloud hosted software that connects to the handsets plugged into your computers.

If there is an issue and you can’t seem to get things resolved, it is highly unlikely that your VoIP provider has technicians available to come visit your office. At that point, you are stuck calling around and googling to try and find a company to come work on your phones.

It is not safe to assume that the same people who handle your IT will know how to help you with your hosted solution. They may not be trained on the software and they may also have no knowledge of the phones themselves.

Hosted VoIP enters into a gray area where there are IT and Telecom pieces at play.

Before you sign up and install a hosted solution, you should figure out who will be able to service you in a pinch.

Your phone system is one of the most important communication tools you’ve got. There are many different options out there and hopefully this list of questions will better prepare you for a hosted VoIP system if that is the solution you choose.

Andromeda helps businesses select professional phone systems in many varieties every day. Give us a call and let us help you determine which solution is right for your needs.

The post 5 Things You Must Consider Before Installing a Hosted VoIP Phone System At Your Office appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

Recently, Trend Micro published some statistics that just about everyone should find disturbing.� According to their latest statistics, the security company has blocked more than five million cyber-attacks against IP cameras, just in the past five months. Worse, IP cameras don't tend to have great security in place to begin with, making it relatively easy for hackers to control them remotely.

IP cameras send video directly to the internet as it is captured, and are typically used for surveillance. They're among the vast crop of 'low hanging fruit' of web-connected devices these days.� The company found that of the attacks, fully 75 percent relied on simple brute-force tactics.

Oscar Chang, of Trend Micro, had this to say about the findings:

"More verticals are seeking connected, AI-powered video surveillance applications, causing a clear paradigm shift from a relatively closed-off network to a more interconnected network operated heavily by cloud-based technologies.� Due to this shift in the landscape, manufacturers and users must pay attention to the security of these IoT devices. While the industry has known about cyber-risks, manufacturers have been unable to properly address the risk without knowing the root cause and attack methods."

Those are wise words. There is explosive growth of the number of smart devices in recent years, and hackers have gleefully appointed them by the tens of thousands and turned them into botnet armies for hire. Given those circumstances, one would think that every smart device manufacturer would make increased security of the devices they sell a top priority.

To date, however, that simply hasn't been the case.� Until that changes, we can expect to see the numbers Trend Micro and other security companies report increase until we finally reach a tipping point.

The sad thing is, it doesn't have to come to that.� If the industry were to start getting serious about IoT security and standards put in place, we could, at the very least, diminish the magnitude of the problem.� At present, that appears unlikely.

Aggregated