Phone System Services -Oak-Brook, IL 60523

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:

Whether you are considering purchasing a hosted VoIP Phone System or you’ve already made the switch there are some important things you’ll want to consider to make sure that you have in place.

Hosted VoIP phone solutions are a great option for small business. They offer many special functions and programming options to businesses via cloud technology and network capabilities.

These systems are easily portable – sometimes referred to as ‘plug and play’ solutions. As long as your office has proper cabling and network infrastructure, you can move phones easily across the office in minutes without having to call a technician or service company.

Hosted VoIP Phone solutions are scalable, offer many bells and whistles, make remote workforces easier to manage, offer detailed reporting options and a wide range of other business functions.

It should be mentioned that many if not all of these functions and programming options are available on digital solutions and IP hybrid solutions. Do not believe any phone vendor that tells you otherwise.

If you decide that hosted or cloud VoIP phone systems are the solution for your office, you’ll want to take a few steps to make sure that you are setting yourself up for a smooth and secure transition:

1. Consult an IT Vendor with Network Security experience

Whether you are planning a transition to hosted VoIP Phone Solutions or you already have them, it is important that you understand the implications this has on your network and your network infrastructure.

You want to make sure that you know how much bandwidth you currently have available and whether you’ll need to increase this. Making and receiving phone calls over the internet can eat up your available bandwidth and if you don’t account for this demand increase, you may suffer from dropped calls, low call quality and other issues. So make sure you have strong enough service from your internet provider.

Adding your phones to the network adds other requirements as well. You’ll want to have a network audit done to check up on your infrastructure and your network security. You may need to add equipment and/or update infrastructure for your VoIP phone solution to work.

Hosted VoIP systems without proper network security and infrastructure are vulnerable to data theft, DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks and other cybersecurity issues. Just like any other extension on the network, you’ll need to make sure that connections are secure and you are proactively protecting your business.

2. Make sure you have a plan for emergency numbers

While hosted VoIP phone systems can be great for your business, they do create some issues for emergency calls to local law enforcement, medical help etc.

Because your calls are made over the internet there is no geographic location associated with your phones and this poses a problem for first responders. Essentially, your phones cannot figure out which emergency call center to direct the call to.

Because of this, most companies with a cloud phone solution like hosted VoIP need to have a backup plan for emergency calls. This may mean that you maintain one digital or POTS line for emergencies.

If you have a burglar system or security system you might already have this set up because these solutions run into the same issues with VoIP service.

3. Find a vendor who can support your solution

There are hundreds of options available to you for your hosted VoIP Phone system. Between all of your hardware options and service provider options things can get a bit confusing.

A great first step when you are looking into VoIP is to engage your IT company and see if there is a solution they provide/work with.

All too often we get calls from companies with hosted phones looking for support and we have to turn them away because they have hardware Andromeda isn’t able to support.

When choosing your hardware and service provider you want to ask the following:

• How long has the company been around (they pop up and disappear far more often than you’d think)?
• Who is going to provide service to the hardware?

You definitely don’t want to find out once it is too late and your phones are having problems that you don’t have anyone to help you out.

Your phone system may change or be replaced but the need for a secure and reliable phone system remains the same. Additionally, your need for a technology or telecom vendor that understands your solution remains paramount. If moving to hosted VoIP Phone Solutions or cloud phone system is something on your mind, make sure to give us a call and we can work to make sure your transition is as smooth and secure as possible.

The post VoIP Phone Solutions: 3 Steps To Protect Yourself & Your Business appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

We regularly reach out to clients for feedback on our products and service. Over the twenty plus years we have been in business, at least one thing has remained constant. Phones are a necessity for every business and professional phone systems remain a mystery to most users. Just like the other technologies in your office, your phone system changes with time and modern phone systems have many new enhanced phone features. These phone features can improve productivity, improve accessibility and assist with client relations. There are many different enhanced features available to you. With this in mind, we are bringing you a three part series focusing on enhanced phone features for enhanced business.

 4 Enhanced Phone Features You Didn’t Even Know You Needed

Twinning

The first in our phone features list is Twinning. Twinning allows a primary extension and a secondary number (extension or external) to operate together as a single telephone. When a call presents to the primary phone the secondary will ring. If the primary telephone does not ring, for example in Do Not Disturb, the secondary phone will not ring. For example, imagine you have twinning set up for your mobile phone and your office phone. When a call comes through, both phones ring so you can receive calls whether you are in the office or on the road (of course, as mentioned, you may set your phones to Do Not Disturb because you are gone for the day, or in a meeting so you aren’t interrupted by phone calls 24/7).

Internal Twinning

This next phone feature is typically used in large spaces like workshops or warehouses where team supervisors may have a desk with a fixed phone but also have a wireless extension (e.g. DECT). When a call is made from either internally twinned phone, the call will appear to have come from the primary phone (when the secondary is an extension on the IP Office system). Other users of the system need not know that the supervisor has two different phones.

Mobile (external) Twinning

A typical use for Mobile Twinning would be for a salesperson or other employee who has a desk extension but is often out of the office. They can give out one phone number to clients, but it will ring their mobile/cell phone as well as the desk extension. External mobile devices can be set as twinning targets even if the primary telephone is logged out.

Mobile Call Control

This enhanced phone feature allows a user who has answered a twinned call on their mobile phone to use features they would normally only be able to access on their desktop phone (i.e. transfer calls, park calls, conference etc.) There is traditionally a sequence such as ** (star star) that the user must enter to engage this functionality.

If any of the above look like something your business is missing, feel free to give us a call. Make sure to check back in for part 2 of the Enhanced Phone Features series next month

The post Enhanced Phone Features For Enhanced Business Part 1 appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

Researchers at Trustwave have observed a notable increase in the use of .ISO files to deliver malware. Hackers have relied on poisoned disk image files for years to deliver malware to their targets.

It makes sense in a Windows environment because it allows attackers to disguise their payloads as an innocent, standard file type.

In terms of scope and scale, the Trustwave researchers have noted a 6 percent increase in 2019 of this particular attack vector. It is noteworthy enough to be of genuine concern, especially given the fact that .ISO files are often overlooked by antivirus software. That makes it more likely that attackers can deliver their payload undetected.

In one particular campaign unearthed by the researchers, the attackers sent an email that appeared to come from FedEx and offered package tracking information. This was in an attempt to trick recipients into clicking on a file to gain additional information about an incoming package. Of course, the package didn't actually exist, and clicking on the (.ISO) file installed a malicious payload on the victim's computer.

It should be noted that .ISO files are not the only image file used in this way. Trustwave also reports a modest uptick in the use of Direct Access Archive (DAA) files. Use of DAA files for the purpose of delivering malware is seen as being somewhat less efficient and effective than using the .ISO format. That's because specialized software is required to open a .DAA file.

Nonetheless, if a hacking group has done their due diligence and knows the software is installed on a target computer, the DAA file represents another possible inroad that's likely to go undetected.

Hackers are becoming increasingly inventive, using old tricks mixed with new to infect target systems, making it more difficult than ever for harried IT managers to keep their networks safe. Stay on high alert. The threat landscape is more unpredictable than ever.

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