Friday 22 May 2015

Deciding Between a Cloud-based and Premises-based Solution

When deciding the best phone system for your business, there are
several aspects to consider, as it is the most critical decision, determining whether ;it is a premises-based solution (in which the hardware appliance is kept on-site in your server closet), or a cloud phone system (where your phones connect through your Internet connection to a provider that maintains the equipment at an off-site cloud data center). Educating yourself on the benefits and potential challenges that come with using either a premises-based or cloud phone system can help you make a good decision to ensure which is the best option for your investment. 

Features 
Features often play a significant role . Many hosted PBX providers don't offer the
same features in their hosted product as they do for their premises-based solution. If features like queues, IVRs and conferencing are missing, or cost extra, then the product may not be a viable solution. Cfoni VoIP  offers all these features at a fraction of the cost charged by others.

Upfront Cost
Hosted VoIP solutions have a low upfront cost and are typically charged as a monthly fee per user. Using VoIP with an on-site server has a higher cost upfront, but then no recurring monthly fee. Above a certain threshold it becomes more cost effective to purchase your own equipment than to pay a monthly fee.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Cloud computing can save your company a lot of up front ownership cost  and on-going IT expenses. The initial costs of cloud-based systems are usually much lower because there is no technical installation required. The cloud provider hosts and supports the entire IT infrastructure for you, freeing up your IT resources to focus on other productivity-enhancing measures. Cloud  also offers a pay-as-you-go subscription model that can make cash flow management much easier. The low cost of entry to start using hosted applications and the savings of not paying a large up front capital expenditure are promising reasons to start using the cloud.  Speed of setup and implementation also make moving to the cloud an attractive option to consider.

Existing Infrastructure
Legacy connections needs higher maintenance cost for necessary system upgrades and specialized staffs and consultants to manage the upgrades. You could see a cost savings in switching to a VoIP trunk or by using a hosted PBX.

Scalability
Both options are customizable; however, the Cloud is much more easily customizable than on-premise software. Customizations of on-premise software are typically tied to your current deployment and must often be revisited during upgrades. Cloud allows seamless integration. Users at the main office can be on a dedicated server running on the premises in your IT closet while users at the remote office have their phones connected to the cloud. By peering the cloud instance to the on-site server users will have a uniform experience regardless of which technology they are connected to.

Summary
When it comes to cloud “versus” on-premise, the best delivery option isn’t the same for every business. What works for one company won’t necessarily be ideal for another. The answer depends on a variety of factors and priorities, some of which we’ve outlined above.Knowing the facts about what each deployment offers, along with what your biggest concern is, will help determine the right software for your business and enables growth and success by helping your company achieve its goals.

Wednesday 6 May 2015

VoIP IS DATA

We all know that VoIP reduces telephony costs, but we don’t necessarily know why. Understanding the technology behind VoIP allows us to better appreciate and market the value that VoIP brings to SMBs.

Five VoIP Technology Basics:

VoIP IS DATA
The first thing to understand is that VoIP is data just like emails or files or instant messaging. While PSTN was a dedicated technology meant only for voice, VoIP turns voice into another form of data. Data is a much more efficient and cost-effective technology.

VoIP USES THE DATA NETWORK
Legacy systems require two separate networks – one for voice and one for data. A desk telephone uses the voice network while the computer uses a separate data network. VoIP integrates voice technology into one data network, resulting in a less expensive and easier to manage solution.

VoIP IS PACKET-SWITCHED
For VoIP to be transmitted over the data network it must be digitized and transferred as packets. The advantage of packets is that they travel across the most efficient route resulting in high-speed and lower costs.

VoIP IS REAL-TIME
Legacy telephony has always offered high quality voice in real-time because that’s what it was made to do. This has been VoIP’s biggest challenge but after over 20 years it is finally a worthy opponent of PSTN. With an optimized network and good VoIP software voice calls can be in real-time just like traditional telephony.

VoIP IS STILL EVOLVING
While Legacy telephony is a tried-and-true solution, it is no longer evolving and improving. On the other hand, VoIP is not yet a complete solution meaning it still has infinite potential. As technology continues to improve, VoIP will improve along with it. For example, Unified Communications opens a world of options to users and is only going to get better.


Ziff Davis explains the technology in their recent article entitled VoIP Primer – Five Technology Basics SMBs Need To Understand

Tuesday 5 May 2015

Cfoni Cloud Telephony



Read more at Wikipedia on Cloud Telephony

Telecommunication technologies has developed from on premise PABX system, IP PBX Box, hosted PABX system, to the latest Cloud Telephony technology. Many of us might not know or even have used each and every one of these technologies. Therefore, we feel that we need to educate you what Cloud Telephony technology is all about and how it can improve your lifestyle conveniently and economically.

Cloud Telephony technology does not only work as well as your legacy phone but it even provides more features that a legacy phone cannot offer. What is Cloud Telephony? In a nutshell, it is putting your office phone system in the cloud services. Whenever you need to add a local phone number, extension or channel, you just need login to our customer account to add or remove the extensions or channel you need. We call this “pay-as-you–use”. Another great feature of Cloud Telephony technology is that the telephone number you get after you have signed up any of our package plans, this number follows you wherever you go. For instance, if you move your office to another location, you will be able to use the same number by merely plugging the LAN cables into your phones.

In the past, not only we have to fork up high upfront costs to buy a PABX system and wire up the whole office, we also need to buy units of phones, spending all these monies but not sure whether someone is going to use it.

But now having Cloud Telephony technology, we can just setup this solution from as low as RM28 per month. All you need to do is to buy an IP phone, and as and when you need to add or reduce the number of extensions, you just need to log on to our customer account and adjust according to your need. In this Cloud Telephony era, there is no more maintenance cost. All it cost you is just a low rental of the local phone number you lease from us.

A decade ago, internet access were not as stable as today and we might had second thoughts in subscribing this VoIP solutions, worrying if the internet is down, customers will not be able to contact us. However, today, internet has developed so much so that not only it is stable, but it is also widely available in almost every corner of our city and has undoubtedly become a necessity in our daily life.

If it is so unfortunate that the internet is down or office is closed for some reason, you may forward the calls to a mobile phone. This way, you will not be missing any calls from your customers, be it you are in town, or overseas. You have internet, you are connected!

So what are you waiting for? Check out our plans and sign up one today! 

Welcome to Cfoni Official Blog     
                                 
We started this blog for our customers; to facilitate a better understanding on our products and therefore fully utilized what they have signed up for. In fact many people still do not know how VOIP technology (Cloud Telephony) can benefit them and their business; therefore we strongly feel that we need educate all our user to enjoy what they buy.

Some of the acronyms that they cover are:
ATA – Analog Telephone Adaptor
Adapts a traditional analog phone to work with VoIP

BYOD – Bring Your Own Device
Employees today are often allowed to use their own mobile devices or tablets at work

CDR – Call Detail Record
Detailed information about incoming or outgoing calls

DID – Direct Inward Dialling
Refers to an internal extension that can be reached via a standard 10-digit telephone number

HUD – Heads-Up Display
The idea of using a softphone right on the computer screen rather than a phone on the desk

IVR – Interactive Voice Response
Refers to a VoIP voice interactive system, that helps you to do greeting and redirect call

POP – Point of Presence
The point where the company’s network connects to the telephone company’s network

SIP – Session Initiation Protocol
Allows different devices to be compatible on the same VoIP network


All these acronyms can be found in Wikipedia