It took me a while to understand this, and it sounds rather odd coming from the "phoneman", but North Florida Communications doesn’t specialize in selling telephones. We specialize in selling communications solutions. See, I told you it sounded odd.

In today’s high-tech world of online shopping, you can easily find the cheapest price for most any product within seconds by using Google. Is this true with the products or services you sell? It certainly is with telephones. Quite frankly, you’ll often find a cheaper supplier of a particular phone than us. There are many suppliers on the internet that sell with single digit margins that we simply cannot touch. But what about support?

While we may charge a bit more for a phone, you’re getting more bang for your buck. What happens when the telephone you bought off the internet has a problem? Will your internet supplier come to your office to fix it? Will you be able to call them and speak to a knowledgeable tech? Will they be able to program your system? Will you have to send the bad unit it for repair and wait two or more weeks without a phone? None of this would be a worry if you bought a phone from North Florida Communications.

Am I making sense? If so, consider this...my job as the owner of this company is not to sell you a telephone, but to sell you a solution that will help you communicate better with your clients and to make sure that solution runs trouble-free. Anybody can sell you a telephone, but it takes someone with considerable experience to interface that telephone with a system that allows callers to be routed smoothly and professionally.

We want to look at the communication system as a whole, not as parts. We want to assist you in setting up a system that works for your employees and, most importantly, your clients! The question in the back of my mind is, how can we make this system work better?

Granted, we’re not the only company that can provide this service. We have several local competitors that are top-notch. What we do cannot be compared to someone who sells telephones at the lowest price.

As always, please contact me if I can be of assistance to you.

Many companies occasionally have a need to do a multi-party conference call. Most modern telephone systems will easily accommodate a three party conference, and some systems will even handle five parties. But what happens when you need to talk with ten or twenty people at a time? You can buy some fancy (i.e., expensive) conferencing equipment, or you can utilize a third-party conference system.

North Florida Communications is now providing a conference solution for small to medium businesses. For less than $10 a month, we will provide you with your own conference telephone number. This number can be local or toll-free. You’ll then be able to set up a conference at any time and simply pay a few cents per minute, per caller.

Want to go a little further? We can provide you with a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) conference phone that will allow you to connect your entire conference room to a phone call, while allowing everyone to hear and be heard.

Please contact me if you would like more information.

Larry Nazworth

Last week I was able to attend ITExpo (Internet Telephony Exposition) in Miami Beach. It truly is amazing to see the products being developed in our industry. Here are a few things that I think are very exciting:

SIP Trunking- In a nutshell, SIP is a connection to an ITSP (Internet Telephony Service Provider) that connects a phone system, or a simple gateway, to the PSTN (Public Switch Telephone Network), which is the traditional telephone network that we all think about when we discuss "The Phone Company".

SIP Trunks have become a very reliable way to make telephone calls that also can save you 50% (more or less) on your phone bills. SIP Trunks also provide more advanced features, such as Direct Inward Dial (DID) numbers, call pairing (have your cell phone ring with your desk phone) and faster setup/tear-down times.

Hosted PBX- Imagine a small company getting a powerful telephone system without having to buy any equipment, except the telephones. This can be done with a Hosted PBX. A company, such as North Florida Communications, rents a customer a server, or a portion of a server that is located at a remote location. Customer phones then connect via the internet to the hosted system.

The hosted solution gives all the standard features such as auto-attendant, voice-mail, etc., while allowing the customer to pay a monthly reoccurring fee, instead a big chunk of money up front. Since SIP Trunking is often used, those monthly fees can be equal to the cost you may pay to the local Telco just for the phone lines you would use with a traditional telephone system.

A hosted solution is also great for companies that have many remote users.

Unified Messaging- Imagine getting all of your voice-mails and faxes sent directly to your cell phone via email. That is what Unified Messaging can do. Personally, I love it because I’m on the road a lot. I no longer have to dial in to check messages, or ask to borrow someone’s fax machine so I can see an important document. Very nice!

Guess what, these are really not new technologies. They have all been around for a few years and are now mature technologies. Are you ready to start a new decade with some time AND money saving purchases? If so, please contact me!

Larry Nazworth

Generally speaking, a Hosted PBX refers to a voice solution where the call control equipment resides in a service providers location, which business customers connect to via voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP).

More plainly, a business customer can choose to pay a service provider to provide all of the necessary equipment to run a telephone system. End users connect to the service via the internet (usually). VoIP phones can be used from the office, at home, or any where there is a reliable internet connection. The end-user does not have to pay a large one-time price for all of the processing equipment, but must pay a never ending monthly charge and generally must purchase all of the phones.

Here are some pros and cons of a Hosted PBX:

One big thing to consider when going with a hosted solution is the company behind the product. You need to be sure that they will be around for the long haul and have the finances to succeed. There have been several cases where service providers have gone out of business, seemingly overnight, leaving there customers stranded. In 2007 SunRocket suddenly closed shop leaving 200,000 customers scrambling to find service.

VoIP has many forms and is here to stay. It can be made to work right and to save your company a lot of money. If you think a hosted solution may be right for your business, contact me and let me help!

Larry Nazworth

As many companies in our field do, North Florida Communications provides maintenance contracts for business telephone systems. Many customers wonder if they should have a maintenance contract for their telephone system. Let’s explore that thought.

Simply put, a maintenance contract is an insurance policy on your telephone system. The contract can be written to cover parts, or both parts and labor. You can choose to have 24x7x365 coverage, or 8-5 Monday-Friday coverage, depending on how important the system is to your business, and of course how much you want to pay. Having a maintenance contract allows you to budget for any problems with your system, saving you from any large, unforseen bills for equipment failures.

At North Florida Communications, we’ve added on to the standard maintenance agreement and changed the name to Managed Voice Services. Our plans provide:

1. Parts and Labor, or Labor Only- choose the coverage that is best for you. Includes damage by lightning.

2. Music-On-Hold- seasonally adjusted music

3. One hour/month Remote Programming- remote changes to your telephone and voice-mail system to keep everything up to date.

4. Annual "Tune-Up" visit- check out condition of phone equipment, replace bad cords, etc.

5. Additional On-Site Training- two one-hour on-site training visits at your request. We'll take questions from experienced users and help train new hires.

6. Updated Templates/Designation Strips- we’ll mail you updated phone designation strips for your telephones as needed. Up to two per phone/year.

7. Priority Response- Maximum 4-hour response time for major problems.

8. Inside Wire Coverage- inside telephone wiring is included. Network cabling can be added for an additional cost.

9. Telco Liaison Service- well contact your telephone company on your behalf for service problems and new orders.

10. 10% Discount on Additional Purchases- discount applies to parts and labor.

So, with NFC, you’re not only getting coverage for your equipment, but you’re also getting many more benefits. For most plans we provide a remote maintenance terminal that allows us to remotely program and monitor your telephone system via the internet. This box also provides music/message-on-hold that we adjust to different seasons.

We give you remote programming that frees up one of your staff members, while keeping your phone system up to date. Does your phone have the name of an employee that left two years ago? With our Managed Voice Services, we would take care of that for you at no additional charge.

Do you have employees that have been hired since the phone system was installed, and are not quite sure about all of the different features? With our plan, you get a site visit for training. Need to order a new line, but dread trying to work with the local phone company? Our included Telco Liaison Service would take care of that for you.

Is a maintenance contract right for your organization? Only you can answer that. Please give me a call if I can help.

Larry Nazworth

We’re often asked if there is an alternative to the local phone company and/or how reliable are they? The answer is yes, there are alternatives and some are very reliable.

In the telephone world, what people call the “phone company” (BellSouth/at&t, Embarq/CenturyLink, or Verizon) is referred to as the Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC). The ILEC generally owns the local copper and fiber cables that run throughout the city and is regulated by the Public Service Commission of each state they operate in.

Alternative carriers are referred to as Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLEC). Many CLECs provide dial-tone to a business via a digital line called a T-1. This line often comes into the business via the ILEC’s cable, which they are required to lease at wholesale rates to CLECs. The T-1 can be broken down into 24 analog telephone lines (23 if using a PRI) via a channel bank. You can also connect a T-1/PRI to most modern telephone systems to take advantage of more advanced calling features such as DID numbers. The same T-1 can also be split to offer Internet service.

Is a T-1 reliable? You bet! And if you have a problem with a T-1, most service providers have a service level agreement that requires the issue be addressed within 4-hours, a much shorter time than traditional POTS lines.

Another alternative to the ILEC is the local Cable TV (CATV) company. Many CATV providers are getting into the phone business. They provide dial-tone via a special Integrated Access Device that connects to the companies coax, eliminating the ILEC wiring altogether. The cable companies have come a long way in providing dial-tone and internet access. They’re gaining market share quickly due to their low prices.

A third alternative is a Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP). An ITSP offers dial-tone via voice over IP (VoIP), carried by the internet. The most well known ITSP is Vonage, but there are countless others. Vonage, and many other ITSPs utilize analog terminal adapters to convert their signal to POTS lines that can be used with any standard telephone.

ITSP’s have made some headway into the dial-tone business as well. Remember that they depend on the public internet to deliver their product. When considering using an ITSP, make sure you have a very good internet connection, whether it is DSL, Cable Broadband or a T-1. You also need to make sure your vendor understands the importance of Quality of Service (QOS) settings on your network, to give priority to voice packets.

Some of these alternatives are better than others in price and performance. Should have any questions about these choices, and which would be best for your business, give me a call. We can also recommend some providers that have proven reliable over the years.

Larry Nazworth