Author: Steve Slisar

We've used educational marketing to help students learn digital skills and how to use accounting, office administration, digital marketing, customer service and online sales skills. These skills help people find work, run better businesses and do a better job for their customers.

News Number portability VoIP Features

Take your phone number with you

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date October 25, 2010

The olden days when you would lose your telephone number if you moved to a different area outside of your local telephone exchange is long gone. Many businesses used to get a 1300 or 1800 number so that they could keep their telephone number the same no matter where the business was located.

You can now keep your telephone number with you no matter where you go, even overseas!

The telephone numbers that are allocated to you by virion are normally configured into your telephone handset so wherever your handset goes, so does your number. Combine that with voicemail-to-email and you have a totally modular telephone system solution that will grow as your business grows.

To learn more about what is included in a virion VoIP telephone number subscription click here.

If you don’t have business grade VoIP in your office yet, order it now using our Instant Trial Application.

News

Ease your way into a VoIP phone system

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date October 20, 2010

A fantastic feature of VoIP telephone solutions is that you can ease your way into it. We have heard over the last couple months when we started to offer our Telephone Bill Analysis that a lot of companies have been “disadvantaged” by unscrupulous sales people who have tied them down to a 5 year telephone hardware and service contract only to discover that they cannot use the phone system with any other calling service or make changes. virion VoIP is different. You can start with a small device that attaches to your telephone system giving you two extra VoIP lines (using your existing phone system) and expand as you need, adding one or two lines at a time.

A typical scenario for micro businesses is the attach a PAP2 device to their phone system and use it to make outbound calls (halving their Telstra call costs). But when you consider that all virion VoIP services include the fantastic and versatile “voicemail-to-email” feature included in the monthly fee you can easily divert your incoming calls to your virion voip number after hours and take advantage of a personalised voicemail service where the messages are emailed to you, where ever you are.

Join us with our Instant Trial Application and enjoy a new voip phone solution.

News Voicemail-to-email VoIP Features

Voicemail to email

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date October 19, 2010

You are probably familiar with voicemail (also known to Telstra customers as Messagebank) that enables your callers to leave a message for you. With mobile phone services a common scenario involves you calling a special voicemail number and retrieving those messages.

Some virion business grade VoIP services automatically come with voicemail-to-email and the feature is included in the subscription price for your VoIP telephone numbers, all you have to do is tell us to turn it on and you’re away. Some low priced plans have this feature as an add-on for a small extra charge on your monthly statement.

virion’s voicemail-to-email service sends each message to you via email as an audio file attachment. Using an audio player (like iTunes or Windows Media Player) on your computer and some speakers you can hear the actual message no matter where you are in the world. If you need help recording your greeting or working with your voicemail-to-email service contact your virion representative.

Don’t have virion business grade VoIP yet? Apply now using our Instant Trial Application form.

Gateways & ATAs VOIP Equipment

Cisco SPA3102 Voice Gateway with Router

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date October 15, 2010

linksys_spa3102

Analog Calls Routed Over the Internet

Internet telephone service is now more accessible than before. Part of Cisco Small Business Voice Gateways and ATAs, the SPA3102 Voice Gateway allows automatic routing of local calls from mobile phones and land lines to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers, and vice versa. By first calling the local number on the SPA3102, you can reduce or eliminate long-distance charges altogether.

If power goes out or Internet service is lost, calls can be safely redirected to a traditional carrier via the standard analog interface.

Additional features of the Cisco SPA3102 include:

One RJ-11 POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) FXS port to connect an existing analog phone or fax machine
One PSTN FXO port to connect to a Telco or PBX circuit
Two 100BaseT RJ-45 Ethernet interfaces to connect to a home or office LAN, and an Ethernet connection to a broadband modem or router
FXS and FXO lines that can be independently configured
Secure encryption-based methods for communication, provisioning, and servicing

Quoted from Cisco website, Click this link for more information

To order this product please visit our Instant Trial Application. We will provide the device, VoIP phone line service and installation at your premises for a fixed cost (selected areas of Sydney at this stage).

News Small Business VoIP FAQ's Telephone System Features

Telstra Call Forward Immediate, on Busy and No Answer

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date October 13, 2010
1 Comment on Telstra Call Forward Immediate, on Busy and No Answer

Telstra Call Forward

Call Forward is a functionality that enables you to have incoming calls diverted to alternative numbers on situations where you are away from your phone, are busy on your phone or are not in your office.

This functionality was seen as a break through a decade ago, but with the onset of VoIP and digital telephone systems this type of functionality is now available via most VoIP Cloud PBX Admin Portals and you can control more aspects of your VoIP Business Telephone System by logging into a cloud-based administration area.

Porting Away from Telstra

VoIP Business Telephone Systems have a LOT of features that you can configure yourself without the services of an expensive telephone or IT Consultant. Many customers have signed up to these Hosted Business Telephone Systems and ported away from Telstra to save money. By Porting away from Telstra you get to

Keep your phone number (no matter where you move in the world!),
Pay low VoIP rates for the number and calls, PLUS
You can take your number with you wherever you go!

Call diversion is a function that Telstra customers can use to divert calls to their new VoIP Business Phone System until they are ready to port their number away from Telstra and we’ve written the basic instructions for how to do it below.

VoIP Business Phone System on 14 day FREE Trial

Trial a VoIP Business Phone System for your office and take advantage of great advanced call handling features like those listed below, we can help you with a VoIP Phone System on a 14-day FREE Trial. Here are some of the most desired features:

Voicemail to Email,

Auto Attendant (IVR)

VoIP Service Admin Portal, and more

The VoIP Business Telephone Systems voicemail-to-email service allows you to create your own greeting and receive messages to your own email address, no matter where you are. Telstra normally charge for their voicemail (messagebank) service, but the VoIP Business Telephone System includes this feature for each VoIP phone number.

Turning Call Forward On and Off

Below is some information we found to help our customers with the codes required to activate and deactivate the Telstra Call Forward services: Remember! Do not use brackets, but do use the asterisk (*) and hash (#) keys.

How to turn Call Forward on

Here are the basics:

The easiest way to turn on Call Forward is to call 1#, then say “Turn on Call Forward” and listen to the instructions. Alternatively, follow the instructions below to turn on each type of Call Forward.

To turn on Call Forward Immediate (all calls):
Press * 2 1 (phone number) #

To turn on Call Forward Busy:
Press * 2 4 (phone number) #

To turn on Call Forward No Answer:
Press * 6 1 (phone number) #
You can also turn on Call Forward No Answer and specify how many seconds before the call is forwarded:
Press * 6 1 (phone number) * (time in seconds) #

Cheap Business Telephone Systems from $1 per month

[box type=”tick” size=”large” style=”rounded” border=”full”]Did you know that you can have the power of a professional business telephone system and the capability to turn on features like Call Forward, Do Not Disturb etc from your VoIP Handsets?You can also have all of your team connected as part of the one business phone system even if they are spread out across Australia (or even the world)?Learn about the features of the CloudPBX..[/box]

How to turn Call Forward off

Here are the basics:

The easiest way to turn off Call Forward is to call 1#, then say “Turn off Call Forward” and listen to the instructions.

Alternatively, follow the instructions below to turn off each type of Call Forward. You can also find out how to turn Call Forward on .

To turn off Call Forward Immediate (all calls):
Press # 21 # on your keypad

To turn off Call Forward Busy:
Press # 24 # on your keypad

To turn off Call Forward No Answer:
Press # 61 # on your keypad

Turn off Call Forward Selected Callers:
Press # 92 # on your keypad

Turn off Call Forward Set the Time:
Press # 16 # on your keypad

Typical small business call flow scenarios

We’ve put together some call flow diagrams to make it easier to choose your ideal business telephone system customisation. Combined with $1 per month for a phone system you’ll have professional features, setup quickly and at a fantastic cheap rate. See the common business telephone system setups..

Cisco, Yealink and Siemens Handsets

Feature-rich and professional these global brands will make your business look and feel professional and they’ll come with the power to manage the calls in your small business.

See the different VoIP Business Telephone Handsets..

Requesting a Quotation is Quick and Easy

If you want to get started with VoIP, Digital and Hosted Business Telephone Systems but not sure how to get started, tell us a little bit about your circumstances and request a quote and we’ll get something back to you quickly.

You’ll be able to trial every aspect of the business telephone system, and see call rates and connectivity options.

Tags call forward, Telstra Call Forward

News

Phone Bill Analysis

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date October 6, 2010

The best way to see how much you can save using virion is with a Phone Bill Analysis. Your virion business consultant will review your current phone bill and make suggestions on how you can save money. You’ll also see a chart that reveals where all your money is currently going.

See what our phone bill analysis spreadsheet looks like and see just how much you can save.

Tags phone bill analysis, voip phone system

News

Get 2 new VoIP lines and cut your Telstra bill in half

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date October 6, 2010

Virion VoIP uses your broadband to make and receive calls at VoIP rates and the handsets we recommend are made by the leading Internet company, Cisco. Each phone is configured for your virion service and because the VoIP number you receive is configured in each phone you can move it where-ever you want and it remains part of your phone system, even in another office or state. You can take your number with you when you move or expand.

Receive voicemail messages via email and don’t pay an extra charge just for the privilege of having voicemail.

Music-on-hold uses royalty free music and is included with your installation and because the virion phone solution is cloud based, you don’t pay thousands of dollars for a PBX box in your office.

The price of our solutions includes everything you need to start using the service. The initial price includes:

Setting up the VoIP service
Configuring the phones
Provision of the phone numbers
Setup of voicemail to email
Delivery to your office and
Setting up the phones in your office

Want to see how much money you’ll save with a virion business phone system compared to what you are currently paying with Telstra? A recent phone bill analysis showed a customer how they could cut AT LEAST $190 per month off their current phone charges and get the extra functionality of a PBX system. They were able to pay for the cost of a new system within 6 months just from the savings in call costs and line rental.

Fax through your Telstra phone bill (write your email address on the front page) to (02) 8212 8038 and you’ll receive our Excel spreadsheet showing how much you will save EVERY month.

Tags phone bill analysis, voip phone system

Hosted PBX (CloudPBX) Soft Phone softphones Telephone System Features VOIP Equipment VoIP Features

CounterPath Bria Softphone

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date September 30, 2010

Bria 3 is a carrier-grade next generation softphone application that enables you to manage your communications easily and efficiently – all from your computer desktop. Replacing or complementing your hard phone, the Bria softphone allows you to make VoIP and Video calls over IP, see when your contacts are available, send Instant Messages and transfer files with ease and efficiency.

Built on SIP and open standards, Bria is proven interoperable with many of the industry’s standard platforms and devices. It now also includes features specifically designed for business and enterprise users and can be deployed within an enterprise environment either by manual configuration via the softphone Graphical User Interface (GUI) or by using a provisioning server.

The latest softphone technology

Bria 3 is the first CounterPath softphone based on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and .net for Windows, and Cocoa for Mac, the most flexible user interface frameworks currently available. This foundation enables a dynamic interface with new task flows and customization options for an unprecedented user experience.

Click here for more information: http://www.counterpath.com/bria.html

Softphones are powerful with CloudPBX

Mobile phones and even tablets like Samsung, iPad and even Windows tablets are a fantastic platform for softphones connected to a business telephone system based on a CloudPBX (hosted PBX) system. Learn more about how they can help you get a cheap phone system with enterprise grade features!

Tags cloud pbx, cloudpbx, hosted pbx, hosted phone system, softphones

Gateways & ATAs

Linksys (Cisco) SPA400 Gateway with 4 x FXO ports

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date September 28, 2010

Connects with SPA9000 for PSTN lines

Connect up to four standard analog telephone lines to a voice over IP (VoIP) network, with calls automatically routed to and from your existing telephone service. Part of Cisco Small Business Voice Systems, the SPA400 Internet Telephony Gateway was designed to be deployed with the Cisco SPA9000 IP telephony system.

The SPA400 also supports up to 32 voicemail accounts with customized greetings that can be accessed through a user’s Cisco IP phone.

Additional features of the Cisco SPA400 include:

Support for four RJ-11 FXO ports to connect to the public switched telephone network (PSTN)
One 10/100 BaseT RJ-45 Ethernet interface used to connect to the local IP network
Integrated voicemail server application supporting 32 voicemail accounts
Easy installation support using the SPA9000 Setup Wizard

For more information see the Cisco link: https://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10032/index.html

To order your virion business grade VoIP phone system use our Instant Trial Application form:http://virion.com.au/instant-trial-application/

IP Handsets

Linksys (Cisco) SPA932 Reception Console

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date September 20, 2010

Linksys (Cisco) SPA932 reception console

Enrich IP Phone Functionality

Part of Cisco Small Business IP Phone Series, the SPA932 offers easy setup and intuitive controls that make central call handling for a small business as easy as plugging in the system’s IP phones. The SPA932 allows a central location to quickly and effortlessly direct calls, with easy monitoring of line status to see who’s on the phone. Because it’s modular, two additional consoles can be easily deployed, for a total of 64 lines.

Additional features of the Cisco SPA932 Attendant Console include:

A design made to specifically service the Cisco SPA962 IP phone
32 programmable buttons to simplify dialing and call transfers
Line status – idle, ringing, busy, or null – with LEDs on every button
A single power-source design that draws electricity from the SPA962’s power supply

For more information see the Cisco link: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10037/index.html

To order your virion business grade VoIP phone system use our Instant Trial Application form: http://virion.com.au/instant-trial-application/

News

Get your Small Business Telephone System from under $600

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date September 8, 2010

Get professional features like Direct In-Dial numbers, Voicemail-to-Email, Music-on-Hold, and Hands-Free dialing and speaking. Top it off with untimed local and national calls at 10c and Skype-like international calling rates and you have the new era of phone system for small business.

virion works with a partner network of IT Consultants to ensure that your new voip telephone system works when it is plugged into your network. We also recommend the highest quality Cisco (Linksys) IP phones to give you power at your fingertips.

VoIP uses your existing broadband so if you have a business grade ADSL Internet connection and a network in your office you can take advantage of our Instant Trial Application. Our Technical Consultant will configure 2 to 4 phones for your new virion VoIP account (like the Linksys phone pictured) and ship them to your office where you can plug them in and start making and even receiving calls.

There is no expensive hardware PABX to purchase as all the call handling feature are handled by the virion business voip service (in the cloud). You can even have your phones in remote locations (anywhere in the world) and all calls between phones are free.

If you have questions or want to understand how our Business VoIP telephone systems work call the Business Development Manager (Steve) directly on 0413 007 481 for personal advice and support before and after your purchase.

virion: Where you’re not just a number.

News

Using VoIP with a Commander Nitsuko DX phone system

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date August 30, 2010

Nitsuko Corporation created telephone systems for over 15 years and in Australia they were rebranded as Telecom Australia (Telstra’s) Commander™ N, AN, BN and D systems. Even when they started operating under their own name in Australia they were very popular. Nitsuko was bought by NEC in 2000 and later stopped producing this line of phone system, but because of their huge success in Australia spare parts and second hand phone systems are readily available.

Due to the age of these phones the simplest way to use business grade VoIP services with these phones is to connect a device like the Linksys PAP2 which enables 2 VoIP lines. A new device is available that will enable 4 VoIP outbound line and normal analog incoming lines called the SPA8800, but the price point of this device makes a brand new VoIP Telephone Systems using the SPA9000 a better alternative.

Upgrade your Commander business phone system to sophisticated VoIP Cisco and Yealink handsets and use the power of the CloudPBX. To find out more about how you can get more features for less money Request a Business Telephone System Quote today.

News Small Business VoIP FAQ's Voice Codecs Voice Quality

Voice Codecs for VoIP Business Telephone Systems

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date August 21, 2010

The Right Voice Codecs Need to be Configured

The upload speed of your broadband Internet connection is critical to ensure good quality VoIP conversations on a VoIP Business grade Telephone System. There are two main voice codecs used for voice conversations using VoIP; G.711 and G.729, with G.711 being the best quality (ideal for businesses with Tier 1 grade internet) but also taking up the most bandwidth requirements.

This diagram from the Cisco website shows the different VoIP codecs with packet information and bandwidth requirements.

From the Cisco website

How Many Concurrent Call Conversations?

If you do a speed test of your Broadband Internet service you’ll see your upload speed and by using the table above you’ll be able to roughly gauge how many concurrent conversations you can have using a VoIP telephone system and your current Internet service.

When companies grow they’ll often have two broadband Internet services, once for data and one for voice and this ensures that the voice quality remains consistent regardless if your staff are transferring a lot of data or watching cat videos on Youtube!

Another very important aspect of your Internet services is to have it optimised so that voice traffic is given priority over data traffic. They call this Quality of Service or QoS.

VoIP Business Telephone System Handsets

VoIP handsets enable your small business to take advantage of the functionality and flexibility of a hosted CloudPBX. These handsets can be located in remote offices like staff or contractors homes or even interstate or international offices.

Learn more about Business Telephone System Handsets

Business Telephone System Call Flow Scenarios

Business Telephone System Call Flow Configurations - smallest Do you want to see how most people handle the calls with their business telephone system? These call flow scenarios enable you to quickly choose from the most common choices and can help you get a good solution quickly.

Business Telephone System Scenarios

[button link=”http://virion.com.au/services/cloudpbx-hosted-pbx/” bg_color=”#0e6bf5″]CloudPBX Features[/button] [button link=”http://virion.com.au/servicesupport/request-a-quote/”]Request a Quote[/button] [button link=”http://virion.com.au/order-cheap-phone-system-now/” bg_color=”#0cba06″]Sign Up Now[/button]

Tags call quality, codecs, voice codecs, voip codecs, voip phone system, voip phones, voip quality

News

VoIP Business Telephone System

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date August 21, 2010

Say Goodbye to Telstra

We had a scenario just recently where a new client wanted to use our Business VoIP services. The system worked well for their purposes and they had a good Internet connection with good upload speed and it dawned on them that having a VoIP business telephone system also means that they no longer rely on Telstra for their phone call charges! It was a happy moment filled with goodbyes.

Now You Can Focus on Business Telephone System Functionality

It is important to realise that the telephone network in Australia is now more de-regulated than ever before and it means that you can deal with a company that provides more personal service and a telephone system that suits your specific business needs. Here are some considerations to having a VoIP phone system:

Do you already have a telephone system
Does your system allow voip connectivity
How you want the calls to be managed (local or remotely)
What type of handset do you want
Do you have remote locations
Do you have a good broadband connection (up speed more than down speed)

Use Your Existing Business Telephone System

The simplest solution (if you only have a few lines and want to use your existing normal telephone system handsets) is to purchase an ATA box and have it configured for your voip service. You can use this option with most telephone systems too and it allows you to choose to call out using voip (to save money) yet receive calls as you would normally.

New VoIP Business Telephone Handsets

If you want to get a bit more modern, purchase the Linksys IP Phones that can be configured to use your preferred VoIP service. These phones can be access via your local network and each one can be connected to it’s own DID (Direct Indial Number) so no matter where it is connected, it is still part of your phone system. We even tried it out in Hong Kong, connected to a home internet connection in Discovery Bay and made calls, it was just like being back in Australia. These phones send their switching information out via your internet connection to your VoIP server – and On Net calls are FREE!

VoIP Business Telephone PBX Equipment

If you want to have more control over your voice traffic and configuration (transferring calls, call groups, music on hold etc) you can purchase an IP PBX like the Cisco SPA9000. This will ensure that voice packets are handled more locally than over the Internet. An IP PBX can be configured to handle incoming calls using your existing telephone services so you can use your new phones to take and transfer calls.

Can virion Help You?

VoIP Business Telephone System Handsets

Learn more about Business Telephone System Handsets

Business Telephone System Call Flow Scenarios

Business Telephone System Scenarios

Tags digital numbers, PSTN vs VoIP, Telstra VoIP

News Small Business VoIP FAQ's

What is a Fair Use Policy?

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date August 4, 2010

Are you looking for unlimited?

Telephony, website hosting and other services that are a commodity in today’s business world are very competitive and very technical. There are aspects of these services you use but might not understand in the beginning but they make more sense as you get to know them.

Most people love to hear the word “unlimited” because it means they can get everything they want without worrying about the price they pay for it. On the face of it you might think to yourself, yep, I’d love to take advantage of that, but what you find is that most customers use the amount an ordinary person would use. Unlimited is really a way of saying use as much as you want and don’t ever worry about it.

If we really want to get technical we would ask ourselves “who is an ordinary person”? The definition of an ordinary person in Wikipedia is the man on the Clapham Omnibus (interest read) and this ordinary person is often better off just paying for what they use. Let’s see why.

So, you want unlimited do you?

Would you be happy to share that unlimited with your neighbours?
What would happen if you and your neighbours consumed “unlimited” amounts?
Would there be enough for everyone?
Would it be fast enough?
Would the quality be good enough?
Would the supplier end up putting limits on it?

It’s rare to see anything truly unlimited. There is a reason that most “unlimited” services have a Fair Use Policy.

Where can you find this Fair Use Policy?

If a company wants you to agree with a Fair Use Policy then they should have one, right? In my search for Fair Use Policies, searched for the Fair Use Policy of an Australian subsidiary of a large United States telephone company. Do you think I could find it? When I finally noticed the Fair Use Policy link, it took me to the Terms and Condition page. On this Terms and Condition page there was a link called Fair Use Policy, but it took me back to their Terms and Condition which stated that they had a Fair Use Policy and that it was subject to change from time to time. After a few weeks I conducted the same search to find a separate link for the Terms and Condition and the Fair Use Policy, but they both had the same writing on the page. It was the Terms and Conditions! I guess most answers are all in the details.

Most Fair Use Policies state a maximum amounts,be it storage size, number of minutes, number of calls, call duration etc. A good example is a large US based Website hosting company our organisation uses. They offer 750GB of storage space with each website! Fantastic! I logged into the administration area and created an email accounts 4GB of storage so I would never run out, but guess what happened? One of our users, who doesn’t download all his emails onto his own computer, built up 600MB of emails in his email account. As a result the website hosting company de-activated his account and sent him and me an email to say there had been a violation of their Terms of Service (TOS). After digging through this TOS agreement (which you agree to when you sign up), there it was… a limitation of 400MB per email account.

How fair is your Fair Use Policy?

These days most Terms and Conditions can change “from time to time” and they often do. It made us ask these questions:

“Can you rely on unlimited if it is defined by a Fair Use Policy that can change from “time to time”?
Is this policy designed to capture customers while giving the company the option to change the game when and as they choose?
Do you want to use a service that could be diminished by heavy users?
If you promote an “Unlimited” service, but specify limits in your Fair Use Policy, can you really call it unlimited?
If you promote a Fair Use Policy that does not specify usage, do you really have a Fair Use Policy?

I hope this article has helped you understand a little more about Fair Use Policies. If you are like me, you may prefer to get good calling rates and pay only for what you use, which may be less than unlimited.

Tags Fair Use, Fair Use Policy, unlimited calls