Category: News

This is where we will make service announcements and provide information about what is going on at virion.

The Importance of Tracking How People Hear About Your Business

Post author By Digital Marketing
Post date October 15, 2013

Marketing numbers and call analytics We recently spoke to Angela, a freelance writer, to share her experiences working with some of the largest publishing and advertising businesses in Australia. If you are interested in media and more importantly how large and well known companies measure the success of their advertising dollar, you’ll find this quite interesting.

For a spell, I left the media industry to work as a research analyst where I analysed the efficiency of various advertising and marketing strategies for a host of clients, such as Qantas, Westpac, Coca Cola, the NSW Government, and so on.

Though my chief objective was to determine things like whether a thirty second spot in Packed to the Rafters would deliver a client’s TARP goals, time and again, I was asked how a client could tell if that thirty-second spot had resulted in more sales; something I was unqualified to speculate on.

To isolate this information, marketers would often suggest that clients advertise different products or special offers in each different medium they used, and then analyse sales data to see which medium outperformed the other. But becoming more popular is the use of a Voice Over Internet Protocol service (VoIP).

Unlike the former, which cannot control for natural selection—a person going into a supermarket and selecting Arnotts Tim Tams over another Arnotts product due merely to product placement, impulse or pre-existing bias—a VoIP rules out the possibility of natural selection.

Using different telephone numbers in different advertising mediums, VoIP allows you to efficiently and accurately track what marketing messages your enquiries are originating from; and importantly, a VoIP also isolates which advertising medium delivers more call-to-action.

You may use a variety of mediums—television, print, online, radio, outdoor—but of those mediums, which one actually drives a person to pick up the phone? What was the strongest marketing message? VoIP answers all of those questions with a simple text file detailing every phone call and the marketing number they originated from.

VoIP delivers something that as a research analyst I could never definitively answer: accountability. It’s true that VoIP is no substitute for a good marketing campaign, but when used in conjunction with your marketing strategies it offers a kind of clarity that TARPs and circulation numbers simply cannot.

To include Virion’s VoIP service in your next marketing campaign, sign up here.

News

Quality of Service (QoS)

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date November 20, 2012

Quality of Service which is most commonly known as QoS is a telephony term which when simplified means you configure your network to give priority to voice traffic. In it’s simplest form it works like this:

If you have some telephone calls in progress using VoIP and another staff member starts downloading a very large file that quality of the phone conversations will normally deteriorate and start to sound stuttered. When QoS is turned on or configured on your network the quality of voice calls remains excellent, but the file will be downloaded slower – priority is given to the voice traffic on your network.

This feature can be as simple as clicking on a check box but if you want some extra reading feel free to visit the Wikipedia page on QoS and you’ll sound like a networking pro in now time!

News

How to Set Up a DX800 VoIP Phone System

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date March 23, 2012
1 Comment on How to Set Up a DX800 VoIP Phone System

The line between IT Consultant and Telephone Technician has been blurring over the last 5 years as VoIP starts to show up in more and more offices. The latest VoIP Phone System for small business from Siemens enables you to configure your phone using a web interface so your local IT Consultant can now do it for you.

Our Support HelpDesk have created this training video to show you just how easy it is to configure this small business phone system.

Tags small business phone system, voip phone system

News VoIP Call Rates

Mobile calls for free?

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date February 17, 2012

Someone asked us the other day if they can use VIRION VOIP to make calls to mobiles for free. Does any one else have the same question? We’ve found the next best thing! Connect your mobile phone to your phone system.

They say there is no such thing as a free lunch and the same applies to phone call costs…phone calls cost money. Whether you are a wholesaler, aggregator, retailer or customer, there is a cost per call. Why? Because the mobile carriers paid billions in licence fees to operate a mobile network in Australia. The only variable is “how do you charge”.

If you are looking for mobile call cost savings there is some good news.

Do you own a mobile phone? Does it have BlueTooth connectivity? Are you on a great business plan or a CAPPED plan?

If your answer is yes, then the new DX800 Gigaset small business telephone system from Siemens enables any handset on your phone system to call out using your mobile. In other words you can still use your phone system handsets but be speaking on the office mobile phone.

This also means that calls coming into that mobile phone can now be answered by anyone in the office too. Now that is a handy way to save money isn’t it?

Take a look at the other great reasons to get a Siemens DX800 small business phone system through VIRION’s partner network.

News virion business voip phone systems

45% reduction in calls to mobile numbers

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date January 13, 2012

Sometimes we make announcements at the virion business grade VoIP blog to inform our customers and prospective customers about new services or price reductions.

Today we reduced the price of calls from our VoIP service to Australian mobile numbers. The rate has been reduced to 18c per minute and customers should be aware that this rate is available with no other minimum commitments, including:

There is no flag fall on each call
Calls are only charged by the second, so if you only speak for 10 seconds, you only pay for 10 seconds
You get this rate without having to go on a “bundled” service

For the best price for a completely new Siemens VoIP telephone system, with full onsite support, remote setup support and fantastic call rates, visit our VoIPPartners.com.au website.

This price reduction applies to all customers on the VoiceCloud Platform.

News virion business voip phone systems VOIP Equipment VoIP Features VoIP Service

Request a Quote for VoIP phone system

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date February 8, 2011

Telephone systems in general are technical products to understand so rather than scratch your head and look at all the available IP telephony equipment and what they can do, tell us a little about your business and your requirements (this will take you less than 15 minutes) and one of our consultants will contact YOU to recommend a solution for your business.

You can then study the VoIP telephone system equipment recommended and understand more about how the phone system will be installed, the costs and the extra new features of VoIP.

Request a Quote now.

IP Handsets News

Cisco SPA525G 5-Line IP Phone with Color Display

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date February 8, 2011

Highlights

• Full-featured and stylish 5-line business IP phone supporting up to two SPA500S (32 button) expansion modules

• Enhanced connectivity, with Power over Ethernet, 802.11g Wi-Fi client mode, and Bluetooth headset support

• Graphic-rich, high-resolution 3.2-inch QVGA 320 x 240 color screen

• Simple, easy, and highly secure wireless setup with industry-standard push-button WPS and quick provisioning capabilities for mass-scale service provider activation

• Embedded SSL VPN client for secure phone connectivity to your IPPBX over any public internet connection

• Support for multimedia functions, such as playing MP3’s, displaying digital photos, viewing RSS feeds, and displaying video surveillance camera streams

• Multi feature support, such as caller ID, call forwarding, call transfer, 3-way conferencing, call parking, call history, phonebook, and built-in full-duplex speakerphone

• Supports both SIP with SPA9000 or leading third party call control platforms and SPCP Protocols with Cisco Unified Communication 500 Series

Product Features

The Cisco SPA525G 5-Line IP Phone with Color Display (Figure 1) is an excellent choice for businesses that require an enhanced user experience with a hosted IP telephony service, an IP private branch exchange (PBX), or a large-scale IP Centrex deployment. The SPA525G uses industry-leading SPA voice over IP (VoIP) technology from Cisco, with high-quality hardware providing additional connectivity via Bluetooth for headset connectivity, Power over Ethernet (PoE) (802.3af), or a Wireless-G client (802.11g).

Standard features on the Cisco SPA525G include five active lines, VLAN-capable dual switched Ethernet ports, 802.3af PoE support, a 3.2-inch QVGA color display, a full-duplex, high-quality speakerphone, a Bluetooth interface for headset connectivity, a Wireless-G (802.11g) client, a 2.5-mm stereo headset port, and a USB 2.0 host port. Each line can be configured independently to use a unique phone number (or extension) or can use a shared number that is assigned to multiple phones. The power supply for the SPA525G is sold separately. The optional SPA500S 32-Button Attendant Console adds up to 64 buttons for receptionist applications.

Read more about the Cisco SPA525G 5-Line IP Phone.

Not sure what you need? Request a customised quote

News

Finders Fee rewards customers

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date December 20, 2010

Share the news about virion business VoIP with your business associates and you can receive a bonus credit on your account!

We’ve modified our Instant Trial Application Form so that your business associates can enter your virion phone number when they make an application to use our business grade voip services. If they become a virion customer, you will receive a bonus credit on your account. This offer is also valid for members of the Partner Program.

See finders fee terms and conditions for more details about the offer.

IP Handsets News

Cisco SPA504G IP phone

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date December 9, 2010

Cisco SPA504G IP phone handset

This phone is the most ideal replacement for the discontinued Linksys (Cisco) SPA942

Cisco SPA 500 Series IP Phones offer a range of features including:

Full-featured business-class IP phone supporting Power over Ethernet (PoE)
Monochrome backlit display for ease of use, aesthetics, and onscreen applications
Connects directly to a hosted IP telephony service or an IP private branch exchange (PBX)
Wideband audio for unsurpassed voice clarity and enhanced speaker quality
Easy installation and highly secure remote provisioning, as well as menu-based and web-based configuration
Supports both Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for Cisco SPA 9000, open source, and hosted telephony solutions and Smart Phone Control Protocol (SPCP) for Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business

News

Abbreviated Dialing

Post author By Steve Slisar
Post date December 3, 2010

When someone calls your main reception number and the receptionist dials an abbreviated number like 101 to transfer the call internally to say, the accounts person, this is abbreviated dialing. Some companies use a generic naming convention like 101, 102, 103 etc, while other companies choose to use the last 3 digits of the persons direct indial number, eg. 691, 692, 693 etc.

Abbreviated dialing is configured in the cloud (contact virion support) if you have a cloud based PBX solution. If you have a PBX device in your office like the SPA9000 or a PBX from another vendor, then the configuration of abbreviated dialing is performed on that device (speak to your telephone technician).

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.

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