Businesses Have Their Own Private Social Network!

Most people probably don't realize that long before the explosion of Social Networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn (for business networking) every business to some extent already had their OWN social network - their business phone system.

Indeed, the business phone system links together everyone in a business and allows for communication between all members of this "community" via intercom. Furthermore, every time a speed dial number to a client or supplier is added to the business phone system, this private and very much unique social network grows by extension. As with a Facebook type social network, each of these added contacts to a phone system directory has their own set of unique contacts (both internally and externally), that may or may not eventually impact your own phone system network.

When you think of your business phone system in these terms you really start to understand the true importance of this key component of business equipment. Whether it be an IP capable system such as the Avaya IP Office phone platform or a more basic line such as the Nortel Norstar phone system, As your "social" network grows so does your business!

Enjoy your day and take full advantage of YOUR private business social network. ;-)

Avaya IP Office IP500 Phone System

If there’s one thing a large company needs to keep in business, it’s a reputation for quality. With today’s global marketplace relying on telecommunication, quality is even more essential. Fortunately an Avaya IP Office 500 PABX specializes in quality, reliability and scalability for large businesses.

The challenges of running a business with 100 or more employees aren’t simply issues of size. Big business needs quality technology, but at a scale that’s both economical and functional. That’s where an Avaya IP Office 500 PABX can be an excellent telephone solution.

In addition, Avaya’s IP Office 500 PABX gives senior executives of large companies an effective method for managing the total cost of ownership (TOC) of a computer-integrated telephone system.

Perhaps this high level of administrative control offers a good reason why Avaya phone systems are found in some 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies.

Furthermore, the Avaya IP 500 PABX offers multiple options for integrating business functions through the telephone system.

{The IP 500’s ease of use and administration means that the company has control of its telephone system. This feature alone can save a business thousands of dollars through life of the phone system. The IP 500’s software also can be updated to incorporate new technology.}

The IP 500 can link a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database into the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for easier customer calling. It can connect multiple work sites through a Virtual Phone Network (VPN) or provide remote computer access, sometimes known as “hotdesking” to staff that travel or telecommute.

{Sharp business executives recognize that a telephone system’s costs associated over its life cycle can easily get out of hand, given the speed of technology changes these days. Avaya’s system is designed to be easily and economically upgradable from the outset, giving the company total control of its telephone operations. With this level of administrative control, a large company can save thousands of dollars on maintenance and upgrade throughout the life of the telephone system.}

Among the Avaya IP 500 PABX’s other features are* Easy-to-use handsets. * A computer-telephone integration interface that’s considered one of the most user-friendly on the market.* A computer-telephone integration interface that’s considered one of the most user-friendly ones.

While the precise configuration need by a business will govern the cost of an Avaya IP 500 PABX installation, the short-term expense will quickly be recovered through the savings on administration, maintenance and upgrades.

Consider this list of customizable features:
* Call Accounting
* Multi-site IP networking
* Multiple options for voicemail
* Teleconferencing for up to 64 parties on line at once
* Teleconferencing for up to 64 parties on line at once
* IP Handsets and IP soft phones

The Avaya IP 500 PABX also guards a business against the added expense of having to toss out an old system in order to get improved technology. Avaya’s software can be easily updated to new improvements in telecommunications. The Avaya IP500 phone system, its data cards , and phones are covered by a 12-month warranty. Training and technical support are also available.

An Avaya IP500 PABX telephone system helps business be big and beautiful.

(edited reprint from True Tips and Facts)

Avaya's IP Office "Best Kept Secret"!

If your company is considering a new phone system or has already purchased and settled in on the Avaya IP Office phone system platform, you need to know about the best kept secret in the telecom industry - the "Avaya Knowledgebase". Actually, it's not a secret at all but the average Avaya IP Office customer does not know it even exists. We, on the other hand, actively encourage our clients to use the Avaya Knowledgebase for all it's worth.

The Avaya Knowledgebase is a truly phenomenal information source for all Avaya IP Office products. The detailed information available shows you the powerful capabilities of the IP Office platform, inclusive of the Avaya IP 500 and the previous Avaya IP 412 which will be discontinued with the new IP 500 5.0 firmware release.

All of the IP 500 expansion modules are described in amazing detail in the Knowledgebase, along with the various series of phones - both digital and VoIP Avaya IP Office phones.

If you are considering purchasing a new business phone system, are upgrading from an Avaya Partner ACS, or are already utilizing the Avaya IP Office phone system platform, I highly recommend that you bookmark the Avaya Knowledgebase as it is a one-stop source for anything related to the IP Office platform.

Hotel phones - why do we take them for granted?

It's funny how we check into a hotel or motel, go to our rooms, unpack our bags, take a shower, get dressed for dinner or a night on the town or just hunker down for the night, we make a few phone calls - home, for business, or simply to call for a cab - maybe even just to call the front desk to find out where the nearest ice machine is - and yet, despite the fact we recognize the distinctly different design of a hotel phone, we just kind of take the poor thing for granted!

When you want a pizza haven't you ever taken the time to notice how the hotel has already taken the time to label your room phone faceplate with a pizza button (or at least room service key)? Tsk, tsk!

The fact is that hotel/motel guest room phones are very different from your average business phone system extension - despite the fact the main system control unit of the phone system may be the same (i.e. Avaya IP Office, Avaya Definity, Nortel Norstar, Nortel Meridian 1 PBX for larger hospitality properties). The hotel room phone is very much it's own breed and major manufacturers include Teledex hotel phones, Scitec hotel phones, and Telematrix hotel phones.

HOTELtelecom specializes in offering hotel and motel chains and individual hotels and motels direct online hotel phones at wholesale prices. Today hotel phone stretch into the VoIP category and many lines are now far more stylish than the traditional looking phones that have always been very functional for it's designed purpose but packaged in a plain rectangle shape.

The new iPhone A line from Teledex is a very good example of the new euro styling being employed by hotel phone manufacturers. While traditional hotel phones were usually beige (cream) color, the iPhone A line base color is charcoal (black) color. Personally I think this is a huge improvement over the older stying of guest room phones. In case you didn't know (as we all chose to simply ignore the phones in all the hotel or motel rooms we have stayed in - lol) Teledex is considered the world's leading manufacturer of hospitality phones.

Another major development over the past 10-12 years are short range cordless phones that are specifically made for hotel rooms. The short range feature of these phones means no interference or cross-talk between the cordless phones between each of the rooms in a property. These phones also have come a long way in styling as evident with the new Telematrix cordless hotel phones which feature single line and 2-line versions.

One thing is for sure the technology behind guest room phones has come a long way and even those most brand lines remain analog phones, the digital improvements to set features are vastly improved. Improvements in the cordless versions of these phones include DECT 6.0 technology and use of the newer 1.9 GHz bandwidth.

Has the time come where we will now revere hotel/motel room phones instead of simply taking them for granted? Probably not. But it does occur to me that me may finally take more notice of them and understand that they have very unique qualities when compared to the average business phone. Maybe we will even come to appreciate these phones as the really marvelous sector of the telephony industry they represent - even if only because the "Pizza" button saved you an ill-fated trip through the local phone book in a city you know nothing about. Cheers all!

New phone for Small Office / Home Office (SOHO)

Well I must say it's about time someone filled the void left by the Nortel Venture 3 phone system for small or home office applications. Enter the NSQ412 Landmark 4-line phone, which can be expanded up to 4 lines and 12 handsets.

While the Venture 3 phones remain available, many of these have been refurbished numerous times as new Venture 3 phones have long since been unavailable. The NSQ412 phone is a true replacement for the needs of most small office and home office requirements that were previously satisfied by the Nortel Venture 3 platform.

The NSQ412 4-line phone boasts a long list of features usually found only on expensive business telephone systems. Things like caller ID with a 200 number log, a 200 name & number directory (150 private / 50 public), wireless headset capability, a great 2-way speakerphone, one station / all station page, and much more.

NSQ412 Landmark Phone Features:

• Allows up to 12 phones on a system
• Caller ID w/ 200 number log
• 50 Record public directory
• 150 Record private directory
• Message waiting LED
• Backlit LCD
• Line status indicator
• Individual/ All-Page
• Call timer
• 4 Different ringer sounds so each line has its own
• Auto line select
• Intercom
• 2-Way Speakerphone
• Call transfer
• Headset jack - works specifically with the Plantronics CS50R Headset* for hands-free calling.
• Mute key for handset
• Hold
• Programmable flash
• Redial
• Pause
• Clock
• View Larger NSQ412 Image

It's great to see that someone has finally addressed this void in the telecom market. So many small businesses do not require a full blown phone system with a Key Service Unit (KSU) and costly additional modules like voicemail systems and the NSQ412 phone clearly offers enough expansion for just about any small office application. Better still, these are NEW phones - not an old retread as so many phones are now for small office requirements. Cheers everyone!

On Hold Message Adapter for Small / Home Offices

Finally! Now your small business can sound like "the big boys!"

We recently found a great little item that allows small and home offices with single-line and two-line phones to add a professional Message On Hold. This MOH adaptor gives you the ability to place people on hold directly by pressing the "1" and "2" buttons (for lines 1 and 2 respectively).

Virtually all Small Office / Home Office Phones have no ability to add a MOH (music on hold) input. They have what is known as "electronic hold". This means when the Hold button is pressed on the phone, people are placed on hold but hear... absolutely NOTHING. That can prove to be deadly as people tend to hang up after a very short while in these situations, either believing they may have been hung up on or just feel they can spend their time more wisely and re-connect with you again later. Later may never come as they might find someone that will deal with them immediately at another supplier!

The Message On Hold adapter is placed between the wall jack and your 1-2 line phone and all you need to do is add a Message On Hold system player with a custom message production and "voila" your callers will be listening to useful information about your business instead of silence.

Telephone Magic offers a great start-up package which includes a USB Message On Hold unit and a fully customized message production about your company. The best part is there is currently introductory offer with a "recession buster" discount to get you up and running as easily and einexpensively as possible. This offer applies to all businesses, and small office / home office clients need only add the Message On Hold adapter to complete the package.

On Hold Adapter Features:

• RCA input for MOH device
• Modular connections
• Place up to 2 callers on-hold
• Large easy-to-push buttons
• Blue LED status indicators
• Durable high-impact plastic case
• All cables included
• Designed and manufactured in the USA
• 5-year parts and labor warranty
• View large MOH Adapter Image

Installation of the Message On Hold adapter is a snap - instructions are on the product page of the Telephone Magic website - and don't worry about figuring out what to say on your message as the production team at Telephone Magic has been assisting it's customers with scripting for over 20 years.

Telephone Magic goes Facebook...

For everyone following our Social Networking experiment, here is our company Facebook listing:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Niagara-Falls-ON/Telephone-Magic-Inc/101953135681

My personal listing, including some photos of my son, dog, boat, oh yes and even me:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000070211007&ref=profile

As per my profile:
"The grasp of social networking has taken a turn for the worse... it dragged me in too!"

Telephone Magic is now "LinkedIn"

Both our company profile and my personal profile are now up and running on the business social networking site "LinkedIn".

Our company profile can be found at:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/norstarphonesavayaphonesystem

My personal profile is located here:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/businessphones

My personal profile home page name matches my Twitter home page. Follow me on Twitter here:
http://twitter.com/Business_Phones

Have a great 4th of July weekend everyone!

New Telephone Magic Press Release is now "LIVE"

Well it took 2 days but our 20th Anniversary press announcement is active:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/07/prweb2604644.htm

We will have numerous news releases related to new product lauches coming in the next few weeks so stay tuned!

Nortel Companion Batteries in High Demand

Boy do we ever sell a ton of Nortel Companion handset batteries! I really think we should give this item it's own page on the Telephone Magic website as they sell like hot cakes.

I guess on one hand it IS understandable - Nortel sold an incredible volume of the Companion Cordless Phone System in Canada. In fact, at one point Canadian companies didn't have any real choice - if they wanted wireless/cordless phones as an add-on to the Norstar phone system platform, they had to purchase the Companion system.

The great thing is our Companion handset battery fits both the 3050 and 3060 Companion handset models so it is a universal solution. For Canadian businesses with the Companion wireless system we offer quick turn-around of your orders and, more importantly, we also ship directly from Ontario, Canada, so there are no exchange or customs brokerage fees to pay.

Telephone Magic also ships Companion batteries directly within the US for any Nortel clients
trying to maintain this wireless business phone system platform.

Fans of the Companion wireless system are able to buy replacement 3050 and 3060 handsets and batteries wholesale-direct from Telephone Magic. In these tough ecenomic times that means this previously installed technology remains in play, saving a huge investment in a replacement system.

The Social Networking Phenomenon

Well I must admit to being somewhat taken aback here. This whole social networking thing is an Internet explosion of often highly interesting and/or voyeuristic content from millions (billions?) of everyday people like you and I. I thought the Facebook craze was amazing but in my opinion Twitter has taken everything to the next level with "What are you doing?" - LOL!

I never thought the day would come when you could literally jump into someone's back pocket (virtually ANYONE's) but it has come to pass. Is it scary? Hmmmm.... maybe a little, but it is also AMAZING by it's nature, offering updates of people's thoughts and activities though a web GUI or even more importantly (from a telecommunications standpoint) via your mobile phone.

People are literally offering up their thoughts on a myriad of topics (literally anything qualifies as content here!) and others around the world are connecting to and following that content on an on-going basis. Now you CAN control WHO follows your Twitter feed (if you wanted to create a private network) but what's the fun in that? Don't we all want to feel like we matter? Well at Twitter, you have a forum to become important (or at lease interesting) to as many people as you can attract via your "content".

It's a crazy world we live in... (and now I have to go buy a BlackBerry!) ;-)

Telephone Magic now on Twitter

We have entered a new era in Social Networking, and this Twitter thing cannot be ignored any longer... LOL. You can follow us on Twitter here on the blog (see the side panel to the right for updates), or directly @ our new Twitter home page for Nortel Norstar Meridian and Avaya IP Office and Definity business phones among many other interesting daily observations. The world just keeps on getting smaller and smaller... ;-)

Canadian businesses have their own Telecom Portal

Just a quick note to make sure all of our Canadian friends realize that when they need Nortel Norstar phones, Norstar phone headsets, or any other Norstar phone system hardware, module, or part, we have a site right here in Canada for you. While we have been serving the Canadian market for 20 years with Norstar and Meridian phone equipment, our web site for these business clients was incepted less than two years ago.

We carry many of the most popular business phone system lines and now specialize in the Avaya phone platform. If you need a call recording system - we have it. If you require an On Hold
Message system - we carry the latest digital players. We have just about every necessary business telecom product - right here in Canada - so be sure to visit our direct Canadian telecom portal.

Back with a Vengeance!

OK I must admit it's just a snappy 'movie' title - lmao.

All kidding aside, we are glad to be blogging again here at Telephone Magic - so much has happened in the past couple of years and we are thrilled to be able to start writing about it again.

Let's start with AVAYA - we have really expanded our Avaya offerings - from the new IP500 IP Office platform (along with all the digital Avaya phones, VoIP IP phones, and wireless phones) to a complete selection of Avaya Definity PBX circuit packs / cards and Definity phones, we are now a leader in wholesale Internet Avaya telecom products.

We are now celebrating over 20 years in business and things have never been more exciting in the telecom field. Convergence is here and we seem to find new products to talk about every day. In the coming weeks and months I will do my best to bring you the latest telecom products that can make your business run smoother or solve issues within your structure.

My thanks go out to Mark Kawabe for incepting this blog and making it an interesting going concern. I will do my best to bring you the same interesting product information with a smile or two mixed in for good measure.

Cheers!