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Telephone Systems For Small Business Are Facing A Revolution

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If you’re running a small business and still using a static phone line, where have you been for the past few years? Telephone systems for small business have undergone somewhat of a revolution, all thanks to the rising popularity of VoIP.

Voice over Internet protocol, more commonly abbreviated to VoIP, is the process of using internet connections to establish voice communication with others. With online communication playing a major factor in business success, VoIP allows you to instantly connect with other users free of charge.

Telephone Systems For Small Business
Photo by Internet Archive Book Images

Gone are the days of needing a static BT phone line; if your business has access to the internet, and almost 99.9% do, then your businesses can start using the services of one of the many VoIP Providers UK. VoIP providers are able to offer businesses a cost effective way of communicating with customers and business clients across the globe. Before VoIP, businesses were faced with large communication bills and often struggled to communicate effectively with overseas clients and customers. The development of VoIP has radicalized the way in which companies now communicate with each other.

It is not always necessary to be logged onto a computer terminal to receive VoIP calls. There are many providers who provide adapters that can be used to convert conventional telephone handsets into VoIP receivers. As well as these adapters, it is also possible to buy dedicated phone units primarily for VoIP communication.

With communication being of vital importance, providing telephone systems for small business has become big business. The internet is full of websites offering the services of an abundance of VoIP providers UK who are currently at the forefront of this new and exciting technology and offer some of the best deals around. A quick internet search will guide you to VoIP comparison sites that will allow you to compare current VoIP pricing and offers.

If you’re a small company looking to utilize VoIP for your business, then are several things that you need to consider. When choosing a VoIP provider it is vital to ensure that they can offer your business the reliability and technical support your business requires.  It is no good jumping into bed with a provider just because their price is cheap; if they are unable to provide you with a reliable service then your business will ultimately be the one to suffer. Almost all telephone providers in the UK, including Virgin Media and Sky, offer VoIP services for its customers.

The benefits of using VoIP are endless. Three way calling, conference calling and call diverting are just a few of the benefits that companies can experience. Of course, the main benefit of VoIP is the huge financial savings that can be made. Several companies, like Skype and Virgin Media, offer free unlimited calls to other users anywhere in the world. In fact, many VoIP users have seen their communication bills reduced by almost 90%!

Telephone services for small business have undoubtedly been revolutionized by VoIP providers UK  and all sizes of business  are benefiting from this new way of communicating.

This post was written by Amy Fowler on behalf of Maintel. Amy writes on a number of subjects but has a particular interest in communications and how modern businesses can make best use of them.

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5 Ways to Cut Your Cell Phone Bill

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Do you think you’re paying too much for your cell phone? Would you like to change that? A mere fifteen years after cell phones were first introduced to the public back in 1977 with only 2000 customers, 60 million people now have cell phones. It’s now t a $30 billion a year industry. If you don’t want to contribute any more to that $30 billion than is absolutely necessary, read on.

A JD Powers and Associates report states that the average basic service cell phone package costs $63 per month, and those with more advanced features runs an average of $77 per month. Keep in mind that is for a single phone. Multiply that by each individual contract your household has; technology doesn’t come cheap. Don’t despair! Here are five easy ways to cut your monthly cell phone charges-without feeling like you’ve been transported back to the dark ages.

Samsung Large Screen TV Tops the JD Power Survey 2013 (Photo credit: samsungtomorrow)
  1. Think twice before buying a smart phone. There are plenty of great phones on the market that allow you to call, text, take and send pictures, search the web, and take advantage of all sorts of great apps for less money. Case in point: ATT Mobility charges smart phone users a minimum of $15 for 200 MB of internet usage per month, while customers using phones with most all of the same capabilities can have unlimited usage for $10. That’s a $60 a year difference. Speaking of phones, don’t buy a phone based on how cute it is. Buy for durability and how easy it is for you to operate. Just like anything else, there are some products that are simply better than others. The same JD Powers and Associates report mentioned above reports that Sony Ericson, Samsung, and Motorola make the best phones on the market.
  2. Don’t buy ring tones. Ever. Several online websites has thousands of ring tones that are absolutely free. No strings attached, no limit on how many you can select, and nothing to sign up for. Just search for your favorite songs or tones, download and save. The end.
  3. Take advantage of family plans. With one primary account holder, most providers allow you to add up to 4 additional phones for around $10 a piece per month (plus taxes). You can also take advantage of bundling your features to spread the cost of unlimited texting and other added features between plan participants. Wirefly.com is one arguably the best site on the internet to comparison shop for the cellular provider and phone plan for you.
  4. Do the math. Many young couple find themselves paying out money unnecessarily for two separate phone plans. They don’t want to pay the early out charges most carriers charge for breaking your contract. But think about it…if each person is paying $75 for their phone plan, and that amount could be reduced by approximately $60 a month, that’s a yearly savings of $720! Compare that to the usual $200 to $300 charged by the major cellular service providers for canceling a contract before it expires. That $400 to $500 dollars will go a long way toward paying down student loans, credit card debt, or next year’s vacation.
  5. Take advantage of little known discounts, and rethink your plan. Employees of the postal system are entitled to a 25% discount with Sprint, while all other federal employees get a 15% discount. Many credit unions, as well as companies that manufacture components used in cellular technology or those associated with the marketing of cellular services are allowed 10-15% discounts, as well. Check with your provider to see what, if anything, you qualify for. As for your phone plan…do you really need 1000 anytime minutes? With unlimited calling to people in your network, and the roll-over plans that have been adopted over the last few years, just about everyone could take a lesser plan and shave $10-$15 dollars a month off their plan.

This article was contributed by Darla Nicole.  Darla writes about credit card rewards and deals.  A popular choice for college students with large cell phone bills is the Citi Student Dividend card which offers 5% cash back for utilities.

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The Top 5 Navigation Apps for Smart Phones

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Navigation Apps for Smart Phones

The dawn of the smart-phones has brought about not only the phenomena of increasing head injuries as people walk into lamp posts while sending text message to their friends and playing Angry Birds. More interestingly however, the mass adoption of these lifestyle devices has brought about a renegotiation with the physical landscape and the way we interact with our environments. Here are the top 5 Navigation Apps for Smart Phones.

Navigation Apps photo
Photo by IntelFreePress Navigation Apps for Smart Phones

Not only have smart phones effectively made the trusty old Sat Nav obsolete, they’ve left the old timer trudging off into the distanced red-faced and feeling dejected. You see, a smart phone just tell you where you are and where to go, it tells you where your friends think you should, or recommends places it thinks you want go , yep it can read your mind.

So what are the top five navigational apps out at the moment for the iPhone?

  1. Tom Tom Sat Nav

All the functionality of a full sized Tom Tom Sat Nav, in one tint app. This allows you to do everything you would with a regular sat nav, on your phone. You can set a location and have the app read out directions to you in a range of hilarious voices, as well as save locations.

2. FourSquare

Foursquare is as much a game as a social network. It allows you to publish your physical location to all your friends so they can keep tabs on your whereabouts 24/7 – if you so wish! Find great places in hometown and recommend venues to others by adding tips. You can also get vouchers and exclusive deals by becoming the ‘major’ of certain locations.

  1. Layar

Layar is an augmented reality app that uses your phone’s camera to take a snapshot of your environment and label it with markers that show points of interest. The bigger the marker, the closer the point of interest, simply walk towards it virtual signposts to find the nearest coffee house or gym

  1. Track Me

This is a great app for anxious parents. Simply get your kids to install the app on their phone and you can track where they are and whether or not they are using their phone. Only problem is you may have some difficulty convincing your kids to install this one!

  1. Google Maps

Not strictly an app since it comes as standard with the phone, Google Maps is like a ‘diet’ sat nav. You can now determine exactly where you are on the map and plot a route to your desired location, particularly useful for on-foot journeys.

Joe is a smart-phone lover and and blogger for a car shop selling some great sat nav deals

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How the iPhone Has Changed the Way We Communicate

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It’s no surprise, but the Apple iPhone has been one of the most widely used smart phones internationally. The iPhone was first released to the market back June 2007, offered solely to AT&T customers as a combination between a widescreen iPod, cell phone and pocket device. Since the release, over 1 million iPhone’s were sold in just three months time. By June 2008, Apple launched the iPhone 3G and in just three days, over 1 million were purchased. A year later, the iPhone 3Gs was available and within two days, over 1 million were sold to new and existing Apple customers. In June 2010, Apple fans rushed to the scene and over 600,000 iPhone 4’s were pre-ordered while 1 million were sold on the date of release. This year, the iPhone 5 is expecting to hit stores by end of summer and numbers are projected to be more outstanding than the last. Let’s look at the ways that the iPhone has changed the way we communicate.

iPhone Has Changed the Way We Communicate
iPhone Has Changed the Way We Communicate

So what’s the hype about the iPhone?

Dating back to 2006, the way we communicated was vastly different. It seemed that only businesses owners and those in power utilized a cell phone to communicate on the go. Since then, the introduction of smart phones allowed consumers to navigate the web and text message, sending instant alerts to family, friends and co-workers, whether in a public setting, in a classroom or in a meeting. The ability to communicate anywhere at any time was exhilarating.

Changing the Way We Communicate

The iPhone launch meant an infiltration of our daily means of communication. It’s a device that captures our life in the palm of our hand. Consumers have the ability to customize their phone as they customize their life.

Given the capacity of the iPhone, users can opt to add or remove applications of their liking and prioritize them given the difference screen options available. Not only is the device another way to express ones personality and interests, but it serves as a central location that easily fits in your pocket, storing, editing and getting alerts for meetings on calendars, utilizing GPS navigation on the road, making and editing notes, sending and receiving emails, capturing special moments as a video or still photography, checking the weather, making calculations, listening to music, reading books, solving debates by instant web browsing, making online purchases, and the list goes on.

The iPhone Has Changed the Way We Communicate

We are now able to Skype, Facebook, tweet, and check-in to points of interest, all in real-time. Society is no longer still. Things are happening every moment around us and the iPhone allows us to document activities and thoughts along the way. In simple terms, the iPhone makes interacting, engaging, and networking stronger than ever before.

Lorna Horne is a freelance writer who covers a variety of topics in the electronics and gadgets industry. She absolutely loves her Apple iPhone and is always trying to stay on the bleeding edge of mobile technology. Thanks for reading about how the iPhone has changed the way we communicate.

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Living A Mobile Phone Free Life

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Living A Mobile Phone Free Life
Mobile Phone Free Life
Mobile Phone Free Life

These days, it seems as though everyone has a mobile phone – from small children to elderly grandparents. Is there a mobile phone free life? No matter where you go, from supermarkets to cinemas, you’re sure to find someone tapping away on tiny keys or shattering the peace with a shouted conversation. Not only to these people often make noise on their phones without any consideration for the people around them – surely everyone has seen at least one theater or dance performance disturbed by the tinkle of someone’s ringtone – but they sometimes commit an even worse sin – paying more attention to their phones than the real people standing right in front of them.

If you’re scared of becoming one of those phone-obsessed people, then you’ll be glad to know there in an alternative. Contrary to popular belief, it is entirely possible for you to live a completely happy and fulfilled life in the modern world without a mobile phone. In fact, you’re sure to find you have a whole lot more spare time, as well as enjoy benefits such as the ability to make sure you’re always able to concentrate on the here and now – rather than the false world of the mobile phone.

In this modern world, getting rid of your mobile phone does mean one thing – you’re friends will have to stick to any arrangements you’ve made, and so will you. Without an easy way to reorganize or change plans at the last minute, you’ll find you need to become better at managing your diary and ensuring that when you commit to do something, you will actually be able to do it.

Not having a mobile also means that you could find yourself actually talking to friends more often, and rather than making do with a text message or two, you’ll need to set aside some time to enjoy a phone call with them – or put a little more effort into writing them a decent email at least. Without a mobile jangling by your side, you’re also sure to find it’s easier to finish a book, watch a movie all the way through or even sit at a cafe window to watch the world walk past.

Of course, one of the other excellent benefits to not owning a mobile phone is the amount of money you will save. Without a monthly contract tying you to a mobile phone provider and no longer required to answer people’s inane text messages, you’ll soon find it’s a cinch to cut your monthly expenditures – especially if you make your essential calls with the help of companies and programs offering cheap calls online.

Cell Phone Provider Lookup

How do you that friend of a friend’s name? That guy who works at the sandwich shop down the street? Your ex-girlfriend’s new beau? What was that number on your boss’ card again? Finding out information like this can be tricky, but luckily there are services out there just waiting to make your life a little easier. Below, we share our top four favorite services for reverse phone look-ups and give you a sneak peek into what makes each reverse lookup service so coveted.

Author Byline:

Jennifer is a part of the digital  blogging team at alwritenow.com who work with brands like Skype. For more information about me, or to keep up to date with my posts, check out my posts at alwritenow.com or visit my Twitter account, @awnow.

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