CloudPhone Blog

Voxox CTO and co-founder Kevin Hertz recently spoke on a podcast with Telecom Reseller's Doug Green regarding the company's partnership with Malaysian carrier Digi and the roll out of Cloud Phone in Malaysia under the brand Omni Hotline. Click on the podcast link above to listen to the 16 minute podcast.

In case you thought we were overstating the benefits of VoIP communications and the rate at which it’s being adopted by businesses, we’d like to point you to a new report from Infonetics. Among the many impressive statistics in the report is the revelation that the VoIP and UC services market is still growing rapidly and will expand to $88 billion by 2018, a marked increase over $68 billion last year.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr User Jim Larrison

“Hosted unified communications are seeing strong interest up market as mid-market and larger enterprises evaluate and move more applications to the cloud, and this is positively impacting the market,” said Diane Myers, principal analyst for VoIP, UC, and IMS at Infonetics in a press release.  

A major reason VoIP phone service adoption is still growing is the increasing emphasis businesses are putting on mobile working. According to a recent report from Forrester, 29 percent of the global workforce are now “anytime, anywhere information workers.”     

Today, cloud-based VoIP phone service offers businesses major cost savings. Cloud Phone does just this and the best part is that Voxox manages the system, the burdens of installation and maintenance expenses are removed. Cloud Phone is especially beneficial for SMBs because it's designed specifically for smaller companies. Cloud Phone has a small monthly fee rather than tacking on a bunch of extra fees and hidden costs. Cloud Phone provides small businesses with important features like:

• An auto attendant that greets callers professionally
• Easy-to-configure extensions for all employees
• Voicemail messages sent directly to email for review

So what’s the bottom line? Businesses of all sizes across various verticals are adopting VoIP—the Infonetics research clearly proves what we’ve been saying all along.

Not that we think you didn’t trust us.

The Voxox team is having a great time at Mobile World Congress. Today we've made our second show news announcement: we're enabling our operator and OEM partners to white label or co-brand our award-winning Cloud Phone service. Check out the official press release below:

Voxox Announces Availability of Cloud Phone for Operators and OEMs

Operators and OEMs can white label or co-brand award-winning Internet telephony service from Voxox designed for small business professionals

BARCELONA (MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS) and SAN DIEGO – March 4, 2015 – Voxox®, the most comprehensive cloud-based rich communication service for consumers and businesses, today announced the availability of Cloud Phone for operators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) looking to white label or co-brand services in order to address demand from small business users. Cloud Phone is an award-winning virtual PBX service that provides professionals with a dedicated toll free or local business telephone number that supports multiple extensions per account, sophisticated call routing, and transcribed voicemail-to-email delivery, all managed within a sleek, simple Web-based user interface. Cloud Phone is ideal for businesses that may not have a physical location and it is compatible with the Voxox mobile app suite.

“Since its introduction last year, Cloud Phone has been addressing a need in the small business community for a powerful yet easy-to-use business phone solution that centers on the smartphone; now, we are enabling our operator and OEM partners to take advantage of this market opportunity and realize a significant new revenue stream," said Bryan Hertz, CEO of Voxox. "White labeling a solution like Cloud Phone will not only allow operators to deliver added value to their existing customers, but it will also help them earn new customers who are seeking advanced business features from their service provider."

According to a Voxox user survey, the results of which were announced earlier this week at Mobile World Congress, Voxox has found that nearly half of its consumer survey respondents are using consumer app features for business purposes. This supports the notion that there is strong demand for more advanced business functionality that operators and their service delivery partners can offer to boost revenues. Cloud Phone provides users with a business-grade phone solution with all the relevant features of an expensive new phone system. Despite its advanced business features, Cloud Phone can be set up in just a couple of minutes, and requires no specialized equipment or skills to manage. As an HTML5 application, Cloud Phone offers a seamless user experience for toggling between mobile and desktop environments and can scale quickly with an easy transition to an advanced VoIP system that supports hundreds of phones if business growth demands.

To learn more about Cloud Phone and its availability through the Voxox For Operators Program, please visit the Voxox booth in Hall 1, 1H31 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. For more information on Voxox, please visit www.voxox.com.

About Voxox

Voxox is an innovator in unified cloud communication solutions for consumers and businesses. For consumers and its operator partners, Voxox delivers cutting-edge mobile and desktop applications that integrate voice, video, messaging, fax, media sharing and more. For businesses, Voxox provides an extensive suite of carrier-grade business phone solutions, including hosted IP-PBX, SIP Trunking, a wide array of wholesale services, such as high volume SMS, and the company's new virtual PBX service, Cloud Phone. The foundation of the company's offerings is its award-winning unified communications platform in the cloud, which enables the company and its customers to build powerful, scalable applications and services. Founded in 2006, Voxox is headquartered in San Diego. For more information, please visit http://www.voxox.com.

As a mobile consultant, you have the luxury of travelling, making your own hours and maintaining a solid work-life balance. However, since you’re on the go, you also face some communication challenges – especially when it comes to your business phone.

Let’s address those phone communication challenges now and see how a virtual phone system can help.

1. Your clients are calling your personal cell number OR you’re carrying and paying for two cell phones.

Don’t mix business with pleasure, they say – so why are you sending your business and personal phone calls to one number? Because you don’t want to have two cell phones AND pay two cell phone bills. Or, maybe you’re already doing this and no longer want to juggle the two. Either way, with a virtual phone system, you won’t have to pay double or manage two phones.

Virtual phone numbers are hosted in the cloud and connect directly with the smart phone you already have. This means that when a client calls your virtual number (aka your new business number) it will ring to your personal smart phone... but your virtual number also has its own professional greeting system and menu options, so if can’t answer the phone, don’t worry! Your caller will not be sent to your “Hey bros this is Bobby” voicemail that is meant for your personal contacts. Instead, your prospect, partner or customer will receive a professional custom greeting from you (ex: “Hello, you’ve reached Consulting by B.”).

A virtual phone system will give you peace of mind by providing a professional image for your business, save you money on a second phone, and give you access to personal contacts – all from one phone.

2. You have team members and they are also using personal cell numbers for business.

If you’re working with a remote team, chances are they are facing the same challenges as you. Personal and business calls coming into one phone line, carrying multiple devices, etc. A virtual phone system will not only ease these woes for you, they will do the same for your team.

A virtual phone number can be linked to multiple devices, so if you want to connect your business partner or your handful of employees to your new business phone number, no problem! The virtual phone system will act as a hub where you can then create different “departments” (billing, shipments, marketing, etc.) or add a directory to the caller menu so each team member has their own extension. Not only does this make your business sound super professional and provide major credibility points, but is also really convenient for your callers.

3. You have a hard time keeping up with business voicemails and important messages.

Voicemails are a nightmare. Listening to them, remembering what someone said, finding paper and a pencil to write down the call back number, it’s awful and chances are you end up spending too much time on the logistics and/or miss out on a lot of business opportunities because of missed messages. Virtual phone systems offer a saving grace – voicemail transcription. Voicemail transcription does exactly what it sounds like; it transcribes your voicemails so you can read them. This is awesome for busy people because you can read, save, send, go back and read again, or just delete entirely, all without ever listening to anything. While you might have appreciated being able to say, “Oh, sorry, never got that voicemail,” to a high school acquaintance who is always inviting you for drinks at a bad time, you will never have to say it to a client who wants to make a purchase or solicit your services. 

4. You do not have a professional phone presence.

We’ve touched on this a bit in the other points, but it’s important and worth revisiting. A professional phone presence is a necessity for a business –no matter how small. A virtual phone system offers a slew of professional features like:

• Auto attendant
• Department or personnel extensions
• Custom voicemail
• Inbound faxing
• Call forwarding or simultaneous ring settings for multiple phones
• Call screening
• Voicemail transcription

5. You know your current phone situation isn’t working, but you don’t have the time to find a new business phone solution.

If you’re experiencing this, you’re not alone and congrats to you for taking the first step – Googling an alternative! Virtual phone systems with the right user experience should be very simple to set up (Cloud Phone, for example takes less than a minute!) and you can manage your account from the cloud. This allows you to scale easily as your business grows and changes, and you only pay for what your business needs, resulting in overall cost savings and increased convenience.

For mobile consultants, having a virtual phone system is business phone communication heaven. If you want to give it a try, you can do a free 30-day trial with Cloud Phone any time. Share your feedback below or via our social channels!  

Recently, Voxox Director of Marketing, Ron Kinkade, was quoted in a report by telecom comparison team Software Advice on how technical language could influence VoIP adoption and utilization.

Software Advice sat down with Ron for an in-depth interview on this subject. Some of the key points discussed were:

• If you're in the market for a service and feel like you don’t understand the tech language for the solution it provides, it might not be the right fit for your business. 
• The size of your business matters when determing whether you need to be more familiar with the jagon of service level requirements. The larger your business, the higher your understanding and knowledge will have to be as well.
• Technology services have improved to provide better tools for small businesses without dedicated experts of technical lanuage.
• In order to get the most ROI, you have to understand all the costs involved in VoIP. SIP trunking could save you money, if it's properly managed. 
• The language of Unified Communications becomes more simplified as it gets widespread. The message to reach more markets successfully. 

Here's the full Q&A:

1. How much of the technical language of VoIP do businesses need to understand to make an informed decision when purchasing an IP telephony solution?

For the mass market (<20 seats) I think it’s less about the language and more about why a business is looking for a solution in the first place. Is it lower cost? Features? Mobility? Most of these consumers are focused on cost & reliability first, features and functionality second. I think companies in this space should focus on finding a partner with a strong reputation for simplicity, excellent support, and straight-forward pricing.

When you get into the larger markets, where you might be dealing with IT professionals, multiple locations,  or with additional service needs - the same reasons ‘why’ still apply. However, companies are putting more at risk in choosing a provider and as such, should educate themselves more before finding the partner that provides them with the service level requirements they need.

In short, as a customer if you feel you don’t understand what a company is selling you - then they might not be the right fit for your business. 

2. How much of the technical language of VoIP do businesses need to understand to administer their phone systems and manage their voice networks? What solutions are available for businesses that don't have the resources to perform these tasks themselves?

Again, it depends on the size of the business and what type of solution they are looking for. Most businesses with less than 10 seats aren’t going to need a high level of knowledge, while larger businesses will want to familiarize themselves with service related language. There are a wide variety of Hosted PBX options in this space that simplify the management of devices and numbers. VoIP providers offer a variety of options for small or large businesses when it comes to administration or customization, including dedicated support, onsite training/installation, and SLA’s for some businesses. There are 3rd party consultants in the space that are available as well.

3. How are technologies and services evolving to serve smaller businesses without dedicated IT staff to help with purchasing and administering solutions? How do app-based models like Voxox's help to address the needs of this market segment?

While technology can sometimes complicate an offering, when done right it automates and simplifies. Support is making a comeback and better tools are available to help customers. Online management portals are getter better UI’s, support is becoming more accessible with social/helpdesk/crm tools. The entire purchase process can now be done online without the need for a quote and timely. At Voxox, we offer a full range of telephony services including mobile/desktop apps for consumers, Cloud Phone and Hosted PBX for small business, as well as wholesale/carrier services.

4. What aspects of VoIP technology do businesses need to understand to maximize ROI with SIP trunking?

Now we’re wandering into acronym land… Anytime you talk about ROI, you need to understand all of the costs involved. Cost of hardware, cost of service, cost of support, cost of maintenance. At a high level, you save with SIP because you don’t have to over provision lines at your locations and reduce hardware costs. Fewer PRIs (primary rate interface) or T1s. SIP offers affordability and flexibility. However a poorly managed SIP setup can be just as costly. The real ROI comes from adopting a centralized architecture, improved security, and the benefits of a well managed SBC (session border controller)

5. How will the language of Unified Communications shift as providers expand their offerings in the SMB space? Will this expansion also involve technological innovations?

It becomes simplified and more widely understood. To reach more markets successfully, providers have to simplify the messaging. There will likely be technical innovations, more automation, more controls. Not long ago, the concept of “the cloud” didn’t exist - now it’s a mainstream term. Saas, Big Data.