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Indy Business: Static on Your Phone Line

Getting static or low audio during calls on your home or office phone service can be very annoying, but luckily it’s something that can be diagnosed and solved pretty easily in most cases. There are a few different reasons you might be experiencing static on your line, so let’s go through them and see what can be done.

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ITS NOT YOU

The first thing to check is to make sure it is actually your phone or phone service that is causing the issue. If your calls are fine except when you talk with a certain person or business, then the good news is that your phone is probably working great! But in that case, someone also needs to tell the other person that their phone isn’t working correctly.

We’re biased, but we believe nobody deserves to live with bad phone service!

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TEST WITH ANOTHER PHONE

If the static is happening with multiple people, then unfortunately the problem is in your system. The next thing you should try is using any additional phones you have to determine whether the static is coming from your physical phone, or whether it is coming from your actual phone service.

If you can test with both corded and cordless phones, or with different makes and models, that is always best. At this point, we just want to see if the static is happening on one phone or all the phones. If it is just on one phone, then fixing or replacing it is the obvious answer. But what if the static is on all your phones?

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THE PRICE OF ANALOG

Static on all your phones means a couple things. First, it means you have an exposed wire or loose connection somewhere that needs to be tracked down and fixed. But more importantly, it means you probably have an analog phone system. Digital VoIP phone service almost never gets static.

Our phone service, for example, is 100% digital, which means you shouldn’t ever get any static. From the time your voice goes into your receiver to the time it joins the wider phone network, it is digitized and delivered just like it came out. So while we hope you’ve been able to use this post to find and fix your static problem, we also want to recommend replacing your analog service as soon as you can.

Find a reputable VoIP service provider in your area, or feel free to contact us if you live in Indiana. We look forward to hearing from you!

Indy Business: Is My Phone System Secure?

Most businesses probably don’t think about the security of their phone system, but if you have phone service Indianapolis from one of the big cable or telephone companies, the security of your conversations is stuck in the past. Many cable and phone companies still rely on analog phone signals once the connection is inside the building, meaning that almost anyone could listen in with relative ease.

If a regular phone cord is coming out of your office phone, then your office or business still relies on analog phone service, at least until it gets to your PBX, modem, or demarcation box. And while there are many good reasons to go with VoIP business phone service (call quality, cost savings, better features, etc.), security is perhaps the best reason to switch.

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GOING DIGITAL

Analog signals can be intercepted by another analog receiver (like a corded phone plugged into a jack). But digital signals are different. You can’t plug an ethernet cord in and suddenly eavesdrop on computer traffic (unless you really know what you’re doing). That’s because the traffic coming from a VoIP phone or other digital device is split into packets. If analog is a river where anyone can step in, then digital is like a bunch of water balloons. The packets are only supposed to “burst” for the intended receiver.

The trade-off for this privacy is that it is harder to share a line on digital VoIP phone service. You can do three-way or conference calling, but picking up the phone and joining a call is different. Not that it can’t be done, but it often depends on the type of phones you have and how you want them to operate. So that’s something to keep in mind.

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SWITCHING IS EASY

Luckily, changing phone providers is trivial. When we port a number, for example, we often forward calls from the existing number to a temporary one we set up. Then we set outgoing calls to show the main number. What this means is that new customers get to try before they buy without any risk. No one outside knows that your phone service has changed; and if VoIP service does not work out for any reason, the calls can be unforwarded so everything goes back to how it was.

If that still sounds complicated, please just trust us that it is all actually very simple.

To sum up, if you know or think you are still using analog phone service, please consider switching to a VoIP service provider. Ultimately, it doesn’t have to be us, but we would still be happy to talk about the switching process if you contact us. Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!

Indy Business: Best Internet in Indy

Indy Business: Best Business Internet in Indianapolis

One of the questions we get asked most is: “Who is the best internet service provider in Indianapolis?” Or sometimes business owners ask us: “Which internet service should I be using?” The answer to these questions depends on the business size, its location, and the complexity of their technology; but we can start out with an easy general statement.

Local is better.

If you happen to be in a section of Indianapolis where there is a local fiber internet provider, we recommend going with them. Anything you do to avoid the big cable and phone companies is good for you, good for competition, and ultimately good for Indy.

A great example of a local fiber internet company is Metronet. Great service, good prices, and they’re local. Win, win, win.

My choices are Big Company A or Big Company B.

For the rest of us, business internet service is going to come from a cable or phone company. When those are the only choices, we almost always recommend going with cable internet. The customer service isn’t any better than the phone companies in our experience, but you usually get more internet service for the same price.

The actual name of the cable company doesn’t matter much either. Cable companies choose not to compete with each other so they can keep charging monopoly prices. Whoever the cable provider is in your area, they’re likely the only one, and they’re likely to stay that way.

Should I bundle?

If you don’t have any other option, then sure, go for the bundle. But you almost always have other options! Even with local fiber companies, bundling may cost you more than going with a company that specializes in business phone service. Go with services where the company has to work to keep your business, not where you’re locked into a bundle.

As always, feel free to contact us if you have any questions. We help businesses navigate tech questions every day, and we can help you too!

Indy Business: How Does e911 Work?

Have you ever wondered how 911 calling actually works? With old analog telephone service provided by the phone companies, the call would route through local stations that could transfer it to local emergency services. But what about for Indianapolis VoIP phone service like we provide? How does it get where it needs to go?

Area codes mean nothing.

Before voice-over IP and cell phones, area codes mattered. But now mobile phones, home phones, and business phones can use numbers from any area code for the same cost as their local area code. A Seattle area code can be routed to Indiana, and vice-versa. So clearly a 911 call can’t route just based on the area code anymore. Even if it could, how would you route a toll-free number?

The answer to that is actually pretty clever.

We know where you live.

When we provision a new number and allow it to send calls, we can also enable something called e911. This is a service that provides extra information with the caller ID. Let’s use our number for example and say it’s provisioned to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

Here’s what happens:

911 is called from a phone; the caller ID is set to 317-644-0075; and we have in our system that when that number calls 911, the location tied to it is 1 Monument Cir, Indianapolis, IN 46204. So before the emergency dispatcher can even answer the call, they know that the call is probably coming from that address. If the phone dies or the caller can’t give them much information, they at least know where to start looking.

Of course, the dispatcher would still ask for the caller’s current location because they know that what it says in the system may not be where the phone is located. And that’s pretty much it. We solve the problem of mobility by sending a little extra data along with the call.

Hopefully this post has clarified some of the mystery around current e911 calling. Feel free to contact us about our voip phone service, or give us a call if you have any questions. Thanks, and have a great day!

Indy Business: Best Phone System 2018

Indy Business: Best Business Phone System 2018

Choosing between business phone systems can be more than confusing if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. Do you want a traditional system or a voice-over IP (VoIP) system? How many lines do the systems support? How do they hook up to your phone service provider?

Today, we’ll try to answer these questions as best we can.

Go digital.

We will be recommending a system in a minute; but no matter what system you buy, it should be digital. Digital systems are everywhere and their call quality is crystal clear compared to old analog systems. While we’re at it, you might as well go with a voice-over IP system too. Most systems (including our recommendation) work regardless of your phone service provider, so there’s nothing to fear when it comes to compatibility.

Digital VoIP phone systems also usually offer more lines for the money. When a call is going over your network as opposed to using traditional phone wiring, the number of calls doesn’t matter nearly as much. So voice-over IP is more efficient.

Our recommendation.

The system we like best is from Grandstream. Specifically, a system made up of Grandstream GXP2130’s. That system would offer up to 3 lines per phone, the phones themselves would be reliable and professional, setup wouldn’t be too complicated, and the quality you get for the price can’t be beat. We’ve looked at the alternatives from Mitel, Polycom, Cisco, etc. We still prefer the high-end line of Grandstream phones.

We’re also going to recommend using the system with a hosted VoIP provider like ourselves. You could use it with an on-site Grandstream PBX, but that’s a piece of hardware you don’t really need and if your office goes offline, all your inbound call functions are offline too.

Still need help?

If you still have questions or aren’t sure if our recommendation would work in your location, feel free to contact us anytime. After all, sometimes you just need to ask an expert!

icon-phone-square Indy Business: Static on Your Phone Line

icon-lock Indy Business: Is My Phone System Secure?

icon-exchange Indy Business: Best Business Internet in Indianapolis

icon-ambulance Indy Business: How Does e911 Work?

icon-building Indy Business: Best Business Phone System 2018

Indy Business: Static on Your Phone Line

Indy Business: Is My Phone System Secure?

Indy Business: Best Business Internet in Indianapolis

Indy Business: How Does e911 Work?

Indy Business: Best Business Phone System 2018