Panasonic Leads Telephone Systems Category in CE PRO’S Brand Survey for EIGHTH Consecutive Year

Custom Electronics Industry’s Top 100 Integrators Rank Panasonic Business Phone Systems Well Ahead of Competing Brands

SECAUCUS, NJ (July 25, 2011) – For the eighth year in a row, CE Pro Magazine’s Brand Analysis Survey shows that Panasonic business telephone systems are being used by the vast majority of the CE Pro Top 100 Integrators*. The survey was confined to the elite group of top revenue-generating custom integrators who were asked to cite the brands they use in each of 41 categories, ranging from audio and video components to lighting and control systems to computers and telecommunications.

The CE Pro 100 Brand Analysis shows that 66% of the installers reported using Panasonic telephone products, with a 60 point lead over the next closest competitor.  The magazine noted that the next closest brand, NEC, garnered 6% of the total share, while Cisco captured 5%.

“It is a great honor to be recognized once again as the leading telephone systems brand among this elite group of custom installers,” said Bill Taylor, President of Panasonic System Networks Company of America.  “Their continued confidence and support help make us the number one brand year after year.”  

More information on Panasonic business telephone systems is available at www.Key-Comm.com

*CE Pro 100 Brand Analysis, published June 2011 by EH Publishing.

E-Messaging (Voicemail to Email), What Is It and Why Do You Need It?

A topic that comes up frequently in businesses is the issue of voicemail. It is surprising to hear how many people are still waiting until they get to the office to check their voicemail or calling into the office periodically to check messages. How many sales or opportunities are lost when you are on the road because you didn’t know you had an important voicemail left on your phone system at the office? Now with voicemail to email service, you can stay connected anywhere you are with E-Messaging.

So what is E-Messaging and what are the benefits?
Quite simply, E-Messaging is a voicemail to email service which digitally records your voicemail messages and then turns them into a sound file (such as a .wav or .mp3). That sound file then gets attached to an email message which would typically include the details of the call such as the date/time, the caller’s name and number and how long the message is. This being 2011 and all, everyone has a smart phone so that those voicemail to email messages are instantly viewable on your iphone, blackberry, android etc and you never miss another important voicemail. A for better or worse, you can receive voicemail messages 24 hours a day without having to give out your cell phone number directly to customers. Being able to listen to the .wav or .mp3 file right on your smart phone or in your email inbox is a huge benefit and a real time saver. You can even use voicemail to email as an after hours service to customers who might need emergency support.
What if you don’t have a smart phone? Voicemail to email services can also send you an email to your home computer or laptop whenever a voicemail is left for you so that you don’t have to call in to check it.

The Panasonic KXTVA Voice Processing system can be connected to your Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN) providing integration with your email. This ensures your staff receives important messages, no matter where they are!

Is Your Telephone and Voice Mail System Safe From Hackers?

There has been a recent increase in hacker attacks on business telephone and voice mail systems. The systems are hacked and used to make expensive telephone calls to international phone numbers or premium rate numbers at the expense of the unlucky company targeted. This type of attack is not limited to one type of system, ALL systems can be targeted, Hybrid, IP, Hosted IP, or basic PBXs. Unfortunately, many businesses adopt the "it can't happen to me" philosophy... until it's too late. Companies aren’t helpless against these hackers though – here are ten top tips designed to help you protect your telephone system from being hacked:

1) As obvious as it seems, many companies (including some installation companies) still forget to remove the default passwords from telephone and voice mail systems. Reset all default passwords as soon as possible and limit access to maintenance ports.

2) Change passwords regularly on telephone system and voice mail boxes to keep ahead of hackers. Make passwords as difficult as possible and avoid using your extension number as your password, or the "1234" or “Default” passwords at all costs.

3) Limit call forwarding by extensions. If one extension user has no need to forward to mobile for example, then block forwarding access to outside numbers, or limit to specific numbers, at that extension.

4) Make sure you always monitor (or disable if not needed) DISA – Direct Inward System Access.

5) Make sure that the telephone system hardware is kept in a secure place that has limited access.

6) Always check your telephone bills regularly and review your calls as often as you can. Also review your Telephone Service Provider line features, as many new VOIP lines have features that you (and your service provider) may be unaware of.

7) Block access and change the passwords of unused mailboxes, or even better, delete unused mailboxes.

8) Make sure you are aware of what functions your telephone system can carry out – and then deactivate those functions you don’t use.

9) Assess the security of all the telephone and voice mail system applications.

10) Always be on the lookout for signs of hacking – investigate any calls made outside of business hours. Most hacks occur on weekends and long holiday weekends.

Please contact Key Communications for a security assessment of your system.

Check Key Communications out!

All kinds of (online) excitement for Key Communications! 

Please visit our NEW website at WWW.KEY-COMM.COM!  Same web address, but totally new site with an online store, telephone and voice mail system information, services information, client user guides, the list goes on and on!  Take a moment to check out the new site and lest us know what you think!

This blog... of course!  Check here for interesting articles, Key Communications promos and deals, Manufaturer promos and deals, the happenings at Key, anything and everything that is pertinant... or whatever I feel like writing that day... could be interesting...  LOL

Key Comm on FACEBOOK!  It's true, you can find us on FB now!  Click on over and "like" your favorite communications company! 

Thank you to our clients, we hope these additions are useful and helpful, we'd love your feedback!

The Next VoIP System: Pure IP or Hybrid?

Key Communications offers custom built Hybrid-IP/PBX, Converged-IP/PBX, or Pure-IP systems to fit your needs now and grow with you into the future.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone system solutions come in two distinct flavors: the Hybrid or Converged IP/PBX products, capable of supporting both TDM (Digital and Analog) and IP communications, and the next generation of IP solutions, often referred to as Pure-IP. Pure-IP solutions have all the advantages in a "starting from scratch" environment, including better economic value, ease of deployment, greater manageability and standards-based architectural designs that enable integration into IT applications and processes. However, in the real world, each organization must weigh more than mere technological advantages in making a "pure" versus "hybrid/converged" communications system buying decision.

Eventually, the Hybrid IP/PBX approach will be as passé as the plain old analog telephone systems of years past that have largely been relegated to the scrap heap. Likewise, IP/PBXs will someday be no match for the new generation of highly integrated, IT-based voice applications.  BUT, that day has not come quite yet.  Pure IP solutions, as they mature, will overtake legacy solutions for their abilities to directly integrate with essential business process applications such as corporate directories, CRM, ERP, and other critical back-office applications.



BUT, for now, Hybrid and Converged IP/PBXs continue to live on and, in fact, to thrive. This is due in large part to basic business economics. Most enterprises find that it makes financial sense to preserve investments in existing TDM equipment. The Hybrid and Converged approach lets them do just that.

For each business, the decision to go Hybrid/Converged versus Pure IP depends on several factors, including:

- the architecture of the existing voice infrastructure - Will your existing infrastructure support Pure IP?

- the readiness of the IP network to support VoIP traffic - Is your wiring capable of handling a Pure IP system or are you looking at a high cost wiring job on top of your system purchase to make the system work as expected?

- the IT department’s ability to take on such a large project 

and, finally

- how voice communications relates to overall strategic business goals. Whatever the deployment choice—Hybrid/Converged or Pure—all decision-makers should fully understand the overall advantages and disadvantages of the two main types of platforms.

Here are seven tips that provide some basic guidance for the decision-makers:

POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service, ie: Analog lines) vs. PRI (Primary Rate Interface, ie: Digital lines)

The most basic and traditional phone service is called POTS or Plain Old Telephone Service. Chances are that you won't see it advertised that way. Instead it will be called business line or dial tone service. What you get is an analog connection to the nearest telephone company Central Office or CO. Any conventional telephone will plug into the RJ11 jack on the wall and give you dial-tone when you lift the handset. You can expand the number of rooms with phones by paralleling twisted pair wiring to other phone jacks. But you still only have one line and, if it is in use, no one else can make or receive calls.

Basic POTS is local phone service. Long distance service is either bundled for a single price or assigned to a competitive long distance carrier that offers lower per-minute rates on separate billing. Caller ID is an add-on service that is multiplexed on the same phone line and displays the caller's phone number and other information on phones with the necessary display, or a separate Caller ID unit. Toll free service can be added to forward incoming calls from a toll-free number to your phone line.

Up till now the phone lines we've been discussing are individual analog POTS lines. You pay for each one separately and the total cost is generally the cost per line time the number of lines. Once you need 8 to 12 lines or more, it usually makes economic sense to switch to digital trunk rather than use multiple analog lines.

The digital trunk, called a T1 voice line, converts up to 24 separate phone lines into a single digital connection between you and your phone service provider. The most popular variety of T1 service is called T1 PRI or Primary Rate Interface. It is also known as ISDN PRI for Integrated Services Digital Network. The difference between a T1 PRI line and a T1 voice line is that the PRI protocol establishes one channel of the 24 as a switching and data channel. This makes calling faster and allows you to have Caller ID for the other 1-23 channels or 1 to 23 outside phone lines.

5 Reasons that Hosted VoIP "Phone Systems" Might Not Suit Your Application

The newest buzzwords in the telephone and voice mail systems world is "Hosted VoIP" and "VoIP Telephone Systems".  Is it something you should be considering for your company?  When looking at this as an option, be sure to consider the following:

Quality of Service: QoS is the process of giving your voice priority on your internet/network over your data. If you don't have this dialed in, your call quality will be bad.

Lack of Customization: There will be some level of customization available in terms of the auto attendant, voicemail options, etc...but you've going to have a very basic system - compared to something like a Panasonic or Avaya which is customizable at every turn.

Potentially Inferior Customer Service: I say potentially, because at the end of the day, you're dealing with people at a company that you've never met...and there's only so much you can do over the phone some times. This may never be an issue for you. Just be aware that it may be...and sometimes it's helpful to get to meet a person from the company you're partnering with...and to have them available to stop by if you need it.

Growing Can Be Painful: Every phone call and every intercom call and everything goes over your internet...so you'd better be sure you have enough bandwidth!

Features, Features, Features: At this point in time, you just can't get all the features with a hosted VoIP system that you can with one that is located in your office. Someday...maybe. But not now. This is not a big deal for many small businesses, but I just want you to be aware of it.

There are some companies that a Hosted VoIP or a straight VoIP system will work well for, but we find the majority of people that have opted for this as their communications system are looking to get out of it within a year or two and getting back into a Converged, Hybrid or Pure IP/PBX telephone and voice mail system to meet their needs.  Please contact Key Communications to custom build a communications system that will work for you today and grow with you tomorrow.