Zultys: The nerve center of your business

2. Unified Communications in the IP PBX

3. What you have to know about IP PBX

4. ZULTYS IP PBX: the clear choiceSection 1: Digital v/s IP PBX Digital Systems have been around for decades. Many of these systems have proven to last 10 to 20 years in some cases, showing strong reliability in the work place. In the past few years, these legacy systems have added expandability and functionality such as T1, PRI, Automatic Call Distribution and much more and some models can scale to thousands of end points (phones) with great reliability. IP Systems originated about a decade ago, and today, some of these systems can scale to tens of thousands of units in dozens if not hundreds of locations. What is the advantage of an IP Phone system over a traditional systems ? Some of the IP Systems today are HYBRID: meaning that they can handle TRADITIONAL phone lines (including Analog trunks, ISDN, T1, E1 and PRI to Multiple T1 and PRIs) as well as Voice Over IP (VoIP) phone lines. So they provide the best of both world. VoIP phone lines (also called SIP: Session Initiated Protocol) are typically provided by an ITSP (Internet Telephony Service Provider), and these type of trunks can replace or augment your traditional phone lines. Each TRUNK (meaning phone line) requires roughly about 84 Kilobit of bandwidth (uncompressed) when a conversation is in session. That means that a DATA T1 (1.5 Megabits) can handle about 17 or so conversations simultaneously. Many companies find that SIP is the way to go because they cost far less than traditional phone lines, as well as provide extremely competitive rates for long distance, and some providers have plans which include unlimited long distance. And if you make calls overseas, you are in for a treat as some of these plans can provide rates as cheap as a few pennies to Western Europe or Southeast Asia. In essence, if you are paying $1000 for Long Distance a month, and you can buy a brand new IP Phone system (that costs say: $20,000) , you could lease to own that system for around $460 per month, therefore SAVING the company nearly $5,000 per year and much more once you finish paying on the lease. THIS IS AN EFFECTIVE ROI that makes sense. Having said that, many people are buying IP Phone systems today and STILL using traditional Phone lines because they either don’t trust the internet or don’t understand SIP Technology that well or don’t have the upload bandwidth it takes to sustain these type of phone lines. But they LIKE the idea of buying an IP Phone system because it provides the FLEXIBILITY to use traditional phone lines OR VOIP Lines or BOTH. But the appeal of IP Systems goes FAR BEYOND the fact that you can do IP Trunking. Here are my Top Reasons why IP Phone Systems are incredibly beneficial and result in drastic cost savings and why Digital Systems are dying: an EASY TO USE Programming Interface. Many people don’t want to have to call the “phone guy” every time they need to make a change to their system. IP Systems provide a Graphical User’s Interface, that can be launched from anywhere and make changes to the system that can take effect immediately. So making changes to the system is much easier to understand than legacy systems. This often provides tremendous cost savings for the lifetime of the phone. The ability to have a Phone in your house or another location and to be able to use the office’s Dial tone is beneficial too. The remote user appears as if they are working at the office. So if a call comes in – it can be transferred to that remote user (wherever they have that IP Phone plugged in) and the caller has no idea that the remote user is working from home or from anywhere in the world (where broadband is available). Working remotely can cut costs of Travel, time, gas, etc… and quickly and easily enables remote workers. Just think: no added desks, real estate, electrical, supplies, etc… etc… Teleworkers can take their office phone, plug it in, and off they go. Their extension remains the same and is totally transparent to the caller If you have more than 1 Office – the ability to have 2 systems – and the ability to do an extension to extension DIAL and of course when that happens – you bypass any tolls (no long distance) not to mention the ease of talking to someone by just depressing their button or extension. Another cost saving. The ability to have very flexible “find me follow me” – For example – if you are out to lunch and are expecting an important phone call – the system can easily transfer that call to your cell phone. In the case of SOME large Enterprise (yes, expensive) system, the Cell phone can even be a MOBILE EXTENSION – meaning that you can transfer BACK the caller to an INSIDE EXTENSION from your CELL PHONE (or put them on hold and them hearing your CORPORATE ON HOLD messages). Now you can DROP that expensive CALL FORWARDING (multiplied by every line you have) and drop the after hours answering service since calls can be forwarded ANYTIME ANYWHERE. Some systems add features like Fax Services (Fax from your desktop or TO your desktop). Cut costs of Toner and Paper by having the fax come RIGHT TO YOUR DESKTOP in a TIF File Format and FILE that fax in a folder on your desktop or your server. Recording conversations and dropping that WAV File is also huge. Some of these systems can handle call recording, allowing you to record conversations by simply pressing a key and then archiving these to an external storage area How about Unified Messaging: When receiving a VOICE MAIL – that voice mail is also EMAILED to you in a WAV file enabling that Voice Mail to be SAVED forever on your desktop or server or be forwarded as a WAV file outside your company. The ability to move your phone by simply unplugging it and plugging ANYWHERE on your Network where you have Ethernet (without having to reprogram a THING). Cut costs by NOT dispatching the “phone guy” IP Systems cut cost of Wiring in HALF. So if you are moving to a new place and where you normally have to provide a VOICE and DATA Cable – you would NOT need to do this anymore. Most IP Phones have a 2 port switch on them – allowing you to plug your PHONE into the Ethernet Wall Plate and your PC into the back of the phone – therefore only requiring 1 Cable to the desk NOT 2. This cuts cost of cabling by 50%. The EASE of use of an IP system is amazing providing you a Software interface on your PC (and some systems like the ZULTYS can support Linux and MACs too) so you can have full “dial from Outlook” capability, Chat, Presence (I am at Lunch) and MUCH more The ability to use your LAPTOP or your Desktop as a PHONE – so if you are traveling – simply plug your Laptop into the Hotel’s or your house’s Internet and you are now connected to the office. Add a Headset for better sound quality and you have yourself a great communication device Call Detail Reporting is often built-in to many of these systems. The ability to find out just about anything you want about incoming or outgoing calls and produce reports that can translate into TIME BILLING and providing important information on where your callers are finding you (i.e. having them dial a different Phone Number for certain add campaigns) or how about tracking what your call center is doing, or Sales reps, or who called us today ? Etc…. Of course these reports can easily be exported into a multitude of formats making them easy to manipulate for many reasons. Cell phone Twinning: The ability to have your cell phone function as a remote extension of your PBX and then be able to transfer that call back to any extension in your office. Imagine working from home and your cell phone rings, it is a client. You speak to the client and now they want to be transferred to your customer service dept. You use your computer to initiate that transfer in no time. What is the price of CONNECTIVITY Webinars: Many of these systems today integrate or have an option to include Webinar facility like Webex. Unlike recurring costs like Webex and Gotomeeting, these are appliances that easily add to your phone system and DEFER these recurring costs. How about application interface where you can make a phone call from Salesforce.com or CRM or Outlook. Or the ability to call anyone in your contact’s list from outlook. In short – IP Systems are here to stay and are definitely where EVERY Phone vendor on earth today is going. SIP is the ONLY ratified standard of telephony today. Simply putting it “If you ain’t SIP, you AIN’T” and you won’t connect to tomorrow’s applications or phones or systems. IP Phone systems DO save money by providing lesser expensive alternatives for Local and Long Distance lines as well as 0 Toll when using them between each other, and decrease costs of Cabling as well as the need to dispatch a Phone guy every time, since they use a Graphical User’s Interface allowing each person the FLEXIBILITY to manage their own end points and the ability to move their system as much as they want WITHOUT requiring a phone Guy. Finally – moving an IP System is as easy as unplugging 3 connections. No more 66 Blocks and the confusing and unattractive wire closets you sometimes see. They are often a 2 or 3U Rack Mounted appliance that EASILY travel and here again, reduce cost if you ever have to move the system. IP Systems provides ease of use, flexibility, mobility, compliance, scalability, and a drastic overall reduction of price. -24574510403840Section 2: Unified Communications in the IP PBX World Unified Communications (UC) , when used appropriately, is an amazing tool and boost to ANY business of any size today. In today’s world, if technology can’t MAKE you money or SAVE you money, then it is hardly worth the implementation. UC does both. For example, gone are the days where you have to have a separate cable for your phone and one for your PC. IP phone systems leverage existing data cabling and thus cut cost of cabling in HALF. ZULTYS www.ZULTYS.com is such a splendid example of the UC , where this energy efficient (less than 1 light bulb) 2U rackable appliance incorporates a Fax Server, Find me Follow me, Visual Voice Mail, Call Recording, Cell Phone Twinning, Voice Mail to Email, Synchronization with Microsoft Exchange, Secure Chat and IM, Call Accounting, Presence, Text to Speech, work from anywhere and make ANY phone an extension of your phone system, and over 200 other embedded features, all managed from one thin (less than 30Kb) client software called MXIE (Media Xchange Interface for End Users) that runs on 64 or 32 Bit Vista, XP, MAC OSX as well as Linux. Unlike the competition, ZULTYS does NOT require external inefficient Servers, or gateways . Unified Communications represents true value to any business and connects everyone in the enterprise, regardless of time or location Section 3: What you have to know about IP PBX VoIP phone systems today vary greatly in features, size, type of phone lines they can operate with, wiring they use, and phones (stations) that they use. Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has evolved greatly in the past decade. One thing that has not changed however are the fundamentals of VoIP Systems, how they operate, and what they need in order for them to work reliably. For starters, many VoIP Phone systems (PBX) do not rely solely on VoIP phone lines. What re VoIP Phone Lines ? While there are proprietary VoIP lines, in general, what is used today is called SIP (Session Initiated Protocol). VoIP/SIP is simply the ability to carry your voice conversations over a data trunk (such as a data T1, Cable Modem, DSL, etc…). It is very unusual today to see VoIP phone systems only accepting SIP/VoIP Trunks (a trunk is a phone line). In fact, the vast majority of VoIP Phone systems today continue to operate on standard Analog Trunks (the same type of lines that you have in your house) and/or PRI (Primary Rate Interface) which is carrier grade 23 phone lines. Why would a VoIP Phone system connect to Analog Trunks or PRI ? There could be many reasons for that. For one, clients may already have existing contracts on those trunks and they cannot change. The other reason is that they are comfortable in that technology and it has served them well. So why and when do SIP / VoIP trunks come to play ? SIP trunks are now sold for as low as $5 per month per Trunk (+utilization) to $40 per trunk (“all you can eat”) which includes an unlimited Long Distance Plan (in the US typically) and Overseas rates extremely compelling (i.e. 1.1 cents per minute to some Western European countries). Some phone systems (i.e. ZULTYS) allow you to have a variety of trunks and use them in the most appropriate way. For example, a company might still like to connect using Analog Trunks for most of their inbound or outbound calls (or a PRI or two), except when placing Long Distance calls. LD calls in this case, would exit/use the SIP trunk, therefore saving the consumer long distance fees, and arriving to a more predictable monthly fee. This is called LEAST COST ROUTING. This can vastly decrease cost of operations (often to the point where the phone system can pay for itself in a very short amount of time, depending on the long distance the company normally uses. So what about SIP/ VoIP ? Is it dependable ? How does it sound? There is a right way and a wrong way to deploy SIP and unfortunately, most of the time, consumers are unclear about the choices they have or what to do and are unfamiliar with technologies that are available to them. Here is what to keep in mind. Each SIP conversation requires about 84Kb (Kilobit) in data to function correctly (without compression). Compression can sometimes be used or turned on to reduce the voice/data utilization and optimize networks, but the more you compress the sound, the worse it sounds. Different vendors have developed different compression techniques to get the most out of your bandwidth. One thing for sure, IN VoIP, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR !!!! Different providers might give you different SLAs (Service Level Agreements). Be sure to read them and understand your terms and conditions. Here is how to roll out VoIP in your Enterprise CORRECTLY: Site Survey and analyze your Network/Infrastructure professionally by someone who can not only provide the results but EXPLAIN THEM and make CORRECTIVE ACTIONS. Explain to the analyst that you will be installing a VoIP capable system and that you want to make sure your Network is optimized and ready for VoIP and to provide a STATEMENT at the end guarantying their work. Insist on GOOD quality switches. There IS a difference between a $200 switch and a $2000 switch. You are looking for QoS switches where voice can be prioritized over data. Layer 3 Switches can provide additional functionalities (that you may need) such as routing and much more. Just because you bought the right switches does not mean that they are setup correctly. A Network Engineer that knows what he/she is doing must setup the QoS correctly on the switches. Insure that your Network is cabled properly (CAT 5e is the minimum today and moving forward, CAT 6 is quickly becoming the de facto standard today). In fact, going forward, when adding cables, insist on CAT6. There is about a 30% up lift in the pricing, but it is well worth the price. Audit your cables. Are they pinched? Is the plastic insulation sticking out of the RJ45 connector (if so, that is a bad cable, and it would need to be re-crimped or replaced). Insist on a PATCH PANEL. Also, be sure that NONE of your cables exceed 100 Meters in length. NEVER EVER daisy chain switches (switch to switch, etc…) – this causes major slow downs on the Network and may cause unpredictable results. If you have 24 stations on your Network (including all Networked Printers, Servers, and any other device that uses Ethernet) then buy a single 24 port layer 3 QoS PoE Switch and have all your cable drops home run to that 1 switch. If you have more than 24 Ethernet devices, then you will need to purchase a 48 port. Anything larger than 48 port and you will need to uplink the switches using fiber preferably or buy a core switch. Port trunking 2 switches is a recipe for lag and failure. If you can afford Gigabit switches, GET THEM ! Get rid of ALL Hubs if you have them. Insure that you have a business class Server based Anti-Virus running on every PC and every Server (NOT a consumer grade or Freeware) – These will vary from $20 to $40 per license per year. Insure that you have a business class Server based Spam Filter (or appliance such as Barracuda or Hosted solution such as Red Condor or Postini) is running. I personally prefer hosted Anti-Spam systems because the spam is filtered BEFORE it enters your Network (as opposed to an appliance base). Also with hosted systems, there is nothing to install on your servers or workstations and you do not have to worry about updating hardware/software or keeping anything up. Your Anti-Spam is GONE BEFORE it hits your Network, saving your bandwidth for more important things (like VoIP). Insure you understand what applications and users are consuming or abusing your Network (such as the Cymphonix appliance). Would you know it if a user is running a Peer to Peer application (downloading illegal music, inappropriate content, etc…) or streaming Video or Audio all day (Radio, etc…) ? Insist on DEDICATED BANDWIDTH FOR YOUR SIP TRUNKS – shared bandwidth (BYOB – bring your own bandwidth) IS A RECIPE FOR FAILURE NO MATTER WHAT THE PROVIDER TELLS YOU. Insist on QoS Routers end to end – meaning the provider has a QoS router(s) on their end. It is NOT enough to put a QoS Router on your end, because if that is only what you do, you would have NO control over that packet when it leaves your Network (how do you QoS the Internet ????) You would think that all of the above would cost a fortune. But in reality , they do not. These are BASIC items that ANY good network infrastructure today SHOULD have. Whether you use VoIP or not. The Top 2 mistakes that we see CONSISTENTLY with consumers that have problems with their VoIP trunks are: BYOB (Bring your own Bandwidth) – where the provider promises great service over your existing DSL, T1 or Cable. What happens if someone on your Network starts to Email a large file ? Or is infected by a virus/Trojan ? Again, insist on dedicating the proper bandwidth to your SIP trunks and if you can separate them from your data, QoS the Network and QoS the Router end to end (to your Provider) Now – let’s talk about the Tele-worker (Remote workers that need to connect to the VoIP System at the office). By distributing its work force nationwide, companies are far less seriously impacted by regional weather conditions, and can secure better ongoing coverage and support for their customer base While bandwidth in the US has seriously improved in the past few years, internet in homes (or businesses) using Cable and DSL are UNPREDICTABLE at best. Some services SHARE your bandwidth with the rest of the consumers/businesses on the block. Some have good download speeds but horrible upload speeds. Remember that you need 84KB per conversation no matter what. So what happens when you are talking on the phone and sending out Emails ? The sound packet might get distorted. How do you improve on it? There is a reason why a T1 costs around $400 per month and Cable or DSL costs typically under $100 per month. T1 speeds give you a consistent 1.5 Megabits upload and download speeds (Symmetrical). Whereas Cable and DSL can be as low as 384Kb in some markets in upload speeds. And sometimes, upload speed is not just the only problem. Sometimes there is a LAG on the line (as it is the case with some Satellite providers). Wireless (802.11x) can also present a challenge for VoIP Consumers. So, for the Tele-worker, the best way to minimize (not eliminate) problems are: Use a good quality Internet service provider. Test the UPLOAD SPEED (there are many testing facilities on the Internet – just do a search on test my internet speed) – the higher that speeds, the better off you will be. Look for 1 meg of upload speeds to get a clear conversation Refrain from UPLOADING files or sending Emails while on the line (if you can) Use a good quality router/Firewall, purchased recently and updated with the latest firmware and enable QoS Use Gigabit Ethernet in your house if you can (4 port Gig switches now are well under $100) – especially if you will be using a soft phone (otherwise, most phones are still 100 Megabits) Be sure you use a good quality business class Antivirus (such as Norton Antivirus 2009) and NOT a freeware and insure you have it running on EVERY workstation in your house Insure your PCs are up to date, and have the latest patches (even if you will be using an IP Phone, that is still a good idea IP Telephony has improved significantly in the past few years and R&D continues to develop new methods of minimizing problems. But consider also a failover mechanism. If your Internet fails at your house and that is your only phone, how will you place calls ? Be sure your mobile phone is available to you. Also, insure that your IP Phone is registering 911 calls to your HOUSE not to the office. (If you are connected to the office PBX and you dial 911 – you are essentially using one of the TRUNKS from your office – so the 911 truck will come to the office NOT to your house – unless there is a way for that PBX to indicate differently ). Be prepared for VoIP, and prepare your Network. At the end of the day, you will find that these steps outlined above will provide not only a more pleasurable VoIP experience, but also a better and more reliable and predictable DATA experience. Reliable networks, are no longer a luxury items. Businesses DEPEND on the Network. Spend the time and the money to improve your infrastructure, use a Managed IT Service provider that uses monitoring (such as Kaseya, or Level Platform or others similar to that) to look at your Network 24x7 and provide proactive steps to improve it. Section 4: ZULTYS IP PBX Features & Functionality: The MX Platform of ZULTYS packs HUNDREDS of features. Many of them not found on most competitor’s platform. Call Controller Voice Mail Unified Messaging Fax Server ACD (Inbound Call Center) Soft Phone Call Detail Reporting Call Record Tele-worker Support Presence Find me Follow Me Chat & Instant Message Cell Phone Twinning Advanced CTI Conferencing SIP, T1, PRI, Analog Trunk without requiring Gateways NAT/SIP Traversal Make ANY phone an extension Remote Phones do NOT require VPN Firewall ALL IN 1 Concept: Unlike most of our competitors, we do not require a server, or multiple Window servers to perform our functionality. Our MX Platform is integrated, efficient, fast, and self contained in one 2U Rack mountable appliance that is ready to configure as soon as you un-box it. Interoperability with 3rd Party We have Engineered our MX platform with standards for convergence and with ability to connect to third party vendors, and are adding alliances weekly. From ITSPs to SIP Software Vendors that add feature, functionality, and extends the product’s usefulness and integration with other software and Hardware. Green Statement: Even our LOGO is Green ! Our MX is incredibly power efficient. The AC power requirements for the basic MX250 system and various combinations of plug-in modules are shown in the Table below. Add up the values according to the configuration. The ac power requirements apply whenever the mains power is on. CONFIGURATIONPOWERBasic System with 1 Hard Drive40WOptional secondary Hard Drive15.2WEach Optional FX/O Card1.2WEach Optional FX/S Card0.8WEach Off Hook FX/S Circuit, add1W A maximally loaded system configured with two hard disks and three FXS plug-ins with 26 FXS circuits off-hook requires approximately 82 W. Since we also do not require external Servers, we are more efficient than ONE 100W Light bulb !!!!!, yet it can power 250 Users. Company Located in Sunnyvale, ZULTYS started in 2001, much earlier on than many of today’s VoIP Providers, and while some started with VOICE and later on added data, and others started with data and later on added Voice, ZULTYS started with BOTH. Our facility incorporates nothing short than a state of the art Network Room for testing, an advanced Acoustic Lab and a Test Lab designed to replicate our client’s environments, just in case trouble shooting is required. Our Engineering, R&D, Shipping and administrative office as well as US Support is all located in our office in Sunnyvale. Our resellers have direct access to our own Engineers and our own developers. We do not outsource our technical support, and help is available at no charge for our worldwide authorized resellers. ZULTYS is small enough to offer personal service, and large enough to offer world class capabilities and support Scalability and Product array Our Products can scale to 10,000 users in a distributed Topology of N+1 allowing no single point of failure anywhere on the LAN or WAN Major Accounts Adoptability Accounts like Amazon.com, AllState, National Banks, Sir Speedy, SonicWall, Timex are but a very small sample of hundreds of major accounts where our Products are installed in Affordability Even though our products include Enterprise class features, our fully configured appliances start as low as $3,195.00. Trust the Experts/Awards: In the past 8 years, ZULTYS has amassed dozens of awards internationally including our latest, the 2008 Unified Communications PRODUCT OF THE YEAR award ! Standards Based: ZULTYS has been using SIP Standards since day 1. From our trunking, to our platform to our phones, SIP is our model and to date, every major telephony vendor has made the decision to GO to SIP or is already there. We have been there for 8 years and since we have been doing it for nearly a decade, feel that we are well ahead of the competition in the product development cycle. This has also allowed us to interoperate with 3rd party appliances, software and hardware. We are an OPEN STANDARDS platform, not open source. High Availability features Power Failover:AC to Battery Failover with syslog reporting when coupled with our optional BPS-12 CO Failover:If the MX250 fails, we fail your first 2 lines to the 2 built-in FX/S Ports. Drive Failover:Should 1 drive fail, the optional redundant RAID drive takes over automatically Fan Failover:The MX250 has 2 fans in box. Should 1 fan fail the other is enough to cool the system Clock Failover:Internal battery for real time clock T1/PRI Failover:Redirect the PRI to the live MX250 automatically with our Optional XRS-12 LAN Failover:Dual LAN Ports built-in Unit Failover:Clusters for redundancy A World Class distribution and channel Our products are now available, sold, distributed and supported with a world class level of Resellers, distributors and branch offices located throughout the Globe Thin, Integrated and Multi-Platform CTI: Our Software works with MAC OSX, Windows 7 (already tested and certified by ZULTYS), Vista 64, Vista 32, XP and Linux workstations. Unlike our competitors, we do not need to run 3 or 4 unassociated software programs to perform the functionality that is integrated. 1 thin multiplatform CTI (called Media Exchange Interface for End Users or MXIE) is all you need to run all of our features Secure, Converged Voice, Data Platform: Finally, our secure ruggedized Linux platform includes an optional Software Firewall that can block ports and defend against most malware attacks. You cannot ssh into our box, FTP into it, or conduct a denial of service attack. Unlike our competition, we do not use WINDOWS at the core of our product, (No Patch Tuesdays). One MX appliance is all you need to converge Voice, Data, and Video. Session Border Control (Port Mapping) is even STANDARD now on our platform, allowing you to place our MX Platform BEHIND corporate firewalls, while still enabling Tele-workers worldwide, WITHOUT the use of complicated and expensive VPNs.