The Life and Times of Seattle's Small Business Systems Consultant. Articles and advice on small business phone systems, phone and internet services, VoIP, and all things technology related.
Selkowitz Technology | Seattle's small business network and telecom consultant
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- Polycom vs. Konftel – Conference Phones Compared
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Yealink T26p Review
Yealink is a Chinese IP phone manufacturer, fairly new to US shores. Typically I don’t like to be the first to jump on a new manufacturer, but given some good buzz I decided to grab a T26p and take it for a spin with Cbeyond’s Cloud PBX running FreePBX. One cannot help but figure Cisco’s [...]
5 Reasons to Read Your Phone and Internet Service Contract
When businesses sign up for phone and internet service most assume its a straightforward service – but contracts can hide some nasty details which are important to check up front. Contract Term and Renewal Most carriers do require a contract term for service, what varies is what happens at the end of the contract term [...]
What’s new on the Allworx 48x
Allworx just released the new 48x phone system, intended to further drive their product into larger businesses than ever before. The 48x is a major evolution of the 24x, while they look the same in their rack-mountable 1U casing, the insides are far evolved. Note the Allworx isn’t another PC masquerading as a phone system [...]
The Importance of Picking a Brand that Lasts – Microsoft Kills Off Response Point
Back in January of 2008 I wrote a review of the Microsoft Response Point Phone System compared to more established products. One of my concerns about the product was long term support. Phone systems ideally are something a business will have for a decade, so you want to purchase a system that will be supported [...]
Shopping For Business VoIP Service
Given the economy and savings that VoIP offers, its not surprising that so many businesses are looking at Voice Over IP phone service. But VoIP isn’t like traditional phone service – here’s a few things to know when you go shopping. The first step is making sure your internet access is good enough for VoIP. [...]
7 New Things to Love About Allworx 7.1
Allworx System Software 7.1 release for the Allworx 6x, 10x and 24x phone systems just came out, here’s 7 new things to love in 7.1: Headset pickup/hangup: also known as “EHS” or electronic hook switch, this lets you pickup and hangup calls from a cordless headset without a lifter. Unlike many solutions no special cord [...]
iAllworx Integrates the Office with Mobile Phones
iAllworx is a new iPhone/iPod Touch application for use with Allworx phone systems and is a truly groundbreaking new integration application. iAllworx allows you to change your Presence, manage voicemail, and see conferences all from your iPhone. Presence management – presence is where you are or what you’re doing. Depending on presence, calls can be [...]
Clear WiMax Comes to Seattle, Great for VoIP
Clear (formerly Clearwire) has just released their new 4G network in Seattle, after a few weeks testing it all over town, I’m very pleased. Most people are now familiar with 3G (EVDO) which is typically expensive and slow. 4G from Clear removes both concerns as its very reasonably priced and fast – it may be [...]
Talkswitch Intros the New 350i and 550i
Talkswitch just today announced the new 350i and 550i phones – and I’m happy to say we’re first on the block with a review since we’ve had them for a few days now! These phones are Talkswitch’s second generation IP phones and definitely improved from the quite good first generation. Both phones are a step [...]
Phone Disaster Planning
With all the talk locally about the possibility of the Green River flooding in the Kent/Auburn area, I figure its a great time to address disaster planning regarding business phones. Even if your office is up out of the valley floor you may have disruptions due to phone/internet services which route through flood areas, power [...]