To begin you will start with the obvious.

Check invoices for errors
This is so obvious that it is sometimes overlooked. It is quite common for telecommunication invoices to have errors. These errors could be as simple as paying above the cost of a contracted service, to as complex as out right fraud. The fraud though is not done by your carrier, but via third-billing charges of others.

Each and every month those invoices need to be checked and audited. A whole business has risen due to the errors that occur on invoices, but many small businesses won’t have enough savings to hire them. It may still be a good idea to have a expert professional come in once a year to assist in the review.

Some common errors include:
• Services invoiced at an incorrect rate.
• Services that have been disconnected, but still being invoiced.
• Incorrect Taxes and Service Fees.
• Third-Party Billing Charges.

Check the Cellular Invoice
Don’t forget to look at your cellular invoices. Do you use Informational Services (the Internet) on your cell phone? Many of the providers charge a huge fee this service. Evaluate the usage. Is it worth the cost? Can you do without?

Are you paying for a Text Messaging plan, but never use it? Or worst are you texting, but don’t have a plan? It doesn’t take long for a few text messages a day to create a huge invoice for text messaging if you aren’t already in a plan.

Depending on how many handsets you have on your plan, if you are playing insurance, it could actually cost more then replacing a handset at cost.

Review the contracts
It’s not uncommon for small businesses to request services and after the end of the contract period a carrier will renew at the same rate. If you negotiate your contact, it’s possible that there may be a better rate. Or at worst you never negotiated a contract and you are being charged the per-month cost of services. These rates could be as much as 60% more than having a term commitment.

Even if you are in a long-term commitment, it could be to your advantage to periodically review with your service provider’s account manager to see if you may be able to lower your rates.

During a time when the economy is slow, as it currently is, is a good time to look at renegotiate a long term contract or begin negotiations on one that will soon be expiring.

Consider alternatives
Technology changes every day, and something that was costly or impossible for a small business to do in the past may be available today. By using the Internet, it’s now possible to do Video Conferencing with the standard computer equipment on your desk, when in the past you needed specialized equipment.

To help with the costs of Long-Distance telephone calls, you can use the Internet and VoIP for calls. There’s also the possibly of using secure Instant Messaging and email instead of placing a telephone call.

There are a number of free services that you can use for Directory Assistance instead of 411, which usually has a high cost. 800 Free411 and 800 Goog411 are two of these free services. At worst you may have to listen to a short advertisement before getting the number.

Create a Technology Policy
Unfortunately some of the largest waste come from employees misusing or abusing office technology. This could be anything from using the Internet to do personal shopping on company time, to taking personal calls using the company’s Toll-free number, to opening the company to unauthorized data collection companies or the employee spending a good deal of the day on social networks such as FaceBook, MySpace or Twitter or Instant Messaging (IM).

It’s important to have a technology policy in place and have your employees understand and adhere to it. Even the use of social networks and can be used to benefit the company. This can be addressed in the policy. Since technology is always changing, the policy may need to be addressed a few times each year.

© 2007-2009 Steven G. Atkinson – All Rights Reserved

The threats to a VoIP system are some of the same ones that affect any IP network. Others are unique to voice communications. Major threats include:
• A virus or worm can be introduced to the network and crash the VoIP servers or gateways

• A denial of service attack can overwhelm the network, making it unusable

• A hacker can access the call server to listen in to, record, or disrupt calls

• A hacker can get access to services that are supposed to be restricted

• Hackers can access the trunk gateway to the PSTN and make unauthorized toll calls

• A hacker who accesses the call server can register “rogue” IP phones, which can then use the company’s VoIP services

A related problem is VoIP spam or VoIP Phishing. A replicated voice messages could be created that could be used for purposes, such as obtaining personal information. People trust the telephone more than a do with a computer and email and are more likely to offer important information on the phone.

Does this mean you shouldn’t consider VoIP or move to it? There are cases where money can be saved by using VoIP technology.

Deploying VoIP without looking at the security concerns could be cause a major problem within your business with costly outages and financial lost.

© 2006-2007 Steven G. Atkinson – All Rights Reserved

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Steven G. Atkinson is the author of the book Technology Tips for Small Business. The book is an informational source for Small Business to better understand the technology they use everyday. More about the book Technology Tips for Small Business can be found at tt4sb.com.

How robust is your network?
With VoIP network traffic will be increased. Both the internal network, also term Intranet, and the external network need to be addressed. If you are experiencing slow time with your present network, when moving to VoIP the network will need to be upgraded as well. The network needs to be using data switches and not older hubs.

What is the speed of your connection to the Internet?
Many small businesses use DSL or Cable Modems to connect to the Internet. While these services are idea for normal Internet traffic, in most cases VoIP will require more bandwidth.

How are you going to power the phones?
Many telephone systems deliver power to the telephone sets via the cable from the control unit. VoIP services may not do this. The telephone set may need to be powered by bulky transformers at the desk. Wile it is possible fo VoIP telephones to be powered through the cabling plan, you will need Power Over Ethernet (POE) switches. New hardware would need to be purchased or use the bulky transformers.

What are the plans for power failure?
Older telephone systems may have battery backup on the central unit so that during power failures the telephone will continue to work for a determined period of time . In VoIP systems you need to be sure that the power to the telephone set as well as the network equipment has backup power.

What telephone number will you get?
Is it important for you business to have a local number? Some providers may not be able to offer to you a local telephone number. They also may not be able to transfer your current telephone number to their service.

Will you be paying for unused services?
If you have a maintenance contracts on your present system or services from a carrier? How long before the contract ends? Can you cancel service without penalties? Otherwise you could be paying for two systems.

Asking these questions as part of the decision making process will help make the transition easier. It’s also a good idea to test the service before finalizing the process. If a vendor can’t make a test telephone work to your satisfaction, they probably will not be able to have the full system satisfy you.

My recommendation to anyone, whether it’s a small to mid-size business, or one that is classified as an Enterprise business is this simple approach.

Plan, Evaluate, Plan, Test, Plan, Implement.

© 2006-2007 Steven G. Atkinson – All rights reserved – Technology Tips for Small

The computer needs to be on to use VoIP. This would depend on what type of VoIP telephone you are using. If you are using a soft-phone that resides on the computer that is true, but if you have a VoIP adapter, the calls do not go through your computer. It is possible that the call may go through a VoIP server and that would need to always be on.

VoIP cannot be used in conjuction with your present telephones. Even in larger businesses a combined traditional, VoIP solution is usually the best. Fax machines will require the use of a VoIP adapter, which can also be used with any normal telephone. A fax machine still may not work with VoIP for other technical resaons. If using a PBX or Key system digital phone system, VoIP can be used to connect to the world.

You can keep your present telephone number. This may or may not be true. There are many factors involved in porting a telephone number from one type of service to another. While it may be able to happen, many times it will not be easy nor smooth.

Any Internet connection will work. Don’t expect VoIP to work over a dial-up connection. Even connections in hotels or public WiFi spots may not be configured with enough bandwidth to carry all of the IP telephone calls that may be carried on them. Even in the office a DSL or Cable connection may not be enough depending on the number of users that using the telephone at the same time.

© 2006 Steven G. Atkinson – All rights reserved – tt4sb.com

What is VoIP?

The Internet has established a lot of new things. Companies no longer have to send printed catalogs to customers. These can be put on-line at websites. One of the biggest advantages to this is that it’ll never be out of date. Products can be added or removed as needed and price changes as well.

With this technology another new product has come onto the market. That is Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP.

But what is VoIP?

The telephony standard uses what is termed circuit switched technology. That is when a telephone call is made there is a direct and dedicated path from one caller to another. The path is reserved for the entire conversation.

VoIP treats the voice as data, by turning the words into tiny digital packets of information. Those packets are transmitted over the data network. When received at the other end, the data is returned to audio that can be heard.

Voice IP is not the same as Data IP. In Data communications, such as sending an email, the data may go to a server to be compiled before delivering to the user. The data packets are received and assembled. If one happens to be missing or is corrupted there is a request to resend.

Voice is a real time event. IP Packets are assembled as they are received. The packets received out of sequence are not used. Because of this, there could be missing or delayed information. In technical terms, latency and jitter. To the ear it may be unusable speech.

© 2006-2007 Steven G. Atkinson – All Rights Reserved

*******
Steven G. Atkinson is the author of the book Technology Tips for Small Business. The book is an informational source for Small Business to better understand the technology they use everyday. More about the book Technology Tips for Small Business can be found at tt4sb.com.

The first work day after the Thanksgiving holiday is one the busiest day for on-line shopping.

Why is this?

This is the day when those who don’t have Internet access or even High-Speed Internet access at home will log onto on-line stores to get he best and earliest deals.

Do you have an Internet Policy?

Some employees may spend the majority of that day on-line doing their shopping while you are paying them. By having a policy in place they will be know what is expected of them.

It could be a nice employee perk to allow them some time to do their shopping. Either allow them a set time period while they are on the clock or let them use the company’s Internet while on their time. A little good will towards the employee goes a long way.

Ignoring the potential problem, will only create more problems. If every computer on your system is doing heavy Internet shopping, it could be putting a lot of burden on your system causing slow-downs on the system. Are you using VoIP? The added network traffic for shopping could be causing a problem with voice communications.

Being aware of a problem could keep you from having bigger problems.

© 2007 Steven G. Atkinson – All Rights Reserved

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Steven G. Atkinson is the author of the book – Technology Tips for Small Business. For more information on the book visit the site for for book – Technology Tips for Small Business.

1) Broadband – Everyday more resources are becoming available on the World Wide Web. This Web Log is just one example. A Broadband connection keeps you from waiting on slow page downloads. It is important for the office, but depending on your business, having it at home may be just as important.

2) Internet banking – Nearly all banks now offer a way to do your banking on the Internet. Transfer money between accounts or check balances. These are all less time consuming then going to your neighborhood bank. You can use it to make payments and accept on-line payments as while.

3) Internet PR – With the advent of the concept of keywords used by search engines, the possible need for an Internet PR firm may be helpful to have those looking for services that you provide to be sent to your website and not another’s.

4) Internet telephony or VoIP – The nature of voice
Communications is changing. Many VoIP providers are offering long distance calls for nearly nothing. It’s just a matter of converting the analog audio signals to digital data and using the Internet connection. However you do need to keep an eye on the services, what today may be free may cost tomorrow, due to changes in the telecommunication environment and other requirements.

5) Online networking – The Internet has made it easy to network with like-minded business people. There may be nothing better than the face-to-face meeting, but the Internet can be used to quickly obtain potential leads and other information. It’s a good place to help build solid business relationships.

6) On-demand software – Small business owners work from many locations. Software once was delivered on a desk or CD. Now updates can be downloaded from the Internet. Even the software itself can be. Some can even be downloaded and used free of charge. You can store data in on-line secured storage for access no matter where you may be.

7) Podcasting – Do you spend a significant amount of time commuting, running, or in the gym? It could be time to make use of that time by listening to podcasts. The term podcast refers to both the content (i.e. multimedia files such as MP3 music files) and delivery mechanism (via Internet to mobile device such as iPod or PC). You can use Podcasts as a great way to learn or a way of communicating with your prospects and customers.

8) Really Simple Syndication (RSS) – Thousands of pages of valuable news, views, tips and tricks are published everyday. Instead of having to remember your favorite website for information, you can gave them deliver the information to you. That’s what RSS feeds achieve. All you need is a newsreader.

9) Smartphones – This is an electronic handheld device that integrates mobile phone, personal organizer and Internet access tools into one. While often more expensive than traditional cellphones, they do offer flexibility. These could save you a lot of time by allowing you to be available while not in the office.

10) Wi-Fi connects you on the move – Many of the same reason you need Broadband you may also need Wi-Fi. If your office is equipped with a Wi-Fi connection, it’s just a matter of firing up your laptop and you can begin work. Or you may have a vendor coming from miles away and he has a Wi-Fi connected laptop. He can get online and receive the information you may need immediately instead of waiting. Also for small fee, even at time for free, you may be able to do work from major coffee shops and other meeting places.

© 2006 Steven G. Atkinson – All rights reserved – tt4sb.com