The event was a success with many visitors arriving during the day at the wonderful Impact Conferencing Centre, Sycamore Avenue, Burnley where we met lots of interesting people, both visitors and fellow exhibitors.

Expos are great for getting your business name ‘out there’ and showcasing who you are and what differs you from the crowd. On this occasion we promoted our Horizon Hosted Telephone System with many people showing interest in the product especially with the wealth of features that you can benefit from:

• Features you can easily control
• One number anywhere
• Low call costs or free calls (bundle options)
• Flexible working
• Business continuity
• Call recording
• and much more

Let’s do more business together in Lancashire.

We look forward to exhibiting at more events throughout the year.

The post Burnley Lovelocalexpo appeared first on Comspec IT Solutions.

Having established the company in 2007 we have seen many changes in both the IT and Telecoms market but also in the way customers work.

Back in 2007 Neil Thompson set about contacting potential customers who wanted a more friendly approach and someone willing to listen to  their problems and not only that, to act upon them. Having that caring approach instilled confidence and that Comspec actually heard what the customer was saying. Problems were fixed, solutions provided but this wasn’t really enough for both supplier and customer as firefighting was costly and downtime was a pain to the customer.

So what was the solution?

In 2008 we decided that the way forward was automation, what is that you may ask? In simple terms all systems are managed over the cloud by installing remote agents on the devices such as servers and desktops. This meant that we could offer support at a reduced cost as we monitor and support devices from any location. Alerts were sent when monitors breached, this meant we could often deal with the issue before it became a issue. Problems can equate to downtime and even loss of business for an hour or two, sometimes longer.

This vision is still the forefront of what we do today, monitor, manage and act.

During service reviews it became apparent that our customers were frustrated by their telecoms provider both in terms of bills and who to contact. We went away and sought the best telcos in terms of service and reliability and offered those as an additional service such as VoIP and SIP Trunks.

What impact did this have on our customers?

Firstly it meant they knew exactly who to contact and not be kept waiting in a telephone queue for an hour waiting to speak to someone. It does make life easy knowing you have one direct telephone number to call if you have problems or a simple query.

In a nutshell we have made lives a lot easier and simplified process and automated where we can.

Win-Win for us and our customers everyone is happy!

The post 10 year anniversary appeared first on Comspec IT Solutions.

There are many reasons why people have migrated to a hosted platform, here are just a few.

Reliability

Lessons have been learned over the years of how best to implement VoIP. The early adopters soon found out that just plugging a VoIP handset into the customer’s local network caused many problems as both the broadband (internet) and traffic was a major factor in complaints of quality. With the increase of high speed fibre internet connections VoIP has become more reliable but again it depends on the ISP (internet service provider). If the ‘line’ suffers jitter and has latency issues these can affect the quality of the VoIP call. Always consult the hosting telephony company first as they should be able to offer advice and possible suggest a quality broadband connection. At Comspec one of our suppliers provides broadband that plugs direct into the hosted telephony system for an assured service.

Scalability

At Comspec we are often asked “We may employ more staff in the coming years, what happens if we need more telephones?” The simple answer is you can add extensions and handsets as the system will grow with your business. Of course this can work in reverse by downscaling anytime by removing the unwanted extensions. This could apply to those businesses with seasonal demands.

Control

With most hosted telephony systems you are in control of how the system is setup. You should be given access to a web based portal where you can login and administer the system yourself, of course you may not want this in fear of doing something wrong and will normally appoint someone to do this for you, for example the telecoms company you purchased this from. At Comspec we can manage this for you in our Horizon portal.

Features

Most VoIP systems are feature rich with hunt groups, auto attendant, call queues and voice mail to name a few. Always ask which features are included and what is extra as an add-on.

Business Continuity

We have all experienced internet failures when the broadband goes off, sometimes for hours. The benefit of a hosted system is that you can easily redirect your calls elsewhere if the extension isn’t picked up or even ‘pair’ your extension with your mobile phone. This feature is also known as ‘follow me’. Should a disaster happen and you have fire or flood, handsets can be deployed at another location to get you up and running with little disruption.

Cost

We’ve added cost last because most decision makers look at price first where in fact they should look at all the above first before deciding on which hosted system to go for. There are cheap offerings out there as telecoms companies try to attract you, just be aware that their systems may not be as rock solid as one which may cost a few £ more. Weigh up the risk – losing calls and customers or staying ahead of the competition and sounding professional. We only get one chance and a one bad customer experience could cost your business dearly.

Give us a call on 01204 898055 and learn about our Horizon hosted solution run on the renowned Broadsoft platform.

The post VoIP appeared first on Comspec IT Solutions.