Thursday, September 30, 2010

Spelling Trouble with 800 Toll Free Vanity Numbers

With the advent of toll free numbers, many companies have found a phone service luxury that provided their business with positive benefits and comfort. But for AT&T, it was a different story. The advantages that they have expected from this number have backfired against the telecommunication giant. This vanity number spat between AT&T and MCI in the early 1990s has remained the most famous communication fiasco of all time.

For the purpose of making collect calls, MCI has introduced their 1-800-COLLECT toll free vanity number to the American public. This newly introduced and easy to remember phone number was a huge success since it offers the much lower collect call rates as compared to that of AT&T. With MCI doing huge advertising and marketing campaigns for their services, AT&T felt that it is time to make their own marketing move in order to stay on track with the competition.

To directly compete with MCI’s new number, AT&T introduced their own vanity 800 number: 1-800-OPERATOR. AT&T sensed that introducing a new collect call number would not be enough. So, they made their own advertising campaigns by offering discounted collect call rates to match that of MCI’s.


Now that both companies are already equipped with phone words and competitive call rates, the war of collect-call service has begun. AT&T did not expect that most of their customers would mistakenly spell out their number as 1-800-OPERATER when dialing. It won’t turn out bad if this error would still redirect the call to AT&T. But, unfortunately, it was directed to its competitor since 1-800-OPERATER was owned by MCI. It was a big loss to AT&T.  MCI, on the other hand, reportedly earned $500,000 for their rival’s mishap.

After AT&T recognized this debacle, the old number was ceased and the new 800 vanity number was announced: 1-800-CALL-ATT.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

ANI and Toll Free Phone Numbers

Using a toll free number to call a telephone equipped with a caller ID feature will result in displaying the local number assigned to the calling number. This is due to the fact that free phone numbers are inbound phone service and their physical line does not exist. It means that this service rides over a working phone number line that the subscriber have. A call made to a 1 800 number will be rerouted to the service provider’s switched based circuit going to the appropriate subscriber.

But, not all toll-free numbers are concealed. FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and the law require that telemarketers should provide a valid caller ID whenever they call a telephone number. Telemarketers can legally accomplish this using a simulated number to appear on the display of the caller ID device of the phone number called. This number can either be the 800 service number itself or a local business number. Such ruling is important to provide a way for the called party to make a return call for inquiry, order or prevent the telemarketer in making further calls.

ANI (Automatic Number Identification) is the term used for the number that is simulated using Inward WATS (Inward Wide Area Telephone Service) or simply 800 phone numbers. ANI is composed of two components namely the information digit and the phone number. It is dissimilar and unrelated to a caller ID service since it can still capture the number on the caller ID device even if call blocking is enabled.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Call Forwarding- Office phone Systems Feature

The best weapon to gain customers and create profits is through proper and good communication services. In a business community communication is indispensable whether you belong to a multinational company across the country or world. A good communication via call forwarding helps keep in touch with affiliates and consumers. An open stream of communication is an essential business survival that’s why virtual PBX system was made to maintain this line of communication in all parts of the world.

The office phone systems provide an interactive atmosphere for business owners. These phone lines are ready to go just plug it and play. This system provides an easy access and support to an active modern day work force. In that manner, businesses can project the image that they have and accommodate all the inquiries of each customer. Good thing about call controller is that it’s so easy to configure with VoIP services you can answer call straightforwardly from your PC. Most companies do meetings and staff in that way they can easily manifest through creating a group of people from other branch of the business to participate in a conference calls using the drop down contact list. For customer care businesses gives their customers a positive impression by simple using a prompt auto attendant service to play messages whenever a call is intercepted, using a PC.


The forwarding is the most flexible thing to use to you and your employees at work any time of the day. A traditional phone system is face off already and seen as not only take up space in the office, but they are also inconvenient to use in a business industry since they require manual installation. Besides, physical phone setups also deliver choppy and unclear communications that sometimes limit the communications of both parties.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Benefits of Internet Fax Services

Many businesses today have already switched to the digital method of sending and receiving fax. This is because when compared to internet fax services, traditional faxing is seen to have greater limitations and maintenance requirements. Companies then found it more advantageous to switch preferences. This paved the way for the popularization of modern faxing technologies. When Internet fax was introduced, business firms realized greater benefits in terms of cost-efficiency and time management.  Moreover, internet fax assisted in increasing productivity and decreasing operation costs.

Online faxing has several helpful features for enterprises. In addition, it is easy to use and less demanding to maintain. Though the Internet, valuable information can be easily sent to a recipient.  Internet faxing only requires a computer and a high speed connection to be fully efficient.  It doesn’t require any extra phone line connection installations because you only need to subscribe with an internet fax service provider and they will provide you a dedicated fax number which you can send fax messages through. Smart and practical, internet faxing is the best way to relay documents today.

The demand for Internet fax services is rapidly growing given the need for cost-cutting and practical business measures. Enterprises are encouraged to try online faxing if they want to boost their performance. Many who have tried internet faxing had been fully satisfied with the results. Again, for emphasis, it is able to increase productivity and provides flexibility for users. It also reduces operational expenses and save a lot of time.

Acquiring an internet fax service is very easy. Just search for a reliable online fax service provider and start evaluating the quality of their service. Check out the provider’s service reviews to know what features they offer. Cross-reference it with your business needs. Finally check the feedbacks and reviews from their clients. This would give you a clue if they really have a good internet fax service.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Standard Phone Services To Vanity Numbers

There is a difference between a standard phone service and vanity numbers. The standard phone service has its limits in entertaining your customers plus it causes problems if you decide to relocate. You will end up getting a new number also you cannot make a long distance business call. That’s why recently any companies that are still using a standard number are falling and already left behind in the competitive business race

Now most top performing companies are using vanity numbers and have shared some common success story. One of the similar things you will find is the fact that they all have simultaneous and open line of communications with the public. It is indeed one of the most effective ways of increasing your revenue, and gaining more customers by seeking their attention through a toll free 800 numbers. This is your tool in marketing your services and products with the easiest measures to implement

Toll free numbers or vanity number makes sense such as 800 numbers it is very popular and commercially used in business world.  Vanity numbers add importance to customer services; especially in today's unstable economy and it utilize the consumers as well as all the prospective clients. The idea of paying out of their own pockets to make a call to a company is very advantageous not just a logical one. It will prevent them to contact another business companies simple because of the phone number that is attached to the business. We encountered recession in this day that’s why every penny counts and must be invested properly. In making calls the cost of the money spent can often be considered an unnecessary task but if its your business then you are offering a risk-free way for consumers to get in touch, with them.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Internet Fax Service and the User Datagram Protocol

Internet faxing is a telephony innovation that enhances the method of sending and receiving of faxes through the internet. This communication enables the exchanging of faxes globally without incurring the high cost of international phone call charges.

The advantage of this modern service is the ability to use different models when broadcasting a toll free internet fax:
  • E-mail to Fax – sending a fax via the e-mail to any fax machines.
  • Web to Fax – sending a fax using a webpage GUI (Graphical User Interface) to any fax machines.
  • Fax to Fax – sending a fax to and from a traditional fax machine by means of the internet.
  • Web to Web – sending a fax to and from a webpage account.
Most of these models either utilize SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) or TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) where faxes can sometimes be delayed due to the design mechanism of these protocols. However, real-time faxing is now being developed using UDP (User Datagram Protocol) instead of the two standard protocols.

However, current UDP developments cannot guarantee the quality and reliability of the transmission due to its on-time delivery orientation and the environment of the internet. High packet and transmission loss of UDP is dependent on the performance of the underlying network. A decline in performance is particularly when it is experiencing too much load. Undesirable results that occur such as data deterioration, duplication and interference will likely have an effect on the quality of the internet fax service.

Further developments like ACR (Adaptive Control and Recovery), buffering, combined rate, control recovering and XOR mechanisms are now being devised to eliminate these problems.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Fax Over Internet for Low Cost Faxing

For the past decade, faxing has greatly evolved by merging with computer, internet and mobile technology. With the use of fax applications and the web, fax transmission has now become much easier, more efficient, and economical. Fax over internet now allows the sending and receiving of faxes globally. An estimate of about million of pages gets faxed all over the world every year with the use of this modern day fax transmission.

Internet fax is also known as IP (Internet Protocol) fax. IP fax uses the same operational concept as the traditional fax machine but instead utilizes the mechanism of the internet whenever it send or receive a document. But, it is not limited to it since IP fax is also capable of sending/receiving a fax that passes through the phone network.

The world of faxing is continuously being developed even if it is already technologically advanced. At present, some of the studies being made are on enhanced protocol, improved transmission, intelligent fax software and IP-enabled internet fax machine.

When compared with a traditional faxing method, the cost of faxing via internet is 50 to 70 percent cheaper when faxing internationally. Moreover, this present day method of faxing is so simple that it can utilize come in the form of an e-mail when broadcasting a fax. This faxing methodology is so flexible that it can be used in different ways: email-to-fax, fax-to-email, computer-to-fax, fax-to-computer and fax-to-fax.

800 toll free providers have now included this faxing capability with an added support for fax-on-demand as a feature of their toll free service in order to meet the growing communication demands of every business.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Virtual PBX System: Crystal Clear Online Communication

Communication is an indispensable business need. Whether you belong to a multinational company that has several branches spread out across the country or across the world; or perhaps a small business that needs to be in touch with affiliates and consumers, an open stream of communication is essential in your survival. A virtual PBX system is a great way to maintain this line of communication.

Those who are unfamiliar to the private branch exchange system typically use physical phone set ups. Traditional phone systems not only take up space in the office, but they are also inconvenient since they require manual installation. In addition, physical phone setups also deliver choppy and unclear communications sometimes due to their limitations.

A PBX system is completely different from phones because it is launched virtually over the Internet. No more wires. No more bulky phones. This system is advantageous for computer-based companies that have existing Internet connection as these are the system’s prerequisites. You will no longer need additional space for phones and spend thousands on them. Compact headsets with microphones will be wonderful yet cheap additions to computers with a private branch exchange system.

Another advantage of a PBX system is that it delivers a clear, integrated form of communication – all under a cheap price. Since the Internet is its highway for the transmission of communication, conversations are bound to be clear and have less interruption. The system also utilizes Microsoft contacts integration so that you could easily get hold of your clients and business partners. More so, all these come at a bargain especially that only International calls are charged extra.

A virtual PBX system is a superior alternative to traditional phone systems indeed. With it, communication is guaranteed to be cheap yet clear; a convenient choice for businesses of whatever size