Hosted PBX vs IP PBX: The Security Risks

VoIP technology is here to stay, cemented in our future of business telecommunicating. There are 2 types of VoIP phone systems: the hosted PBX and the non-hosted IP PBX. The decision to go with one or the other has many layers and is impacted by your business organization's wants, needs, and IT knowledge. Today i'm going to focus purely on the aspect of security.

Regardless of how much IT knowledge you have, you are aware that being connected to the internet means you are free to connect to foreign hosts such as web sites, email servers, ftp servers, etc. Likewise, foreign hosts are open to connect to you. You probably know viruses, worms, and malicious software exists and that hackers are not just some urban myth. This is why internet and information security is in high demand, and devices such as firewalls are sold by the thousands. So what's this got to do with your phone system?

It's simple, VoIP means you have to use the internet to make your calls and use your advanced features. In the decision to go with a hosted PBX or a locally installed IP PBX, you must be aware that if you are leaning towards a locally installed IP PBX you better know what you are doing when it comes to networking and IT. Much like an improperly secured computer, an improperly secured IP PBX can be compromised by a worm, malicious software, or foreign hacker. The internet criminals of the world can gain control of an improperly secured IP PBX and utilize it to make international calls on your dime, make calls using your caller ID, and in some extreme cases even figure out a way to listen to your calls.

A hosted PBX; however, works differently. Hosted PBX services reside in massive, and highly secured data centers as opposed to your office, and are locked down to prevent any fraudulent activity. Basically, with a hosted PBX service, you do not have to put any thought into protecting your VoIP phone system as it is already done for you. This can be a nice security blanket for those businesses who simply do not have the local IT staff, or the time, to secure their local network from VoIP intruders.

In summary, if you do not have the time or personnel to secure your IP PBX, and are concerned with some of the potential attacks out there, then a hosted PBX service is going to be more attractive when it comes to security. If you have a firewall in place and understand the basics of secure networks, then you may have no problem keeping your IP PBX in house.

I hope this article provides some food for thought for those who are making a decision on a new VoIP phone system, and urge you to contact us with any questions on this topic.

What is a Hosted PBX?

A hosted PBX is a total and permanent replacement for traditional PBX or Key telephone systems which allow businesses to have individual extensions, individual voice mailboxes, auto-attendant, music on hold, and telephones that can perform functions such as hold, transfer, park, conference, and much more. Our hosted PBX service is delivered through your existing IP (Internet Protocol) network directly to intelligent IP phones. What this means is rather than purchasing, installing, and maintaining your own hardware-based PBX phone system, our hosted PBX service allows you to simply plug the IP phone(s) into a local network just like any PC or notebook computer, turn them on, and instantly begin making calls while enjoying every PBX feature in the book. In other words, a hosted PBX is a total PBX replacement without the complexity and various costs that naturally come when trying to install and maintain a PBX system in house. All you have to do is tell us how many phones you need, plug them into any network that is connected to the internet, and dial!

SIP Trunk vs PRI

SIP trunk vs PRI is a key comparison that many businesses are making. In the past, the PRI or Primary Rate ISDN line has been the gold standard in business phone service, that also came along with a gold price and a long-term agreement. For this reason, you will never see a real small business (1 - 10 employees) with a PRI, it just doesn't make alot of sense cost-wise and rarely does a small business have enough of a need for the features that a PRI offers to absorb the cost. That being said, you will find a PRI at virtually every company that has upwards of 20 staff members in one location.

Key PRI features:
- DID (Direct Inward Dial) phone numbers that are pointed directly at an extension, allowing for callers to be routed to specific people, voice menus, or voice mail boxes.
- Digital call service allows for the outgoing caller ID for each person to be set to the same number every time, eliminating the traditional phone service dilemna where line 1 is in use and a call has to be made from line 2 which will then show the world the caller ID of line 2 instead of line 1. The digital service of a PRI allows for the entire company to show the main advertised phone number on every call.

In a nut shell a PRI allows for companies to easily route callers to different employees, departments such as sales or support, voice menus, or even voice mail boxes. This kind of a task would be very messy to try to accomplish using POTS, or plain old telephone service, due to the fact that you cannot have a phone number without a POTS line attached to it whereas with a PRI you can have each phone number following it's own rule and sending callers through any open trunk available on the PRI. The phone number being married down to the copper line is no more.

Enter SIP trunk service, and things only get better! SIP trunk service does EVERYTHING a PRI does along with some very powerful advantages:
1. SIP trunks can be ordered and provisioned one at a time. PRI service is delivered over a T1 copper pair which means you are forced to buy 23 trunks at a time. This means when you step up into a PRI you need to buy a minimum of 23 trunks worth of service, and once you've grown enough to use all 23 trunks, you will be forced to get another PRI and another 23 trunks of service. The ability to add one trunk at a time disappears in the PRI world; however this is not true with SIP trunks. With SIP trunks you can buy 1 at a time, always based on the true number of simultaneous calls you want your business to be able to handle.

2. SIP trunks are not installed on site physically, they are provisioned over existing IP networks and delivered across a WAN. PRI service is delivered over a T1 copper pair which must physically be brought into the suite. This gives SIP trunk service tremendous advantages such as the ability to ring to phones across multiple geographic locations at the same time. You can have a customer service staff that works purely from home dispersed across the country, or IN another country, and they can all receive calls that come in on your customer service number! Think about it, if a company with a PRI loses electricity due to a major storm then they will lose their phone system until the electricity comes back on. SIP trunks are not physically installed on site which means calls can seamlessly route to other locations without missing a single call.

SIP trunk service has now become the gold standard in business phone service and it comes along with better pricing, and the ability to order one at a time, on demand. This allows for even 2 and 3 phone companies to have the same service levels as fortune 1000 companies; while allowing fortune 1000 companies to save boatloads of cash for services that are more flexible, scalable, and redundant. At this point the SIP trunk is here to stay for as long as we can see into the future!

SIP Trunking: VoIP Line Replacement

You may have heard the term SIP trunking or SIP trunk thrown around by tech heads. The fact is it's not a friendly term and most business owners, managers, or decision makers have a clue or care to have a clue what a SIP trunk is. Simply put, a SIP trunk is a VoIP telephone line. It allows for one concurrent phone call to come either in or out of your office.

The reason this VoIP telephone line is called a SIP trunk is because "SIP" stands for Session Initiation Protocol, which is a specific type of VoIP. In essence you could call a SIP trunk a VoIP trunk. Now the word trunk in this case means line; however, the word trunk was invented because there are 2 types of phone line services: analog and digital. There are analog lines which we have all been used to having in our homes and offices where you have an actual copper pair wire and that copper pair wire has just one telephone number that belongs to it. With lines you cannot receive multiple calls on one telephone number because there is only one line that actually belongs to that telephone number. This is why line hunt groups were invented so if line 1 was tied up the phone call would jump to the next line in the group and so on. Now, what is a trunk? The difference between a line and a trunk is that a trunk is digital. It is not associated with a specific telephone number, and it does not come in to your building on a copper pair. It comes into your office via your internet connection. The beauty in this is that lets say you want to move your operations. With a regular phone line you would have to call your common carrier, and schedule a move where the carrier would have to come to the new location and install new copper lines. You'd have to wait for them to come out and then you'd have to pick a very specific day for this all to happen, making it almost impossible to move seamlessly. With a SIP trunk, all you need in the new location is an internet connection and you are all set! The digital world is a better, more flexible world!

So when you hear the word SIP trunk, just think of it as a digital phone line, or a VoIP phone line.

VoIP Service Continues to Dominate

While it's apparent that many industries, businesses, services, and models are suffering during economic and psychological downtimes, VoIP service is not. If this isn't a testament to the fact that VoIP service is the present, and the future, then I don't know what is. Any product or service that can grow through these times, by definition, is a product that adds tremendous value to its end user. It's a simple concept really: growth during what our own president has called a crisis numerous times, indicates a darn good product!

The fact is businesses small, medium, and large, all need VoIP service. Whether it's a SIP trunking service or a hosted PBX, or a virtual office, these services are all going to help the end user tremendously. More business organizations are starting to figure this out, but it is happening slowly and steadily. As with any business technology, decision makers are weary of doing more harm than good, but ultimately, the proof is in the pudding! Business VoIP service continues to grow and business VoIP providers continue to thrive during what's been called the worst economy since the early 80's.

Critical VoIP features: Monitor, Listen, and Coach

The ability to monitor, listen, and coach live phone calls is imperative to any business who wishes to improve the quality at which their team operates. How can a manager or owner possibly know if his or her team is missing opportunities or representing the business in a manner that is just not good for business? How can a manager or owner expect to be able to make a new hire and trust that new hire to deal with customers at the level that is expected without the ability to monitor calls? The answer is pretty simple: it's physically impossible!

Could you imagine if a baseball team all practiced in isolation without being monitored by their coaches? The team would be horrible, and never improve. That is what will happen to your team if you do not monitor it. You can only run your business at the maximum level of efficiency if you have the best tools to operate with. If your business phone system does not allow you to keep control over your team, then it's simply not good enough! Kick it to the curb, put it on ebay, or keep it in a closet for a rainy day, but do your business and your customers a favor, and get some phones that actually allow you to improve your team's operations.

With the advent of VoIP phone systems and the hosted pbx, many businesses are left without this feature and then they realize they've signed some sort of a long-term agreement and can't even upgrade! This is a sure fire way to shoot yourself and your business in the foot. At Xpander, we recognize all of this! It's crystal clear to us. That is why an Xpander VoIP hosted PBX offer these features and more, all without any sort of contract or binding agreement. It's a thing of beauty, and all businesses should enjoy it!

Xpander VoIP Named MyVoipProvider.com Provider of the Month

Xpander Communications recently received MyVoipProvider.com's provider of the month award for March 2009. Xpander Communications is proud to receive this award from such a high profile and independent source. MyVoipProvider.com is an independent Voice Over IP analyst website that examines VoIP phone providers and provides the general market with information and ratings across the VoIP industry. Here is the entire write up: (You may also view the write up on the web here: http://www.myvoipprovider.com/provider_of_the_month/xpandercommunications)

Xpander Communications - Provider of the Month

Xpander Communications offers a comprehensive suite of VoIP phone solutions for businesses only. Our mantra is: "Not just a phone system... A better life for your business" which means we provide whatever businesses need, whenever they need it! A true VIP treatment of our business customers means we focus first on making sure our existing business customers are happy before we invest any energy in bringing on new customers. Xpander has its own software development team in house which allows us to execute our mantra and also allows us to meet the needs of small & medium business, sales centric call centers, customer service based call centers, and medium to large enterprises. What this means in telecom terms is that we provide the “phone lines” with unlimited calling, DID phone numbers, PBX/key telephone system functionality via Hosted PBX, and CRM call center applications that can be added a’la carte.

What are your best features?

* The ability to see who is on/off the phone directly on your telephone screen, even across company locations.
* The ability to set yourself to: Busy, Be Right Back, Away, Out to Lunch, Do not Disturb directly from your phone so the rest of the company can see on their phone or on our web portal if you are available or not. This is especially useful because you can view this information from across company locations.
* The ability to monitor and listen in to live calls as well as enter a “coach” mode which aids in the training of new team members. This can be done from the web so you can literally listen and coach people across locations.
* The ability to record phone calls on the fly, or use a record all mode to record any call you want.
* The ability to setup voice mail boxes that belong to not just 1 person, but groups of people with email notifications going out to the whole group.
* The ability to search through half a year worth of call logs, and click 2 dial phone numbers directly from the web portal.
* The ability to compare organized call statistics on your team members that tallies how many total calls, total talk time, inbound calls, inbound talk time, outbound calls, outbound talk time, with visual rankings over any desired period of time.

Which of your services are you most proud of?

We are most proud of our CUSTOMER services. The ability to make VoIP work in a business environment requires the highest level of customer service the telecommunications world has ever seen. A complete VoIP solution, including a hosted and web enabled multi-location PBX phone system, requires elite customer service at all phases of the customer relationship, it never stops, and Xpander never stops!

What sets you apart from other VoIP Providers?

The fact that we are not just a phone system or phone solution, we are a better life for your business! Our web and software tools that come with our hosted PBX phone system are all designed in house, which means we can literally wrap custom features around our customers until they’ve got everything they’ve ever dreamed of and running at the maximum level of efficiency. We are every bit as much a software company as a VoIP phone company!

What is your best plan? What comes with that plan?

We don’t have confusing plans or up charge for features. If you’re an Xpander VoIP customer, you get it all by default! Unlimited US and Canada calls, along with every feature in the book, with no contracts or commitments. We like to make things very easy for our customers!

Which area do you provide your service to?

We provide phone numbers in the entire 48 contiguous US states along with unlimited calls within the US and Canada. We have customers as far as Nepal, Southeast Asia who want to have an American telephone number and do business with the US and Canada, so in that scenario we are also global. Our VoIP phone network is so good, that even customers half way across the globe experience nothing but the best voice quality.

What advice would you give new VoIP users considering switching from POTS to VoIP?

Do your homework, and don’t go with the cheapest provider. Voice over the internet is a completely different ballgame and requires one of 2 things. Either a very knowledgeable I.T. person on staff or a provider that will bring you aboard in a stepwise manner that promotes quality of service. The best advice I can give is to ask for 3 customer references of companies that have at least 5 telephones in their office location. Speak to them about the installation and service and hear it from the horse’s mouth!

Can you name 3 advancements that greatly enhance VoIP? Or 3 advancements that could/would enhance VoIP?

* An internet router/firewall that is built for VoIP. If you are looking at VoIP, and you have a significant number of phones, you must have an awesome router or firewall that is built for VoIP use.
* A network switch that is built for VoIP use. If you are looking at VoIP, you must have a network switch that was designed to operate with VoIP phones plugged into it.
* Fiber optic and high speed internet lines such as Verizon’s FiOS or the new aDSL2+ technology. Basically, we are all seeing a nationwide boost in internet connections to business offices that are going to allow for literally hundreds of VoIP phones to operate behind just one internet connection.

Also, what are your latest and greatest products?

Stay tuned for this, we are about to release a new version of our software that is going to include features that nobody else has!

Do you have any exclusive promotions for VoIP Review, MVP users?

Yes, currently, for a limited amount of time, we are offering brand new FREE Polycom IP320, IP330, and IP501 VoIP phones, with no contract or commitment required. Contact us for details and mention the VoIP review or My VoIP Provider with your inquiry! This has never been done before, no other provider has ever given away free phones. We feel we need to do something in this economy and this is what we have come up with! Contact us ASAP to capitalize on this.