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Ensure business continuity with
VoIP and CDW |
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Cisco® SPA525G 5-Line
IP Phone |
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| This 5-line business IP phone with enhanced connectivity and media offers a new level of experience for the small business user. |
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| Cisco Unified IP Phone 7942G |
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| A full-featured IP phone designed for wideband audio, this phone meets the needs of workers with significant phone traffic. |
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| HP ProCurve 2610-24-PWR Switch |
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| An easy-to-install, easy-to-manage switch that makes it simple to power wireless access points and deploy VoIP or Unified Communications. |
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| VoIP as part of your business-continuity strategy |
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| Although using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in a business-continuity context isn't that common yet, it's an innovative way of improving employee availability and putting your company on the cutting edge. |
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| "At this point, it's not top-of-mind in planning a business-continuity strategy; that is, people don't often consciously think about improving their business continuity with VoIP, although 25 percent of businesses have implemented VoIP," says David Lemelin, senior analyst for the business markets group at In-Stat, a Scottsdale, Ariz., consultancy. "But it's great for businesses of any size." |
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| Part of the reason, surmises Jon Arnold, principal of J Arnold & Associates, a Toronto-based consultancy with a focus on IP communications, is because landline phone service has been so reliable for such a long time that companies take a relaxed attitude toward VoIP in general. |
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| But those companies are missing the boat, Arnold says. |
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| "Many businesses still believe VoIP is too new and not trustworthy enough to be used in this way, but soon enough, they will make the connection between business continuity and the need to keep communications lines open," he says. "And by extension, they will see that VoIP is a great solution." |
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| VoIP phone systems usually come standard with voice mail, call waiting, three-way calling, caller ID, call blocking, 411 capabilities and automatic redial of the last number called. They also have large address books, color navigation screens, a paging feature, a headset jack and walkie-talkie functionality between handsets. |
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| But in terms of business continuity, the most useful feature of VoIP phones is the find-me/follow-me feature, which allows calls to find the user wherever they are. "Find-me" permits users to forward calls to any location, while "follow-me" allows the user to be reached at whatever numbers he or she specifies, either sequentially or in a preferred order. |
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| Although VoIP phones have plenty of business-continuity-friendly features, some companies may choose to offer softphones as well. Simply put, a softphone consists of a software program that runs on a notebook or desktop, allowing users to make and receive calls through a VoIP connection. |
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| With a softphone, it's possible to talk using VoIP without having a physical phone, although you might need headphones. With a softphone, it's particularly easy to reroute calls. Softphone technology is especially useful in the case of building inaccessibility. |
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| No matter what technology you choose to implement, it pays to think through how you will fit it into your business continuity plan. |
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| It's important to think about how you're going to manage calls in a fashion that is transparent to customers and have a plan for how people will log on, get remote access and ensure that they understand where everybody is in the face of disaster. |
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| That makes it imperative to examine every part of your VoIP system, including how to be effective in delivering services to your clients both on a short- and long-term basis, no matter what the situation. |
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Account Manager
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CDW Leasing
CDW offers four different leasing terms with three end-of-lease options. Leasing specialists are available to assist you with quotes, account information or any questions that you have. You can also take advantage of special lease promotions from top companies such as HP, Microsoft and Cisco. To learn more, contact your CDW account manager today.
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