Technology
Prialto Voice – A Voice over IP Solution
You’ve probably heard buzzwords such as VoIP, IP PBX, and IP telephony, but what is it? How can you benefit from it? Doing all the necessary research to understand it all can be daunting. And after that, performing a cost-benefit analysis of going from a “Plain Old Telephone Service,” or POTS system, to a Voice over IP telephony system can be complicated. The inputs are so many, and some of them are not readily measurable in dollars. At Prialto, we’re using VoIP exclusively, and actually, our business wouldn’t be viable without VoIP - proof positive of its cost efficiency.
Now, how can VoIP save your organization money? Read on to find out more.
Reduce Your Phone Bill
Saving on phone bills is the most obvious benefit of using a VoIP phone system. Typically, the biggest savings can be realized if your organization has many branches or if you have people working from home or on the road. For companies who have employees traveling abroad, the cost savings can be substantial. Prialto can quickly help you analyze how VoIP could benefit your organization by simply looking at your monthly phone bill.
Less Infrastructure to Maintain, Simpler to Administer, and More Scalable
Because VoIP systems run on normal servers, it is typically less expensive to deploy VoIP than POTS equipment, and that’s even true when it comes to a small office of 1-5 people. And if additional offices need to be connected to the same “corporate” phone system, that can be done quickly and easily too, allowing companies to grow without incurring large expenses for infrastructure.
Another benefit is that because there are less specialized systems to maintain, there are fewer things that can go wrong and it reduces the need for system administrators at each site. Additionally, with fewer machines to maintain, the fewer maintenance contracts are needed.
Because VoIP phones run on the same type of network as regular computers, there’s no need for additional wiring for phones. Again, this means less infrastructure components to maintain and troubleshoot. Lastly, most things related to extensions or phones can be administered by the user, which reduces the need for IT staff.
Cut Costs Using Alternative Phones
A VoIP system allows users to make calls from their computers. These so-called “softphones” are cheaper and work just as well as a regular desk phone. However, if a person or organization prefers to use a standard desk phone, a nice VoIP phone is fairly inexpensive, starting around $100. The main difference from a user’s perspective between a VoIP phone and a POTS phone is that VoIP phones offer many more options and more flexibility. › Continue reading
Zimbra Desktop: Achieve greater flexibility with your email
Local access to your Prialto/Zimbra email and calendar is moving closer to production release.
Zimbra Desktop is a desktop email client alternative to Outlook. One of the biggest benefits of Zimbra Desktop is that it runs on more than just Windows. Versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux are available, and the application looks exactly the same on all systems. Moreover, if you have been using the Prialto Collaboration Suite (Prialto CS) webmail, you will instantly recognize the layout and design in the Zimbra Desktop as it’s nearly identical, giving you the best of both worlds!
Zimbra Desktop is now out of Beta and will soon be released as General Availability. The latest version, 1.0 RC1, is a feature-complete product and is now available for download at Zimbra.com.
Zimbra Desktop benefits at a glance:
* Offline email access
* Write emails when offline and send as soon as you have an Internet connection
* Same great search capabilities as with the webmail version
* Gather external email accounts, such as Gmail, in the same place, and access them offline too
* Access your documents and briefcase while offline
Prialto’s corporate email solution, Prialto CS, is based on the Zimbra platform, which provides our members with the ability to manage their email and calendar from any computer or mobile device with its online capability. And now with the offline version, users will have the ability to access their email, calendar, contacts, and documents on their computer even when not connected to the Internet (e.g. during a flight) - creating even greater flexibility for our members.
Travel Tips
It often comes as a shock to receive your phone charges after using it during an international trip. That may be because your international data usage is not covered under your existing data plan.
For all iPhone users out there, the following tips from AT&T offers ways to minimize data charges when traveling outside the U.S.:
INTERNATIONAL DATA USAGE TIPS
Turn Data Roaming “OFF”: Be sure to download and install the latest version of iPhone software from iTunes. By default the setting for international data roaming will be in the “OFF” position.
– To turn data roaming “ON/OFF” tap on Settings>General>Network>Data Roaming
Utilize WiFi Instead of 3G/GPRS/EDGE: WiFi is available in many international airports, hotels and restaurants to browse the Web or check email.
Turn Fetch New Data “Off”: Check email and sync contacts and calendars manually instead of having the data pushed to your iPhone automatically. This way you can control the flow of data coming to your iPhone.
– To turn off the Auto-Check functionality tap on Settings>Fetch New Data Change Push to “OFF” and Select to Fetch Manually
Consider Purchasing an International Data Package: If you are traveling outside the U.S., purchasing a Data Global Plan will significantly reduce the cost of using data abroad.
Reset the Usage Tracker to Zero: When you arrive overseas access the usage tracker in the general settings menu and select reset statistics. This will enable you to track your estimated data usage.
– To reset Usage Tracker to Zero tap on Settings>General>Usage>Reset
From iPhone Travel Tips:
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/iphone-travel-tips.jsp
How to create a secure password
One of our new members recently told us that prior to becoming a Prialto member, about a year ago, she had one of her passwords compromised. This was a password that she used for multiple online accounts containing sensitive personal data, such as banking information. As you can imagine, it was a nightmare for her. Luckily, the breach of her accounts didn’t lead to anything too serious, although it could have.
We learned that the member had been using a password that was easy to figure out. And to make matters worse, she had been using a single password for most everything, a common mistake made by many people. Therefore, I decided to write a blog article for our members about how to create a secure password that is hard for others to guess or crack.
Prialto takes its members’ security and privacy very seriously. But from conversations with members, we know that few create strong passwords. A common reaction to our password policy is, “Wow, that’s complicated. Can you make it a bit easier?”
Well, creating a good password is actually a lot simpler than you think. Here’s how: › Continue reading
Enterprise class technology for small businesses
Many sole proprietors and small businesses struggle to find the right technology solutions. Several questions arise: what email system to use; how to share documents; how to backup data; what type of phones to select.
A lot of small companies don’t have the time, expertise, or willingness to deal with technology. After all, it’s not their core business; yet, it’s a complete necessity for doing business today.
In today’s fast-paced business environment, “push email” on your mobile device is critical to working “anywhere” and collaborating with people, teams, and clients from around the world. Furthermore, everyone realizes the need for backing up email and data. So, when you’re a consultant specializing in, let’s say, real estate marketing, how do you get yourself and four other business partners a domain, an email system, push-email, and an automated and reliable backup of your emails? Here’s how.