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FREE EIRCOM LINES – SHOULD I?

gstadmin — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 16:31:26 +0000

Eircom have an offer running at present until the end of February 2013, this offer entails free connection for either a 16 line or 30 line ISDN Circuit, called Fractional Rate (FRA) or Primary Rate ISDN (PRI) Lines. These lines from Eircom normally come at a cost of €3,500 for the installation.

It also comes with a fancy new number (don’t worry , you do retain your existing business phone number) and a block of 100 DDI(Direct Dial Numbers) that you can use to direct calls to specific people quicker.

A “No Brainer” you might say…It may be for a number of businesses, but 1^st a couple of things to bear in mind…

Rental on the 16 channel circuit is :€166.50

Rental on the 30 channel circuit is :€277.06

12 Month Contract – Cease charge applicable

Telephone System Charges – There will be some price implication for adding the FRA/PRI Line to your Telephone System.

Speed of connection – free offer, can expect up to 6 weeks installation lead time.

So we now know how much it costs, we now need to know our existing costs.

ISDN Line ( 2 channels) : €32.51

PSTN Line : € 20.96

Businesses who should look at this offer :

Expanding – You can see the requirement for additional lines due to business expansion

Downsizing- Have existing Primary Rate Line , but do not require the full 30 channels, this normally comes with a €700 fee, this is also waived until February 26^th

8 or more PSTN Lines on your Telephone System

5 or more ISDN Lines (10 Lines) on your Telephone system

For a reliable phone connection for growing business, it is one option to look at. This offer comes to an end on the 26^th February 2013.

Feel free to call us on 021-4300737 should you wish to discuss your options.

GoldStar Telecom –Your Trusted Communications Partner (since 1987)

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Real Value in Technology when Travelling…VOIP and DropBox

gstadmin — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 16:28:54 +0000

It seems that each year when travelling to whatever exotic spot Ericsson-LG bring us to, a flight to Seoul will always be amongst them. Writing
this in Hong Kong airport, I see great value in things I either couldn’t do or did not know how to do, 12 months previously.

There was the 15 PDF documents that needed reviewing prior to arrival, use your laptop I hear you say…?

I decided a different approach, uploaded all documents to dropbox and favourite them on my iPhone. Making a file a favourite on a device,
basically means that you can view it , even without an Internet connection, ie. the file is stored on that devices hard drive. The same should be possible
using Google Docs and or Microsoft SkyDrive. Thus allowing you to review using your smartphone in airplane mode on board your flight(s).

Also a free VOIP phone call prior to this year when travelling, would have meant opening the laptop and using my softphone to make
a call back to the office or to home. This year however with the new iPECS Communicator on my iPhone using the free Airport Wifi here in Hong Kong, meant
a call home took no time at all, and the quality when presented with good Wifi and Broadband Connectivity is excellent. It really is a fantastic tool and one
that I would have no hesitancy in recommending to our customers.

Embrace the technology and see the benefits…especially when travelling…

GoldStar Telecom – Your Trusted Communications Partner.. Since 1987

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Is Social Media Taking Over.. ???

gstadmin — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 16:24:31 +0000

We’ve all been at events, whether conferences, presentations or meetings, where we’ve been asked to ensure our mobile phones are turned off, or in silent mode at least. This was to ensure that the event could run without the interruption of a ringtone, or in some some “amazing” cases , people taking calls during the meeting.

So today, at a great IT@Cork Tech Summit, we were again warned against having our mobiles on for phone calls, yet urged to take them out and tweet about the event using the #techsummit. A prize even on offer for the best tweet of the event from the attendees.

Over the course of some impressive speakers, tweets from the auditorium flashed up on a side screen, showing how we thought the event was going, the goal being to get the event “trending” on twitter, which it easily managed incidentally.

My observation as I tweeted about the event, was that something which we have been warned off for years, the afore mentioned mobile ring tone, I fear may now be replaced if not surpassed , by social media.

For attendees, while tweeting some great statement from a presenter, we will in turn switch off form any ongoing presentation while we’re getting our fingers to behave on the small smartphone keypads. For the presenters , they have the pleasure of looking down and seeing half their audience with their heads bowed towards their shiny screen, some others checking email on laptops etc.

So, interruption of a different kind, yet interruption all the same….

It was clear throughout the tech summit, that social media , and technology actually drive our behaviour…

There are many advantages and benefits from relaying messages from events like today, around the world, and social media is definetly the best tool , but do so, quickly and effectively.

But Is it taking over….??? Will we see a sign like this in lieu of the one above in years to come…?

GoldStar Telecom – Your Trusted Communications Partner

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What is SIP Trunking..?

gstadmin — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 16:21:44 +0000

SIP and SIP Trunking is becoming more and more the standard used by companies like ourselves to show cost savings for businesses of all sizes. This blog examines what is SIP Trunking as many business owners are unaware what exactly it means.

First of all lets get SIP out of the way, SIP is a standard protocol (Session Initiation Protocol) , which is used to transmit Voice and Video over Data (IP) Networks. Trunking is the industry term associated with Telephone Lines. You may also have heard of VOIP, Voice Over Internet Protocol, SIP is a standard that works under this heading.

So putting the 2 together you get a Telephone Line service that is transmitted over an Internet/Data Connection. Up to now, most businesses will have installed Telephone Lines such as PSTN , ISDN and Pri Circuits in their premises from Eircom,O2 etc. SIP Trunking will eventually completely replace these connections as the primary connection servicing the Telecommunication needs of a business. 4

Adoption of SIP Trunks will come from better availability of reliable Internet bandwidth from our domestic ISP’s. Eircom’s E-Fibre roll out will certainly help any business looking to deploy SIP Trunking as an alternative to standrd PSTN and ISDN Lines.

A SIP Trunk can be obtained from many different vendors, although even though the protocol is designed to be common across all variances , this generally is not the case. Each vendor will provide SIP Trunk accounts in different forms and for different prices.

You will find some vendors that will charge a monthly fixed fee for a standard bundle of calls, generally local, National and UK Landline calls, and a certain number of Irish mobile minutes, others will simply go for a pay as you go service with a small service fee depending on the number of lines you require. So when choosing a vendor for SIP Trunks,please contact your Telephone System Supplier/Maintainer for recommendations, as in all cases some are more reliable than others.

The great thing about SIP Trunking, is that once your Internet or Data Connection is adequate, you can support as many lines as you require without having to order new lines and wait for weeks for provision of new services.

In a future blog I will outline what exactly a SIP Trunk can do for your business…

So :SIP Trunks : An Alternative to existing Telephone Lines (Internet Connection dependant)

GoldStar Telecom – Your Trusted Communications Partner  (Since 1987)

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7 Ways SIP Trunking Can Help your Business

gstadmin — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 16:18:21 +0000

Following on from going through what SIP Trunking is, here’s our list of what 7 Ways SIP Trunking can help your business function and communicate better.

1)      Redundancy: When your ISDN/PSTN or PRI Lines fail, this can mean lost revenue for a business, adding a SIP Trunk to your business phone system can ensure downtime for any failure is kept to an absolute minimum. Customers can contact your office and important calls to be made from your company’s team will continue unaffected.

2)      Cost savings: Perhaps the main reason many companies are adding SIP Trunks to their office phone systems. Calls to Local,National and International land lines will be considerably cheaper than what you are paying for these calls at present. You will also be in a position to reduce if not eliminate your line rental charges by switching to SIP Lines.

3)      Port Numbers: Moving Premises..? Have you found that the Telephone exchange your new premises is in, is different from your existing business premises..This drama and hassle has now been removed with the easy option of porting your existing lines to SIP Trunks, allowing you to use your existing number , both for inbound and outbound calls for very little cost compared to the issues you will have trying to do this without SIP Trunks.

4)      Centralize office answering : Has your business 2 or more locations..? Would like to control everything from one location..Well with SIP Trunks and an IP Telephone System, this is easier now than it has ever been. Line rental in satellite offices can be significantly reduced as lines are ported to HQ system, allowing for handling of inbound calls whatever way you wish.

5)      Geographic Numbers : Sell into UK, US ? If you are selling into International markets , many businesses find their calls going unanswered from their Irish numbers. With Sip Trunks we have helped many businesses obtain International numbers , which allows them to present for example UK numbers on their outbound calls as well as handling any inbound calls to this number here in Ireland.

6)      Call Divert: Something which is an issue for many companies, you need your main line forwarded out of hours for support etc.. This generally falls to the PBX or Telephone system provider to handle the call divert on their behalf, alls fine, however Eircom in their wisdom do not allow the originating number to be sent out to the mobile number.

What does this mean?

Basically if customer A rings your office at 6pm when phones are forwarded, the number that will appear on the mobile handset is the office number and not the caller id from Customer A.. with a SIP Trunk, Telephone systems can be programmed to send Customers A number..No more issues of missed calls and not aware of who actually called…

7)      Quick Provisioning – Need lines in a hurry…? With SIP Trunking lines can be provisioned deployed and working within 24 hours if required.

The contents of the blog , are applicable to many countries, but each and every blog is tailored to help Irish Business understand their Telecoms options.

GoldStar Telecom
Your Trusted Communications Partner since 1987

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