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Looking for reliable IT support and solutions in Rochester, New York? Discover IT Insights, a leading business IT firm offering end-to-end technology solutions for businesses.
Streamline your IT Support with Easy Onboarding
By Christopher Bierasinski, VP of Business Development
IT Insights of Rochester is a local information technology managed service provider (MSP). They offer business technology solutions in Rochester and beyond. Learn more about IT Insights’ innovative approach to IT MSP onboarding.
Embarking on a partnership with an IT MSP has many benefits. But, finding the right IT MSP is crucial. That starts with a streamlined onboarding process that allows the MSP to work as an extension of your team.
At IT Insights, we strive to make your transition to our services effortless and rewarding. Let’s dive into the aspects of our onboarding process that set us apart from other providers.
THE IT ONBOARDING PROCESS
Top-To-Bottom Analysis IT Onboarding Policy
IT Insights’ client onboarding program leaves no stone unturned when understanding your organization’s IT environment. Our IT support onboarding process begins with a comprehensive analysis of your entire infrastructure. We will review and document every detail of system operations, applications, processes, and data.
Our team must also take the time to understand your business objectives, industry-specific requirements, and user needs. This thoroughness during onboarding ensures that we comprehensively understand your IT landscape and needs. This enables our IT support specialists to provide tailored solutions and proactive support.
IT Insights’ team will gain a clear understanding of your business and current state. We will then create a tailored solution to tackle any IT issues and make recommendations to suit your requirements. This can include comprehensive managed IT services, network and system services, cybersecurity enhancements, or disaster recovery solutions.
With this approach, IT Insights’ solutions will meet your current needs while being scaleable as your business grows.
IT SUPPORT ONBOARDING MADE EASY
Our goal is to make onboarding IT Insights as your MSP a breeze. We firmly believe that transitioning should not burden you or add new responsibilities. Our skilled IT professionals handle as much of the transfer process as possible. This approach minimizes your involvement and allows you to focus on your core business operations. From data migration to system configurations, we take care of everything, making the transition seamless and stress-free. Here’s how we do that.
IT Onboarding Assessments: A Detail-Oriented Approach
During onboarding, nothing in your IT environment is overlooked. We go above and beyond to meticulously scrub every aspect of your systems, network, and infrastructure. By conducting thorough audits and assessments, we will learn everything there is to know about your technology landscape. We guarantee that we will understand every detail better than your previous IT company. This will enable us to create the most comprehensive and effective solutions for your requirements.
Proactive Communication and Collaboration
Communication and collaboration are the cornerstones of a successful onboarding experience.
IT Insights provides regular updates, scheduled progress reports, and a project timeline to inform you at every step in the process. We actively engage with your team to understand all stakeholders’ needs and promptly implement solutions to address all concerns swiftly and knowledgeably. By fostering a collaborative relationship, we work together as partners to achieve your goals and drive ongoing success.
IT Support and Training
To maximize the benefit of working with trained IT professionals, empowering your team to leverage new tools and processes is crucial. That’s why we provide comprehensive IT support training for you and your team as part of onboarding.
Our comprehensive training sessions and workshops will help your team better understand new systems, technologies, and software. As a seasoned professional guides them step-by-step through the transition, your employees will learn everything they need to know to do their jobs effectively and efficiently. Plus, the IT Insights support team is available on an ongoing basis to answer any questions or address issues that may arise.
WHAT TO EXPECT AFTER ONBOARDING
Our commitment to your success continues after the onboarding process. It’s just the beginning of a long-term strategic partnership to help you achieve your organizational objectives and stay on top of the ever-evolving tech landscape. After successfully implementing recommended services, IT Insights will:
- Provide continuous monitoring and reporting
- Proactively identify areas for improvement
- Recommend innovative IT solutions
Transparency and Ownership
Transparency and ownership are among IT Insights’ core principles. Unlike other IT MSPs, when you work with IT Insights, you retain complete control of your assets. Your data, systems, software, and hardware are all yours, and so is the accompanying documentation. If, for any reason, you decide to transition away from IT Insights as your IT support and service provider, you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing that you own all infrastructure and components. We commit to this because we believe that unwavering ownership builds trust and ensures transparency, making IT Insights a partner you can trust.
Everything You Need to Know About Business VoIP Phone Systems and the Sunset of Landline Calling
If you have considered converting your business’s telephone voice over IP (VoIP), there are several reasons it makes sense to do so sooner than later. VoIP offers several benefits not available with traditional landlines or analog phone lines. Another factor to consider is that, as of August 2022, telephone providers can deactivate and raise prices on plain old telephone service (POTS).
Keep reading to understand what the sunset of POTS landline networks means and why this could be the time to switch to a business VoIP system.
POTS Lines: Why it’s Time to Find a Replacement
WHY ARE POTS LINE GOING AWAY?
Are you wondering, “What is a POTS line?”
Check out this post from our partner Ooma explaining everything you need to know.
If you think the sunsetting of landline phone networks has Alexander Graham Bell spinning in his grave, a POTS replacement could be long overdue. The first POTS networks were introduced in the late 19th century. For over a hundred years, POTS phone systems remained the primary means of telecommunication. No doubt, POTS lines were a revolutionary technology that allowed people to make long-distance calls without sending a telegram or relying on operators.
As telephone technology advanced, POTS lines evolved to support features such as call waiting, caller ID, and voicemail. As we moved into the digital age, more and more businesses and consumers ditched landline phones altogether as cell phones and internet-based communication tools became available to the general public.
This shift has had a profound impact on the telecommunications industry.
BYE, BYE LANDLINE
Even for those still clutching their landlines and answering machines, POTS lines going away is a fact. Soon, analog phones will be entirely replaced by digital phone systems and cloud VoIP phone systems. Telecommunications companies are no longer required to maintain POTS systems. And, for many, landline revenues don’t support reinvestment. Instead, they now focus on developing and deploying new technologies, like 5G networks and internet-based communication tools.
Keep reading to learn what you need to know about replacing your landline telephone with a voice-over IP number.
VoIP for Business: Why It Makes Sense
WHAT IS VOIP AND HOW DOES VOIP CALLING WORK?
VoIP entered the marketplace in the 90s as a tiny player with a big idea. Thirty years later, VoIP is a dominant system with a significant footprint. Many more businesses are adopting this technology for its ease of use and management, price point, and scalability.
Using your internet connection and internal network, VoIP phone systems pass all your voice traffic through the internet to make calls. To the end user, VoIP calling functions in the exact same way as POTS analog phone lines.
5 REASONS TO CONSIDER CONVERTING TO VoIP FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
While we work with all sizes and types of businesses to implement VoIP solutions, the fastest-growing sector of business VoIP phone systems are small businesses. Large and enterprise businesses have relied on VoIP for decades because it is easily scalable and provides advanced telecommunication features. In the past, VoIP phone systems for small businesses weren’t practical, but that isn’t the case today. Transitioning to a VoIP phone system is probably more realistic than you think.
Here are a few VoIP benefits you may not have considered:
VoIP vs. POTS
1. It’s more affordable.
In most cases, implementing VoIP systems is more economical than traditional phone systems. In fact, pricing is a major reason IT Insights’ clients switch to a VoIP system. Pricing varies based on the needed solution and specific case. The main driver of VoIP phone system cost is the number of users, calling platform features, and network support enhancements (if needed). Most, if not all, VoIP providers will provide unlimited local and long-distance calls. In the past three years, we have not had a VoIP vs. POTS quote that wasn’t an improvement for the client. You might be surprised that hardware often isn’t a significant cost pain point.
Will my old phones work with VoIP calling?
That depends. Sometimes, phone systems are universal and do not need replacement. In other cases, your VoIP provider may require specific phones. However, digital phone systems are still more cost-effective than traditional methods, even with the additional cost of phone purchases or rentals.
2. VoIP is user-friendly and scalable.
Not all phone systems are created equal. The average user only cares if they can pick up the phone and speak to another person.
- Can they make and receive calls?
- Is it easy to check voicemail?
- How about transferring? Is it a hassle or easy and intuitive?
But businesses and managers might also want more features.
- Want to change which phone rings when you dial an extension?
- Need to add seats when user counts change?
- Can you easily forward calls to an after-hours extension or cellphone?
You can do all this and more with VoIP calling. Plus, customer support is significantly better and can be self-managed. You can make changes through the platform’s management portal (without being an IT expert) or call support and have them fix it for free!
Scalability and accessibility are huge factors for many businesses. As mentioned, adding and removing seats by yourself or using customer support is very easy. You can also set up phone trees, out-of-office and holiday closure automations, and manage voicemail through desktop and mobile applications. You can even seamlessly transition calls to your mobile device to take calls on the way to meetings or when working remotely and get notified via email when you have a new message. Anything you associate with phones, VoIP can do. Plus more, all while driving down costs, reducing infrastructure footprint, and providing a universal business solution.
3. Implementing a virtual phone system for small businesses is easy.
Many business owners are reluctant to embrace VoIP because they are concerned about the work involved with system set-up and installation. In reality, setting up a VoIP system is rather straightforward. You only need a modem, a router, and a VoIP provider. Tech-savvy business owners might even be able to manage the VoIP transition themselves.
However, working with an IT service provider, like IT Insights, to manage the analog to digital switch has some benefits. First, an IT service provider has the expertise to help you evaluate options, determine opportunities for cost savings, and implement upgrades if needed. Many small business owners prefer to focus on growing and maintaining their core business. Working with IT pros takes this off your plate.
Determining hardware and network compatibility is the most common hurdle in transitioning to VOIP. You’ll need to understand if you can reuse your existing handsets and if your internet is fast enough to handle the additional voice-call traffic. VoIP systems require significant bandwidth. A minimum speed of 300 down is recommended – fiber or coax connections are ok.
You’ll also want to install desktop and mobile applications and train your staff on the system to benefit most from your new VoIP phone system. Both are relatively easy, especially if you work with work with an MSP to manage your IT needs.
4. Various VoIP telephone software options are available to suit your business needs.
Regardless of your industry or business needs, there is a VoIP platform to fit. VoIP systems can be customized and built to any compliance requirements. This is especially important for financial services, healthcare, and other regulated industries. IT Insights recommends our partner, Ooma, for VoIP business phone systems because of their flexibility and all-in-one system options. However, we can and do support any VoIP platform. Not all VoIP software is created equal. Typically, the sticking points are back-end management and system support. We’ll help you evaluate all options to implement the right solution.
5. VoIP platforms have backup options for power and internet outages.
The most common questions regarding VoIP are:
- Does it work during power outages?
- What happens if my internet goes down?
Many people mistakenly think their VoIP phone system will not function during a power or internet outage. But this isn’t true. A local network or power outage will impact your onsite systems, no doubt. But VoIP providers have contingency services that protect your phone system. Your system can be set up to direct calls to voicemail or to have failover numbers that ring to a cell phone (or another number). It is also recommended to have a failover internet service in place as a standard business practice. Customers implementing VoIP best practices report none to minimal system failures and even less downtime.
Small Business VoIP Phone Systems: Common Roadblocks and Questions
How is VoIP calling different from traditional POTS phone systems?
It’s not! With an internet-based phone system, users experience all the same functionality and more.
What is a VoIP number?
A VoIP phone number is no different from a landline phone number, except that these calls connect via the internet instead of via POTS systems (telephone poles and lines).
How much does a VoIP phone system cost?
A lot less than you might think! The actual cost of a VOIP phone system varies depending on the provider, features, user seats, and business needs. In almost all cases, VoIP phone systems are less expensive than traditional landline phones.
Can I use my existing telecommunications systems?
It depends. You may be able to use your current phones and internet network, or you may need to upgrade. We’ll help you evaluate all the options to find the lowest-cost, easiest-to-implement solution that meets your needs.
How to Transition Your Business to VoIP
LET’S GET STARTED
Regardless of your reasons for converting your analog phone system to a voice-over-IP phone system, we can’t stress enough that working with the right team and tools is crucial. At IT Insights of Rochester, we work with VoIP systems daily and primarily use Ooma phone systems. But we can support any existing VoIP platform, help you evaluate other VoIP platforms, and determine hardware, software, and network needs to get the most out of transitioning your landline phone to VoIP.
Contact IT Insights today to get started! We’re happy to answer any questions and are fully equipped to support your business by implementing a virtual phone system, and many more services!
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