VoIP, or Voice-over-IP (Internet-Protocol), is a better and more affordable way for businesses to communicate. Using high-speed Internet connections to make and receive phone calls, our business phone systems offer features unavailable with traditional phones – and can save you money on long-distance and international calls.  All businesses who take advantage of VoIp Phone Systems will see significant benefits including:

Cost-effectiveness–
VoIP Phones utilize your current computer network and avoids the infrastructure costs associated with the purchase and maintenance of a separate voice communication systems. VoIP systems provide companies with quality phone systems and all the typical phone features without requiring investments into expensive hardware. You no longer need to purchase or lease costly hardware nor wait for wiring to be installed. VoIP helps companies to avoid those stressful moments spent reviewing monthly telephone bills filled with erratic and unpredictable charges. Maintenance costs are also included in your contracted monthly service payments thereby decreasing the operating costs associated with traditional phone systems.

Continuity–
VoIP provides continuous service and will remain operational despite electrical outages or other forms of service interruption. If your organization losses its’ connection all communication can be routed to another location or phone. Our VoIP system also provides consistent, predictable fees that are negotiated to include local, long distance and the chosen phone service features.

Consistency–
Using a Cloud-based/Hosted VoIP solutions will provide consistency in your business communications. VoIP systems will integrate your email system with your phone system. This allows all users to obtain voicemails in the emails and emails in their voicemail.

Centrality–
The Cloud based dashboard  allows you to easily connect all your business locations into one central system. Everyone is connected no matter how many offices you have, have many physical locations are involved or how many clients you have overseas.

Tom Carrigan is a skilled and innovative new employee whose leadership and technology based skills make him a perfect match for Limitless Technology CRS. Tom’s ability and skills in building and managing successful sales organizations, nationally and internationally, spans more than 25 years.

After spending five years designing and building computer graphics systems, Tom shifted his focus to sales as he recognized the increased use of technology was demanding a deeper understanding by those in the field.  Tom’s ability and skills in building and managing successful sales organizations, nationally and internationally, spans more than 25 years. One former team member of Mr. Carrigan describes him as having “cultivated a very unique and rare environment…team spirit combined with his leadership skills makes for one of, if not the best places to work.”

A broad knowledge of technology results from his background as an engineer and spans multiple disciplines which he has successfully combined to benefit each company he has been involved with. A graduate of the US Navy Advance Electronics program Tom left the service in 1979 to pursue a career in technology in California’s Silicon Valley.  Tom remained in the Computer Graphics, animation and effects industry until early 2000 at which time he helped form and get funded a 35 million dollar Streaming Video Server company. Over the next several years, the focus shifted to computer software designed to improve companies’ use of their existing system using utilities and ultimately security. At each stop successful sales operations were developed helping increase market share, gross sales and profitability while being at the cutting edge of new technological advances.

Every carrier sells a bundle as a money saving option, but does bundling really save your business money?

In some cases yes and in some cases no. The key is to know exactly what services are included in the bundle and what actual costs they are adding for those services.

Example: the carrier bundles a phone line with what they call “unlimited long distance”.

What is not normally known is that unlimited long distance is being charged at on average of $15 to $20 dollars per line. At an average long distance rate of 5 cents per minute this is not paid for until you have used 300-400 minutes of long distance. If you are not doing at least that much long distance, you are literally giving money to the carrier.

So to answer the question yes, bundles can save you money. However, you need to know exactly what is included and that the services being offered are actually services you benefit from.

By Todd Larsen  CEO Limitless Technology~CRS  Feb, 14th, 2013

As a company which focuses on billing optimization, I ponder this often. So…Is there a valid reason we are okay with paying too much for an ongoing service?

I would say not, but there are reasons why people pay too much for certain things. Let’s look at some things you most likely pay too much for personally, and then we can look at things you might be paying too much for in your businesses too:

• Brand names. Let’s face it…just because something is advertised well doesn’t mean it is good. Quality has to do with service levels, manufacturing and care after you sign the contract or buy the item.  Choosing wisely has nothing to do with what is most popular
• Credit Cards. Okay, here’s where we pay because we don’t explore other options. We get a card so we pay the charges. Credit card pitfalls come in two forms: rewards and annual fees. According to a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in 2010, 60% of consumers have a credit card with built-in rewards. There’s nothing wrong with a rewards card, but there certainly is if you can’t or don’t pay off the card every month. Based on a 2004 study by the Federal Reserve, 25% of Americans have no credit cards and an additional 30% pay their balances off every month. That leaves 45% of Americans throwing their cash away on average interest rates of 12.8%. Of equal danger are credit cards that charge you an annual fee. The prevalence of fee-based cards is growing; they made up more than one-quarter of all cards in 2009. But in most instances, unless you’re a very big spender, you could easily find one that offers you similar terms without a fee.
• Your bank Account. Yes…your bank charges you too much for all types of hidden fees and transactions. After all, they are more a service business than a lending institution. The financial research company Bankrate looked at 238 institutions with non-interest-bearing checking accounts: Only 45% of them were fee-free in 2011. That’s down from 65% in 2010 and 76% in 2009. The study also found out that 92% of all checking accounts have waivers built in that drop the fees as long as certain conditions are met (such as a once-a-month direct deposit and a minimum balance). Still, this means if you aren’t careful, you could be getting charged by your bank for access to your own money. However, checking account fees don’t just end there. Taking money out of a non-partner ATM cost consumers an average of $2.40 last year, up from $2.33 in the prior year. Overdraft fees also crept higher, rising to $30.83 in 2011 from $30.47 in 2010. Familiarize yourself with your bank’s policies lest you wind up nickel-and-dimed.
• Electronics and Communications – I know…really? Yes REALLY. The reason you’re overpaying for consumer electronics is the same reason why you overpay for new cars — they depreciate fast. But it’s more than that. Such products face the double whammy of wider availability (as competitors jump on every bandwagon) and innovation, which will perpetually move prices lower. The longer a product is on the market and the more available it becomes, the lower its price should go. In terms of innovation, the drawback of nearly all electronics is that whatever you buy, whenever you buy it, a newer, more high-tech product will be on the market within weeks or months. Take 3-D televisions: In July 2010, the average 47-inch to 50-inch 3-D TV sold for north of $900; a year later, the same TV sold for about $400. This is why Sony (SNE) has lost money on its television division for eight straight years. Buying used — or perhaps buying the previous year’s closeout model — is the smarter way to go.

These are just some examples of things you overpay for, but what about:

• Financial Protection
• Extended Warranties
• Your Car
• Your Home
• Maybe even taxes???….nah.

So now lets’ think about your business or businesses. Could they also be over-paying for services??? Let’s see…

Small Business: Top ten items companies overpay for…1. Health Insurance (43.1%) 2. DSL/Broadband Internet (35.9%) 3. Cellular Phones (33.9%) 4. Business Energy (31.7%) 5. Advertising (22.2%) 6. Accounting Services (16.9%) 7. Voice mail (12.8%) 8. Dial-up Internet Service (11.8%) 9. Financial Planning Services (8.3%) 10. Collection Services (7.8%)

Big Business: Labor, Rent/Mortgage, Advertising, Electricity/Utilities, Internet and Telecommunications

And while I would LOVE to touch on telecom and technology related monthly reoccurring services I won’t….okay I will….so imagine this:

•  According to the Aberdeen Group, a leading IT marketing analysis firm, the average Fortune 500 Company processes more than 15,000 telecom-related bills per year and the average mid-market – approximately 3,000 a year. How many invoices do you receive? How many pages are associated with each invoice? How many charges are included on each page? Is it complex and time consuming?
• Up to 85% of mid-market company telecom bills are paid in full and are not audited by the organization. What effect does this have on the organization? Is there an actual experienced team in place to audit your telecom billing? For bills that are validated, billing analysts most often examine just a small subset of invoices associated with the largest spending. How much is being missed in the audit process? In addition to auditing, is the team that is most familiar with the charges also researching better and more efficient communication methods?
• The average Fortune 500 Company spends $116 million a year on telecom services. The average mid-market enterprise spends$26 million a year. How much do you spend?
• On average, 7% to 12% of telecom service expenses are PURE ERROR, a figure resulting in $8 million a year in lost profits. How much are you losing?
• Additionally, Aberdeen found that enterprise billing analysts spend an estimated 20% of their time identifying the billing issue and 80% of their time validating to resolve it. How much are those soft costs?

So…bottom line question is why don’t we optimize spend?

Better question is… why aren’t you?

Limitless Technology~CRS

Delivering expert results on: telecom auditing, telecom contract management, telecom expense management, and telecom billing optimization services.

www.limitlesstechnology.com

Think about how significant this is. The telephone has beaten trains, plain and automobiles and even the light bulb! At first I kind of sounds crazy, but there are several reasons why the phone is the obvious money colossal of the last 50 years.  

1. Genius of the idea-

The phone was the first object able to transfer quickly transferable and understandable communication. The mail was understandable, but that could take weeks to be delivered. And the telegraph was timely, but it had to be deciphered. The time and understanding capability made the phone destined for success right from the start.

The phone was also the first communication device capable of transferring the emotion of language across the world. Mothers could hear their child’s happy voice telling them good news, or a could hear the disappointment of a friend telling another friend bad news.

1. 2.       Evolution of the model-
   1. a.       Have you ever thought of your iPhone as only a telephone? Of course not. That is because, unlike other major inventions, the phone is continually being revolutionized constantly. This development allows the phone to stay relatively expensive, unlike the light bulb. Also, unlike a car, a telephone is owned by a much larger world population and is usually replaced every one or two years.
2. 3.       Service-
   1. a.       With every phone, a phone service is also needed.  These phone service rates usually are based on a usage platform or a contractual platform for large companies.  Either way, it is a huge money maker for the phone service companies.

This is why the telephone is also one of the most important and influential inventions of our time. The telephone affects almost every person on the globe and connects us all.

Hint for Saving Money on your DSL: “DSL” or Digital subscriber line: a technology that allows high-speed transmission of text, audio, and video, usually over standard telephone lines

Has your Business had to call your local phone service provider to add internet or DSL to your account?

Are you aware that DSL can run over a basic phone or fax line, and that many times they add not only the DSL service but an additional voice line for the DSL to run over?

This additional $30 to $45 dollar expense can be easily avoided by, always requesting that the DSL service be added to an existing line such as your fax or alarm line; both of which can co-exist on the same telephone line. Faxes and modems use voice frequencies and are thus unaffected by your DSL service (Note: a filter may need to be added in some situations). By doing this you have cut your line costs or overall DSL expense, sometimes as much as in half, without affecting any of your existing services.

For everything else, there’s Limitless Technology CRS