10 Reasons to Switch to an IP-PBX

What is an IP-PBX?

An IP-PBX is a complete telephony system that provides telephone calls over IP data networks. All conversations are sent as data packets over the network.

The technology includes advanced communication features but also provides a significant dose of worry-free scalability and robustness. The IP-PBX is also able to connect to traditional PSTN lines via an optional gateway – so upgrading day-to-day business communication to this most advanced voice and data network is a breeze!

Enterprises don’t need to disrupt their current external communication infrastructure and operations. With an IP-PBX deployed, an enterprise can even keep its regular telephone numbers. This way, the IP-PBX switches local calls over the data network inside the enterprise and allows all users to share the same external phone lines.

How it works

Figure 1 – How an IP-PBX integrates into the network

An IP-PBX or IP Telephone System consists of one or more SIP phones, an IP-PBX server and optionally a VoIP Gateway to connect to existing PSTN lines. The IP-PBX server functions in a similar manner to a proxy server. SIP clients, being either soft phones or desk phones, register with the IP-PBX server, and when they wish to make a call they ask the IP-PBX to establish the connection. The IP-PBX has a directory of all phones/users and their corresponding SIP address and thus is able to connect an internal call or route an external call via either a VoIP gateway or a VoIP service provider. More information and commonly asked questioned about IP-PBXs can be found on IP-PBX, SIP & VoIP FAQ.

  • Benefit #1: Much easier to install & configure than a proprietary phone system:

    An IP-PBX runs as software on a computer and can leverage the advanced processing power of the computer and user interface as well as Windows features. Anyone proficient in networking and computers can install and maintain an IP-PBX. By contrast a proprietary phone system often requires an installer trained on that particular system!

  • Benefit #2: Easier to manage because of web/GUI based configuration interface:

    An IP-PBX can be managed via a web-based configuration interface or a GUI, allowing you to easily maintain and fine tune your phone system. Proprietary phone systems have difficult-to-use interfaces which are often designed to be used only by phone technicians.

  • Benefit #3: (OPTIONAL) Significant cost savings using VoIP providers:

    (Applies only to companies who frequently makes international and national calls) With an IP-PBX you can easily use a VOIP service provider for long distance and international calls. The monthly savings are significant. If you have branch offices, you can easily connect phone systems between branches and make free phone calls.

  • Benefit #4: Eliminate phone wiring!

    My favorite benefit: An IP Telephone system allows you to connect hardware IP phones directly to a standard computer network port (which it can share with the adjacent computer). Software phones can be installed directly on the PC. You can now eliminate the phone wiring and make adding or moving of extensions much easier. In new offices you can completely eliminate the need for wiring extra ports to be used by the office phone system! Also can be used wirelessly over WiFi.

  • Benefit #5: Eliminate vendor lock in!

    IP-PBXs are based on the open SIP standard. You can mix and match any SIP hardware or software phone with any SIP-based IP-PBX, PSTN Gateway or VOIP provider. In contrast, a proprietary phone system often requires proprietary phones to use advanced features, and proprietary extension modules to add features.

  • Benefit #6: Scalable!

    Proprietary systems are easy to outgrow. Adding more phone lines or extensions often requires expensive hardware modules. In some cases you need an entirely new phone system. Not so with an IP-PBX. A standard computer can easily handle a large number of phone lines and extensions – just add more phones to your network to expand!

  • Benefit #7: Better customer service & productivity!

    With an IP-PBX you can deliver better customer service and better productivity. Since the IP telephone system is now computer-based, you can integrate phone functions with business applications. For example, bring up the customer record of the caller automatically when you receive his/her call, dramatically improving customer service and cutting cost by reducing time spent on each caller. Outbound calls can be placed directly from Outlook, removing the need for the user to type in the phone number.

  • Benefit #8: Twice the phone system features for half the price!

    Since an IP-PBX is software-based, it is easier for developers to add and improve feature sets. Most VoIP phone systems come with a rich feature set, including auto attendant, voice mail, ring groups, advanced reporting and more. These options are often very expensive in proprietary systems.

  • Benefit #9: Allow hot desking & roaming!

    Hot desking, the process of being able to easily move offices/desks based on the task at hand, has become very popular. Unfortunately traditional PBXs require extensions to be re-patched to the new location. With an IP-PBX the user simply takes his phone to his new desk – No patching required!

    Users can roam too – if an employee has to work from home, he/she can simply fire up their SIP software phone and are able to answer calls to their extension, just as they would in the office. Calls can be diverted anywhere in the world because of the SIP protocol characteristics!

  • Benefit #10: Better phone usability: SIP phones are easier to use!

    Employees often struggle using advanced phone features. Setting up a conference, or transferring a call on an old PBX requires detailed instructions.

    Not so with an IP-PBX – all features are easily performed from an user friendly Windows GUI. In addition, users get a better overview of the status of other extensions, of inbound calls, call queues, and presence via the IP-PBX Windows client. Proprietary systems often require expensive “system” phones to get an idea what is going on your phone system and even then, status information is cryptic at best.

Note

Investing in yeastar MyPBX IP-PBX makes a lot of sense, not only for new companies buying a phone system, but also for companies who already have a PBX. An IP PBX delivers such significant savings in management, maintenance, and call costs, that upgrading to an IP PBX, should be the obvious choice for any company.

We are pleased to announce Web Technology and Yeastar Distribution Partnership. Yeastar specializes in the development and manufacturing of IP-PBX, VoIP gateways, and IP video surveillance products and is committed to the distribution of new generation technology products in the field of enterprise communications.  Yeastar provides the cost-efficient solutions for ITSP to develop the enterprises ultimate purchase market.

yeastar distribution

Yeastar Distribution

Web Technology have built a strong reputation of fast, friendly, reliable service and will continue to deliver their unique selling proposition as we have in the past. This is very much aligned to our corporate mission to provide an affordable, high quality products and continually expand product lines. Web Technology continues to invest in innovative alternative products and services to best serve our Industry and this new partnership allows us to continue to do so.

Secured and Encrypted

Secured and Encrypted

Telnet port is forbidden to block the attack.

 

secured password

Password is needed to access serial port.

 

encrypted

Firmware file is encrypted, which is not readable. Hacker can not modify the file.

Hacker can not get the password by brute-force attack. Camera will deny any access for a while if wrong password is input for 5 times in 10 seconds.

Hacker can not get the password by brute-force attack. Camera will deny any access for a while if wrong password is input for 5 times in 10 seconds.

encrypted config

Config file is is encrypted, which is not readable. Hacker can not modify the file.

Foscam Camera Security Tips

Recently, Foscam has received some feedback from our customers and media about camera security problems. Foscam takes security very seriously and has a dedicated team who is constantly engaged with network professionals around the world to carry out security testing on our cameras. Our team carried out detailed research on this issue and found the reasons are:

    [li_item icon=”fa-check” iconcolor=”#1e73be” circle=”” circlecolor=””] Some of our customers are still using the default username and password.

    [li_item icon=”fa-check” iconcolor=”#1e73be” circle=”” circlecolor=””] The username and password is too simple and easy to crack.

    [li_item icon=”fa-check” iconcolor=”#1e73be” circle=”” circlecolor=””] Some of the cameras are still using the old firmware and have not been upgraded to the latest version.

To ensure the security of your camera and prevent various types of hacking and unauthorized access, Foscam strongly recommends our customers to safeguard their privacy by taking the following security precautions.

    [li_item icon=”fa-check” iconcolor=”#1e73be” circle=”” circlecolor=””] Always change the default username and/or password as soon as you setup your camera. Input a username and/or password that is at least 8 – 10 characters or longer. Try to use a combination of lower-case and upper-case letters as well as numbers and special characters.

    [li_item icon=”fa-check” iconcolor=”#1e73be” circle=”” circlecolor=””] Make sure your camera has the latest security firmware installed for your specific camera model. The latest firmware for Foscam cameras utilizes protection against various types of online hacking and unauthorized access.

    [li_item icon=”fa-check” iconcolor=”#1e73be” circle=”” circlecolor=””] Go to our official download center https://webtechnology.ph/downloads/

    [li_item icon=”fa-check” iconcolor=”#1e73be” circle=”” circlecolor=””] Check the model and current firmware version of your camera carefully, and then choose the right firmware to download.

    [li_item icon=”fa-check” iconcolor=”#1e73be” circle=”” circlecolor=””] Unzip the firmware RAR file. There will be firmware files and upgrade guidance. Please follow the guidance carefully to upgrade the firmware.

    [li_item icon=”fa-check” iconcolor=”#1e73be” circle=”” circlecolor=””] Change your default port to a port in the 8100 or greater range. Hackers often target default ports and you do not want to make yourself an easy target. By using a non-standard port it will make it more difficult for hackers to find your camera.

    [li_item icon=”fa-check” iconcolor=”#1e73be” circle=”” circlecolor=””] Check the logs of your Foscam cameras often. Foscam cameras have embedded logs which allow you to see exactly which IP addresses are accessing the camera. You will be able to tell if an outsider has gained access to your camera.

    [li_item icon=”fa-check” iconcolor=”#1e73be” circle=”” circlecolor=””] Make sure your Internet router or modem is secure (ie, change the default password and install updates), since this is how the device will connect to the Internet.

Today, smart phones are providing unbelievable level of technology at very affordable price points – thanks to the mass volumes of worldwide production and its associated downward cost pressure. Carrier subsidies are also a big factor in bringing the price of smart phone technology to the masses. An average smartphone today sports a good quality mega-pixel camera with better and better lenses, powerful processing power and in most cases built-in video codec chips capable of encoding 1080p HD live video. Oh, by-the-way, it “most likely” has wireless communication capabilities built-in. So in theory, there is no reason why this tiny little powerful appliance can’t become the ideal device for a news agency to report live news from the field with HD quality.

However, it turns out, even though the wireless connectivity is the primary purpose of the smart phone (or at least was at one point), it is also the weakest link unfortunately in the electronic news gathering application. Not because of the theoretical uplink speeds being low, quite the contrary, LTE promises up to 75Mbps uplink speed, but rather because those promised speed numbers being exactly that – theoretical. Everyone who used a cell phone knows, patchy coverage, slow speed, occasional disconnects and dropped calls are part of the wireless world and even with the fantastic technological improvement in the last decade, physics still dictates the limits of what is possible – cellular is not flawless.

Does this mean cell phones have no play in professional video distribution or there is no “steroid” that can be given to the cell phone to correct its shortcomings? No, not at all. As a matter of fact, with some technical help, cell phones can become one of the most powerful tools for live video delivery for news gathering, emergency response, first responders and many other webcasting and video distribution applications.

Even though there are several competing video streaming standards, RTMP remains as the primary and most common standard for delivering a live video feed from the field to a video server or CDN (Content Delivery Network). So to heal the unavoidable cellular connectivity problems that the smart phone has, one has to make the connectivity link stronger. This can be accomplished via connecting your smart phone to an RTMP wireless gateway device via the smart phone’s built-in WiFi. In essence the Internet connectivity function is pushed onto the RTMP wireless gateway and the 802.11 WiFi link from the smart phone to the RTMP gateway emulates a reliable Ethernet cable.

So why is the RTMP gateway a better Internet connectivity than the built-in 4G LTE that your smart phone already has. The answer is purely the result of the higher number of 3G/4G LTE Internet channels that the RTMP wireless gateway devices have and the smart algorithms built on top of those multitude of cellular Internet lines. In essence, the RTMP wireless gateway is an appliance that can bond together 2 or more 3G/4G cellular SIM cards together to create a fat and extremely reliable Internet connectivity – so much so that you can now stream live high quality videos with broadcast reliability. Imagine slurping your drink with 8 straws. You will still be quenching your thirst even if some of your straws can get clogged.

These type of technologies are bridging the gap between what is “almost possible” with today’s technology to “possible today” and that is the essence of the times we live in…