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Directive Blogs

Directive has been serving the Oneonta area since 1993, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

VoIP Presents Some Intriguing Opportunities

A business telephone system has picked up some pretty costly requirements over the past several years. Not only does your business need to have a clear and concise calling system internally, it needs to incorporate video conferencing and remote communications. This can get pretty costly if you don’t have the right technology in place. That right technology is VoIP and it can save your business money and present options that allow your employees seamless communication capabilities.

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Tip of the Week: Making Your Network VoIP-Friendly

We could go on and on about the benefits of using Voice over Internet Protocol (also known as VoIP) for your business telephone needs. However, it is important that you do everything you can to prepare your network for this kind of utilization. Let’s review a few tips to help make sure your network is properly optimized for VoIP.

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How to Get Started Prepping for a New VoIP Solution

With communication rising to the top of many businesses’ priorities list, it’s no wonder that Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, is one of the most powerful ways to revitalize your company’s communications infrastructure. If you’re still using your old traditional telephony solution, buckle up because you’re about to find out how to ditch it for good.

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Small Businesses Need to Get the Right Tech to Open Up Opportunities

Technology can bring a lot of value for businesses, but sometimes it can be difficult to nail down exactly what can make a business run optimally. There are a lot of options, but all that means is that there are a lot of things that can potentially go wrong. Let’s take a look at some of the technology that small businesses are using to support the new workplace and create better opportunities. 

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Business Communication’s Innovation is Driving Business Forward

For the small business, mastering advanced communication tools and strategies is not just a luxury—it's a necessity. Today, we’ll take a look at advanced small business communications, discussing the latest technologies, strategies, and best practices that can elevate your business to new heights.

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Seven Ways VoIP Makes Business Better

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has become an indispensable tool for businesses, with over 30 percent of them adopting it as their primary means of communication. Beyond its telephony capabilities, VoIP plays a pivotal role in modern collaboration by seamlessly integrating with various communication and collaboration tools. Here are seven ways in which VoIP enhances collaboration.

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Benefits of VoIP for Oneonta Businesses

Many businesses in Oneonta and around the surrounding area are still using phone systems that are outdated and therefore hinder their capabilities and growth potential. Cloud-hosted VoIP—Voice over Internet Protocol—is a much better option for businesses to utilize, with many benefits to make the switch a no-brainer for our fellow organizations.

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VoIP is an Extremely Good Option for Business Communication

Effective communication often operates behind the scenes, yet it serves as a vital cog in the smooth operational ability of business, lending support to a multitude of functions. Consequently, making judicious investments in the right tools can markedly elevate your business. In the contemporary landscape, one such indispensable tool is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

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Can Your Phone System Do This?

It’s easy to look at your business phone system and think to yourself, “Well, the old girl is doing the best that she can,” as if it’s a beloved senior work horse with arthritis. We’ve mentioned this in a previous blog about how Otsego county businesses have been left in the dust with these older phone systems, so most business owners have no idea that they have been missing out on a ton of really great innovations.

In this post, we’re going to talk about some of the more advanced integrations that a cloud-based phone system can bring.

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Is Your Phone System an Antique?

As computer techs, we try not to judge older technology. After all, if it still works for you, and it still works properly after all these years, it can sometimes simply be impressive. And to be completely honest, as amazing as modern devices and technology are today, sometimes even the geekiest of us look back with fondness of the simpler times, when you needed a little plastic stylus to tap away at your tiny phone screen.

With that said, usually technology doesn’t age gracefully, and while you might not realize it, your business could be leaving money on the table by sticking with the more vintage stuff.

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The Best Oneonta Business Telephone Systems

This is a comprehensive guide for businesses in Otsego County on picking a reliable, capable phone system. The truth is, businesses throughout Oneonta and the surrounding area have been at a bit of a disadvantage over the years, as local telecom providers haven’t been keeping up with modern technology, and the alternative options are geared towards residential use.

Let’s explore the latest trends, features, cost savings, and benefits of modern phone systems, to ensure that your business gets a solution that helps you stay ahead of the competition.

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Three Communications Tools Your Business Needs

In business, good communication is essential. If you do it right, you can streamline actions that can save your business a lot of money and build incredible efficiencies that can bring your vision to reality. Poor communication, on the other hand, can hinder a business’ ability to prosper. In order for your staff to be able to communicate effectively, they need the tools to do so. Here are three tools that most businesses should have in place to help drive business forward.

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VoIP Features Your Business Should Know About

Voice over Internet Protocol, also known as VoIP, has revolutionized the way businesses manage their communications through the use of telephony. Employees who were once tethered to their landlines or their physical locations can now break free of these constraints, and it’s all thanks to VoIP and cloud-based communication tools. Here are some of the best features of VoIP solutions for small businesses.

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Your Business Communications Should Present a Unified Front

A business’ operations are heavily influenced by the quality of its communications. However, the overwhelming number of options that are available today can make it challenging to decide how to invest in your technologies. Let’s talk about how you can identify which of your options are right for your business needs, and when the time comes to upgrade your communications.

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Why Otsego County Businesses Should Replace their Phone System with VoIP

Considering how essential telephone services are for just about any organization, it’s surprising how limited—and expensive— telephone service providers here in Otsego County are. Between the lack of support and, again, the costs that are involved, they’ve dropped the ball…and yet, they still expect businesses to play.

Not only do businesses here in Otsego County deserve better, better options are available.

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4 Reasons to Upgrade Your Antiquated Telephone Service

The landscape of telephony for small businesses has changed dramatically. It’s likely that you don’t rely on your phone nearly as much as you rely on other technologies, like your Internet, communications solutions, and email. Still, an antiquated phone system can hold you back, so let’s explore the other viable option for your business: Voice over IP.

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VoIP Has the Features You Need in a Complete Communications System

Ah, the business telephone solution. You know you need it, but you dislike working with your current telephone provider for a number of reasons. You know you can get a better deal if you look around, but we bet that the best deal around is a hosted Voice over Internet Protocol solution from Directive. How can our VoIP solution save your business time, energy, and resources?

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Consider a Switch to VoIP this Year

The telephone, as a technology, has been around for quite a while, more or less serving businesses for that entire time. Of course, we’ve seen quite a few advancements in telephony over the years, which has helped it to remain a cornerstone of modern business communications to this day in the form of Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP.

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The Haunting of North Shore Software

The following story and events are true, however, to protect the families of the innocent, all names have been changed. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or businesses, is purely coincidental. Enjoy and happy Halloween!

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Don’t Miss Out on the Benefits that VoIP Offers

Communications are critical for businesses of all sizes, including small businesses and their telephone systems. While the technology likely still plays some role in your office, other means of communication have likely come to the forefront. In some ways, the traditional telephone has been left behind…with Voice over Internet Protocol largely taking its place.

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Embrace the Best Business Telephone Capabilities

Let’s face it… when you think of business communications, the telephone is still one of the first things to pop into your head, right? Telephony has been intrinsically linked to business since it was first created, and as technology has advanced, so has our capability to use the phone to our advantage.

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VoIP Revolutionizes the Traditional Business Phone System

The business telephone system has been turned on its head by the establishment of VoIP. Voice over Internet Protocol has altered the way that businesses view their enterprise telephone system. This month, we take a look at the modern VoIP system and why it is a far superior tool to traditional telephone systems. 

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Does Your Phone System Compliment Remote Work?

By now, you’ve probably heard of VoIP—Voice over Internet Protocol—telephony. Chances are pretty good, in fact, that your business is currently using VoIP as a part of its communication. While we’re big proponents of VoIP, it is important that we acknowledge that (like anything else) some VoIP services are better than others.

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3 Communications Tools Your Business Can Really Benefit From

Digital communication is an important part of running any business, so you need to do your part by equipping your employees with the tools they need to communicate effectively both in and out of the workplace. Here are three of the most effective tools we have found which enable your business to flourish.

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Communication Tools Your Business Needs to Consider

The software you choose to use for your business largely defines the capabilities of it. When it comes to communications there are some very standard options that you probably already have and then there are some more innovative options that can have significant benefits for your staff. Let’s take a look at some of the standard communications options a business might use and how they can use technology to crank it up a bit.

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Getting the Right Communications Tools Can Really Help a Business

Business success relies in large part on communication. Any product or a service is entirely useless if there is no way to share or request information. Whether the communication is internal or external, the method upon which your business relies should be simple yet effective. This month, we will analyze the different methods of communication your business can use.

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VoIP Offers Too Many Benefits to Ignore

The telephone has been a part of business processes since it was invented, with businesses quickly taking advantage of the new features that telephony has introduced as it has improved over the years. VoIP—Voice over Internet Protocol—is the latest improvement, and as such, offers businesses a lot of great benefits to embrace.

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Explaining VoIP and Its Immense Benefits

Communication solutions are especially important in today’s world of remote and hybrid work, and we are here to tell you that the traditional telephone solution you’ve known and loved for all these years is simply not viable in today’s business environment. Thankfully, a viable replacement is widely available, and it’s all thanks to Voice over IP technology.

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VoIP’s Versatility Delivers Great Value

Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP for short, is a truly exceptional service that all businesses should take advantage of if at all possible. Long story short, the traditional telephone system is archaic by today’s standards, and it should be replaced with a more dynamic and flexible solution in VoIP. Today we wish to discuss the various benefits you can expect to receive from implementing a VoIP solution for your business.

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VoIP Can Make Communications Easier

Nothing changes the fortunes of a business faster than having clear lines of communication, especially after operating with less-than-effective communications for a time. Today, there are options that provide businesses with enterprise-level communications without the massive price tag and commitments that they typically bring. 

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Access to Communications Has to Be a Priority

Businesses have a lot on their plates, especially lately, but one aspect of running a company that you absolutely should not ignore is communications. In fact, we might argue that communications is second only to security these days, considering the current state of many offices around the world. Let’s take a look at some aspects of your business’ communications infrastructure.

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VoIP Delivers for Businesses with These Features

Business has changed, so the tools your organization uses must evolve as well. One element of your business that has not only got more affordable, but also offers robust integrated features is your telephone system. Today, you can get some pretty impressive features as a part of a hosted VoIP implementation. With collaboration being more important than ever to keep costs down, having the tools you need at the ready is more crucial than ever.

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Hosted VoIP Brings a Lot of Benefits

The average person spends hours a day on their phone. For the average business, finding a way to support this trend is extremely important. This is why many businesses have begun to do away from their traditional telephone system for the massive benefits that Voice over Internet Protocol brings. Today, we will outline four major benefits of hosted VoIP to help you understand that if you aren’t using VoIP, you are probably leaving money on the table. 

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SMBs Can Create Profits with VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP for short, is the new wave in terms of telecommunication, and while some small businesses have hopped on board and adopted this new technology, others are still reluctant to do so. Well, we are here to tell you that the cost savings are, in fact, real. You have no reason not to replace your existing communication infrastructure with a hosted VoIP solution.

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Installing a VoIP Platform Can Be Good for Your Business

There aren’t many technological assets as important for a business as its communications solutions. Today, there are plenty of different solutions that businesses can use to interact with other people in the company, but for communications with customers and vendors, the telephone is still the best and most utilized. Today, we will look at business telephone systems and why choosing Voice over Internet Protocol simply makes sense for your business. 

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Businesses Have Access to These 3 Powerful Communications Tools

What kinds of communication tools does your business utilize on a daily basis? Chances are that your communication infrastructure can benefit from some of the latest and greatest solutions on the market. Communication is one aspect of your business that you definitely do not want to skimp on, as failing to implement the proper tools can bleed into other aspects of your organization, including operations and, in return, your bottom line.

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How to Get the Most Out of Your VoIP System

By now you’ve heard of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), the telephone system that runs through your Internet connection rather than a phone line. VoIP can save your business up to 60 percent off your current phone bill. What many people don’t know—even ones that utilize a VoIP platform—is that there are many available options that can have major benefits for your business. Companies that have VoIP typically only use between one-third and one-half of the available options. Today, we wanted to showcase five VoIP features that you may not be taking advantage of.

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Voice over Internet Protocol is a Solid Business Tool

For many businesses, their telephone system can be extremely expensive, especially considering the need for extra mobility as many people are still working remotely. VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, presents a cost-effective solution for any business’ telephone needs. Let’s take a brief look at VoIP and how it can be a game changer for your business’ communications.

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VoIP Significantly Improves Business Communications in Multiple Ways

With all the communication tools that businesses use today, there still is no more important option than the telephone system. Unfortunately for small businesses, the telephone system can be expensive and hard to manage. However, there is a way for you to get a fully featured telephone service with some of the most important tools your business needs, at a fraction of the price you currently pay for your enterprise telephone system.

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VoIP Is the Ultimate Addition By Subtraction

With high-speed Internet practically being a necessity for today’s business, it isn’t a surprise that Voice over Internet Protocol has taken off in popularity over the past couple of years. A business that utilizes VoIP for communications rather than a telephone provider can expect to benefit in many ways. These are just a few of them.

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Cultivating Good Business Communication is Critical

Communication is key to any good relationship, and this is even more true when that relationship is based in a business setting. This is the case whether you’re referring to the correspondence between an organization and its clientele, or the collaboration between employees as they complete their tasks. Let’s consider four things small businesses can and should do to create a communications strategy that encourages their success.

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VoIP is Probably Right for Your Business

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephony is a common technology amongst modern businesses for their communication needs. Let’s go over how VoIP functions and how it can benefit your company.

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It’s Time You Gave VoIP Another Look

As we continue to adapt to a post-coronavirus world, one of the biggest issues facing businesses is their ability to communicate with their customers and team. As social distancing has reduced face-to-face interactions, many businesses are turning to digital solutions like VoIP to communicate effectively.  

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VoIP Can Be a Game Changer

Traditionally, the business telephone system is one of the most expensive operational costs, especially if you take into account a business’ expanding mobility. Today, there is an option that changes the way that businesses look at their phone platform. That option is VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol. Today we’ll tell you a little bit about VoIP and tell you how it can drastically improve your business’ communication.

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Unify Your Communications and Improve Efficiency

Cloud computing is as popular as ever with 80 percent of businesses now using some form of it. Today, you can get about any type of business computing in the cloud, but one of the most valuable solutions that most businesses can use is found in the communications sector. This month we’ll talk a little bit about how a hosted VoIP platform can be one of the most useful solutions for your business. 

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Three Ways (Out of Many) That VoIP Boosts Productivity

VoIP—Voice over Internet Protocol—is an incredibly useful tool for today’s businesses to make use of, especially in terms of improving productivity. Let’s consider a few capabilities that can give you and your team a leg up.

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What are Unified Communications, Exactly?

As businesses have advanced, the use of tools to improve their communication has become paramount to success, with ongoing global developments only contributing further to their importance. With new challenges and opportunities presenting themselves each day, your team needs the tools that allow them to work together and accomplish all that needs to be done.

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4 Tools that Every Small Business Should Use

The key to running a successful small business is keeping costs down and production/service delivery efficient. This is easier said than done. Some tools have been developed to boost productivity and efficiency while others are built to eliminate downtime and manage risk. Let’s take a look at some of the technology your business should be using.

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VoIP Is a Complete Game Changer

Businesses of all types rely on their telephone systems. Today, there is an option that can revolutionize any business’ communications platform, and do so for a fraction of the cost of a traditional telephone system. Today, we’ll take a look at VoiP and why it’s such a good option for your business.

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VoIP is a Great Tool for Remote Work

Social distancing has more or less confined many to their homes, and so many people have begun to adopt remote working to stay busy and to keep their workplaces operational. One way to assist these activities, VoIP (or Voice over Internet Protocol) is a massively helpful tool that many businesses use. Here, we’re going over why this is.

We’ll begin by reviewing the current situation.

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The Employee’s Guide to Working Remotely

It’s not uncommon where a situation arises and you will find yourself working from home. To make this work, it is important that you keep a few additional issues in mind so that you can make the most of it. We have put together a few simple best practices that you should keep in mind as you operate remotely.

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What You Need to Know to Manage a Remote Workforce

There are many reasons that your team may want (or need) to work from home, and there are many reasons to allow them to do so. A 2019 survey by OwlLabs indicated that 71 percent of remote workers are happy with their job (as compared to 55 percent of on-site workers); remote workers responded that they are 13   percent more likely than onsite workers to stay in their current job for five more years than onsite workers will; and when respondents claimed to be working longer than 40 hours per week, onsite workers were doing so out of necessity, while remote workers did so out of desire and enjoyment.

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Voice over Internet Protocol is a Valuable Tool

With the cost of doing business rising, it is no surprise that the decision makers at many organizations are looking to save a bit of money where they can. The cloud has proven to be a particularly popular way of doing so - especially through its replacement of traditional telephony with advanced communication methods, like hosted VoIP

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How Improving Communications Improves Your Business

If you were to search Google for “the most important thing for a company to be successful,” there appears to be a wide range of answers - from team management, to sales skills, to relationship building, to decision making. However, among the vast majority of the results, there was one common thread: the ability to communicate. That’s why we’re exploring how to best communicate with people associated with your business.

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How VoIP Can Save Your Business Money

It isn’t exactly a secret that small and medium-sized businesses appreciate any opportunity to reduce the amount of money they have to spend to successfully operate. One means that businesses of all sizes have used to do so has been VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephony. Here, we’ll explore just how VoIP solutions are friendlier to a business’ budget.

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Why VoIP is a Great Option for Your Business Telephony Needs

With all the communication options available today, it can still be hard to beat the convenience and simplicity of the telephone. However, the phone is far from a perfect solution - it can be expensive, for one. However, what if there was a way for you to get a fully-featured telephone service with a variety of tools, without having to pay an arm and a leg?

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The Other Features of VoIP Fuel Business Communications

For the small business looking to transform both their communications system and their IT budget, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a great solution. VoIP can deliver clear and reliable calling services that some landline services simply don’t offer. We take a look at VoIP’s more interesting features in this week’s blog.

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Improve Your Business’ Communication with VoIP

Traditional telephone systems used to be necessary to getting work done in the office and communicating with clients, but in today’s business world, with access to plentiful cloud-based options and the world’s resources at your fingertips, you have other potential assets to pull from. By utilizing a Voice over IP phone system, you too can free yourself from the clutches of telephone companies and move your organization in the right direction.

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3 VoIP Features That Have Operational Benefit

It isn’t as though we haven't said this before but leveraging a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solution over a traditional business telephone system can bring your organization a few very clear benefits. Many of these benefits come from the advanced features that VoIP offers as add-ons. We’ll discuss a few of these features and their advantages.

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See a Major Communications Boost Cloud-Hosted VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol, also known as VoIP, has grown more popular with businesses in recent years, and it’s hard not to see why. The sheer amount of benefits that it provides to businesses--small organizations in particular--make your traditional telephone system look outdated and inefficient. We’ll discuss some of the greatest benefits today.

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VoIP Is the Leading Choice for Business Communications

Few technological assets are as important in today’s business world as a working telephone solution of some sort. While its form has changed considerably over the years from a traditional handset terminal to a desktop application or mobile device, its functionality remains largely the same. In some ways, it’s even better and more improved, offering unprecedented opportunities for businesses to revamp their entire communications infrastructure.

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3 Ways VoIP Can Enhance Your Employees’ Collaboration: Here’s How

It’s not every day that you encounter a business technology solution that’s capable of connecting all of your employees together in a quick and easy way. Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, is a great way for your business’ employees to collaborate, both in and out of the office. We’ll go into three reasons why your business should invest in VoIP now to further improve operations and efficiency regarding employee collaboration.

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Your Business’ Next Great Addition: Voice over Internet Protocol

How does your business communicate? If you are relying on a telephone solution that isn’t optimized to fit the specific needs of your business, you may be hindering your ability to stay efficient and cost-effective.

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Could VoIP Improve These Points For You?

Traditional telephone lines were once extremely important for your business’s success. You had to have dedicated phone lines in your office running to each and every desk so that each of your employees had access to a phone when they needed it. Nowadays, however, virtual telephone systems have become popular with businesses of all size. How does this new way of handling your business’s communications hold up compared to the more traditional model?

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Can Hosted VoIP Be a Game Changer for Your Business?

Many business transactions may be moving away from the telephone, but it is still a must-have for any business. Not everyone is Internet-savvy after all. Nowadays, there are plenty of telephone options out there, but only one carries no upfront hardware costs or a exorbitant fee structure: Hosted VoIP. Today, we will take a look at the benefits of cloud hosted VoIP, and how to get one working for your business today.

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Three Reasons VoIP is a Great Choice for Businesses

If you’re trying to run your business without considering communication, you’re crippling your business unnecessarily. One of the ways that you can improve communications is by capitalizing on a modern phone system that uses the cloud. You might be surprised by how great a cloud-hosted VoIP solution works for your business--especially if you haven’t thrown out the traditional telephone handset yet.

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Business Communications Are Changing Rapidly

Communication solutions for business are changing rapidly, and most of the new solutions go a long way toward using existing technologies that allow these organizations to save money and get more for the services they already pay for.

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Here Are Some VoIP Features That May Surprise You

The business community has embraced Voice over Internet Protocol as the accepted standard for exceptional communications. While there are countless benefits to using VoIP as your chosen communications tool, you might be surprised at how much can be done with them. In fact, you might even overlook some of the best features about VoIP!

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Answer Your Office Phone from Home with VoIP

business phone

There has been a growing trend where businesses are allowing more employees to work from home or other remote locations. Technology makes this possibly by letting users remote into their work environment securely as if they were sitting at their desk at the office. VoIP phone solutions can even bring the worker's office phone to them, no matter where they are.

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7 Ways to Save Money with your IT Infrastructure

small piggy bank

Who isn't looking to spend a little less or get more out of their current investments? The costs of day to day business for small businesses need to be within budget, but you still need to give your staff the tools they need to get the job done. Here are some tips for cutting costs without making big sacrifices.

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7 Reasons Upstate New York Businesses Should Switch to VoIP

rotary phone

Voice Over IP phone systems add a lot of great features that businesses can take advantage of, and are improving the way companies are using their voice communication. Besides the fact that supporting older analogue phone systems is becoming increasingly harder as technology carries us forward, here are 7 reasons why Upstate New York businesses should switch over to voice over IP.

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5 Things your IT Company can (or should!) be able to help your Business with.

Believe it or not, IT companies like DirectiveSHORT work a lot like other businesses.  We have many of the same needs in our business; from accounting to organizing data to marketing ourselves.  As an IT company, yes, we can manage your workstations, servers, and network, but there are other solutions we have up our sleeves that our clients can take advantage of, that just make sense for an IT company to provide, no matter what.

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3 Huge Benefits of Voice over IP

business phone

Voice over IP phone systems revolutionize voice communications for small businesses by providing plenty of big benefits. VoIP uses the Internet to send signals as opposed to standard telco phone lines. Let's go over a few major benefits that businesses see when they switch to VoIP.

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The Flexibility of VoIP Can Help a Small Business

Flexibility is often cited as one of the major reasons to consider a VoIP solution, but what exactly does this mean for small and medium-sized businesses? We’ll explore some of the major benefits that stem from the flexibility of VoIP, as well as how your business can better leverage it for your business’s future.

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3 Ways to Boost Security for Your Hosted VoIP System

In the course of doing business your organization needs to lean on its communications investments. Efficient discourse between vendors, clients, and employees allows for productive action to be made quickly. If you have recently decided to deploy a feature-rich hosted VoIP business phone platform because of its ubiquity, you have to be cognizant of how to best secure your solution. Here are three variables that help you get the most out of your hosted VoIP solution.

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Virtualization Means Accessing Game-Changing Tools for Your Business

Virtualized technology services are great assets for businesses with limited budgets. Three of the best ways that your organization can take advantage of cloud computing and virtualization services are Software as a Service (SaaS), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and hardware virtualization.

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Could Your Business Use a New Telephone System?

Telephone solutions have long been a major pain point for businesses. Smaller organizations attempt to get the most bang for their buck, especially for something as important as communications, but it’s not always so simple. How can you get the greatest return on investment from your business’ telephone solution? You can start by implementing Voice over Internet Protocol.

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Do You Have a Unified Strategy to Your Business' Communications

Communication is one of the cornerstones on which your business functions, and without it, you will find that going about your daily duties is considerably more difficult. Communication is one of the many ways your organization accomplishes both major and minor tasks, so you want to pay especially close attention to how your business handles phone calls, email, and even mobile devices--both in and out of the office.

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Small Business Communication Options to Boost Productivity

Miscommunication is something that plagues even the best, most organized organizations. Small businesses might be more tight-knit than your traditional enterprise, but humans are prone to miscommunication, and can be a major problem. We can help your business improve the way that it communicates and collaborates, and it all starts by considering how you can eliminate miscommunication in your office.

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Solid Communications Provide Businesses with Strong Collaboration Options

Is there anything more important to your business’ success than communication? If you’re not ready to communicate, it becomes difficult to collaborate and make strides on major projects. Thankfully, like many topics in business, technology allows for more effective communication and collaboration than ever before. Let’s take a moment to review some of the best technologies to streamline communication in the office.

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Telecommuting: Good or Bad for Businesses?

Telecommuting (also known as working remotely) is where some or all of your staff have the flexibility to work in the location of their choosing (and in some cases, the hours that they choose). Not to be confused with freelancing, telecommuters are dedicated employees who work under a management style geared towards the final results (as opposed to how the work gets done). While telecommuting isn't for everybody, it is often practiced. Microsoft is well known for having certain positions where the employee spends most of their day in a coffee shop working remotely, and that trend certainly doesn't stop with the big M.

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3 Ways VoIP is Superior to Traditional Phone Systems

Businesses have always relied on telephone communication systems to stay in touch with external and internal contacts. However, the traditional method of telecommunication has fallen behind the times, giving way to more flexible solutions that are designed to save businesses money and improve efficiency. In particular, Voice over Internet Protocol can be a valuable asset for small businesses that are experiencing growth.


Rather than using telephone lines to transfer and receive calls, VoIP uses the Internet to send your voice to the recipient. Considering how most businesses need an Internet connection in the first place, using VoIP is simply utilizing a technology that’s necessary in order to eliminate an unnecessary expense.

Differences Between VoIP and Traditional Phone Systems
Does your business utilize VoIP? If not, you should consider doing so as soon as possible. It’s a great way to cut down on your operational costs and improve workflow. Here are some of the main differences and advantages that your organization can experience from using VoIP as a part of your communications infrastructure.

  • Additional features: While your traditional phone system might support services like caller ID, user blocking, call forwarding, conference calling, etc, VoIP offers all of these services, plus some. Unlike the traditional phone system, which you need to be close to the receiver to use, VoIP works right from your desktop PC, laptop, or smartphone. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can use your work number from anywhere, allowing for flexibility that the traditional phone system envies. Plus, VoIP offers several other features, including video conferencing, which can be very helpful for bridging the gap between employees while working remotely.
  • Decreased costs: If you’re paying for both a landline and an Internet connection for your office, you’re essentially paying for one too many services. Considering that landlines are often bundled with other services that you may not necessarily want, it’s more affordable and efficient to simply use VoIP as your preferred communications solution. Add in the fact that you can say goodbye to long distance, and you have a convenient and cost-effective package.
  • Flexibility: Traditional phone systems require an immense amount of work to add new lines to an infrastructure. Depending on your office’s setup, new phone lines need to be installed, and you might even need to remodel your office. Both can be expensive, but with VoIP, you don’t need to waste time or money on improving your infrastructure. As long as your Internet connection and internal network can sustain the traffic and strain, VoIP will work as intended.

If your organization is ready to implement a solid new communications infrastructure, a VoIP solution can go a long way towards improving operations. To learn more, give us a call at 607.433.2200.

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How to Make Your Network Ideal for Telecommuters and Remote Workers

b2ap3_thumbnail_mobile_friendly_network_400.jpgMany businesses see the value in allowing their team to work remotely, which sounds great on paper. Workers don’t have to be at the office to get work done, so long as they have an Internet connection. Most important of all, though, is how much money a business can save by allowing its workers to work remotely. Thus, the primary objective should be to make it as easy as possible for remote workers to perform their jobs.

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3 Reasons VoIP is Superior For Conference Calls

b2ap3_thumbnail_voip_video_400.jpgConference calls are a staple in the modern office environment. As a business owner, you’re probably drawn into more conference calls daily than you’d care for. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) offers a significantly better way to go about your daily conference call duties.

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Landline Phones are On the Way Out, What’s Next?

b2ap3_thumbnail_your_office_work_phone_400.jpgTake a good, hard look at your desk telephone. How often do you use it for day-to-day operations? With the advent of technologies like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and the smartphone, it seems silly to be reliant on the telephone that’s tethered to your desk. However, some people still aren’t ready to leave the office telephone behind in favor of these new technologies. But… why?

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Tip of the Week: 3 IT Tips Your Budget Will Thank You For

b2ap3_thumbnail_three_services_400.jpgStaying on top of your company’s budget is a key component to increasing your revenue. By failing to do so, major expenses will blindside you and cancel out any progress that might have otherwise been made from increased sales. For many companies, one of the worst budget busters comes from their IT.

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VoIP is the Ultimate Solution for Your Communication Woes

b2ap3_thumbnail_voip_phone_400.jpgOne major technology pain point businesses have revolves around communication. If your clients and prospects can’t effectively reach your staff, customer support and productivity is weakened. Customers need more out of your phone system, and VoIP solutions offer more features with less expenses.

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The Key Difference Between In-House and Hosted VoIP Solutions

b2ap3_thumbnail_voip_for_business_400.jpgCommunications solutions are vital to the functionality of your business. Amongst several other necessities, your telephony solution stands head and shoulders above the rest as one of the most important. Are you still using a legacy phone system? If so, you should consider switching to a VoIP system.

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Should You Cut the Telephone Cord?

b2ap3_thumbnail_get_a_new_phone_system_400.jpgModern businesses prioritize in improving communications because they understand it will lead to more coherent operations and greater profits. Therefore, your business needs a communication solution that’s customizable to meet your unique needs. The one-size-fits-all approach just doesn’t work for business-to-business telecommunications, and your company should not be subjected to this outdated approach.

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The Advantage of Knowing Why a Client is Calling Before You Answer

b2ap3_thumbnail_voip_is_cost_effective_400.jpgAre your employees trained to answer the phones in a helpful and professional manner? If you're not intentional about this, calls made to your company will be fumbled, notes will be scribbled on paper, and clients will lose confidence in your business. One way to really impress callers is to equip your staff with phone features allowing them to know pertinent information about a client before they answer the phone.

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How to Find the VoIP Solution that’s Perfect for Your Business

b2ap3_thumbnail_voip_for_your_business_400.jpgWhen it comes to business communications technology, you don’t want to be caught using technology that’s outdated. Thanks to the innovations afforded to your company by Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), you can have access to lots of game-changing telephone features that blow traditional phone systems out of the water. Has your business switched to the VoIP advantage?

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Landlines Shouldn’t Make You Call Out For Help - Get VoIP!

b2ap3_thumbnail_this_is_voip_400.jpgAs technology grows more and more complex, the usefulness of your business's landline is declining. There are just plain better ways of communicating - cell phones are much more portable, and the Internet allows people to communicate with others while taking care of other work. One of the best ways to communicate over the Internet is by using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which provides the best of both worlds for those stuck in the landline age.

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Is Your Company Using these 3 Essential Tech Solutions?

b2ap3_thumbnail_solutions_for_business_400.jpgEfficiency. As a business leader, this word has probably become a favorite of yours. An efficiently run business results in lowered costs and increased productivity. Who doesn't want that? As you know, efficiency requires intentionality. A great place to start is with your technology. Here are three solutions that will intentionally increase your technology's (and in turn, your business') efficiency.

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79% of American Businesses Use VoIP Phones at One Location

b2ap3_thumbnail_voip_is_good_for_business_400.jpgThis statistic comes from California-based market research firm In-Stat, and it highlights the growth of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. To give you an idea of how far VoIP has come in recent years, this figure was at 42% just five years ago. Is your business taking advantage of the VoIP revolution?

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The Benefits of a Simplified Communication Solution from VoIP

b2ap3_thumbnail_benefits_of_voip_400.jpgSimplifying a complicated procedure is a sure way to get ahead. An enterprise's communication system can be extremely complicated with everything a business needs out of it. Voice over Internet Protocol, aka VoIP, is a solution that can simplify your entire communications system. Simplifying something major like communication will benefit your business in many ways.

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Only 25% of U.S. Homes Will Have Landline Telephones by 2015

b2ap3_thumbnail_tincan400.jpgWired telephone service, also known as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), is seemingly nearing their extinction. This is thanks to the more economical and convenient Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone option. Until recently, nearly every American home was connected to the PSTN, but by 2015, this option will see a 75% decrease. What does this mean for your business?

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Use VoIP to Feel like a Superspy

b2ap3_thumbnail_phoney400.jpgRemember when a family's home had only one phone line and someone else would pick up the phone in the middle of a call? There would be a click, a pause, the caller would then ask, "Is someone on the other line?" A hasty hang-up click would then follow. With VoIP, you can listen in on phone calls without being detected!

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Every Move You Make VoIP Presence Will Be Watching You

b2ap3_thumbnail_busyman400.jpgAs a busy person, you're constantly on the move. The downside of being busy is that you sometimes miss important phone calls, even if you there are a dozen different ways to reach you. VoIP provides you with a solution to help you never again miss a call with a feature called Presence.

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How Hosted VoIP Can Save the Day!

b2ap3_thumbnail_lockcloud400.jpgWhen a major storm slams into your business and knocks out power, who are you going to call for help? If your communication system is hosted on your in-house IT infrastructure, then you won't be able to call anybody because your phones will be down. This also means your customers won't be able to call you for help.

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Train Your Employees with VoIP

b2ap3_thumbnail_voip.jpgVoice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a communication tool designed for business. VoIP takes advantage of your Internet connection to dramatically reduce your phone bill, sometimes by as much as 80% compared to traditional long distance plans. VoIP also comes with unique features to that will assist your company in customer service and employee training.

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