Tag Archives: features

Hosted PBX fulfilling SMB’s communication demand

When looking for a phone system it won’t take long to notice that there are an overwhelming amount of options. Smaller businesses are often looking for an affordable solution that will provide many of the features that larger companies use. Business phones have gone extremely high-tech which is why Hosted PBX systems were created. While most businesses are in need of the intelligence that PBX systems offer, they are often prohibitively expensive and most businesses do not have the hardware or know-how to implement these systems—but they do have the need for the business intelligence that they offer.

Hosted PBX provided from the premises of the service provider, so the small business can now enjoy numerous benefits without installing all the hardware or software typically needed with a new phone system.

With Hosted PBX system, company will be provided with a special router or switch that attaches to the network and is then connected to the external world. The router or switch communicates directly with the hosting service that provides the Hosted PBX. A Hosted PBX system is an IP phone system. Most of the hardware is hosted by a service provider on a monthly or annual basis, so that all connection to or from your website or sites go via the service provider.

There are several reasons why businesses are switching to a hosted PBX solution:

• To reduce hardware costs.

• To eliminate maintenance costs

• To free up IT resources.

• Easier management, tracking and reporting through online consoles than non-virtual PBX systems.

• Versatile services that adapt to your changing needs—without need for hardware upgrades.

One of the biggest selling points of hosted PBX systems is the wide variety of features and add-ons that they make available to businesses. Features that were once reserved only for extremely large companies are now available with most hosted PBX systems. Popular features include Find-Me-Follow-Me technology, Outlook integration, extension dialing, call forwarding, and music on hold. The Follow-Me feature allows calls to be easily forwarded to cell phones or other alternate locations. This allows for the possibility of a completely virtual office and reducing office overhead expenses. Also, many of these systems also have an auto-attendant which allows calls to be directed during business both and off-business hours.

Another reason businesses are moving to hosted PBX services is that the business has gone nationwide or even global. Small-to-medium sized businesses can have offices and customers around the globe and a hosted PBX system can offer cost saving features plus long distance numbers and plans. The cost of can be just fractions of the cost when using a hosted PBX system versus standard phone line systems.

An introduction to SonicWALL

The public company, SonicWALL, is a professionally set up firm that deals in Internet security solutions and related appliances. Its products include devices that provide Their product lines within include devices that provide UTM (Unified Threat Management), firewalls, VPN (Virtual Private Network), value-added subscription services, anti-spam, content filtering and e-mail, back-up and recovery and software. Its deep inspection engine that is free of reassembly has the potential to scan any number of file sizes and downloads happening simultaneously on any TCP port, thereby providing superlative performance and scalability for growing networks.

Headquartered in San Jose, California, USA, SonicWALL also has a sales center in Tempe, Arizona, US and engineering centers in Seattle, Washington, USA, Shanghai, China and Bangalore, India. The company has a worldwide workforce of 700 people across its five international offices. Its offices in Bangalore, Sunnyvale and Tempe also double up as its support centers.

Founded in 1991 by two brothers Sreekanth and Sudhakar Ravi in Sunnyvale, California, the company was called Sonic Systems. It worked on making networking components for Apple’s product, Macintosh. In 1997, they came out with a security product called SonicWALL, which combined a firewall and VPN and a completely dedicated hardware appliance meant for small businesses. Two years later, the company renamed itself to SonicWALL Inc., and in November 1999, for the first time, they went public.

Since then, they went through several developments and acquisitions, and added several core technologies to their security appliances that included anti-virus, intrusion detection and prevention, continuous data protection backup and content filtering.

Some of its prominent acquisitions to this day remain the one with Phobos Corporation, Salt Lake City, Utah in November 2000 for $268 million. The company makes SSL security products. It also acquired the Internet security consulting services company, Ignyte Technology, Inc. in March 2001for $8.6 million. In the same year, it acquired SecureCom Networks, San Jose, California, and RedCreek Communications Inc., in Fremont, California, a company into VPN networking gear.

In 2005, it acquired Lasso Logic, a San Francisco, California, company that makes continuous data backup and recovery solutions based on appliances. It also acquired enKoo, a remote access technology developer in San Jose, California. The following year, it acquired MailFrontier, a company in Palo Alto, California, that develops e-mail security solutions, outbound content control and compliance and spam protection for a record $31 million. In 2007, a provider of enterprise SSL VPN remote access solutions, Aventail Corporation, was acquired for $25 million.

The benefits of using SonicWALL are many. For instance, it is easy to deploy and use in terms of configuration and policy creation, which make it ideal for small and medium-sized companies. It also has very easy to use configuration guides to help users maneuver and navigate through the network environment.

SonicWALL has a very powerful operating platform called SonicOS, which simplifies the most difficult task. This is due to its robust suite of features that enable network administrators to quickly and easily add wireless guest services and object-based management features. This wonderful product has many more features and benefits that make it a sought-after product.

An introduction to SonicWALL

The public company, SonicWALL, is a professionally set up firm that deals in Internet security solutions and related appliances. Its products include devices that provide Their product lines within include devices that provide UTM (Unified Threat Management), firewalls, VPN (Virtual Private Network), value-added subscription services, anti-spam, content filtering and e-mail, back-up and recovery and software. Its deep inspection engine that is free of reassembly has the potential to scan any number of file sizes and downloads happening simultaneously on any TCP port, thereby providing superlative performance and scalability for growing networks.

Headquartered in San Jose, California, USA, SonicWALL also has a sales center in Tempe, Arizona, US and engineering centers in Seattle, Washington, USA, Shanghai, China and Bangalore, India. The company has a worldwide workforce of 700 people across its five international offices. Its offices in Bangalore, Sunnyvale and Tempe also double up as its support centers.

Founded in 1991 by two brothers Sreekanth and Sudhakar Ravi in Sunnyvale, California, the company was called Sonic Systems. It worked on making networking components for Apple’s product, Macintosh. In 1997, they came out with a security product called SonicWALL, which combined a firewall and VPN and a completely dedicated hardware appliance meant for small businesses. Two years later, the company renamed itself to SonicWALL Inc., and in November 1999, for the first time, they went public.

Since then, they went through several developments and acquisitions, and added several core technologies to their security appliances that included anti-virus, intrusion detection and prevention, continuous data protection backup and content filtering.

Some of its prominent acquisitions to this day remain the one with Phobos Corporation, Salt Lake City, Utah in November 2000 for $268 million. The company makes SSL security products. It also acquired the Internet security consulting services company, Ignyte Technology, Inc. in March 2001for $8.6 million. In the same year, it acquired SecureCom Networks, San Jose, California, and RedCreek Communications Inc., in Fremont, California, a company into VPN networking gear.

In 2005, it acquired Lasso Logic, a San Francisco, California, company that makes continuous data backup and recovery solutions based on appliances. It also acquired enKoo, a remote access technology developer in San Jose, California. The following year, it acquired MailFrontier, a company in Palo Alto, California, that develops e-mail security solutions, outbound content control and compliance and spam protection for a record $31 million. In 2007, a provider of enterprise SSL VPN remote access solutions, Aventail Corporation, was acquired for $25 million.

The benefits of using SonicWALL are many. For instance, it is easy to deploy and use in terms of configuration and policy creation, which make it ideal for small and medium-sized companies. It also has very easy to use configuration guides to help users maneuver and navigate through the network environment.

SonicWALL has a very powerful operating platform called SonicOS, which simplifies the most difficult task. This is due to its robust suite of features that enable network administrators to quickly and easily add wireless guest services and object-based management features. This wonderful product has many more features and benefits that make it a sought-after product.