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7 Reasons Why a Fast and Reliable Internet Connection Is Business Critical

1. Faster Business Operations:

For most businesses, the internet is the workhorse of their business operations. Whether you're a multinational firm that needs to share documents across offices, an e-commerce store selling thousands of products to customers around the world, or a small accounting firm that needs to send and receive sensitive information, a fast andreliable internet connectionis a necessity. It empowers you and your employees to work more efficiently, which ultimately leads to quicker business operations. Moreover, you can take advantage of innovative tools that save time and money, such as VoIP, video conferencing, webinar platforms, and more to further boost productivity.

2. Cloud Storage Becomes Seamless:

Cloud storage has become an integral part of how businesses operate, and the availability of cloud storage providers like DropBox, Box, G Suite Business, and OneDrive makes it easy to store, share, and access documents online. Furthermore, integrating cloud storage into your business operations can help you improve efficiency and save on costs since you don't have to pay for expensive internal server storage. However, cloud storage is only as good as yourprimary internet connection, and a slow or unreliable connection means transferring data can take longer and cause unneeded downtime. Having a fast and reliable internet connection ensures your employees and business partners can work together seamlessly while enjoying 24/7 access to files from any location.

3. Faster Data Backup & Recovery:

Your business is the epitome of your hard work and dedication to your customers. It is your livelihood and represents the fruit of your effort and labor. Therefore, you'd want to protect it at all costs. Unfortunately, accidents are not uncommon, and many businesses have suffered catastrophic data loss due to server failures, natural disasters, human error, and more. Fortunately, you can greatly reduce the risk of catastrophic data loss with regular data backups. Having an off-site backup that continually syncs up with your primary server, or an automated backup solution for your computer is also a good idea. However, for seamless and fast data backup and recovery, having a fast and reliable internet connection is essential. Any connectivity issues could lead to no up-to-date backups — putting your business and all your hard work at risk.

4. Provide a Better Customer Experience:

Customer service is paramount to the success of any business. You want to provide your customers with the best service you can to keep them coming back and increasing your profit margins. Since most of your customers are doing business with you online, having a reliable internet connection is essential to ensuring a positive customer experience. The most common way for customers to contact you is by email, or live chat, which relies on your internet connection. Therefore, slow or unreliable internet can lead to frustrated customers that have to deal with the inconvenience of delays. You can lose them for good if your customer service is poor. So, it becomes paramount to have a fast internet connection and ensure that your internet connectivity has the lowest latency to provide the best customer experience.

5. Collaboration Becomes Simpler:

Collaboration between teams, including internal staff, freelancers, contractors, and vendors is crucial to the success of a business. Today's workforce is more mobile than ever before. The ability to quickly and easily collaborate with your team and partners helps you build your company faster and make better decisions. And when it comes to collaboration, the internet is king. Having a fast and reliable internet connection will enable you to host real-time video conferences, share files and presentations quickly, create online discussions, and so much more without compromising on quality. Moreover, having a solid internet connection can boost employee morale by providing a direct line of communication with the rest of your team — even if they're miles away. And this ultimately saves time and money in the long run since employees won't have to travel back and forth between locations just to keep everyone updated.

6. Access Online Tools & Applications Without Delay

As a business, you rely on a multitude of tools and applications to stay productive. From Skype, Slack, and Office 365 to project management platforms, accounting software, CRM's, cloud storage, and more — the list of applications and tools you use are seemingly endless. And to keep your business running efficiently and successfully, you need to be able to access these tools and applications without delay. Without a fast internet connection, your employees will waste precious time trying to just log in to their applications let alone do their work. Moreover, some tools and applications require low latency to provide a smooth experience to your users. Thus, a slow or unreliable internet connection can negatively impact your business by affecting productivity and creating user frustration – something no business owner wants to deal with.

7. Faster & Better Video Conferencing:

You don't always have the time to be physically present at a meeting to communicate your ideas or present important information. Instead, you might use video conferencing to be in multiple places at once. But like any other type of technology, video conferencing is also dependent on an internet connection. Due to a poor connection, slow speeds and constant interruptions can turn an efficient business meeting into a nightmare. Moreover, if you need to present a video or file in real-time, you must have a fast internet connection that can handle the high bandwidth traffic while ensuring the lowest latency for your participants. A fast and reliable internet connection will give you and your employees an edge in business meetings by allowing you to cut travel costs and reduce the time you spend away from your business.The benefits of having a fast and reliable internet connection are immense, and it goes beyond having your employees communicate with each other and share important files. A reliable internet connection also empowers entrepreneurs to grow their businesses by accessing the tools they need to accelerate productivity and run their business seamlessly from anywhere. In essence, the importance of internet speed can't be understated — as it's the foundation for growing your business.

Enhance Your Business Operations with SmartCONNECT™

SmartCONNECT™ is a revolutionary new tool that seamlessly optimizes your business's internet connectivity, ensuring you get the fastest and most reliable connection available. For businesses with varied locations across multiple cities,SmartCONNECT™is a perfect solution since it automatically improves the robustness of your primary and secondary connection within seconds while also allowing you to configure bandwidth prioritization rules. So, if you are a business owner or an entrepreneur, SmartCONNECT™ can help your business operate more efficiently and faster so you can reach your goals on time.

Original blog source:https://vivantcorp.com/blog/7-reasons-why-a-fast-and-reliable-internet-connection-is-business-critical/

How to Choose the Best VoIP Phone System for Your Business

Choosing a Business Phone System is not as simple as it sounds

The rate of adoption for VoIP has been explosive but has also created a market that is now flooded with providers. It's one of the main factors that makes switching to a VoIP phone a daunting task for many businesses.As a business owner, you know that an internet phone system is the future of telecommunications. However, knowing how to find theperfectphone system for your businesscan get tricky.In this competitive environment, you're bound to see many providers making outlandish promises just to close that sale.At Vivant, we put our money where our mouth is with our 100% uptime and seamless connectivity guarantee.

Vivant is the leading VoIP provider

Our team at Vivant is made up of passionate technology experts who strive to help local businesses succeed in their field. We believe that our technology will help businesses be more flexible and productive while also reducing unnecessary costs.Vivant has developed strong relationships with all major carriers and hosted phone systems. This means that regardless of thebusiness phone systemyou currently use, our VoIP solutions will integrate seamlessly.Vivant's versatile VoIP solutions can enhance your current systems with features that were previously not available. For example, you'll be able to obtain valuable customer data insights from your CRM and/or help desk systems.

Key benefits of switching to Vivant Phone System

Let's take a brief look at some of the key benefits that a system can provide to your business.

  • Save on costs:

Investing in new technology solutions is often a big-ticket expenditure. However, you'll be glad to know that they are much more cost-efficient than conventional phone lines.VoIP connects calls using your existing internet network. You don't need additional hardware and your international calling rates are much cheaper too!

  • Minimal setup time:

We get it: these arebusy timesandtime is money. Traditional business phone systems could take a few days to complete. In addition, they usually require purchasing additional hardware that was expensive and bulky.A VoIP system can take a few hours (if that) to complete, and you'll be up and running before you know it.

  • Better remote work flexibility:

These days, companies need to have flexible remote working capabilities. Whether you're at home or on a fishing trip, sometimes you need to take business calls and have easy access to your work files.VoIP technology makes it easy to port a phone number to a new location or device so you can stay in touch with your colleagues and clients whether through your desk phone at the office, mobile app on your fishing trip, or the beach on your laptop, welcome freedom to work from anywhere.

Things to consider when choosing a phone system

  1. Seamless connectivity:Having a strong foundation is essential for any credible provider. Since systems use the internet to make and receive calls, you need to make sure that the networks they run on are reliable and secure.In this fast-moving world, you can't run the risk of missing important opportunities because of an unreliable network or slow internet, or poor business phone system.
  2. Get a system that grows with your business:The process of onboarding or removing employees has traditionally been a resource-intensive and expensive process. Thankfully, Vivant's DIY VoIP platform allows for adding or removing users as easily as a few buttons clicks with no disruption in your day-to-day tasks.
  3. It should make life easier:Switching should make life at the office MUCH easier. For one, you don't have to deal with bulky and costly equipment taking up space at the office. With VoIP, you'll have easy access to monitor, fine-tune, and manage your network assets.Whether you have an in-house IT team or not, you'll have an intuitive browser-based management system for hands-on control of your communications with minimal need for maintenance. Choose from Desktop VoIP phones, Mobile Apps to use on the go, or Built-in Phones into your favorite browser
  4. 24/7 Customer Support:One of the things that make VoIP such an appealing option is how easy they are to set up and begin using right away. But with technology, you'll inevitably run into issues along the way. That doesn't mean you'll have to do them on your own.With business-grade phone systems, you'll have 24/7 access to the DIY portal to make changes and to real technical experts to call on in times of need.
  5. Competitive features that end-users will love:Today's customers are usually of the highly demanding type. That means that when they call your business, they expect to talk to someone directly and quickly. Navigating from menu to menu hearing automated messages on a traditionalbusiness phone systemcan be highly frustrating.They come packed with powerful features such as automatic call forwarding, easy call transfers, and even a virtual receptionist who can assist callers in reaching the right party.

Don't just choose a system, choose Vivant

The way your business can communicate with your customers, vendors, and business partners will play a large role in determining the future success of your organization.At Vivant, we have worked hard for many years in cultivating strong relationships with our partners and clients. Our passion to provide world-class technology solutions sets us apart from the crowd.Whether you're having troublecommunicating with an overseas client or need expert assistance in setting up an important virtual meeting, our experts at Vivant have all your needs covered!Are you ready to finally make the move from the world of copper circuits and legacy switchboards? If so, get ready to be thrilled with the amazing capabilities that Vivant'sVoIP solutionscan offer your business.

Why Having a Redundant Network Is a Must For Any Business

Businesses rely on their internet provider for a service that allows them to carry out cloud processing, marketing, outsourcing, eCommerce, client relationship management, video conferencing, remote operations, data storage, and communication. Consequently, a breakdown in this internet connection can cripple the business resulting in heavy losses.

The apparent problems resulting from internet breakage and downtime have necessitated an innovative solution. Therefore, redundancy is a vital consideration for all firms that have a framework that relies on a steady connection. This connection forms a vital part of business operations, and it ensures this connection runs optimally despite unforeseen mishaps and externalities. Network redundancy entails incorporating additional networking devices and configuration to ensure that the business enjoys an uninterrupted internet connection throughout its operations. This article looks at why having network redundancy may be one of the most worthwhile investments for your business.

What causes internet downtime

There are numerous possible causes for these troublesome internet breakages; a provider may be affecting infrastructural or firmware upgrades resulting in internet breakages. These outages may also result from a failed link between your devices and the internet provider. This broken link may be due to a storm or any other externality. Faulty or worn equipment can also be a notable culprit. Internet providers quite often rely on backbone networks which can interrupt internet connections when they go out. Power outages may also result in internet breakages as most internet frameworks are dependent on the availability of power. Given their nature, hardware components tend to wear out over time, resulting in failures that can sever internet connections. Upgrades may also cause problems in internet connectivity, especially when incompatible components are being used for firmware and hardware. It is a competent way of ensuring that these hazardous instances do not vastly impact the performance and productivity of your business.

Benefits of a redundant network

Having a redundant network is vastly beneficial for a business firm with notable bandwidth demands. A single connection may not be able to handle these tasking demands, resulting in slow connectivity and lagging. Processing large tasks become next to impossible in this case. Setting up a redundant network such as a Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) allows you to merge various ISP connections into one that can handle the business's bandwidth requirements. Not only will it be faster, but it will also be able to operate optimally in case one ISP connection goes out.

Internet interruptions can be quite costly for any business. The internet tends to go off for moments at a time, which can interfere with your firm's productivity levels. Once this connection is severed, it takes a considerable amount of time to return to optimal levels of operation. Utilizing technology such asSmartCONNECTallows your business framework to switch to another connection in case of internet outages seamlessly. This switch allows the business to run smoothly and consistently.

Effecting network redundancy allows you to better prepare for sudden internet outages that can last for long periods. It is not uncommon for internet providers to have downtime lasting up to 24 hours or even more. These long periods without connectivity can be quite detrimental to any business. Clients will not be able to reach your business, and you will not be able to offer your products and services in a timely and efficient way. Having a redundant network allows you to operate consistently, even with externalities that interrupt your steady internet connection.

“Redundant ISP connections allow you to keep operations even when other competitors are unable to. Offering uninterrupted services when other similar businesses can't do the same gives you an absolute advantage on the market scene. Your business will be able to pull in more clients as they seek out the next most reliable option. Clients tend to find the consistency and reliability of any business quite appealing, and this could vastly improve your sales”.

It is commonplace for businesses to lose their clients as a result of unavailability and inconsistency. A poor internet connection makes it hard for businesses to reach you and may also worsen customer experience. Bad customer experience is one of the most notable causes of any business's decline, hence the need for an efficient customer support framework.

Network redundancy can be used as a security measure for your business. Quite often, businesses allow their clients to connect to their internet via unknown devices. These devices pose an apparent risk as they can allow for espionage, infiltration, and malware attacks. Having numerous ISP connections allows the business to segment each sector based on their different connections. Therefore, clients can be given a dedicated connection that will not interfere with the business's vital sectors. Internet security is very important, and segmentation coupled with it can be quite formidable in shielding off apparent vulnerability. Having a redundant network will also keep internet traffic from different endpoints separate. Sensitive information from one department will not be relayed across the same network, which unauthorized parties can easily access.

Tips on how to set up a redundant network

A well set-up redundant network has vast benefits, as seen above. Setting up redundancy is an intricate process that professionals should do for the best results. It would be best if the entire network were made fully redundant. There should be backups for power, ISP, devices, cables, and even VoIP. This backup framework should be as simple and neat as possible to make repair and maintenance easy. Businesses may also consider using 4G as a viable alternative for backing up primaryinternet service providers. These measures will ensure that your business gets the most out of setting it up.

Conclusion

Internet downtime can result from a myriad of factors, including technological errors, natural phenomenon, or simply human error. For a business to avoid these costly implications resulting from internet downtime, it would be best to employ a reputable internet wireless provider who guarantees unlimited uptime or a competent fixed wireless provider. In the long run, internet redundancy is a worthwhile investment as it provides a competent buffer against losses resulting from a broken internet connection.

For more information about Vivant'sSmartCONNECTtechnology orSD-WANofferings, please refer to the linked pages.

Original blog source:https://vivantcorp.com/blog/why-having-a-redundant-network-is-a-must-for-any-business/

Why IP Telephony Is Best for Startups?

What Is IP Telephony?

Before we delve into the benefits of IP telephony for startups, let's just take a moment to familiarize ourselves with what this technology is and how it works.IP telephony, or also known asInternet telephony, is a communication technology that is used to make and receive telephone calls over the Internet protocol instead of a traditional landline that uses the ordinary PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). Hence, with IP telephony, it is possible to turn any business into avirtual phone systemby allowing users to make calls through a central place and not in their local area network. A business can allow employees to access its applications and communication functions, such as making and receiving calls through mobile devices or computers. Moreover, the data being transmitted via VoIP is generally encoded and compressed, which makes VoIP cheaper and faster than traditional landline communication services and also offers better call quality. Further demanding no physical network infrastructure, VoIP is more cost-effective, scalable, flexible, and reliable than its landline counterpart. And thanks to evolving technology, VoIP systems have now become the de facto standard for all startups, irrespective of their size.

7 Reasons Why IP Telephony Is Best for Startups

1. Improved Accessibility:

IP telephony does more than just cater to your desire to work from anywhere. It improves the way your employees communicate – both on a personal and professional level. On a personal level, it allows team members to get in touch with their colleagues, even when they are traveling, relaxing at home, or busy with an important project, without having to disrupt their productivity. And on a professional level, IP telephony allows for improved efficiency and productivity – fewer distractions, faster calls, and clearer lines of communication are just the beginning.

2. Ease of Implementation:

VoIP is extremely simple to use and even easier to implement. As these communication systems are hosted on the cloud, they can be accessed from anywhere and will never demand any hardware or specialized software installation. And with automated features, advanced call answering, and advanced user interfaces for interaction, VoIP brings the speed and simplicity needed for startups to make the most of their limited resources.

3. Affordable:

Businesses and startups in today's highly competitive marketplace cannot maintain the same old infrastructure that high-cost traditional landlines provide. And thanks to VoIP, which is low-cost and scalable, startups can quickly ramp up communication infrastructure and easily reduce operating costs by 70%. With such massive cost savings, startups can now set aside the necessary resources to invest in other areas of development and expand their business without compromising on communication quality and reliability.

4. Scalability:

When a company expands, the need for communication grows. Who wants to be on the receiving end of phone calls when everyone on the line is vying for your attention? Business phone provider services can contain these growing pains by allowing startups to scale with ease. When companies quickly expand their reach into new markets and acquire new clients, IP telephony effectively scales with them. You can wait to get more employees or accept more calls from customers, but why when you can just open up new channels of communication without extra work or wait for departmental signoffs?

5. Automated Assistance When Agents Are Busy:

Every business hopes to provide its customers with the best service possible. However, employees cannot be available during off-hours and the days off. Depending on the type of business, some key questions will most likely be asked by your customers in a specific order. Certainly, the process could be streamlined with VoIP technology so that callers receive automated responses that offer them detailed and to the point information on your office hours, business holidays, and upcoming company events. After answering these frequently asked questions, if needed, a call handler could route each call to an available customer service representative – and all with just a few clicks of a button.

6. Enhanced Workflow Integrations:

When it comes to providing world-class customer support, today's agents are confronted with numerous challenges. Not only are they held accountable for slow response times and missed calls, but they are also expected to find ways to streamline call handling and enhance the customer experience. IP telephony integration with customer service software ensures seamless call handling processes, increased productivity, and better customer satisfaction without needing to scale infrastructure.

7. Improved Customer Experience:

If you run or manage a business, then customer experience is critical. Every customer interaction counts because, at some point, they'll decide whether they want to continue doing business with you. With VoIP, your customers can get quality support when they need it – and even better, your staff can close the deal with a personal touch. Not only does VoIP help your agents identify the type of call they're receiving, but it also gives them a look into their customer's personality, interests, and more to help them build a rapport with the caller. This, combined with tools like VoIP-Powered CRM Software, allows for efficient organization and smoother customer interaction.

Conclusion

Conclusively, IP telephony for startups improves not only productivity but also the way they interface with customers. Bringing in affordable communication and improved collaboration, IP telephony for startups also provides a range of features that make them more productive, accessible, and valuable to their customers. With such clear benefits, IP telephony makes the most of startups; no wonder it is the choice of startups all over the world.

For additional details, you can visitbusiness phone system pageor to view our complete range of servicesvisit us.

Original blog source:https://vivantcorp.com/blog/why-ip-telephony-is-best-for-startups/

Why a Business Needs a Back-up Internet Connection

The internet outage will halt the sales, cause date losses, set a negative impression for customers, and can cause severe financial losses in your business.To cope with these unforeseen situations, we recommend having abackup internet connectionfor your business. A backup connection will provide an immediate solution to your business in case of any internet issue in the primary ISP. In case of any issue with your primary internet service, the data and communications will be rerouted to a backup connection and your business will run smoothly. Enlisted are some of the benefits of having a backup internet facility for your business.

Keeps the sales up

Internet outages can happen due to different reasons. They can occur due to weather conditions, construction works, or some technical faults in the service provider's equipment. Aredundant Internet connectionkeeps the orders flowing even in the absence of internet from the primary service provider. This backup connection provides your network with an instant and alternate path to the internet and helps your team to keep on working. This will help your business to keep on serving paying clients, maintain reliable connections between branch offices or retail stores and have a100% up-time.

Lowers financial loss

An internet outage can severely hit small businesses. It can make your business unable to process orders and credit card payments and can cause a big loss of revenue. Abackup internet connectionwill ensure100% up-timefor your business by allowing the staff to process orders and payments all the time. This will help your business to lessen the financial loss.

Prevents interruptions

Full outages of the internet are very harmful to your business. However, small interruptions can also have very serious implications. Aredundant Internet connectionhelps your staff to switch to a good internet connection in case of slow speed, or sudden disconnections in primary internet service. This effective and timely backup provides an immediate solution to any internet issue your business can face.

Meets legal regulation

A backup internet facility is essential for the industries relying on access to critical data and communications. For instance, regulators, in the healthcare industry, require businesses to resume operations with no disruptions. They also need to have a disaster recovery plan in place to cope up with any event of a disaster. A backup connection helps these businesses to ensure uninterrupted connections and maintain legal regulations.

Saves the data

Data, your business store and carry, is one of the biggest assets for your business. It is essential to have seamless and secure internet connections for your business to mitigate the risks of data loss. Aredundant internet connectionreduces the risks of data loss by providing an alternate and instant path for your network. So, it is necessary to ensure consistency in the internet facility to your business by having a backup connection.

Makes your business stand out among the competitors

Abackup internet connectionmakes your business stand out from your competitors. In any case of internet outage due to infrastructure failure or extreme weather conditions, the fail-over internet connection will allow you to provide non-stop service to your customers. As the availability and effectiveness of your service determine your sales, the backup connection ensures100% up-timefor your business to increase sales. This will increase your customer's trust in your business and they will choose your services over competitors.

Decreases stress:

A fail-over internet connection will save you from a lot of unnecessary stress caused by sudden internet outages. During any case of an internet outage, your employees will not be able to work effectively. This can cause a very stressful situation for you due to financial loss, negative reputation of your business, and inability to get back online. So having a backup connection will reduce stress and will allow you to concentrate on crucial business matters without worrying about internet supply.

Is budget-friendly

The cost for a backup connection mainly depends upon the bandwidth needs and budget of the business. However, a backup connection must cost less than your primary internet connection. Despite costing less in the budget, a backup connection saves you from heavy financial loss and sets your business as a reliable brand.

In Conclusion

As seen from the above-mentioned reasons, a backup internet facility is essential for the success of your business. It will keep your sales up, save you from unnecessary stress and revenue loss, and help your business grow. To help you choose a budget-friendly and reliable backup internet connection, we atVivantoffer cutting-edge solutions for 100% connectivity uptime with varying bandwidth speeds. For more information about all our services please visitwww.vivantcorp.com.

Original blog source:https://vivantcorp.com/blog/why-a-business-needs-a-back-up-internet-connection/

4 Reasons Why Your Business Should Switch to a Hosted PBX System

So if you're looking for abusiness phone systemthat delivers secure and reliable services, a hosted PBX system is the solution you need. Let's take a look at some of the best reasons your business should make the switch to a hosted PBX system today.

What is a hosted PBX system?

A hosted PBX system is a cloud-based phone system that enables communication from within and outside an organization. Using Vivant's world-classhosted PBX servicesmeans that you are essentially migrating your business communication from rigid onsite infrastructures to the cloud.

That's right, all the telephony services for your business will be delivered entirely via the internet. Right off the bat, you'll be saving yourself from the extensive hardware and software costs that traditional PBX business phone systems require.

Not only that but using Vivant's hosted PBX solutions will spare you the hassle of spending time and money monitoring your on-premise PBX system or paying expensive service call fees just to make simple changes to your phone system.

At Vivant, we provide a 100% hands-off PBX solution to our clients so they can focus on their business while we provide you with business phone services with a 100% uptime guarantee. In addition, with our free support and maintenance, never pay for changes to your system or the maintenance cost of the system.

4 reasons why a hosted PBX system is right for your business

  1. Keeps costs low and predictable:
    In these uncertain times, costs are a huge consideration for any serious business owner. Fortunately, using a hosted PBX system will eliminate your long-distance cost and reduce your international call costs. The fact that calls are made over the internet means that they are practically toll-free.For businesses who regularly make national and international calls as part of their day-to-day operations, this is certainly welcome news.There are multiple cost benefits of switching to Vivant's hosted PBX solutions instead of using conventional phone services.For starters, using ahosted PBX systemvirtually eliminates having to make significant upfront investments in bulky telephone systems. Not only do these systems take valuable time and space to install, but they will also need to be maintained periodically.Of course, that may often require having to pay someone who is trained to conduct maintenance updates.At Vivant, we provide the hardware, software, and implementation services to get you up and running within a few short days. You run your business and we'll take care of operating and maintaining your business phone service.
  2. Your PBX system will grow with your business:
    The process of onboarding new staff members to an organization is notoriously slow and resource-intensive. This may put businesses at a disadvantage especially when they need to scale up or down quickly in response to current business conditions.If you're stuck using a traditional business phone system, adding a new user would require installing new phone lines and the collaboration between different staff members.Luckily, Vivant's hosted PBX solutions make the process of adding or removing staff quick and pain-free. Unlike traditional business phone systems, a virtual system can be scaled up on-demand effortlessly.Just buy as many phones that you need and simply plug into the internet connection to add the line to your system.If your business is expanding its presence with new office locations and additional staff, you can rest easy knowing that your communications capabilities will remain secure and reliable. Connecting additional offices is just as simple and all of your team will be connected as if they are in the same office.
  3. Remote working made easy and efficient:
    One of the reasons that make Vivant's hosted PBX system a top choice for local businesses is the flexibility and security it provides to employees working from remote locations.By simply using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), an employee can have their calls forwarded to their phone, laptop, or any other device.Vivant's hosted PBX system helps you boost employee productivity by letting remote employees communicate and collaborate seamlessly with their work colleagues. In addition, you can rest easy knowing that your remote workers are projecting the right image for your business regardless of their location.When you use a cloud-based PBX, the office becomes wherever your employee happens to be located. Even if they are located across the globe, employees will maintain access to all the tools they need to carry out their work.

Built-in analytics allows you to monitor all employees including remote employees' productivity to see how many calls they have made, answered, missed calls and a visual graph of hourly productivity throughout the day

  1. Ensures business continuity:
    Life is full of unexpected events and they can sometimes force a disruption in the operations of a business. While many big corporations may be better able to weather the storm, the effects of disruption on smaller businesses can be devastating.You never know when disaster can strike but here are a few reasons why they happen:
    Natural disasters (like storms and earthquakes).
    Technology system breakdowns.
    Communications systems breakdowns.
    Security breaches (hacks and software viruses).

    That's why having a robust, secure, and effective hosted PBX system as provided by Vivant can help ensure business continuity for your firm. When you use Vivant PBX solutions, there is no need to worry about any physical equipment on the premises of your firm. That's because there isn't any equipment.Our hosted services mean that we keep all the necessary hardware in safe storage and with expert personnel to keep them up-to-date.Should your business go through an unfortunate natural catastrophe, you can rest easy knowing that your communications system is still up and running as if nothing ever happened.

Hosted PBX systems are quickly being adopted by local businesses for the amazing benefits they offer, including the ones outlined above. The changes we've experienced these last few years have had consequential changes with how businesses are run and operated. 2

Switching to a cloud-based PBX service by Vivant is one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to stay competitive in 2021 and beyond.

Read this blog:What to Consider When Choosing a VoIP Phone System

Restaurants survival during COVID-19: Online ordering

Online ordering

Governments have temporarily suspended the restaurant business at once as they realizedCOVID-19is spread via human-to-human contact. On the 18th of March, Texas Governor decided to close all the restaurants and bars in the state, as Texas confirmed 3rd virus death. Over 50,000 restaurants are closed across Texas. About 1,4 million people working in the foodservice industry lost their job temporarily. This is a very high index, as they represent 12% of employment in the state.Many restaurateurs, chefs, and business owners scramble to accept this new reality. Mr. Smith has spent the last 32 years of his life in building and improving his restaurant. “I never could have imagined that one day, our Governor would appear on television and tell us we had to close our businesses.”
Unfortunately, this state of emergency could be the final blow to restaurant businesses. Restaurant turnover has always been high but this situation threatens to put a lot of restaurants out of business. It will be extremely challenging for many of these restaurant owners to continue paying the staff when they are not serving customers. On the other hand, the Texas economy is in great danger, as restaurants are a strong driving force in Texas's economy.A lot of restaurants have found the only solution to their survival: online ordering. They have realized that if they stop their service until the end of the pandemic, they will lose their customers in the end. Online ordering is the best solution for eateries to keep their customers loyal and have some profit during these critical days. Though online ordering is a tiny slice of restaurant sales in normal times, restaurants have found out that during this pandemic situation, their order numbers have grown drastically.Since restaurants realize that offering online delivery service is the only survival during these pandemic days, they invest a lot of resources and efforts to organize fast online ordering. Several fine dining restaurants are trying to offer extra conditions for delivery, adjusting their menus. Some restaurants allow no-contact delivery options to improve customer satisfaction and gain their trust. Others in the industry are getting more creative and sending some interesting promo emails to attain more customers. But after all, fast response and delivery are what every hungry customer wants the most, right?

Today when it comes to your restaurant business success, it's easy to believe that you mustn't afford to miss any online order and should treat each customer individually because it is the only way of generating revenue during these critical days. Restaurateurs are convinced two factors affect the speed of online ordering: having a sufficient number of workers and being connected to uptime guaranteed internet. Three days ago one of the largest pizza delivery companies has announced that it plans to hire 20,000 workers to deal with the rising demand for pizza delivery across the country. Its main challenge is filling the rush with orders from customers who are stuck at home and want to eat something delicious. When the coronavirus situation in China became concerning the restaurant owner has realized the upcoming pandemic and decided to invest in a backup internet connection to ensure against potential risks. The backup service is a safety net, that makes it possible to have an uninterrupted internet connection unless the primary connection experiences a failure. Since having the backup internet connection, therestauranthasn't missed any order and achieved success in fast service and delivery.Taking into account the backup internet service reliability, here are some reasons for your eatery to start using uptime internet:

During the pandemic, your concurrents have only one solution for not getting out of the competition: to offer perfect online ordering and delivery service. All the players in the restaurant industry offer the same benefits, so what's your customer's motivation for choosing your service? The answer is clear: fast response and individual approach. Withbackup internet service, you will never experience connection downtime and will become your customer's best friend during these hard times.

Governments and researchers exhort people to avoid using paper money during this period and to choose an online payment method. Backup internet will ensure fast transactions and safe payments from your customers.

Connection outagescan throw a wrench in the working rhythm of your restaurant. If the point of sale is unable to send orders to the kitchen, there's a great chance of missing an order. WithBackup internet your restaurantwill never face the problems of order delay or cancellation.Hard times are coming and you should spare no effect for your restaurant to survive. Get SmartCONNECT™, our cutting edge solution for a 100% connectivity uptime. Keep your connection up even when there is an internet outage and don't miss a single customer.You must survive the pandemic! SmartCONNECT™ is here for you!

The big switch from a landline system to VoIP. It’s a technology switch and a mindset switch.

Many people have already abandoned their telephone landlines in favor ofcloud-basedVoIP technology. Now, more and more businesses are making the switch. Out-of-date phone systems and aging technologies are making way for robustVoIP systemsreplete with custom features.As it is, businessVoIPusers are growing exponentially year after year. While there are several drivers behind this boom, business owners need to understand the differences between traditional landline systems and VoIP technologies – the big switch is multi-layered.

Understanding the differences

For many of us, a landline phone was the standard “wired” phone that connected us to the world. We were part of a physical network of phone lines that connected us, phone by phone, to each other. VoIP is a new frontier – Voice Over Internet Protocol – it's acloud-basedtechnology that allows us to make phone calls from any>Countless telephony features

Unlike cumbersome analog systems,VoIP phone systemsare loaded with customized features, with everything from inter-office calling to conference calls, to voicemail. More than that, VoIP is the most complete and comprehensive phone service, with local/long-distance calling capability, additional phone numbers, and custom options designed to deliver efficiency and performance.

  • three-way calling + conference calling
  • unlimited voicemail boxes + voicemail
  • auto attendant + virtual office capacity
  • completely customized music-on-hold
  • custom call routing/find me/follow me
  • unlimited extensions + 911 capability
  • group phonebook + voicemail to email

Functionality and mobility

VoIP provides the ultimate in functionality and mobility – telecommunication is made simple, easy, and efficient. And when you add Mobile App compatibility, a whole new world is opened.Comprehensive VoIPsystems provide a level of functionality that traditional phonesystems can't match. Today, a small business can operate with the same high technology as big corporations.Large or small, businesses no longer have to spend loads of money on out-of-date phone systems. With VoIP technology, you can boost productivity, improve customer service, and increase sales.

Satisfying the expectations

Sometimes, VoIP implementation can be challenging – particularly with an inferior technology provider. Mainly, it's because of misguided expectations, poor organizational planning, and an inadequate level of implementation.With VoIP, business owners must articulate their needs while the technology provider must deliver the goods. That means providing the latest innovations while addressing both customer needs and customer expectations.VoIP implementation requires a technology switchover and a mindset switchover, preferably at the same time. This is where a knowledgeable, reputable provider can be of great value with execution.

Vivant will simplify it all

AtVivant, we provide custom-designed phone systems to meet your every need – from the most basic phone features to custom solutions specific to your business or industry. If you have staff working from home, they can make a call and answer calls as if they were in the office. If your business has multiple locations, employees can easily transfer calls between locations or answer a call from any location. If your business team travels often, automatic call transfer to a cell phone is simple, easy, and seamless. With Vivant, every effort is made to simply VoIP implementation. Vivant can provide your business with a host ofInternet businessphone systems and phone services.

Read the blogThe Basics of a VoIP Business Phone System: Modernizing Communication

Changing your Internet provider? It doesn’t have to be a nightmare!

If you're fed up, and you've reached a breaking point, it may be time for a new approach. But you need to be sure about your reasons for switching providers, and it shouldn't just be a reaction to “dissatisfaction” – there are a host of good reasons.

Switching from one provider to another

A prime consideration for switching from one ISP to another is COST. Understandably, the majority of customers are motivated to switch for budget considerations. At the same time, it's not just a matter of dollars and cents – it's a matter of VALUE.A good proportion of business customers want to switch providers to improve their Internet connection measurably. This would be relevant for businesses that want to enhance theirsmallbusiness phone systemwith better connectivity.For some business owners, lousy customer service is reason enough to switch. Small businesses that rely on theirbusiness phone systemsfrom day to day simply need helpful and responsive service at times when problems compromise productivity.

Smart decision-making when switching

Before making firm decisions on switching yourInternet provider,it's important to understand cancellation policies and contractual obligations. You certainly don't want to experience painful penalties unless the long-term benefits make it worthwhile.For those who have rented or leased equipment from their provider, there may be specific rules for returning the equipment after contract cancellation. Here too there may be additional costs incurred if the equipment is returned late or even damaged.Whatever the reasons for switching ISP companies, it's wise to fully understand your contractual agreement, including service add-ons, data limits, and the like. The better the understanding, the better the chance of exiting an agreement without a battle.

Making the right choice for your next ISP

In comparing providers and assessing advantages, upload and download speeds should be a high priority. Your new provider should guarantee Internet speeds and provide a method for checking from time to time.Equipment compatibility is another key consideration, especially for companies that employphone systemsfor small businesses.You certainly don't want to start re-investing in any additional tech equipment.Internet services are no different than other contracted services. You owe it to yourself to “make a deal” – in other words, negotiate, and then negotiate again. The bottom line is to attain the best possible value.

For a fast and reliable Internet connection,you can trust the professionals at Vivant

When it's time to take a break and switch to a newInternet provider, you can count on Vivant for a whole new approach to technology, connectivity, and customer support. We have removed the headache and hassle of switching. No more searching for a service provider – NO more setting up a new service – and NO more paperwork. Vivant does it all for you.

When you work withVivant, we find you a new provider; we shop for the best value and price; we place your order, and we ensure timely installation. Because we customize everything to fit your business priorities, you get exactly what you need. With Vivant, you can upgrade to a high-techsmall business phone systemalong with our100% uptime guarantee.Vivant can provide you with Dedicated Fiber Internet, Broadband Internet, and Shared Fiber Internet – each one focused on fast, reliable, and uninterrupted Internet connectivity.

Protecting your business AND your financial transactions under Covid-19

Any business with an online presence simply can't afford security issues with customer data or transactions. The answer isPCI Compliance– the only way to mitigate security breaches and prevent breaches from malicious individuals.

With COVID-19, business owners are focused oncrisis managementand on maintainingbusiness continuity. More and more business is moving online, so there's increased demand for PCI Compliance to provide protection and security for customers and merchants.Merchants who store authentication data or credit card data are obligated to protect themselves and their customers through PCI DSS(Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). They must ensure secure credit card payments and the protection of personal and private data.

There isn't a business, employee, or customer unaffected by COVID-19. With current “stay home” safeguards, online activities have grown exponentially – from orders to purchases, to deliveries. All the while, companies must accommodate customer needs, while maintaining productivity.For a company without an IT professional on hand, PCI Compliance can be a challenge. Without a doubt, a do-it-yourself solution is ill-advised. Doing it right means outsourcing implementation to a reliable provider with the technology, the proven expertise, and the experience to match.

During this intense period of businesscrisis management, companies have a single priority in mind:business continuity. For those offering online payment options, Vivant provides a COVID-19 toolbox that incorporates PCI DSS compliance.Business owners must be prepared to meet the reality of COVID-19, along with the forecasted crisis to arrive. With Vivant's COVID-19 toolbox, business owners capitalize on leading-edge proprietary technology that's PCI DSS compliant.

As more and more businesses engage in online commerce, it's vital to move to cloud technology to satisfy customers and grow business. Vivant has opened up a whole new world of technology to manage customer data; maintain e-commerce compliance, and avert potential security risks.

SmartCONNECT™ guarantees 100% Internet connectivity

VivantSmartCONNECT™ensures 100% Internet uptime. It's a technology that provides business owners with guaranteed Internet connectivity, regardless of an impending interruption.SmartCONNECT™ is proactive and works “behind the scenes” to monitor your primary Internet connection. Any interruption activates a switchover to a secondary secure connection.

SmartVOICE™ is a scalable, feature-rich VoIP platform

VivantSmartVOICE™is an advanced cloud-based VoIP system with countless customizable features – from custom ring groups to auto attendant, to unlimited mailboxes, and more.SmartVOICE™ provides a high standard of customer communication while accommodating all of your telephony needs. The system enhances efficiency and keeps overhead costs down.

SmartPROTECT™ creates a secure, reliable network

VivantSmartPROTECT™reduces the risk of a data breach and unauthorized access. Online credit card transactions are protected and cardholders' data is safe. If you're engaged in any online commerce, it's your responsibility to provide safeguards, and SmartPROTECT™ makes it easy.Businesses without PCI DSS are exposed to expensive fines and legal fees, not to mention the extraordinary damage to cardholder data. Prevention is the key and SmartPROTECT™ ensures a secure network that safeguards business interests, customer privacy, and brand integrity.