cloud system

NetCarrier Wins 2023 Visionary Spotlight Awards

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – ChannelVision Magazine has recognized NetCarrier as a winner of the 2023 Visionary Spotlight Awards in the Business Technology category. The award was presented for Hosted PBX.

The judges panel wrote, “Having its own proprietary platform allows NetCarrier full control over its pricing and feature development. NetCarrier’s nCloud Connect platform provides the scalability to grow your business and the flexibility to integrate mobile and remote workers.”

The panel pointed out that each NetCarrier customer is provided with a dedicated project manager to coordinate the transition to the nCloud Connect platform. This project management team designs a custom configuration, while it plans all aspects of the deployment, including training and onsite installation.”

“We’re very proud to receive our second Visionary award, said James Ricciardi, Director of Product Development and Customer Experience at NetCarrier. Our team has worked tirelessly building nCloud Connect from the ground up so that we can offer feature rich solutions that are easy to manage and deploy. Recognition like this is exciting for the entire NetCarrier team!”

For over 25 years NeCarrier’s wheel house has been deploying VOIP technologies, which allowed them to leverage their software engineering capabilities to provide a proprietary UCaaS solution that combined their carrier infrastructure with the best of breed unified communication features.

“We are honored to present NetCarrier with the Hosted PBX VSA for 2023,” said Beka Business Media president and CEO Berge Kaprelian. “The judges made it clear they were impressed with NetCarrier’s nCloud Connect platform and the value it brings to customers. All of us at ChannelVision Magazine and Beka Business Media congratulate the entire team at ACS Cloud Partners.”

About NetCarrier

NetCarrier is a privately held, FCC-regulated national provider of cloud-based voice and data services. NetCarrier’s nCloud Connect Hosted PBX platform offers customers a multitude of Unified Communication (UCaaS) features that provide the functionality to meet any business needs. Their goal is to ensure each customer’s expectation is exceeded from pre-sale, to implementation to post sale, you have a team that provides you with support each step of the way. NetCarrier prides themselves on providing 24/7/365 never outsourced customer support and the ability to deploy custom solutions.

About the Visionary Spotlight Awards

ChannelVision’s annual Visionary Spotlight Awards competition was created to highlight channel and service provider innovation in communications and information technologies. The awards honor outstanding products, services and deployments across numerous technology categories. Visionary Spotlight Award winners exemplify this goal, showcasing innovations, a capacity for future-thinking and what sets them apart within the communication and IT sectors.

why ncloud connect

10 Fantastic Reasons Why Your Business Needs to Use nCloud Connect

Advancements in technology are changing the way that all industries operate and business phone systems are not an exception to this… thanks to cloud communications.

So, what is cloud communications? Cloud communications, such as nCloud Connect, is technology that uses the internet and Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) to provide features such as voice, chat, video calling, and instant messaging. 

Currently, there is over 204.8 billion  VOIP users in the world; that number is set to increase as more businesses realize the benefits of cloud communications.

Is your business interested in switching to cloud communications? Read on to learn the top reasons why your business should pick nCloud Connect over the other platforms out there!

1. Easy Switch  

One of the main reasons businesses hesitate to switch providers is worrying it will be a hassle. NetCarrier’s nCloud Connect makes it as easy as possible to transition. Customers are assigned a dedicated project manager who handles the entire transition from start to finish to ensure a smooth transition. 

2. 24/7 Support

NetCarrier’s support team is based in the Philadelphia headquarters and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. There are no long hold times or outsourcing of support, which ensures quality customer care… whenever you need it.

3. nCloud Connect is Proprietary

NetCarrier built nCloud Connect, so we own the code. We have the ability to develop and add new features upon request from our customers or partners. This flexibility allows NetCarrier to remain at the fore-font of technology. 

4. Training Support

nCloud Connect comes with professional training videos and webinars to onboard your team efficiently. Before you know it, your team will learn how to use the phone system and utilize the features to improve communication.

5. Features 

nCloud Connect offers the best benefits of cloud communications. There are features such as video calling, instant messaging, desktop faxing, extensive reporting, contact center solutions, and many more. Plus, you can access all features in the user-friendly portal.

6. Competitive Pricing

Since NetCarrier owns the nCloud Connect platform, we are able to provide the most cost-effective pricing for customers.

7. Installation 

NetCarrier’s nCloud Connect phones can be self-installed. When you receive them, you just need to plug them in to begin. However, upon request, a technician will come to set up the equipment for you.

8. Account Rep

There is nothing worse than talking to different people every time you need support. NetCarrier provides you with an entire account management team, and your sales rep will stay with you for the life of your contract. 

9. FCC Regulated 

Not all hosted providers are created equal. NetCarrier is a public utility and FCC regulated. It operates with a carrier-grade voice switch and network.

10. Seasoned Provider

NetCarrier has 25 years of experience as a voice provider. Over this time, customers have come to trust and value our service. We would love to work together as you transition into a cloud communication system! Contact us today!

NetCarrier has the technology, value, reliability, and support to provide quality service for your business. nCloud Connect is one of the top platforms available for customers today. 

Contact us directly or learn more about nCloud Connect here. We are ready to support your business.

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10 Reasons To Switch to Cloud Communications

10 Reasons To Switch To Cloud Communications

Has your team ever missed a deadline because a broken PBX or laggy conference call interrupted their progress? If so, then it’s time to move to cloud communications.

By hosting all types of communication on an always-accessible third-party server, cloud communications has become the hottest new business trend. Here are 10 reasons why you should switch to this innovative technology today.

1. Remove Physical Barriers

Traditional PBX systems restrict office communication to a limited number of hardwired devices. With cloud communication services, a virtually unlimited number of team members can communicate from anywhere, whether they work from home or in-office.

2. Reduce Operating Costs

Consumer research site CostOwl estimates that a PBX costs about $1,000 per user. When it breaks, you have to wait and pay for a technician to come out. Cloud communication systems are a fraction of that cost and because the hardware is located at your provider’s location, there’s no waiting for a technician.

3. Simple Deployment

A trained cloud communications technician walks your team through registration and activation. The only new hardware you many need is phones and cables.

4. Unify Employees

Every team at every office in your business is connected through voice and video chat, improving both your business’s work culture and time management.

5. Scalable

As your business grows, you must upgrade PBX hardware. With an internet-based communication solution, most growth just involves signing up new users.

6. Increase Agility

According to Pew Research, 71% of office workers who reported that they could’ve always worked from home now do. Keeping everyone on the same communication software through the cloud connects them all seamlessly.

7. Integrate Mobile

This feature of cloud communication is like a call-forwarding service. By filtering communication through the software, you can take business calls on your mobile device without giving out your personal phone number.

8. Increase Employee Productivity

A survey of British office workers found that on average, each worker loses 46 minutes per day to slow technology. That’s 24 days a year for every single employee. With the smooth, quick connections of cloud communication, you’ll increase productivity and slash down time.

9. Improve Customer Service

Enterprise-level cloud systems quickly route customers to service representatives, integrate multichannel communications and keep customer data easily accessible to the appropriate employees and teams.

10. Raise Recovery Standards

Many traditional comms systems require resets after a power outage. With a cloud system, your carrier’s data center will still be operational. During prolonged power outages, you can forward calls to mobile devices.

Integrated Cloud Communications With NetCarrier

In 1996, NetCarrier stood as a customer-focused alternative to more corporate dial-up providers. We understand the struggles of adopting and adapting to new technology. We also know it’s worth it.

Through our nCloud Connect cloud communication services, we transform businesses. Whether you need internal communication integration or customer contact center solutionscontact us to take advantage of everything a customer-focused cloud communication service provides. No matter your business’s size, needs or how many of your employees work remote jobs, get a free quote today.

Call Blocking Tools and Resources

Call blocking is a tool used by phone companies to stop illegal and unwanted calls from reaching your phone. A recent FCC report found that by partnering with third-party analytics companies, providers are able to block billions of unwanted calls to American consumers each year. 

Phone companies sometimes block calls connected to suspicious calling patterns proactively for their customers. Many phone companies also enable their customers to block additional unwanted calls by enrolling in a service or installing an app. Consumers can also adjust certain settings on their phone, sign up with a third-party service, or download a third-party app to block suspected unwanted calls. 

Depending on your service provider, a blocked call may go straight to your voicemail, you may hear a single ring and get caller ID information from the blocked call, or you may get no notice at all. 

Many phone companies are taking advantage of FCC rules that allow consumers to be enrolled automatically in call blocking services, but you can opt-out if you are concerned about missing wanted calls. A number of companies also offer call labeling to help consumers determine which calls they want to answer. Labeling services display categories for potentially unwanted or illegal calls such as “spam” or “scam likely” on the caller ID display. 

Click Here to Download The FCC Consumer Guide on Call Blocking Tools and Resources.

Caller ID and Spoofing

“Spoofing” occurs when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. Spoofing is often used as part of an attempt to trick someone into giving away valuable personal information so it can be used in fraudulent activity or sold illegally. U.S. law and FCC rules prohibit most types of spoofing. 

Click Here to Download The FCC Consumer Guide on Caller ID and Spoofing

Robocalls and Texts

Robocalls and texts can be annoying, frustrating and even worse – fraudulent. The FCC is committed to protecting you from illegal robocalls, texts and caller ID spoofing.

Click Here to Download The FCC Tips and What to do.

How to voip phone system

How Will I Know How to Work a New Voip Phone System?

In today’s environment new technology shouldn’t be what slows you down.  Being unfamiliar with your phone system can cause a massive headache.  To alleviate any worries people may have in their transition to cloud communications with nCloud Connect, a skilled project manager is assigned to work with you through the entire process.  Our goal is make sure that you understand how all of the UCaaS features that are available can save your business time and money.  Once the engineers have built your phone system in nCloud and it’s ready to be deployed, we will provide you with a variety of training materials.

Of these materials, one of the most useful will be our User & Admin Portal Guides.   A user, anyone with an extension on the system, has the ability to check their voicemails, update their speed dials, and set their call forwarding in the User Portal with nCloud Connect. An Admin will have much more control over the phone system with the ability to adjust auto attendant recordings and options, ring or hunt groups, and even edit user information.  

In addition to the written product guides, how to videos guides are provided to explain all aspects of both portals.  These videos are a step by step explanation on the features available to you when using nCloud Connect.  These videos can be found online so they are available for anyone at any time.  Something as simple as how to log into the user portal will be covered as well as the more complex features found in the admin portal, like how to manage your DIDs.  

Another great training tool that NetCarrier offers are videos featuring the Poly phones and how to use them with your new hosted phone system. Videos include how to answer, make and transfer calls, check voicemail, transfer calls and many of the other features available on your phone.

Finally, in the days before going live on the phone system, a virtual training may be held.  The training is divided into two parts, one covering the user portal and one covering the admin portal.  On this training, the demonstration will be done on your soon to be active phone server.  One of our knowledgeable Sales Engineers will lead this training and can answer any questions that you may have.  They will let you know what to expect during the installation and answer questions about the setup.  This training will be recorded and will be forwarded for your records.   

If any questions arise after the training, feel free to reach out to our customer support team. They are available 24/7/365 in our Philadelphia headquarters. Our techs go through vast training and are able to log into equipment, make changes and fix issues without having to escalate through various departments within NetCarrier. 

Reach out to connect@ncloudconnect.com to schedule a training and see how nCloud Connect can change the way that you communicate! 

competitor quotes

What to look for when comparing competitor quotes

As if it isn’t already difficult enough just deciding to move to cloud communications… you’re then faced with thousands of choices for a provider. They all seem to have similar features, pricing, and even support. However, are they really all offering the same thing? Do you need a degree in telecom to make this decision?

Good news! No degree required! Here are some ways to spot inconsistencies when comparing provider quotes to insure that you are getting what you actually need.

  • What features are included in the seat cost? 
    • Seat bundles often include a lot of features and add-ons that you may not need. Understand what is included in each package and make sure to select the option that will benefit your business. Work on the road a lot? Make sure to get a mobile option. 
  • Are they estimating taxes and surcharges?
    • Many providers don’t show taxes and surcharges in an effort to present an attractive, quote, leaving customers shocked when they open their first bill. Always ask for a breakdown of any additional fees. 
  • Offering a free phone?
    • Often, providers will advertise a free phone. Take a look at the fine print. Nothing is ever free and you may see it reflected in another line item on your quote. Also pay close attention to the model of phone they are quoting, most likely it is the garden variety.
  • Configuration…this is a big one. 
    • Do you have to build your own call flow or do they offer a specialist that builds it out for you while making recommendations on best practices? Understand your comfort level with setting up your system and make sure the provider is able to meet your expectations.
  • Technical support:
    • Is it really 24/7/365? Is live support offered all day and night or only during normal business hours? Are they just offering a ticketing system after hours or a chat box on a website? Providers may offer different levels of support based on your company size. Find out the hours and location of their call center. Ask for a copy of the escalation process in the event that there is an issue. 
  • Promotions!
    • I can’t tell you how often providers show a discount, but in fine print it says after 12 months your price goes up, then after 24 months it changes again. If they are giving you a promotion, make sure you understand the term of the discount and how your price will change when it expires.

Most importantly, find a provider that will take the time to answer your questions, understand your business, offer customer support whenever needed and is clear and concise about what they are presenting to you.

If you aren’t sure about a quote and want a second opinion… send it over and let my sales support team take a look. They can point out any holes in a quote and help you to make the best decision for your business! 

Contact Center Solutions

Contact Center Solutions are Not a One Size Fits All

Many businesses today rely on contact centers to engage their customers. Whether it’s providing customer service, product support, or capitalizing on sales opportunities it is up to you to find and build a system that best suits your business. Here at NetCarrier, we’ve answered that need with a product suite that fits virtually every market vertical. This product suite includes our Contact Center Enterprise and Contact Center Lite solutions.

Contact Center Lite is a product developed in-house that is fully integrated within our Hosted Phone System, nCloud Connect. It provides everything an inbound call center needs built under the same roof as your phone system. What that means for you, is that you have the ability to manage your phone system and your call center within a single user interface. 

Contact Center Lite gives you the ability to intelligently route callers to the proper department based your employee’s skillset. One example of this would be installing a Spanish customer service queue adjacent to your English customer service queue. Doing this will allow any Spanish speaking customers to navigate to your Spanish queue with no hassle. The same can be done for splitting your departments into higher support levels. Creating a level 2 support queue is made easy with our user interface. As always, our service delivery team builds out the call flow based on your needs and our technical support team is available 24/7/365 to assist you in any changes needed to keep your contact center at its maximum potential.

A plethora of other features are available with your Contact Center Lite suite such as custom music on hold to help increase the customer experience. This can include messages from you to the customer to let them know of any current events or simply that their call is important to your business. Queue callback which allows your customers to leave the queue and request a call back from your agents later. Call queue recording so you can easily maintain quality assurance. There’s even supervisory monitoring allowing supervisors to silently monitor calls for coaching new employees, or barge into a call to assist in resolving a customer’s issue on the spot.

While Contact Center Lite most certainly can meet your business’ needs, Contact Center Enterprise will drive your contact center into the next level. Contact Center Enterprise is a product suite that goes beyond your traditional call center. Aside from traditional inbound call queues this product allows you to take on email, chat, and SMS queues all within the same user interface. On top of inbound contact you’ll also increase your outreach as well, with products like outbound call campaigns, outbound notifications for appointment reminders, and automated queue call back.

Contact Center Enterprise also keys into the needs of management and their need to stay on top of operations and staff. With tools like schedule manager, not only will you be able to track employee time in and out, you’ll be able to run reports on employee break time, idle time, and even talk time. With that comes reporting of any metrics you need, whether that’s inbound traffic, average speed of answer, or simply hold times. We also made it possible for you to schedule those reports so you don’t have to spend your Fridays pulling all of your weekly reports. Simply have them emailed to all pertinent parties.

No matter your needs, nCloud Connect can customize a solution to give your call center the necessary tools for a stellar customer experience.

Benefits of a CRM

The Benefits of a customer relationship management and quoting tool

If you work as part of a large team of people, you can understand how conversations with customers can sometimes be repeated.  Imagine you, the customer having to explain themselves more than once to different people within the organization. This can be frustrating! If only there could be a tool that helps store those conversations, shows monthly billing costs at a glance and provides detailed information regarding the authorized personnel on your account….well good news, there is! In fact, the NetCarrier sales team utilizes a Customer relationship management (CRM) tool every day to ensure the customer relationship is managed properly.  

The CRM tool the sales team uses at NetCarrier allows us to directly upload emails which pertain to a particular customer.  It allows users to see the conversations and pull files directly from the web-based system so that everyone is up to speed with what was discussed with the customer.  This is especially useful if a member of the sales team is out of the office or on an appointment.  

When choosing a CRM, it is important to look for features such as outlook integration, a user friendly interface, mobile application, and report generator specific to what matters to you. We were able to find a web-based CRM tool which allows every registered user the ability to research or update information without the need to download software to their computer.  The mobile feature is also a great tool for our sales team as we are always on the go.  The ability to have customer specific information at your fingertips is a very valuable feature to have.  This tool has especially been helpful for the sales team with projects, forecasting sales goals, and organizing customer information in an easily accessible format. 

Not only does the NetCarrier sales team use a CRM tool, we also use a quoting tool to generate price quotes and contracts.  Using a quoting tool reduces the amount of time it takes to generate a quote or contract, which allows the sales team to focus their time and efforts on renewing existing customers or assisting other.  Generating quotes accurately and quickly is important in our fast paced highly competitive industry.   

Recently, I was tasked with assisting in the rebuild of our quoting tool we use a NetCarrier. Ensuring that your quoting tool is up to date and that you understand all the ways you can utilize the application is important to the success of your quoting tool as well as your CRM. By implementing these applications, my team was able to focus their time on additional responsibilities while still assisting the sales team. We were able to increase our turnaround times and minimize the amount of manual work required. When you have a reliable quoting tool that takes minimal time and effort to maintain, the possibilities are endless!

nCloud Connect

Out with the Old, in with the New

If you’re a current business owner you should probably ask yourself, when is the last time I evaluated my phone system? I suggest this because it is extremely common for companies and their owners to go long periods of time without really analyzing their phone system to see if it is maximizing their business’s potential.  Traditional PBX Systems can work well and have for many years, but as they say “Father Time is undefeated”.  In this scenario that means many of the traditional PBX systems have come to the end of their life.  End of life for a phone system can actually mean three things, (1) The phone system is old and simply incapable of performing the necessary functions (2) The phone system is just antiquated and falling short when it comes to productive features (3) The manufacturer is no longer in business which means they don’t offer support, software updates or equipment parts.  In our business, this is often where I come in.  As a Channel Sales Specialist it is my role to work with our current customers and help them transition from a traditional PBX phone system to a cloud based phone system. NetCarrier’s cloud based system is called “nCloud Connect”.  

What is “nCloud Connect” you may be wondering?  nCloud Connect is our own proprietary UCaaS (Unified communications as a service).  We take pride in our platform’s ability to take customer phone systems to the next level.  As an in house sales representative I work with the customer to discuss how their needs may have changed since the last time they reviewed their phone system.  Two of the biggest things I have found to be most prominent during this process have been customers’ ability to work remote and being able to quickly scale their phone system as their business grows. 

Regardless of what business you are in, everyone has felt the impact of the pandemic.  As we hopefully continue to work through and eventually out of these times it has become more and more important for business’s to have the latest technology to stay competitive within their markets.  nCloud Connect offers your employees a mobile application on their cell phone that mimics their desk phone, video calling, instant messaging and many other collaboration features that help businesses to accomplish this.

 In addition to this, nCloud Connect has an extremely user friendly portal which allows for new users to be configured within moments.  We pair this with our 24/7/365 technical support team who is always available to assist with adding users, ordering new equipment, and addressing questions. 

Last but not least, we circle back to myself and the sales team once again.  As members of your account team we always strive to offer financially pleasing deals to honor your years of loyalty as a customer.  When you are ready to make the transition from traditional PBX system to nCloud Connect, we work with you and provide a cost analysis to show how this change will impact your monthly spend for a phone system.  If all goes to plan, we would love the opportunity to offer savings during this process, because who doesn’t like to save money?! 

Many people share the same fear….do I upgrade my technology? Will this involve hours of time and research? Am I going to have to spend more money? We understand how daunting this can be, that is why we are here to assist and make the transition as seamless as possible so that your phones are always ringing!

If you are a current NetCarrier customer looking for more information on whether it is time for you to upgrade your system, reach out to us at 215.966.3396 or info@ncloudconnect.com. Check out the features that may benefit your industry at https://ncloudconnect.com/ncloud-connect-business-solutions/

Get Ready For Voip

4 Key Factors to ensuring your network is ready for VOIP

From real estate agencies working out of newly constructed shared offices, to manufacturing companies with expansive warehouse and machinery space, to large law firms in historical buildings, we encounter a variety of network configurations and needs for customers in the SMB market.  With so much potential variation, its critical to determine how the existing network is setup as well as what their future network needs are going to be.  More often than not, this isn’t an easy task.  Physical cabling, bandwidth, firewall, and switching requirements are all things that must be evaluated, preferably well ahead of any install date.  While an in depth breakdown is beyond the scope of a short blog post, I’d like to give a brief rundown of some important things to consider when evaluating a hosted VoIP solution with a customer.  

Is the cabling in the building up to date?  

The short answer is, most customers will already have Cat 5E cabling in their building and that’s all they will need.  This is the current standard and is more than enough for the average SMB customer.  If a customer is in a very old building and has Cat 3, then they should really consider getting the building rewired if at all possible.  Cat 3 only supports transfer rates up to 10Mbps and this is going to prove insufficient for most customers.  Higher bandwidth cabling like Cat 6/6a supports up to 10Gbps transfers and is likely overkill for almost all SMB customers currently.

What are the bandwidth needs, now and in the future?  

Going right along with the physical cabling is the overall bandwidth needs.  Many small businesses don’t need anything more than what is commonly available in their area, typically between 100Mbps and 1Gbps.  This is assuming the location is not in a rural area where internet options are typically much more limited.  It is also important to note that these speeds may not be symmetrical, so this needs to be taken into account when determining the bandwidth needs of the customer.  The final consideration is whether the customer is going to have wifi access, and if that wifi is going to be public, private or both.    

What kind of switches are needed?  

Switches are a bit of a mystery to a lot of SMB customers, especially those closer to the “S” than the “M” side.  Many have heard of a switch before, but they aren’t really sure what they do, if they need one or even if they already have one.  It’s very likely that some sort of switch is going to be needed. Only the smallest customers with the simplest of setups do not need a switch.  We typically recommend a managed, PoE, VLAN capable switch for our standard deployments.  The PoE capability allows the switch to provide power to the phones so no separate power supplies are required.  VLANs allow the phone and data traffic to be separated, which is generally cleaner and makes it easier to troubleshoot issues.  The switch being managed simply means it can be configured with a variety of options such as VLANs and typically has remote administration and event logging.  By contrast, unmanaged switches will at most be able to provide PoE, but are unable to be configured or administered otherwise.  

Does there need to be any special routing or firewalling at the site?  

Firewalling and routing are likely the most foreign subjects to SMB customers, especially those on the smaller side.  The good news is that if a customer is big enough to need more advanced routing, firewalling or circuit failover then SD-WAN is probably an easy choice.  SD WAN is quickly gaining ground as the most deployed routing/firewalling solution due to the ease of setup and scalability.  It encompasses everything from simple circuit failover using physical and/or wireless connections to complicated multi-site routing, traffic filtering and inspection, VPN configuration and much more.  Most of these services and configurations can simply be added on at a later date as well, so these easily scale up to meet growing customer needs.  In the past, this type of setup would require costly hardware, a dedicated server room and expensive specialized IT staff to configure and maintain.

Still confused or need more info? Reach out to the Sales Engineering team with your questions! salesengineering@corp.netcarrier.com

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