Category: VoIP

Hybrid Work is Calling: Hosted Voice is the Answer

By Krista Lockhart • April 17, 2024
Hosted Voice
VoIP
Work from home

The workplace is no longer confined to four walls and a desk for many organizations. With the shift towards remote and hybrid work models, communication technology has taken center stage. Does your company still have traditional PBX phones? Are you weighing the features that are essential for your business and employee needs? Are your communication tools ready for the era of hybrid work? Let’s unpack these questions together.

Hybrid Work Evolution

Remote work isn’t merely a passing trend; it’s reshaping the workplace. The U.S. Census Bureau notes that businesses in Florida have embraced this change. Today over 16% of Florida’s workforce works from home. Nationwide, over 21% of Americans are expected to work remotely by 2025. Computer, business, and financial operations roles are seeing high levels of remote or hybrid work adaptability. Architects, engineers, creatives in media, and even legal professionals are also working from locations beyond the traditional office.

Hosted Voice at the Heart

With hosted voice, organizations benefit from seamless integration, flexibility, and a wide selection of features. They can allow their employees to work from any location with features like our Mobile Apps or Softphone options without losing touch with clients. High customer satisfaction, increased productivity, and cost savings—are a few additional advantages. According to Quantum Workplace’s research, employees on a hybrid work model report the highest levels of engagement. This model seems to be striking the right chord in terms of job satisfaction, productivity, and engagement. Hosted voice solutions can be the glue that holds diverse work models together.

Making the switch

So, how do you choose the hosted voice solution that fits your business and communication needs? That’s where Smart City comes in. With over 50 years of telecom experience with small, medium, and large enterprise customers, we can assist you in making the switch to support your clients and employees. We have feature-rich hosted voice solutions and attractive offers—new customers who purchase our Smart Office Max service of 10+ seats or more can save big. Contact us today!

Smart Office Max Hosted Voice Promo

Boosting Business Resilience

By Krista Lockhart • February 1, 2024
Internet
VoIP
Wi-Fi
Business Partners

Boosting Business Resilience: The Role of a Strategic Telecom Partner

In the fast-paced and ever-evolving business landscape, where digital transformation is at the forefront, having a reliable and innovative telecom partner is essential for enhancing business continuity and ensuring uninterrupted operations. Smart City Metro explores how businesses can boost their resilience by leveraging advanced services such as Internet connection, SD-WAN, Next-Gen Firewall, Hosted PBX solutions, and Wi-Fi.

 

Embracing Connectivity: The Foundation of Business Resilience

A solid internet connection forms the backbone of any modern business, hotel, or resort. Choosing the right internet service provider is crucial in an age where connectivity is synonymous with productivity. A strategic telecom partner like Smart City Metro understands the unique needs of your business or resort hotel and offers tailored solutions to ensure seamless connectivity—the proper internet infrastructure and symmetrical bandwidth with dedicated fiber-optic connections can significantly enhance business resilience and guest satisfaction.

 

SD-WAN: Navigating the Digital Terrain Efficiently

Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) is a game-changer for businesses looking to enhance their resilience. SD-WAN optimizes network performance, increases bandwidth efficiency, and provides dynamic traffic management. This technology allows companies to adapt to changing network conditions in real time, ensuring a reliable and secure connection. Choosing a telecom partner specializing in SD-WAN solutions empowers businesses to navigate the digital terrain with agility and efficiency.

 

Fortifying Network Security with Next-Gen Firewall

In an era of escalating cyber threats, securing business networks is paramount. A Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) goes beyond traditional firewalls by incorporating advanced threat detection and prevention capabilities. A telecom partner with expertise in network security can integrate a robust NGFW into your network architecture, providing a proactive defense against cyber-attacks. By fortifying your business against potential threats, you ensure continuity and build a resilient foundation for growth.

 

Seamless Connectivity with Wi-Fi Solutions

The modern workplace and hospitality industry is increasingly reliant on wireless connectivity. A reliable Wi-Fi solution is essential for internal operations or providing guest access. A telecom partner offering advanced Wi-Fi solutions ensures seamless connectivity across your business premises or resort hotel. From efficient access point deployment to network optimization, a well-designed Wi-Fi infrastructure enhances business resilience by keeping your workforce connected and productive and your guests happy.

 

The Cost of Inadequate Resilience

The cost of inadequate resilience in the business sector extends far beyond immediate financial implications, impacting an organization’s viability and reputation. In an era where businesses rely heavily on interconnected digital systems, any disruption due to inadequate resilience can result in substantial downtime, loss of productivity, and compromised data integrity. Beyond the tangible financial burdens, there’s the intangible yet critical factor of reputation damage. Customers, partners, and stakeholders expect seamless operations, and failure to deliver on this front can erode trust and loyalty. Rebuilding a tarnished reputation is a costly and time-consuming endeavor. Therefore, investing in and prioritizing resilience is not just a business strategy; it is necessary to safeguard continuity, maintain stakeholder confidence, and thrive in the face of unforeseen challenges.

In the hospitality sector, where first impressions are crucial, any service disruption due to infrastructure failures can have far-reaching consequences. From booking processes to in-room services, guests expect seamless experiences during their stay. A failure to ensure infrastructure resilience not only affects guest satisfaction but also has financial implications. The cost of downtime, loss of bookings, and potential damage to reputation can be significant. Therefore, a resilient telecom infrastructure is essential to maintaining a positive guest experience.

 

Guest Experience: A Priority in the Hospitality Landscape

In an industry where guests often have only a few nights to form an impression, providing a seamless and enjoyable experience is imperative. Smart City Metro understands the unique challenges the hospitality sector faces and tailors solutions to enhance the guest experience. From reliable high-speed internet to secure Wi-Fi connectivity, every element contributes to creating a positive and memorable stay for guests.

 

Seizing the Opportunity: New Telco Business Models

As technology evolves, hospitality businesses can use new Telecom business models to elevate their operations. One transformative approach is replacing traditional PBX systems with hosted solutions. A hosted PBX streamlines communication within the hotel and offers scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. This innovation allows businesses to focus on delivering exceptional guest experiences while leaving the complexities of communication infrastructure to a reliable telecom partner.

 

The Strategic Partnership Advantage

Choosing the right telecom partner is not just about selecting services; it’s about forging a strategic partnership. A telecom provider that understands your business goals and challenges becomes an extension of your team. This partnership goes beyond providing services; it involves ongoing support, proactive monitoring, and the flexibility to adapt to your evolving needs.

Business resilience is a strategic imperative in today’s dynamic environment. Selecting a telecom partner with the proper internet connection, SD-WAN, Next-Gen Firewall, Hosted PBX solutions, and Wi-Fi solutions is a proactive step toward ensuring uninterrupted operations. Smart City Metro encourages businesses, hotels, and resorts to invest in a resilient future by forging strategic partnerships with telecom providers and prioritizing innovation, security, and connectivity. Choose the Smart City Metro as your preferred telecom partner today to boost your business resilience with a free technology assessment from one of our Account Executives at 407-828-6400.

Is Hosted Voice right for your business?

By Krista Lockhart • June 1, 2023
VoIP
Hosted Voice, voip phone, voice

You’ve heard the hype about VoIP technology but not sure if Hosted Voice service is right for your business or your bottom line. Hosted Voice brings all your communication together with the latest technology and features without the initial investment. Let’s learn more about Hosted Voice and the benefits to your organization.

 

What is Hosted Voice?

Hosted Voice refers to a telecommunications system hosted in the cloud. Connect with team members from anywhere, any time. You don’t have to worry about lag time or where your staff is located. Hosted Voice offers features like enterprise-grade call control, flexible calling features, instant messaging, and voice mail– available on a per-user basis. This product can be deployed quicker and cheaper than an on-premises system.

Here are the top seven benefits of hosted voice services that could be especially beneficial to your business.

Top 7 Benefits of Hosted Voice

Cost Savings –  Unlike traditional phone systems, Hosted VoIP providers host all their hardware and network architecture for you. That means, Hosted VoIP eliminates the need for in-house servers and their accompanying maintenance costs. One benefit of hosted phone systems is that your server burden is largely off-premises. You save money as you share the expense with your other hosted phone system subscribers.

Minimal long-distance charges We offer cost savings with bulk package discounted on hourly rates for international calls. We don’t charge per call like a standard Hosted VoIP.

Flexibility – A Hosted VoIP number, often referred to as a virtual number, is entirely portable. That means you can use the same number no matter where you go. For frequent travelers and businesspeople who move around a lot, this is great news. And the best part? If your business changes address, you can take your Hosted VoIP number with you.

High Call Quality – The call quality is superb because Hosted VoIP operates on the Internet instead of the existing telephone lines.

Easy Management – Smart City’s customizable web portal gives you control and access to unify and simplify all your business communications, in one place, from any Internet-enabled device. Get administrative controls for better management and security, advanced calling features, self-managing user extensions, voicemail forwarding, and 24/7 accessibility with visibility into performance.

Employee Retention – Staff happiness is key! When companies give employees the best tools to work in the office and remotely, they are happier and more productive.

Call Center – Provide inbound calls to local or toll-free number the ability to be evenly distributed between call center agents.

 

How can Smart City Voice help you reap these benefits?

Smart City Metro offers Hosted Voice solutions to suit the needs of any sized business. All are delivered through a cloud-based system so your business can seamlessly use it from anywhere with Internet access. Hosted Voice provides flexible and inexpensive features to support your business without paying a lot of money for an on-site voice system.

 

Features

With more than 50 voice and unified communication features that are easy to set up and manage. Hosted voice features like call control, instant messaging, and voicemail suite in one powerful phone system. Manage your calls from anywhere you have an Internet connection using our mobile, desktop and softphone apps and online portal. 

 

Smart City Voice Portal

Our Hosted Voice portal includes an Administrator and a user web interface that allows anyone to easily manage the system. An easy-to-use portal gives you a control and access anytime to keep your business running smoothly from any device.

  • Manage your Hosted Voice service from anywhere.
  • Call logs, voicemail, call recordings, and call routing are just a click away.
  • Accessible from any Internet-enabled device. All you need is an Internet connection.
  • 24/7 control and access. Including functions such as managing your Auto Attendants, adding Music on Hold, checking and downloading call recordings, and system access.

 

Smart City’s Softphone options

Manage and control your productivity from any Internet-enabled device with Smart City’s Softphone option. Get one-number calling from any device. Never miss a call with mobile phone, desk phone, and web-based softphone options.

  • Make or receive calls using your desk phone, softphone, or smartphone.
  • Move a call from one device to another without disconnecting.
  • With our Find Me/Follow Me functionality, you can define how calls are forwarded or routed, ensuring you receive that important call whether you’re at your desk, on the road, or anywhere else.
  • Mobile app is available for both Android and iPhone smartphone and can be found in the Apple and Google app stores under Smart City Voice.

 

Smart City’s Mobile App

Smart City’s Hosted Voice service comes with the ability to make users more mobile with Smart City Connect mobile application. Available in both the Apple and Google app stores under the name Smart City Voice, the mobile app enables users to make and receive calls from either their Android or iPhone devices as if dialing from their desk phone. Users can also transfer calls from their mobile device back to the team at the office.

For a free technology assessment or if have any questions about switching to Smart City’s Hosted Voice technology call us at 407-828-6400.

 

 

 

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