"Cloud Telephony" - Nomads at Last

By Joseph Paris, President - XONITEK Corporation

The New Nomadism

Apr 10th 2008
From The Economist print edition

At the Nomad Café in Oakland, California, Tia Katrina Canlas, a law student at the nearby university in Berkeley, places her double Americano next to her mobile phone and iPod, opens her MacBook laptop computer and logs on to the café's wireless internet connection to study for her class on the legal treatment of sexual orientation. She is a regular here but doesn't usually bring cash, so her credit-card statement reads “Nomad, Nomad, Nomad, Nomad”…

The above is an excerpt from a Special Report entitled “Nomads at Last” in The Economist on April 10^th, 2008. The report delved into how technology was not only accelerating commerce by bringing resources closer together – as so eloquently presented in “The World is Flat”, by Thomas Freidman – but also by freeing individuals and companies of their traditional trappings and allowing them to become untethered and more agile to meet the ever-changing demands of the global marketplace.

It has served as an underlying theme and drive of mine ever-since.

I have been working on streamlining XONITEK’s operations and reducing overhead for several years. In “The World is Flat”, Friedman asserts that “Flattener #3, Workflow Software” was one of ten (10) reasons that the world became flat.

XONITEK has been a Value-Added Reseller (VAR) of Macola Software – a publisher of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software and solutions since 1988. In February of 2001, Macola Software was acquired by Exact Software – a publisher of ERP software headquartered in Delft, the Netherlands. It was soon after this acquisition that I heard of eSynergy – a web-based Collaborative Community Environment.

XONITEK implemented eSynergy in the summer of 2002 and immediately began realizing the benefit. The need for our employees to congregate at our offices was greatly reduced due to their ability to collaborate on projects and business activities remotely. Soon-after, we were able to shed 50% of our office space in Binghamton – from 8,000sf to 4,000sf. We were also able to reduce our administrative staff by a similar percentage. In all, the annual savings realized was approximately $175,000.

A second wave of overhead reduction and optimization was realized when XONITEK experienced the “perfect storm” during the spring and summer of 2008. As you might recall, gas prices were near $4.50/gal and many of my employees expressed an interest in working from home (some of them had an hour commute each way). We further leveraged the internet and communication technology so that working remotely was even more feasible. In addition to gas prices being so high, the new owners of the building where we had our office were failing to maintain the building leaving our remaining employees in-doubt.

By happenstance, we were able to locate a new office and abandoned our old one. Again, we were able to reduce our rent overhead by 75% and our staffing overhead by 50% - with a combined annual savings of $125,000.

However, there were new challenges as we expanded our geographical footprint both in clientele and in the resources necessary to support their projects – namely telecommunications.

Our old telephone system was a traditional Nortel solution – with a central unit and individual telephones. The challenge was the timely communication between our internal resources and the value-chain. It was very difficult to respond in a timely manner when members of XONITEK’s value-chain would leave a message on one of the extensions and then have to wait for the internal resource to retrieve the message. This was a serious threat to our ability to grow the business practice and still be responsive.

I had seen many VOIP solutions over the years which could meet the challenges that I faced. But I could never embrace them for several reasons – the biggest being an elusive ROI. The thought of plinking-down $50,000 plus in hardware and software (in addition to the ongoing annual overhead and maintenance) made justifying the implementation of such a system impossible.

One-Box to the Rescue

Given the problem and being telephony-challenged myself, I charged my staff to find a telephony solution which was creative, cost-effective, reliable, agile and expandable – no small feat.

After a few months of research and discussion, they presented me with a comprehensive solution called One-Box Receptionist Enterprise from One-Box – a subsidiary of j2 Global Communications, Incorporated (NASDAQ: JCOM).

To put it simply, I was completely amazed.

Full Disclosure: XONITEK does not represent One-Box, j2 Global Communications Incorporated, or any other telephony solution. What is being cited in this article is purely the experience and opinions of XONITEK.

Onebox Receptionist Enterprise is a hosted Virtual PBX system which fully automates the handling of your inbound calls. Callers are welcomed with a custom, professionally recorded greeting and connected anywhere throughout your organization.

For organizations with twenty or more people, you will enjoy all the benefits of a high-end PBX phone system without the capital investment.

Some benefits include:

· Customizable and expandable.

· A virtual PBX that requires no fixed real-estate

· There was no need for a hard-wired telephone on your desk. For your personal communication device, you can use your; mobile phone, Skype account, home phone or any other device with a telephone number – and these numbers and devices can change at-will.

· Low cost of ownership, no hardware or software to install or maintain.

· Pull together multiple remote offices with intelligent, virtual receptionist call routing and multi-level call trees.

· Extend your call system globally and seamlessly no matter where your business takes you.

· Professional, studio-recorded greeting and menu customized just for your business.

· Auto-attendant virtual receptionist with multi-level call trees.

· ACD queuing/holding.

· Find me/follow me on every extension.

· Includes Direct-dial voice and fax numbers for each extension.

· Customizable music on hold.

· Powerful call transfer features.

· … See more features at the end of this article.

· Annual savings realized, $15,000

How it works:

· Per geography (USA, UK, NL, etc.), you are set-up with a toll-free number (we added a non-toll-free number in the 646/NYC area code also to support our international contacts).

· Each “extension” is routed to the communication devices of the individual – per their preferences. In my case,

o each incoming call is routed to my mobile phone and my Skype account simultaneously.

§ After three (3) rings, my mobile drops off.

§ After five (5) rings, my Skype drops off.

§ If no answer, the system takes a voicemail and emails it to me as a .WAV file. I can then listen to it and respond/forward.

In this way – and regardless of the origin of the call and to what “local” telephone number the call is made – all incoming calls are routed through one global telephony system where all internal resources may be accessed.

The power of this system was made apparent one day over the summer when;

an incoming call for me came in on our UK telephone line (complete with UK-accented auto-attendant).
it was answered by the receptionist in the USA on her mobile while she was walking to the post office.
she transferred the call from her mobile to me.
where I answered on my Skype whilst sitting in Frankfurt, Germany.
… the caller couldn’t tell any of this – completely transparent. In fact, there have been several occasions where the “receptionist” has needed to work from home – and One-Box was able to make this a reality.

XONITEK has currently configured our One-Box system to support the USA, Canada and the UK. We expect to roll-out NL, DE, and PL this quarter.

The Future

Our lease is up in December of 2010. If I can find a reasonable solution for hosting our internal IT systems, my plan is to go completely Nomad and be completely without bricks and mortar. If we can achieve such a feat, we will have reduced our overhead by almost 95% since 2002 – yet have actually increased the effectiveness and ability to communicate by a magnitude.

… THAT’S pretty “Lean”…

Who knows – maybe I will finally be able to sell “Spirit Stones” in Sedona and still run XONITEK…

Onebox Receptionist Enterprise Features

Take advantage of all the benefits Onebox Receptionist Enterprise accounts may afford. Installing your Virtual PBX Phone line provides virtual receptionist, fax, notification and paging features plus more!
Phone Features	Details
Toll-Free Number	Your own dedicated toll free number.
Professional Phone Greetings	Your customized company greeting studio recorded for top quality.
Auto Attendant	Customizable call menus and extensions.
Dial-by-Name Directory	Lets caller lookup an extension/person by their name, or get a listing.
Find Me/Follow Me	Sophisticated call forwarding.
Multiple Extensions	Multiple extensions behind main number.
Music On Hold	Caller hears music when on hold or waiting to connect. Upload your own hold music or marketing messages.
Schedule Based Call Forwarding	Forward calls to different numbers based on schedule.
Simultaneous Ring	Forward calls to many phones simultaneously.
Voicemail to Text	Transcription services available for voice to text translation of messages to be sent as text email or faxes.
Call Tree	Multi-level call tree system.
Account Administration	Fully control your Virtual PBX phone account using the Web or the phone.
Click-To-Call	Just click on any phone number in your forwarded voicemails or your address book, and Onebox will place your call for you.
Voicemail to Email	Auto-forward your voicemails to one or more email addresses.
Call Screening	Hear the person calling you before you accept their call.
Caller ID	Choose to see your caller's number or your own number.
Conference Calling	Up to 95 callers.
Calling Card	Outbound calling, free long-distance, no card needed.
Direct-Inward-Dial Numbers	Allows DID numbers to be assigned to mailboxes as well as extensions.
Email by Phone	Text-to-speech of your emails on the phone.
Unavailable Greeting	Customizable, virtual PBX phone greeting when you're not available.
Call Queuing	Optional ACD queuing of inbound callers.
Call Transfer	Transfer callers to voicemail, an extension, speed dial, or any number.
Extended Absence Greeting	Customizable greeting if you're away for a long time.
Speed Dial	Maintain a speed dial list of commonly used numbers.
One-Click Call Return	Return voicemails with a single button.
Real-time Online Call History	See all of your call history online in real time.
Real-time Current Usage	See all of your current (and past) usage details.

Fax Features	Details
Fax to Email	Send any message attachments as a fax and receive faxes to one or more email accounts.
Multi-Format Faxes	Faxes can be delivered in PDF or TIFF format.
Retrieve Faxes by Phone	Faxes can be retrieved by phone and forwarded anywhere.
Send Fax by Phone	Dictate a message, and send it as a fax!
Fax Relay	Auto-forward faxes to other fax machines or email boxes.
Fax Blast	Send faxes to large groups of recipients.

Notification Features	Details
Notifications	Get notifications to your cell phone, email or pager when you receive a voicemail, fax or email.
Calendar Reminders	Get reminders to your cell phone, email or pager for appointments and events.
SMS Notifications	Text message notifications to your cell phone.

Email Features	Details
Spam Quarantine	Traps spam messages in quarantine. Full quarantine management with Block and Allow lists.
Anti Virus Protection	Anti Virus included, updated hourly.
POP3 & sPOP3 Access	POP and Secure POP access from any email client, for emails, faxes and voicemails.
IMAP4 & sIMAP4 Access	IMAP4 and Secure IMAP4 access from any email client, for emails, faxes and voicemails.
Secure Messaging	Send secure encrypted email messages from Onebox website.
Vacation Reply	Customized auto-reply when you're not available.
Auto-Forward	Auto-forward messages to one or more email boxes.
Multi-Folder Storage	Create folders for email message storage.
Filters	Auto-filter messages into folders or trash.
Distribution Lists	Distribution lists which also indicate delivery method of message (fax/email/voicemail). Send an email to the list, and it will be delivered the appropriate way to each recipient (some by fax, others by email, etc.).
Mail-Sync™	Synchronize your Onebox email with your external or business email accounts.

Other Features	Details
Web Access	Retrieve emails, faxes, and voicemails from Onebox website.
High Capacity Storage	Online storage for 100MB of voicemail, faxes & email.
Online Address Book	Store an unlimited number of contacts online.
Lookup Contacts by Phone	Call a contact or lookup their address using the phone.
Synchronize Contacts	Synchronize your contacts (bi-directionally) with Outlook, Outlook Express, ACT!, and Palm devices.
Online Calendar	Store your calendar of appointments and events online.
Access Calendar by Phone	Listen to your appointments on the phone.
Mobile Access	Access your Onebox messages and settings via wireless devices.
Weather	Get weather info on the phone or web from your favorite cities.
Online To-Do List	Keep task lists online, sync them with Outlook, access them by phone.
24/7 Service	Onebox is a non-stop operation, in service 24/7. All systems are redundant. Our many telephone carrier customers demand non-stop operation and the highest reliability.

Joseph F Paris Jr is a champion of Operational Excellence (Lean Six-Sigma and Leadership). He has devoted himself to increasing shareholder-value for all of his clients and constituents through his twenty plus years as an entrepreneur, academic and professional instructor, and strategic consultant. As President of XONITEK Corporation, Mr. Paris has established a consultancy firm with a worldwide footprint and reputation of success. Mr. Paris specializes in the disciplines of: lean, six sigma, finance, turnaround management, operational due-diligence, supply-chain, logistics, and manufacturing.

Contact him at parisjf@xonitek.com.

Full-Biography, Linked-In Profile

"Cloud Telephony" - Nomads at Last By Joseph Paris, President - XONITEK Corporation

Phone Features

Details

Your own dedicated toll free number.

Your customized company greeting studio recorded for top quality.

Customizable call menus and extensions.

Lets caller lookup an extension/person by their name, or get a listing.

Sophisticated call forwarding.

Multiple extensions behind main number.

Caller hears music when on hold or waiting to connect. Upload your own hold music or marketing messages.

Forward calls to different numbers based on schedule.

Forward calls to many phones simultaneously.

Transcription services available for voice to text translation of messages to be sent as text email or faxes.

Multi-level call tree system.

Fully control your Virtual PBX phone account using the Web or the phone.

Just click on any phone number in your forwarded voicemails or your address book, and Onebox will place your call for you.

Auto-forward your voicemails to one or more email addresses.

Hear the person calling you before you accept their call.

Choose to see your caller's number or your own number.

Up to 95 callers.

Outbound calling, free long-distance, no card needed.

Allows DID numbers to be assigned to mailboxes as well as extensions.

Text-to-speech of your emails on the phone.

Customizable, virtual PBX phone greeting when you're not available.

Optional ACD queuing of inbound callers.

Transfer callers to voicemail, an extension, speed dial, or any number.

Customizable greeting if you're away for a long time.

Maintain a speed dial list of commonly used numbers.

Return voicemails with a single button.

See all of your call history online in real time.

See all of your current (and past) usage details.

Fax Features

Details

Send any message attachments as a fax and receive faxes to one or more email accounts.

Faxes can be delivered in PDF or TIFF format.

Faxes can be retrieved by phone and forwarded anywhere.

Dictate a message, and send it as a fax!

Auto-forward faxes to other fax machines or email boxes.

Send faxes to large groups of recipients.

Notification Features

Details

Get notifications to your cell phone, email or pager when you receive a voicemail, fax or email.

Get reminders to your cell phone, email or pager for appointments and events.

Text message notifications to your cell phone.

Email Features

Details

Traps spam messages in quarantine. Full quarantine management with Block and Allow lists.

Anti Virus included, updated hourly.

POP and Secure POP access from any email client, for emails, faxes and voicemails.

IMAP4 and Secure IMAP4 access from any email client, for emails, faxes and voicemails.

Send secure encrypted email messages from Onebox website.

Customized auto-reply when you're not available.

Auto-forward messages to one or more email boxes.

Create folders for email message storage.

Auto-filter messages into folders or trash.

Distribution lists which also indicate delivery method of message (fax/email/voicemail). Send an email to the list, and it will be delivered the appropriate way to each recipient (some by fax, others by email, etc.).

Synchronize your Onebox email with your external or business email accounts.

Other Features

Details

Retrieve emails, faxes, and voicemails from Onebox website.

Online storage for 100MB of voicemail, faxes & email.

Store an unlimited number of contacts online.

Call a contact or lookup their address using the phone.

Synchronize your contacts (bi-directionally) with Outlook, Outlook Express, ACT!, and Palm devices.

Store your calendar of appointments and events online.

Listen to your appointments on the phone.

Access your Onebox messages and settings via wireless devices.

Get weather info on the phone or web from your favorite cities.

Keep task lists online, sync them with Outlook, access them by phone.

Onebox is a non-stop operation, in service 24/7. All systems are redundant. Our many telephone carrier customers demand non-stop operation and the highest reliability.

"Cloud Telephony" - Nomads at Last

By Joseph Paris, President - XONITEK Corporation