Breakthrough service enables high-quality multi-party video conferencing for any company

Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) March 2, 2010 — SimpleSignal, a leading service provider of hosted business telephone solutions for small and medium sized businesses, and Vidtel, an innovative video conferencing service provider, announced at Channel Partners Conference in Las Vegas their distribution agreement to market Vidtel’s Hosted Multi-Point Video Conferencing Service to SimpleSignal’s hosted unified communications customers.

Polycom VVX 1500 With Vidtel-SimpleSignal Multi-Point Video Conference

Today, very few small-to-medium-sized enterprises have sufficient in-house resources for business-grade multi-point video conferencing. The video conferencing equipment required is too resource-intensive for all but the largest enterprises. SimpleSignal and Vidtel have partnered to deliver a hosted solution that even the smallest enterprises will find accessible. With this outsourced solution, SMBs have no need to acquire additional expensive infrastructure to initiate an ad hoc multi-party video conferencing call.

“SimpleSignal is well-recognized as a visionary service provider in the hosted voice market, often the first to roll out new applications and products to its SMB customers. We are excited to help fulfill SimpleSignal’s objective of bringing simplified unified communications to SMBs of all sizes with our multi-point video conferencing service,” said Scott Wharton, CEO of Vidtel.

Vidtel’s multi-point video conferencing service integrates with SimpleSignal’s BroadSoft® BroadWorks® application server with Vidtel’s video conferencing service and Polycom® VVXTM 1500 business media phones. The service enables three or more VVX 1500s to connect via a simple dial-in number for instant multi-way video conferencing.

“This new offer is nothing short of revolutionary. Now small to medium-sized businesses have no need for an extensive video conferencing system – a few people with a video phone can now easily dial a regular number to be connected. Previously, only point-to-point calling was realistic on these devices. This service also advances unified communications, seamlessly integrating video conferencing with our hosted VoIP service and amplifying the value of SimpleSignal’s hosted VoIP offer. We’re excited to be delivering this service with Vidtel, a cutting-edge video conferencing service provider,” said Dave Gilbert, SimpleSignal’s CEO.

SimpleSignal will begin offering the Multi-Point Video Conferencing service developed by Vidtel to customers beginning in Q2 2010.

About SimpleSignal
SimpleSignal is a facilities-based hosted PBX and Unified Communications service provider that also offers SIP Trunking services, advanced Voice Apps and Polycom IP Phone equipment. The company is one of the top BroadSoft switches in the U.S., providing IP Phone applications and services to thousands of satisfied customers throughout the U.S. and Canada, with a growing list of multi-office clients in many international locations. SimpleSignal dependably provisions off-net, which means that customers can bring their own bandwidth and still use the SimpleSignal Hosted PBX system without overhauling their entire IP infrastructure. SimpleSignal, Inc. is located at 34232 Pacific Coast Highway, Dana Point, CA 92629. Find us on the web at http://www.simplesignal.com. For sales, call 866-434-4404. Read our blog: http://www.simplesignal.com/blog/.

About Vidtel
Vidtel is an innovative video conferencing service provider. Our open, inter-enterprise video conferencing network service provides compatibility between a diverse set of business-grade video endpoints at enterprises worldwide. Vidtel enables even small and medium enterprises to experience the productivity of secure, high-quality video conferencing with partners, suppliers and customers around the world. Vidtel’s Video Conferencing Directory enables any video user to find another and to easily connect. Vidtel is located in the heart of Silicon Valley in Mountain View, CA and at http://www.vidtel.com.

New Conference Deck Uses HD Audio Codec G.722 to Provide Stunning HD Audio Quality Integrated With SimpleSignal’s Unified Communications Service

Dana Point, CA (PRWEB) March 1, 2010 — SimpleSignal Inc., a leader in hosted business telephone solutions for small and medium sized businesses, today announced the addition of an HD Voice Conference Bridge solution to its growing list of hosted PBX calling features and voice apps. The company’s new conferencing service allows up to 100 callers to participate in unlimited HD audio conference calls for one flat rate of $29 per month, with volume discounts available.

“SimpleSignal’s goal is to continually make business communications easier and more accessible to our clients, and this affordable, high quality conference bridge is a linchpin to providing a comprehensive unified communications service,” said Dave Gilbert, CEO of SimpleSignal. “And with true HD voice quality our clients can enjoy conference calls that sound like you’re all in the same room, even when talking across the country.”

SimpleSignal keeps costs low by eliminating toll-free access to the conference bridge. With most business phone users nationwide on unlimited long distance calling plans, toll free service becomes a potentially redundant, unnecessary expense.

Although any user with a phone connection may call into SimpleSignal’s conference bridge, HD Audio sound is what really takes conference calling to another level. SimpleSignal uses the HD Audio Codec, G.722, which doubles the sample rate and the high and low frequency rate, with no noticeable latency, delivering a more natural conversation, with better clarity to discriminate between letters “S” and “F” or “P” and “T”. To take advantage of this technology users must be on the SimpleSignal network with a Polycom HD Voice IP phone or equivalent (legacy phone systems don’t support the G.722 codec). While this might limit the broad enjoyment of HD Audio conference calling at this point, the biggest beneficiaries of the HD quality will be SimpleSignal clients with multiple office locations that use a conference bridge as a regular part of their business process.

SimpleSignal’s HD Conference Bridge provides a full feature set including:

• Reservationless conference start, meaning your bridge is active and ready 24/7 without scheduling
• 100 participant capacity
• Entry/exit notification using chimes or recorded names
• Self muting
• Conference termination by the host (useful when you have back to back conference calls)
• Participant count
• Private roll call, meaning participants can hear a private playback of the recorded names still active on the call
• Multiple hosts
• Touchtone suppression
• Security lock which prevents new callers from joining the active call
• Keypad commands which easily and intuitively modify any of the settings during a call

SimpleSignal’s unlimited flat rate of $29 per month for up to 100 participants is extremely competitive for any size business, competing strongly with per minute plans that can cost businesses thousands of dollars per year with or without toll-free access.

About SimpleSignal
SimpleSignal is a Cloud-based (also known as Hosted PBX) Unified Communications service provider that also offers SIP Trunking services, advanced Voice Apps and Polycom IP Phone equipment. The company is one of the top BroadSoft switches in the U.S., providing IP Phone applications and services to thousands of satisfied customers throughout the U.S. and Canada, with a growing list of multi-office clients in many international locations. SimpleSignal dependably provisions off-net, which means that customers can bring their own bandwidth and still use the SimpleSignal Hosted PBX system without overhauling their entire IP infrastructure.  SimpleSignal, Inc. is located at 34232 Pacific Coast Highway, Dana Point, CA 92629. Find us on the web at http://www.simplesignal.com. For sales, call 866-434-4404. Read our blog: http://www.simplesignal.com/blog/.

One of the developments we’ve been really excited about is our new Call Control Toolbar.  This is an Adobe Air application that resides on your desktop, which means you don’t have to have a web browser open to use it.  This may not sound like a major difference but believe me, once you get used to our Toolbar, you’d never think of going back to opening your browser, logging in with your user name and password, just to change a simple call setting like which numbers you want your calls to forward to, etc.

The beauty of the Toolbar is in its simplicity.  In no time you will master its Services Control Panel and be making changes on the fly, as easily as you download your email.

This article walks you through the process of setting up and using your toolbar.  By the way, you may want to go ahead and contact customer support at 303-242-8616 and ask them for your user name and password for the toolbar.  You will need it during this installation.

First you will need to download the application.  If you haven’t done so already, go to the toolbar page and click download now.

Click “I Accept” to the Software License Agreement and click Continue Download.

Click Install Now on the “Install the App” page

You may be required to download and install Adobe Air if you don’t already have it on your system. Just follow the Adobe prompts to do so.

Choose Open or Save when you see this screen:

Once you save the file and run the application setup, your toolbar is installed and ready to set up.

Launch the toolbar app – Mac users: you may want to place the app in your dock for easy access.

Click Settings. Select xs1.simplesignal.com in the server drop down.  Enter your username which is your full phone number@simplesignal.com e.g. 9495551234@simplesignal.com.  Then enter your password as given to you by support or your network administrator.

Now hit Save Settings and your toolbar should be fully operational.

Here are a few tips for setting up your Services screens:

Call Forwarding
This screen allows you to forward all your calls all the time to a specified number, or just when your primary number is busy, or when there is no answer at your primary number after a specified number of rings.
Simultaneous Ring
Enter up to six phone numbers you would like to ring when your primary number is called.  This can be an alternate office number, your cell phone, home phone, etc.
Remote Office
This is a great feature for when you are working from an alternate location like your home or a hotel room.  The number you enter here will ring when you click to call a number from your computer.  Your call recipient will see your primary phone number in their caller ID even if you are calling from a hotel in Paris.
Do Not Disturb
Turning this option on sends calls directly to voicemail.
Sequential Ring
Simultaneous Ring rings all your entered numbers at the same time.  Sequential Ring rings your numbers one at a time in the order you enter them.  Even though there are six options here, remember that callers won’t be patient enough to wait through that many opportunities to track you down.
Speed Dial
You can program your IP Phone to speed dial six different numbers (Programs keys #2-7).
Voice Messaging
This is a great tool!  Here you can set up your email address for notification of voicemail messages.  You can also cc an associate or assistant.  Here is where you would set up call transfer as well.  You can tell people in your voicemail message to press 0 to be transferred to an operator, assistant, or associate.
Using Your Toolbar for Outbound Calls
It’s amazingly simple to type the number or extension you are calling into the Dial # field.  You can also copy and paste phone numbers from any application open on your screen.  Then just hit CALL and your Polycom IP phone rings with the outgoing call connecting. (This feature only works with Polycom IP phones)

Using Your Toolbar for Inbound Calls
Your Toolbar comes with a clean little call notification “screen pop” that comes up in the bottom of your screen announcing the caller ID of the incoming call and an option to answer your call (call goes to your Polycom IP phone’s speaker) or Transfer to VM which sends the call directly to voicemail without letting the phone ring the prescribed number of rings. (very convenient it you are deep in thought and don’t want to be distracted but haven’t turned on the Do Not Disturb option).
By the way, pressing the Help button brings you back to this post for reference any time.  If you get stuck, feel free to call Support at 303-242-8616 between 6AM and 6PM PST.

That’s it for now.  Watch for additional upgrades to the toolbar.  We have a lot of great plans for this simple little interface for your SimpleSignal PBX.  Enjoy!

Users can control Hosted PBX phone features from the desktop without accessing a web portal. The SimpleSignal Call Control Toolbar enables SMBs to take advantage of productivity enhancing VoIP features.

Dana Point, CA (PRWEB) October 26, 2009 — Voice over IP (VoIP) technology innovations have endowed today’s business phone systems with advanced features and tools that can radically enhance and simplify communications–but many users don’t take advantage of them. Today SimpleSignal introduced its Call Control Toolbar, a breakthrough application that makes advanced VoIP calling features easier and more convenient to use.

Hosted PBX carriers provide access to their IP phone features through a web browser or web portal, which requires that users log in, enter a password and risk losing track of their portal page URL. In contrast, SimpleSignal’s Call Control Toolbar is an elegant, Adobe Air-based application that floats anywhere on a user’s desktop for instant access to a range of calling feature controls. The Call Control Toolbar does not require users to launch a web browser.

“One of the biggest challenges we discovered in our customer research was that our Hosted PBX customers were not using incredibly efficient calling features like simultaneous ring, remote office and voice messaging, or even more basic functions such as speed dial,” said Dave Gilbert, founder and president of SimpleSignal, “either because they didn’t know how or didn’t want to be bothered with logging into a web portal to set up or change their IP phone settings.

“The SimpleSignal Call Control Toolbar eliminates these hassles for users,” Gilbert continued. “The controls are user-friendly and always available in the background on a user’s desktop, so it’s easy to make quick, on-the-fly changes to IP phone settings. ”

The SimpleSignal Call Control Toolbar also features call notification screen pops. When a user receives an incoming call, a small window pops up at the bottom of the user’s computer screen with complete caller ID information. Users can also answer the call directly from the screen pop.

The Call Control Toolbar is provided free of charge for SimpleSignal’s Hosted PBX customers.

SimpleSignal will unveil the Call Control Toolbar to the industry during a workshop at BroadSoft Connections 2009: Voice & Vision, October 25 – 28, at The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Features that can be managed by the toolbar include:

•    Simultaneous Ring (http://www.simplesignal.com/feat_Simultaneous-Ring.php) for up to six numbers
•    Remote Office, which displays your office number on caller ID regardless of which phone is being used
•    Outbound Dialing by entering the phone number or copying and pasting into Toolbar window
•    Speed Dial for six numbers
•    Sequential Ring for up to six numbers
•    Voice Messaging Control (http://www.simplesignal.com/feat_Visual-Voicemail.php), including email notifications and transfer upon dialing “0″
•    Call Forwarding Always
•    Call Forwarding Busy
•    Call Forwarding No Answer
•    Do Not Disturb

For more information about the Call Control Toolbar, go to SimpleSignal.com/toolbar.

About SimpleSignal
SimpleSignal is a Cloud-based (also known as Hosted PBX) Unified Communications service provider that also offers SIP Trunking services, advanced Voice Apps and Polycom IP Phone equipment. The company is one of the top BroadSoft switches in the U.S., providing IP Phone applications and services to thousands of satisfied customers throughout the U.S. and Canada, with a growing list of multi-office clients in many international locations. SimpleSignal dependably provisions off-net, which means that customers can bring their own bandwidth and still use the SimpleSignal Hosted PBX system without overhauling their entire IP infrastructure.  SimpleSignal, Inc. is located at 34232 Pacific Coast Highway, Dana Point, CA 92629. Find us on the web at www.simplesignal.com. For sales, call 866-434-4404. Read Dave Gilbert’s Blog: http://www.simplesignal.com/blog/.

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With the evolution of powerful VoIP Phone technology, business phone systems have become sophisticated and feature-rich…so much so that many users don’t take advantage of a fraction of the game-changing communications tools they now have at their fingertips.  Here at SimpleSignal we’re out to solve that problem by developing new communications software apps that simplify the interaction between users and their IP Phone technology.

One such breakthrough is our new SimpleSignal Call Control Toolbar.  The majority of Hosted PBX providers provide access to their IP Phone calling features through a web browser, after logging in with user name and password, and often users lose track of their portal page URL. This elegant little call control toolbar, built as an Adobe Air application, floats anywhere on a user’s desktop for instant access to a host of Internet Phone calling feature controls without ever launching their web browser.

One of the biggest challenges we discovered in our customer research was the fact that our Hosted PBX customers were not using incredibly efficient calling features like simultaneous or sequential ring, remote office, call forwarding, visual voicemail messaging, and even more basic functions such as speed dial, either because they didn’t know how or didn’t want to be bothered with logging in and out of a web portal to set up or change their IP phone settings.

The Toolbar changes all of that immediately.  The controls are easy to understand and always available in the background of a user’s desktop, making quick, on-the-fly changes to their IP phone settings a non-issue.

Another practical feature of the Toolbar is the “call notification screen pops”.  When a call comes in, a little window pops up in the bottom of the user’s computer screen with complete caller ID information, letting the user decide what to do with the call, without ever taking their eyes off their screen.  By the way, the call can also be answered directly from the screen.

The Call Control Toolbar is provided free of charge for our Hosted PBX customers.

Features include:

• Call Forwarding Always
• Call Forwarding Busy
• Call Forwarding No Answer
• Simultaneous Ring (Six Numbers)
• Remote Office (Shows your office number from any phone you select)
• Do Not Disturb
• Sequential Ring (Six Numbers)
• Speed Dial (Six Numbers)
• Voice Messaging Control including email notifications and transfer upon dialing “0”
• Call Notification Screen Pops
• Outbound Dialing (Enter phone number or copy and paste into Toolbar window)

More voice services and voice applications are under development for the Toolbar, and updates will be available as new versions are released.

For more information on our new Call Control Toolbar go to SimpleSignal.com/simple_toolbar.

I couldn’t live through my business day without a feature we call Voice2Text. I think you’d agree that checking voicemail on your mobile, home and work phones can be time-consuming and aggravating. I’ve heard myself say at times “voicemail sucks!” Sometimes you’re stuck in a meeting or just don’t have time to dial in to hear all of the messages. With voice mail to text transcription, all of your voicemail gets converted and sent as text, so you get the message at a glance. It’s the ultimate in visual voice mail. You’ll never have to listen to 5 voicemails to get to the one you really wanted to hear.

Using voice to text technology you can:

• Read your voicemail on your cell phone

• Read it as text and Listen to it as MP3/WAV audio in your email

• Add your Cell phone, Home phone, Office/PBX phone or SimpleSignal VoIP phone to your account, and read all of your voicemail in email or on your phone instantly.

This feature has saved some of our customers hours every day. A loan officer customer of ours was painfully listening to his voice mail from his cell phone, writing down the call back number and then repeating this process on his desk phone. He estimated he did this 3 or 4 times a day and spent 10 minutes each time. You can do the math. How many hours per week did voice2text save him?

Another exciting development is voice to SMS or also known as voice to text. Just speak your message into your phone and it translates your speech into text. Speech-to-SMS technology lets you send texts to your friends without typing, post updates to Facebook and Twitter, and so on. Unlike speech-to-text services which employ humans to translate voice messages into text, our system is entirely automated.

Simplesignal’s Voice to text feature is the ultimate in Voice mail Unification – Get all of your voicemail in one place. How does this work?
Most of us have multiple voicemail accounts: Home, office, mobile. Keeping track of all of these voicemails is difficult and we often miss important messages. Voice2Text solves this problem by retrieving all of your voice mails and putting them all in one place.

In summary:

• Voice to text retrieves your home, office and mobile voice mail.

• Voice mails can be sent as email, as text to your mobile phone or online from anywhere in the world.

• Voice2Text archives all of your voice mails forever.

• Easily search for voice mails

• Forward voice mails to family or coworkers – just like email

Follow this link and try Voice2Text for free!

Why would a business go to the expense and hassle to change out their old PBX phone system and install a SimpleSignal Hosted VoIP small business phone system? Let me share with you a quote written by Jeff Sexton (a new SimpleSignal employee) about why he can’t live without the simultaneous ring feature.

“Simultaneous ring keeps me connected…How many times have you stayed in your office for lunch because you had a client who was supposed to call you back, with no specific time in mind? Like you, I am a busy person and cannot spend my entire day in front of an office phone. However, the fear of missing that valued customer’s call has often kept me from leaving the office. Simultaneous ring has not only freed me from the office, but also saved my customers from not being able to reach me and calling a competitor. No matter if I am in the car, at home, or out to lunch, my clients can always reach me. With simultaneous ring all my calls to my office phone will automatically also ring my cell phone. Wherever I am, my clients can get in contact with me. Isn’t that the point of a cell phone in the first place?”

Thanks for sharing your experience with us Jeff. If simultaneous ring keeps you connected and therefore saves you just one deal a year, you could see how a business can justify its hosted VoIP small business phone system from SimpleSignal several times over. By the way, you can contact Jeff and talk with him directly or email him at jeff.sexton@simplesignal.com.

Can choosing the right small business phone system really save me time? With the growing pressure to accomplish more tasks in the same amount of time, an overflowing voicemail and email inbox, endless meetings and family obligations after work, the average employee feels like they are losing control of their work schedules and the ever growing to-do list. Most people haven’t considered how handling their small business communications more efficiently can save literally hours in every week and therefore decrease their level of stress. SimpleSignal has many life changing features that can allow you to make more efficient use of your day by using our technology. Here are a few that will save you at least an hour a day:

Simultaneous ring: One number rings all your phones. You’ll never miss another call…unless you want to.  Everyone I’ve spoken with who has tried Simultaneous Ring tells me it’s one of the the biggest improvements to their time management and accessibility of any strategy they’ve implemented.  It sounds so simple, yet it’s so profound.  No more forwarding and un-forwarding of phone calls, no more missed opportunities, and a new sense of complete control of their day.

Voicemail to email: All your messages are in one place. No more checking multiple voicemail numbers to retrieve your voicemail messages from your office phone, your cell phone and your home phone. Your voicemail will be converted to email and automatically placed in your email inbox. There you can save your messages for life, forward them to friends or associates, and prioritize or search for them with ease.

Voice 2 Text: Because you can read faster than you can listen!  This feature utilizes cutting edge voice recognition technology to convert your voicemail messages into text and put them in your email for you to read. Never listen to a slow talking or rambling voicemail again.  This is another one of those “can’t live without it” stories we hear all the time from customers that can now quickly visually scan their voicemails while in the middle of meetings or on a conference call, saving time and improving productivity.

Fax to Email

Receive your faxes right into your email inbox, no phone line, no fax machine, no paper and no ink cartridges. The ultimate mobile solution.

Call Swap

Change phones in the middle of a call. Are you stuck on a conference call but have to leave your desk to run to a meeting? Just press the star button on your desk phone and transfer the call to your cell. Your caller won’t hear the switch. It works the other way too. Started a call on the way to work? When you are seated at your desk you can transfer the call from your cell phone to a landline.

Click-to-Call

Makes returning voice mail calls, calling numbers on a web page or contacts in Outlook simple. From any screen on your computer, just highlight the number and click. Your desk phone starts ringing and you’re connected.

Check out these and other life altering features on our web site http://www.simplesignal.com/hosted_pbx_features.php#Sim%20Ring.

I believe my job as CEO of SimpleSignal is to not only deal with the day to day tactical issues that we encounter but to make sure we are focused on what our customers will need in six months.

While the need of the day is to save businesses money there is a limit as to how far down a price can be compressed before the quality of that service is degraded. The magic of VoIP is not that we can deliver voice services cheaper than the incumbent phone “Baby Bell” companies but that we can deliver it better and cheaper. By using the internet as our primary backbone and not having to rely on a connection that is based on wires that are hung on telephone poles we can deliver voice communications more efficiently. Not only can we deliver the service cheaper we can now add features to the voice that make it better.

We’ve invested the last four years and millions of dollars into our voice network to make sure we can deliver outstanding voice quality to businesses of any size and who are located anywhere in the world. That’s our foundation. A business needs to be able to trust that they can pick up their phone 24/7 and make a clear call.

However, that’s not all business wants to do with their communications.  It’s surprising to some that our voice quality is superior to traditional land lines and made even better sounding by adding HD voice. We can make voice communication even more engaging by adding video. In business face time counts. Now you don’t have to waste time traveling to have the impact of being face to face.

We believe that businesses are going to find efficiencies in building the voice right into the software apps the live and work out of everyday. As business learns the value of better connecting their workers no matter where they are VoIP will need to be integrated into everything a business does. Their CRM, their email, their IM, their text all should be voice enabled.

For example, Yesterday I was talking to a potential vendor when he said, “Hmmm, nice pictures, Do you live near the beach?” I said, “how’d you guess that?” He said he used an application called XOBNI (in box spelled backward) that managed his Outlook so when he pulled my contact information it did an Internet search and found my Facebook page where he noticed my photos.

By Q3, SimpleSignal will have the ability to use the caller ID  to know who’s calling and learn what they’re doing, what they’re blogging, and other living online information while you talk to them. Since the SimpleSignal system is connected to the Internet, when a call comes in, our system knows how to identify the caller and go out to the internet to find recent information about the caller, such as local and company news, latest blog, twitter, flickrs, birthday, and other information you might be interested in. SimpleSignal users can, in an instant, gather customizable “rich, living, current information” that contributes to your relationship with the caller.

That’s life in a Voice 2.0 world. Kind of cool eh?

I read a disturbing quote the other day.

Perhaps the communications users of the future won’t care as much about voice at all. Younger users seem perfectly happy to Twitter, text, and instant message rather than making an old fashioned phone call.

Since I’ve invested so much of my life in striving to create a voice network, anything that makes it sound like people would need my services less is alarming. But the reality of current user behavior is that the majority of voice communication is still point to point–one person talking to one person.

However, today’s communication options include the ability for a person to carry on conversations with many people at once. Conferencing and collaborative desktop sharing are good examples. They make it possible for me to carry on two way communication with hundreds of people.  I can make my voice communications more effective by combining voice with other forms of communications. For example, I rarely just lob a call into a co-worker. By using IM I can know if the person I’m about to call is available so I don’t waste time leaving a voicemail if I don’t think that is going to be effective. I am not limited to one-on-one voice communication at all. You know about email but our communication system allows you to go beyond email and text a message to thousands of mobile users to keep it separate from their emails. Did you realize that Facebook and Twitter are the new email? It’s real time communication that people seem to prefer to an interruptive phone call.

Is voice communication going away? No, not as long as people like to talk. But it is fascinating to observe how communications are changing in 2009.