Local number portability (LNP) is a service offered by telephone companies that enables a customer to have their number reassigned to another carrier or to change the type of service rendered. Canada and the United States have set the precedent for number portability and in recent years has been almost universally available for both traditional telephones and mobile telephones. The US and Canada are currently the only countries worldwide that have complete number portability and allow for transfers between landline carriers and mobile carriers. LNP has been mandated in both countries for both landline and mobile carriers.

How does it work?

LNP is initiated by contacting your new telephone provider and requesting your number to be ported. You will usually have to provide them with your number, account information, postal code and any passwords that may have been setup on your account. Most carriers charge a porting fee to cover the costs incurred by them from the government for porting a number.

How long does it take to process a request?

Requests to port a number generally take 3-5 business days but under some circumstances when more complex changes must be made to switching equipment you may experience slightly longer lead times.

What differences exist in LNP between countries?

Currently the United States and Canada have virtually identical number portability laws and processes; however, other countries that don’t have a number planning system similar to North America may not have portability at all or may limit portability between landline and mobile platforms.

Click here to check if you number can be ported to Modulis.

As the total cost of ownership (TCO) for enterprise telephony systems continues to rise many companies are looking for ways to integrate Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) technologies into their networks to offset some of that cost and to lessen their reliance on outside vendors. A lot of businesses using Avaya telephones, switches, PBXs, etc want to be able to add new features and customize their system without having to pay for specialized training, technicians, software updates, and equipment. Many also have handsets that they’re purchased at significant cost and wish to continue using but don’t want to upgrade to a current PBX offering from Avaya.

While it’s not the simplest and most straight-forward task integrating Avaya products with your Asterisk PBX is possible and can save you substantial amounts of time, money, and training when done correctly.

Unless you’re well versed in Avaya and Asterisk terminology and procedures you’ll probably be best off having a consultant aid you in integrating your existing systems as there are several issues you may face:

• missing Avaya modules and software that may be required to use SIP

• old firmware on your handsets

• missing manuals and documentation to aid you in reconfiguring your Avaya handsets

• inexperience with advanced Asterisk dialplans and configuration

Modulis has performed countless integrations of Avaya products and Asterisk PBX software with great success, saving our customers significant sums of resources (money, time, training). Find out what our team of Asterisk experts can do to make your integration smooth and effective in reducing your costs and adding unprecedented levels of flexibility and features into your telephone system.

Many enterprises use a technology called LDAP to centralize the administration and management of users on their computer networks. LDAP is the lightweight directory administration protocol and was designed to make it easy for companies to handle large
numbers of employees, control their access to network computing resources and to this all from one centralized location.

The most common implementations found on corporate networks are Microsoft’s Active Directory and OpenLDAP. Both of these LDAP solutions can be integrated with your local or cloud-hosted Asterisk servers to provide the additional capability of managing
telephone users and access to your PBX system in one place along with access to other computing resources.

Asterisk can be integrated with your directory servers by making some changes to your configuration files. Specifically what needs to be done is to use the LDAPget command to retrieve the desired information from the servers and return it back to Asterisk
for further use. You must load the LDAPget application into your Asterisk system after installing the openldap client libraries and development header files. You can do this from your Asterisk console. The LDAPget command can be used in your dialplan anytime you need to retrieve information from the directory server about a network user.

Some of the benefits of using LDAP on your network and integrating it with your PBX is improved security, simplification of user and resources management, easy on network resources, and a single directory with which you can manage access to email services,
web resources, telephone resources, and others.

You can also do things such as set an extension’s callerID display name based on the name that’s stored in LDAP for that user and integrate voicemail accounts with your email accounts using the directory information. LDAP integration allows you to use
advanced features that before you would need a larger, more expensive system from Cisco or Avaya to obtain for additional cost beyond the time to set it up.

Think of LDAP like a phone book that contains information such as a person’s name, telephone extension, office location, email address, and other key information. LDAP integration can be of particular use when you need to integrate your IVR and directories
for performing extension lookups, routing calls by scheduled work hours, etc. Another benefit is the ability to authenticate PBX users against the directory instead of requiring them to learn and remember new login credential for their telephone system.

Integrating LDAP with Asterisk can be a daunting process if you’re not familiar with the protocols and terminology involved. Users of Microsoft’s Active Directory in particular may find it difficult to achieve their desired level of integration and should
consult professionals who have experience dealing with some of the inconveniences of the AD system. Modulis has a team of LDAP experts who can either perform the integration with your LDAP servers or can guide you as you integrate the systems yourself.

Click to learn more about the Asterisk integration services that we offer.

These days with the proliferation of voice-over-IP technologies and affordable switching you no longer need to be a slave to the switch manufacturers and their subscriptions for updates. Using free software or affordable cloud-based platforms running the Asterisk PBX software you can build carrier-grade PBX solutions without being locked into any one system, configuration, or feature set.

Don’t pay extra for features you don’t use

With Asterisk you can build a PBX system that fits the needs of your organization exactly without paying for features that you have no use for and without having to buy add-on modules for the features that you need.

Affordable and easy integration with existing systems

If you want to integrate your phone system with a CRM, no problem; integrate with your ticketing system, no problem; provide after-hours call escalation, no problem. Flexibility is the key reason for ditching proprietary hardware-based PBX systems and going with an open, modular, flexible, and community-supported software solution.

Reduced total cost of ownership over proprietary solutions

Asterisk and systems build on top of it afford you with all of the features of traditional systems at a small fraction of the cost and with a much lower total cost of ownership. Another key reason for choosing Asterisk is business continuity. Let’s examine a common scenario; you’ve paid for a proprietary PBX system, paid for setup, and bought some add-on modules for extra features and now the company went under.

You now have to pay to have another system setup to replace it and to be configured in a way that’s compatible with your phones and dialplan so you don’t have to retrain everyone. Why put the fate of your company and your ability to do business over the phone in the hands of a single manufacturer? With Asterisk you have the community of volunteer (and paid) engineers to support and maintain the system regardless of which telecommunications businesses close their doors.

Bolt-on additional functionality with AGI scripts

Another great thing about Asterisk is the ability to extend your PBX system as the need arises and include new functionality and integrations with Asterisk Gateway Interface scripts (AGI). You can use community-developed scripts, hire an Asterisk consultant, or have your IT guys develop custom scripts to add new features to your phone system.

Solutions such as multi-tenant billing, calling card services, over-the-phone account balance checks, etc are already available as scripts and modules that allow your phone system to grow with your business without adding on tons of additional costs and hassles.

Asterisk: the secret sauce for new and growing businesses

Asterisk is really the “secret sauce” when it comes to new businesses being able to adapt to new conditions and to provide required features quickly and with a minimal setup cost. Ongoing maintenance is much easier and virtual free when compared to traditional subscriptions that you’d have to pay with a company like NEC, Avaya or Cisco.

And if you don’t have dedicated telephony experts or software developers you can still benefit from Asterisk using cloud-hosted PBX solutions with easy-to-use graphical setup and configuration interfaces.

If you’re not using a software PBX you’re being taken advantage of and giving up valuable opportunities to be agile and to develop new and innovative systems to better provide for your customers.

According to Mr Davies, the next big shift will be to mobile. Indeed, even if mobile handsets still use traditional circuit switching, mobility apps are starting to arrive on smart phones and ultimately long term evolution will make all mobile calls into VoIP ones. He believes that both consumers and businesses will benefit from the rapid growth in the VoIP market as it will make telecommunications much more competitive.

A recent study seems to confirm this prediction, as US user numbers have risen 220% between 2009 and 2011 and satisfaction rates stand at 98%.

Source

Using a Hosted PBX rather than a traditional telephony system presents a number of key advantages to businesses.

• Substantial cost savings: With a Hosted PBX solution, the telephone system is operated by your provider. Therefore, you do not need to make a large upfront investment by purchasing an office telephone system and there is no extra maintenance fees. The monthly price of a Hosted PBX starts at less than $80 per month. There is also usually a setup fee starting at around $1,300.

• Better presence and visibility: A Hosted PBX system allows you to get local telephone numbers in cities and countries where you are not physically located. This allows you to develop your virtual presence by opening a virtual office anywhere.

• Increased scalability: Traditional phone systems are not flexible. Scaling up would require the installation of new circuits as well as additional termination hardware at specific increments. With a hosted system, you can scale up and down easily and quickly depending on your business needs.

• Increased credibility: A hosted PBX can give businesses more credibility by presenting their clients with a professional sounding telephone solution. This is specially true for small businesses as professional and advanced features are generally very expensive when using a traditional telephone system.

• Quicker Setup: When compared to a traditional telephone system, a virtual PBX can be setup very easily and quickly.

• Increased geographical flexibility: One of the greatest advantages of Hosted PBX systems is that they allow employees to work from anywhere while keeping their office phone number and extension.

Modulis offers a complete hosted PBX solution. Click here to learn more about CloudPBX.

Modulis will offer the official Asterisk Advanced in Canada from January 16th to 20th. This exclusive Voice over IP Training is designed to prepare Linux/Unix consultants, interconnect vendors, enterprise IT personnel, and ITSP/telco systems administrators to install, configure, manage and troubleshoot Asterisk-based VoIP systems.

Moreover, the dCAP (Digium-Certified Asterisk Professional) exam will be offered at the end of the training course.

See the dedicated page to learn more about the Asterisk Advanced Training and to register for the January 16-20 session that will be held in Montreal.

This first option combines the Yealink SIP-T20P IP telephone and the Yealink YHS32 VoIP headset. For less than $110, you get an effective hands-free VoIP solution. Visit the Modulis Store to learn more about the Yealink SIP-T20P and the Yealink YHS32 headset.

This second option combines the Polycom 335 IP phone and the Jabra BIZ 1920 VoIP headset thanks to the Jabra Smart Direct Connect adapter. This solution is ideal if you are looking for a high quality hands-free IP phone solution for less than $250. See our online store to learn more about the Polycom 335 VoIP phone, the Jabra BIZ 1920 headset, and the Jabra Smart Direct Connect adapter.

VoIP technology allows to converge voice and data onto a single unified network. Therefore, business VoIP is mobile and you can access your telephony system wherever there is Internet connection. This great accessibility is crucial for field staff, travelling executives, and employees stationed in multiple locations. Moreover, many useful features that are either costly or absent with traditional PBX systems are standard with IP-PBX systems. These features include call forwarding, electronic messaging, auto-attendant, three-way conferencing, advanced call distribution, and many more.

If you are looking for a business telephony solution and you don’t want to bother about maintaining a telephone system, a Cloud PBX is the solution. Cloud PBX is a phone service which is 100% hosted and provided through the Internet. In this case, your VoIP provider is responsible for the maintenance of your hosted PBX system.

A big benefit of Cloud PBX is flexibility: you only need to buy the base system and you can easily add extensions and features based on your new needs. Traditional phone systems are less flexible as you would need to pay more or install additional wiring if you want to add another phone line. As Cloud PBX operates through the Internet, it allows you to have a telephone connected to the Cloud PBX with no geographical boundaries. You can automatically have your Cloud PBX system call your mobile phone and stay connected on the move.

VoIP and Cloud PBX systems become increasingly popular as they represent effective solutions to companies that require a flexible and accessible phone system without compromising performance and reliability.

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Modulis offers both turn-key PBX solutions and enterprise-class Cloud Hosted PBX systems.