FAQ's What is VoIP and how does it work?
Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP as it is more widely known, refers to the routing of phone calls over the Internet rather than traditional phone lines. Speech is converted to packets of voice data which are sent over a broadband Internet connection to a termination point, normally another Internet based phone or a regular phone. By using VoIP technology Alcazar Networks is able to offer rates that are far less expensive and functionality that is far more feature rich than provided by traditional phone services.

How long does it take to set up my hosted PBX service?
Once you have your appropriate Internet phones, our commitment to a simple plug and play setup means you that can have your entire phone system up and running in about 10 minutes.

Is there a long term contract that I have to sign?
NO! Depending on your plan, it can be as low as month-to-month. Alcazar Networks customers stay with us because they want to, not because they have to.

How clear is the voice quality on your service?
With our suggested equipment, we have as clear, if not better, voice quality then any phone company out there.

I have multiple office locations. Can they be included in the same network?
Absolutely! This is the beauty of Alcazar Networks' hosted PBX. As long as the offices are equipped with broadband and an IP phone, you will have unlimited calling between offices for free.

Can we use our current company number with your service?
Sure. However, the process of porting numbers will depend on your current provider. We usually ask that you give us at least 30 days.

This makes a great business offering. Are you seeking partners to sell Alcazar Networks products and services as part of their own business services?
Yes. Alcazar Networks is always seeking partnerships with forward thinking individuals and organizations who are interested in promoting and selling our hosted PBX services. Please visit the Contact Us section for more information.

Can I use any IP phone that I want?
Yes, our service can be used with any IP phone. However, we do suggest certain phones that we have tested and found to be of the highest quality. Other phones may incur a small setup charge.

Can I see the product at work before potentially investing in it for my organization?
Yes, you can contact us and we would be glad to set up a personal demonstration with a member of our sales team.

What is Hosted PBX?
PBX stands for Public Branch eXchange, and refers to the telephony switchboard hardware. The PBX is where an incoming phone call can be routed to different extensions. Normally this hardware is all kept in some back room or closet at a company, but with the march of technology these devices no longer need to be on site. When a phone call is placed to a customer of a hosted PBX service, the phone call goes instead to their business location, gets processed through their hardware, and is then sent to your phone extensions. So the short, simple, easy explanation is that a hosted PBX provides advanced call routing service without you needing to handle the technical side - because it's a PBX service that's being hosted by someone else.

There's a wide variety of additional benefits to getting a PBX service aside from just routing calls, however. Aside from routing calls, handling holds and transfers, and allowing more than one person to be reached from a single business number, the PBX also manages incoming calls for the business that are not immediately picked up. Voicemail, faxes, automated greetings or messages, touchtone menus, conferences, call records, and phone calls that go to the first available person in a department are all services provided by advanced PBX systems.

Similarly, hosted PBX systems also provide those benefits, as well as a few others. Because it is a hosted system, there's no high initial cost for buying the expensive hardware. There's also never an upgrade cost for changing hardware. Unlike traditional PBX services, hosted PBX makes advanced business technology available for even small businesses..

How does FAX work in VoIP Environments
FAX was designed for analog networks, and does not travel well over a VOIP network. The reason for this is that FAX communication uses the signal in a different way to regular voice communication. When VOIP technologies digitize and compress analog voice communication it is optimized for VOICE and not for FAX. Subsequently, there are a number of things you need to take note of when you move to a VoIP Phone System.

If you want to continue using your old fax machine, and you want to connect to your VoIP phone system, its best to use a VoIP Gateway and an ATA that supports T38. T38 is a protocol designed to allow fax to 'travel' over a VoIP network.

What is DID - Direct Inward Dialing?
DID - Direct Inward Dialing (also called DDI in Europe) is a feature offered by telephone companies for use with their customers' PBX system, whereby the telephone company (telco) allocates a range of numbers associated with one or more phone lines.

Its purpose is to allow a company to assign a personal number to each employee, without requiring a separate phone line for each. That way, telephony traffic can be split up and managed more easily.

What is an Auto-Attendant?
Auto-attendant (or automated attendant) is a term commonly used in telephony to describe a voice menu system that allows callers to be transferred to an extension without going through a telephone operator or receptionist. The auto-attendant is also known as a digital receptionist.

For a caller to find a user on a phone system, a dial-by-name directory is usually available. This feature lists users by name, allowing the caller to press a key to automatically ring the extension of a user once his/her extension is announced by the auto attendant.

If a user is not available, the auto-attendant directs callers to the appropriate voice mailbox of the user to leave a voicemail message. Having an auto-attendant in a phone system is a very useful and cost-effective feature for a business, as it replaces/helps the human operator by automating and simplifying the incoming phone calls procedure.

How do I sign up?
Just fill out our contact form and one of our salespeople will contact you within 24 hours. You can also call us toll-free 800.349.6138 or 484.664.2800. We're a local company so we like to handle every customer personally to build a comfortable long-term relationship.