Pulling the Strands of Order from a Universe of Chaos

Posted by: Greg

In the western world, we've gotten pretty spoiled with our technological infrastructure, and that's a good thing. We expect to plug just about anything into our wall outlets and have it work. We expect that within a day or two of almost any kind of event, even a disaster, the roads will be clear and store shelves restocked. When we pick up our phone we expect to get dial tone, and when we dial, we expect the other end to ring, no matter what. As far as most people are concerned, it could very well run on magic: the details of all that goes on behind the scenes are irrelevant, and that is also a good thing. We just expect everything to work.

Such a robust infrastructure that meets our expectations so much of the time is a powerful enabler of commerce and community. Most of us never question who is paying the price to enable that infrastructure. But when the high expectations for that infrastructure fall to you to actually make it happen - gulp - let's just say you come to realize just how good we have it the vast majority of the time. The universe seems determined to fight us every step of the way. From inertia to the second law of thermodynamics, physics makes sure that trying to prevent things from breaking is always a losing battle in the long run. Whether it is your automobile or your favorite piece of imported china, everything breaks eventually - and ironically, the more useful you find it, the more you drive it towards the breaking point.

Maintaining order in that situation is not an easy task. You have to be a touch pedantic and a little paranoid about minor details to even have a shot. And it goes beyond the obvious "What happens when this server or disk fails" type of scenario. What about when the power goes out? What about if the backup generator doesn't work? What happens if there is a sustained power outage across a good percentage of the country? Is this more or less likely than massive levels of disk failure from a sudden infusion of dust into the ventilation systems? You have to continue down this road to the brink of pathology, all the while performing a balancing act with your limited resources to put them where they make the most difference.The good news? When you've seen enough things break in enough ways, you start to discern that patterns of where things break and why.

Once you have finally paid your dues, finally encountered enough problems to start seeing through them to causes and remedies (which only happens if you have approached every problem as an opportunity to learn something about how to beat entropy), eventually you can build systems and services that can meet and exceed people's expectations.

That's exactly what we're doing here at Aptela. We are planning to exceed your expectations with the reliability, quality and performance of our services. When the inevitable glitches do arise, we strive to learn from them, to take advantage of every opportunity to make our services even more robust - and exceed your highest expectations.

 

Aptela and fring Work Together

Posted by: Jen Robinson

Aptela and fring are now working together to help you make the most of your Aptela VoIP service!

Never heard of fring? fring is a free mobile application that lets users communicate with contacts over their mobile phone's internet connection. There are already millions of fring users on thousands of supported mobile devices (across over 200 countries), and the numbers continue to grow at a rate of over half a million new users every month.

How can fring be free? It uses your mobile device's data plan/Wi-Fi and does not use your voice minutes or SMS.

How do Aptela and fring work together?

fring is part of Aptela's Anywhere Apps mobile apps suite! fring lets you extend your robust Aptela VoIP functionality right down to your mobile phone, allowing you to make VoIP calls to landline and regular mobile (GSM/CDMA) contacts using fring in combination with your Aptela service.

To get fring and get even more out of your Aptela service, click here to download!

 

Introducing Aptela's TMCnet Global Online Community

Posted by: Jen Robinson

We are very excited to announce Aptela's new VoIP Phone Service Global Online Community! Our community is part of TMCnet.com, a market leader in the delivery of technology-related news and content. TMC reaches over 3.5 million readers worldwide every month, so this provides us with an excellent mechanism to educate site visitors and provide valuable content and thought leadership to help small businesses as they evaluate VoIP Phone Service for their small business and/or mobile workforce!

Here's a snapshot of the Aptela VoIP Phone Service Community home page:

 

 

The community is a convenient, centralized resource for anyone looking to learn more about VoIP and discover how VoIP Phone Service can benefit their company. New content is available weekly, so we encourage you to visit frequently for the latest information, tips and tricks! Viewers can catch up on the latest VoIP news, watch featured videos, read featured articles from industry experts and check out success stories from those who have already adopted VoIP for their business.

 

 

Viewers can also check out Aptela-specific content, including our video library, our "Are You VoIP Ready?" white paper and much more.

 

 

To view our new Global VoIP Phone Service Community, please visit http://voip-phone-service.tmcnet.com/.

 

Don't forget that you can also find our video library at the Aptela website!

Using Aptela's Department Dashboard Call History

Posted by: Ann Santorios

Check out this short video to learn how to use call history in Aptela's new Department Dashboard!

Business VoIP A-Z: August Edition

Posted by: Jen Robinson

This month I'd like to highlight ten widely used Voice over IP (VoIP)-related terms. Whether you're just entering the VoIP world or are an industry veteran, these terms are vital to understanding VoIP or explaining VoIP to others.

Before we get started, here's a general definition of VoIP:

Voice over IP (VoIP) - A general term for a family of methodologies, communication protocols and transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet.

Now on to the 10 VoIP terms for August!

1. Analog - The traditional telephone service is an analog system. An analog system works by converting a sound or video signal into electrical vibrations for transmission or reproduction
2. Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) - A device that converts a VoIP signal into a standard telephone signal, allowing you to use your traditional telephone handset with a VoIP connection. It provides an interface between your router and your phone and is available from most VoIP providers, such as Aptela.
3. Bandwidth - Measured in bits per second, it is the amount of data that can be sent from one computer to another through a particular connection in a certain amount of time. The higher the bandwidth available, the more information you are able to access in a given time.
4. Broadband - It is a general term for any Internet connection which receives and transmits at a bit rate of 100kbps or greater. Thus, frame relay, T-line connections, cable, DSL, and bonded or multi-channel ISDN are all considered broadband. Single channel ISDN and dialup modem connections are thus "narrow band".
5. Call processor - VoIP providers' equipment that receives the phone number you dial, checks it for format validity, and maps it to an IP address.
6. Codec- A device or computer program capable of encoding and/or decoding a digital data stream or signal. It converts audio signals into compressed digital signals to be transmitted across a digital network and converts the audio signals back to analog at the receiving end.
7. Conference bridge - A device for connecting several parties in a phone call so that all participants can hear one another.
8. Data compression - Methods of reducing the number of bits in a set of data so it can be transmitted more quickly over the network and then expanded to its original size when it reaches the destination.
9. Endpoint - A phone or computer associated with a phone number and temporarily or permanently assigned an IP address.
10. Full duplex- The ability of devices at both ends of a communications to send and receive information simultaneously.

Stay tuned for the next ten terms in September!

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