Modernizing a county, town, or school district telephone system raises an important question about North Carolina RFP requirements for hosted telephone and VoIP services. Many public agencies are moving from aging on-premises PBX systems to cloud-hosted Voice over IP (VoIP) or Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS). Before selecting a vendor, leaders want to know whether state law requires a formal Request for Proposals (RFP). The short answer is that North Carolina state law does not force a formal RFP for every telephone or hosted telecom decision. Agencies have flexibility, especially for pure services. Local policies and the optional IT RFP...

When considering a cloud phone system for your business, it's crucial to look beyond just the technology and features. The most important decision you'll make is choosing the right type of cloud vendor. There are three main types of vendors in the market, each with distinct characteristics....

As the holiday season approaches, businesses are advised to prepare their phone systems to capitalize on increased demand and to enhance customer experience. Carolina Digital Phone offers six tips: configuring Hunt and Ring Groups to enhance call coverage; using Auto Attendant to share holiday messages and important information; providing seasonal Music on Hold to reduce customer frustration; encouraging staff to update their voicemail greeting with festive messages; setting Time of Day rules to cover employee absences and vacations; and providing support for Remote and Hybrid workers not able to go fully off-grid during the holiday period....

Supporting local businesses has crucial advantages; it bolsters the local economy, as money spent locally is reinvested in community services and indirectly supports other local merchants. Local businesses furnish employment opportunities and exceptional, personalized customer service. They foster trust, encouraging relationships in contrast to faceless corporations. Local entrepreneurs who create diverse marketplaces benefit from community support, while local industries often promote sustainability by minimizing transportation emissions. Moreover, these businesses contribute to building a tightly-knit community through sponsoring local events and charities. Buy local; it's not just a purchase but a decision to positively affect your community economically, environmentally, and socially....

What is VoIP? Are you curious about the wonders of VoIP? Well, let us fill you in! VoIP, short for Voice over Internet Protocol, is a technology that allows voice calls to be made over the Internet using digital signals. Gone are the days of relying on traditional telephones and circuit-switched networks. With VoIP, the future of communication is here! So, how does VoIP work its magic? It's quite simple. Instead of relying on analog signals like traditional phones, VoIP converts your voice into digital signals. Those signals are then sent over your high-speed internet connection. This means that you can make...

Your business has decided that upgrading from a costly, inflexible and restrictive on-premise phone system to an agile, advanced and affordable hosted cloud phone system is the way to go. However, before you can start reaping the rewards of your wise decision, you need to choose the right partner. To help you make this decision, here are 10 essential questions to ask hosted cloud phone system vendors: https://vimeo.com/826037343 1. Do you specialize in installing and supporting hosted cloud phone systems? You want to steer clear of vendors that “dabble” in hosted cloud, while they juggle other business lines. 2. Do you offer comprehensive post-sales support? Choose...

If you have been let down by RingCentral, then you are definitely not alone. A quick search reveals that numerous current and former RingCentral customers feel the same way. Here is a brief snapshot of some of the grievances: A RingCentral complaint posted on the Better Business Bureau’s website (342 complaints currently posted): “RingCentral could not fix our technical issue even after multiple communication. They took 1 week to respond every time we sent them information. We had a contract from September 2019 to September 2020 and after that term, we started to have technical issues. We decided to find another supplier...

When it comes to choosing the right phone system for your business, you definitely want to make a smart decision that allows you to take the shortest path to value and ROI. To ensure this outcome, here are 3 BIG mistakes and how to avoid them: Mistake #1 When Choosing the Right Phone System for Your Business: Not Focusing on SERVICE Frankly, this article could begin and end with this mistake alone, because it is so important to know about and avoid.   Here is how the trap is set: a smooth, fast-talking phone company sales rep (or sometimes a whole bunch of them)...

One of the most common — and also the most important — questions that we get asked by our (soon-to-be) customers is: “How do we get a VoIP business telephone line from Carolina Digital Phone?” Below, we highlight at a high-level what the process generally looks like from initial consultation, through to adoption and implementation — ultimately allowing our customers to take the shortest path to value and ROI: Phase 1: Perform a Needs and Goals Analysis  We begin by asking our customers what they like — and also what they dislike — about their current landline business telephone line system (or VoIP...