That all changed yesterday when I drove alongside him as he walked towards his car and tooted my new train horn. It sounded even louder than I expected and this added to the effect. His sudden jump into orbit was followed by a look of shock and then embarrassment as he realized what was going on. It’s not often I have the opportunity to get the better of him, so it was a satisfying moment and I laughed all the way home. It’s an image that will stay with me forever.

Most adults yearn to be back in school playing tricks on each other and this piece of equipment definitely lets you do this. They’re not the cheapest auto products, but are definitely worth the money even just to see the reaction and facial expressions of people when they hear these horns for the first time.

It’s the simplest pranks that are often the funniest. No matter how many times you see this prank, it gets the same reaction, especially if you’re driving a small car. Seeing the sudden reactions and expressions makes it all worthwhile. It’s even funnier if you play this trick on someone who is generally cool and over-confident about themselves.

Later on, I called my friends cell phone. Naturally enough it wasn’t answered so I left an apologetic message, but couldn’t resist laughing at the end of the recording. As one of my best friends, he’ll eventually see the funny side. All-in all, it was worth it just to see his reaction as he jumped for cover from my favourite new toy – my new train horn!

Those thoughts were crossing my mind as I stumbled across a website about PA Systems. They seem to have a great selection of kit to choose from and it was awesome reading the specifications and going back in time. It was interesting to see that some of the quality kit still seems as expensive as it appeared back then. But the choice seems to be much wider than the selection we had access to. I guess that’s the great thing about the Internet, it gives you access to a new bunch of information that you would never have access to otherwise; like information on PA Systems, all the way from Australia.

So, the question is, are you planning on getting one?

My old router had been acting up for the last few months. It was an old Speedtouch which was way past it’s time, but I hung on to it because it had served me well. WiManx, my ISP, provides me with a SIP VOIP service and the Speedtouch had the ability to terminate my SIP conenction so I could just plug a cordless phone into it and make use of the line. I did want an N wireless modem, but I didn’t want to buy separate VOIP equipment or have more boxes plugged into the network. So, when the AVM FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7270 – VOIP VPN WLAN Router hit my radar, I knew it was the one for me!

So, here are features I’m using on it:

• It’s an ADSL modem (ADSL 2+)
• It’s a router wireless (IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n (draft 2.0)) and wired (4 ports – 10Base-T/100Base-TX)
• It has a USB port that can be used for a network printer or a NAS device
• It has built-in VOIP supporting multiple SIP connections and PBX facilities combining SIP and land-line (and multiple answering machines)
• It has a built-in DECT phone base station so you can program any cordless phone to work with it

It has a bunch of other things I’m not using also, for example ISDN functionality and parental controls (has the ability to shut off Internet access to particular PCs at defined times), but I’m sure I’ll be exploring more of it in the future. It’s been running solid for a day now and our Internet access actually seems quicker than with the old router. Oh, and did I mention it was also a doddle to configure. It took around 10 minutes to set all the above up and most of that time was spent hunting for my ADSL username and password!

Here are some funky screenshots from the admin UI:

Much recommended!

I haven’t quite looked at what warranty it comes with, but it’s always important to keep in mind that bad things can happen to your laptop. It could get stolen, the screen could break or hey, one of the babies could pull it down onto the ground. So it’s always worth getting some laptop warranty for it. Oh, and if you get it from laptopwarranty.org, you can get a 10% discount by using promo code “tenoff”. Check it out!

Now, to migrate all her things from her old computer to her new one …

Do you use Skype for video chat? Well, I don’t any more, but I used to in the past and one of the things that was quite annoying was that the video can be a bit flakey at times. It has gotten better with every subsequent release of the software and the great thing is that hardware has also improved. I was reading about the FV touchcam N1 that’s an HD webcam capable of delivering full screen 720p streaming video over the Internet. it uses embedded hardware H.264 encoding, a chip that takes the 720p video and using high-quality encoding technology, squeezes the video into a stream small enough to be sent over a typical Internet connection. It’s also the first webcam ever certified by Skype that can actually work at this resolution.

There are a number of other HD cameras on the market like the Microsoft Cinema and Logitech Pro 9000 but although they capture HD video, they don’t compress it on the fly, so cannot be used for webcam chat.

You can get the faceVsion webcam from the faceVision on line store which has a whole selection of their products from the FV ExpressCombo all the way to the webcam described above.

If you use Skype for video chatting and you use it often, it’s worth looking into these cameras as they can let you have full screen video chats with friends, families and colleagues. Check them out!

Here’s an interesting service consisting of a company that will fix your camera; they fix any camera anywhere in the world. The claim to have the fastest possible camera repair at the best possible price. I’ve had a quick skeet of their website and they indeed seem to support a huge variety of cameras. The thing that I find fascinating is that they can deal with your problem if you’re based in the US; but they can also deal with your problem if you’re based in Germany, France or even Estonia. How’s that for worldwide coverage?

It’s fascinating how technology today has managed to make the world a smaller place. Offering a world-wide service is no longer impossible, global brands like McDonalds are pretty common place and people are quite happy to move from one country to the other for work, pleasure or even a change of lifestyle. Interesting times huh?

I found the watch on Bluedial, a website where you can find Brand name watches like Seiko, Citizen, Bulova Casio. There are a number of great watches, but the geek factor is pretty important for me.

What do you think about it, isn’t it just the best?

In the end, I was lucky enough to receive a tweet from someone who had seen the same issue. He recommended downgrading to a previous firmware (v2.2.6.0 aka Cheeky) which was a few month old. It didn’t have all the features of the newer firmware, but was supposed to be stable. I downgraded last night and lo and behold, all my problems have gone away. Thanks mate for the hint.

A couple of take-aways from the experience: The latest and greatest may not be the best solution for you problem. In fact this validates the maxim that one should be using the latest version but one. I love being on the cutting edge, but not when it affects my day to day. It also helps illustrate the power of social media. Here was a stranger who heard my frustrations and volunteered a working suggestion. I’m loving Web 2.0.

Business Phone Systems: PBX, IP and Everything In-between

Most businesses have a phone system these days and words like ‘PBX’ and ‘IP Telephony’ are often bandied around as an ingrained part of business conversation, yet what exactly is a phone system? How does an IP PBX differ from a PBX? And how can a phone system benefit your business in discernable ways? This article will answer all these questions and more and leave you with a workable knowledge of business phone systems.

What is a Phone System?

To properly understand the differences between phone systems, a basic knowledge of what a telephone system is needs to be attained. A phone system acts as an exchange that allows people to communicate both internally and externally. Rather than each phone having a separate line to the Public Telephone Network (PTN), a phone system enables your business to connect all phones, using a limited number of lines.

As well as placing and receiving internal and external calls, phone systems also employ certain basic features designed for business – these will be discussed further on.

PBX Phone Systems

Let us first explain the acronym so as to avoid confusion – PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. A PBX phone system consists of internal and external phone lines, a console and a computer server. The PBX is a switching system used to manage internal calls and provide external lines to internal phones when needed. Distinguishing itself from the Public Telephone Network though, PBX phone systems can route incoming calls to extensions and connect calls to answering services as well as other more business-specific features that are the trademark of phone systems and which we shall come to later.

IP PBX Phone Systems

An IP (Internet Protocol) PBX does the same thing as an ordinary PBX except it is designed to deliver voice (VoIP) or video over a data network and interoperate with the normal Public Telephone Network. IP PBXs can be either hardware or software based and can provide more advanced functions than ordinary PBXs by integrating with computer systems.

PBX and IP PBX phone systems are not the only business phone systems available, however they act as a standard around which other phone systems are based and are the most widely used phone systems in the business arena.

Phone System Basic Features

Phone systems all share a common set of features that make businesses more efficient – after all, time is money. These features include:

Call Conferencing – the ability to share a phone call between more than two people which can save time and travel

Call Hold – an important feature for business phones – on-hold music or messaging can be added

Call Routing – saves time by routing calls to the right internal extension

Voicemail – one of the most important business telephone system functions. Voicemails can be accessed by individuals or departments and can be also be forwarded

Auto-Attendant – this feature is well used especially with small phone systems as it negates the need for a secretary

These features as stated before, are common to all phone systems. Different types of phone systems however can have different features and as IP phone systems are becoming ever more popular, it is worth noting a few of the extra features that they can provide for your business:

Click-to-Call – uses computer-telephony integration (CTI) so you can simply click on the screen to call

Call Logging and Tracking – this feature is useful to find out call history and other information

Call Screening – allows you to see who is calling before you answer

Benefits of a Business Phone System

A common misconception is that you have to be a multi-national, filthy-rich corporation to have an advanced phone system but that is not the case. Many small and medium businesses have small phone systems that cost little and save them money. A VoIP phone system can seriously reduce costs for instance – calls can be routed over the internet rather than the Public Telephone Network, eradicating almost all call charges. Many businesses also bypass the cost of hiring a secretary by using an auto-attendant instead.

Certain features on a phone system can create the right impression with customers too. On hold messages and on hold music in particular can make a business seem more professional, as first impressions do go a long way.

Many businesses find that a phone system increases efficiency and functionality. For example, phone conferencing can reduce time spent in business travel, speed dial and click-to-call can also reduce time spent looking up phone numbers and voicemail is much more efficient than an answering machine. In the fast-paced world of business, the utilisation of time-saving and efficient tools can often be the difference between a good business and a mediocre business.

Phone Systems – Communication is the Key

Business phone systems then are exchanges that allow people to communicate internally and externally via the Public Telephone Network. Phone systems can come in many different versions with the most popular being the standard PBX and IP PBX phone systems. Phone systems are characterised by bespoke business features common to all phone systems and they can save businesses money as well as making them run more efficiently. Phone systems are becoming one of the essential tools of business now – communication is the key no matter what business you are in and business phone systems undoubtedly broaden communication horizons.