RingCentral's Phone, Fax Services Boost Business for Reservations, Sales Firm

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Being in the reservation and sales services business requires a top-notch communication system. Especially when it comes to phone and fax technology.

When ITS Magellan Services, a company that offers reservation and sales services to more than 700 independent hotels in about 30 countries, needed to streamline its operation, it turned to RingCentral, a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of Internet phone systems for small businesses.

The company, which has five employees in the United States, one in Italy and three in South America, needed a way to separate the calls it received from hotels, which often have questions about software, and the calls it received from consumers looking to book a room. The company was challenged with sending the calls to the appropriate person.

“Our phone line provider could not give us the services that we wanted—caller attendant, voicemail, e-mail to fax and fax to e-mail—without buying an enormously expensive phone system for $20,000, $30,000 [or] $40,000 and we just didn’t want to do that,” Ed Brill, ITS Magellan’s president, said. “So I did some research, foundRingCentral and we tried it.”

RingCentral officials helped ITS Magellan Services set up separate extensions for each function, including new reservations, hotel support and sales. For example, calls for new reservations now are routed to the company’s Fort Lauderdale offices, while accounting, sales and business development are sent to New York.

In addition, RingCentral’s Internet faxing services help ITS Magellan address high volume of incoming faxes.

“Before, we had paper city,” Brill said. “You hoped nobody would light a cigarette for fear of fire, but the faxes now come as e-mails. We can receive faxes and forward them immediately to the local office that is responsible for that function.

Brill said RingCentral’s fax service has dramatically decreased the need to print material – helping the company to go green - and has helped the firm keep up with its correspondence in a timely way. RingCentral’sInternet fax capability reduces waste of paper and delivers the fax no matter where the person is.

“RingCentral is really a good solution for us because it gave us all the services, all the bells and whistles you would get from a big phone company and a big phone system but without the investment,” Brill said. “It’s working beautifully and we keep adding more services on every month. We’re not the largest account with RingCentral, but we are probably one of the most satisfied.”

Will social networks kill Google? A Facebook founder (naturally) says yes

And what do you think of it? Do you think this is true or false?

When I wrote a post a month ago detailing why I thought Facebook could really hurt Google, lots of readers scoffed at my logic. So I was relieved to see that Sean Parker agrees with me. Parker, a babyfaced wunderkind tech enterpreneur, played key early roles in Facebook and, before that, music filesharing site Napster. He gave the most provocative presentation at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco last week -- laying out, in broad brushstrokes, how and why he thinks Facebook will kill Google.

Parker believes, in short, that businesses that connect people are worth more than businesses that collect data. Google collects data; Facebook connects people. So network effects will go to Facebook, and not Google.
"Network effects"? Think of the term this way: With every additional member who joins Facebook, the value of Facebook increases to everyone who uses it. Each node on the network brings additional information and additional capabilities. The classic example of this phenomenon, known as Metcalfe's Law, is the fax machine: a worthless device until a critical mass of consumers had them and could make faxing common practice. In an earlier era, the success of the telephone was similarly dependent on the size of the network.

Parker argues that network effects work on the Internet as well. He cites PayPal, eBay, and Skype as network-effects businesses that facilitate connections between users, rather than collecting or sorting information.

Still, none of them have come close to either the revenues or usage of Google. So why would Google fear Facebook?

Two reasons. One, because any given user's switching cost from one search engine to another is close to zero. Google has a great product, but the entire world could switch to Microsoft's Bing search engine in a split-second with little consequence. But Facebook has insanely high switching costs. After you've built a network of friends, uploaded pictures, and used Facebook Connect to sign up for dozens of other sites, the idea of ditching it all for some new service is quite painful.

This is precisely why, even after Google came out with Gmail and a much higher amount of free memory, Yahoo! did not see a significant exodus from its own online email service. Yahoo offered less than Google, but switching from one email provider to another has extremely high costs to users, who loathe the idea of exporting emails, sifting through emails, organizing emails, and praying they haven't deleted emails. But switching from Google's search engine to Yahoo's is neither difficult nor particularly painful.

Another reason to fear Facebook is that search is increasingly a social act. When my wife and I were searching for a new pediatrician, I did a Google search and a Facebook inquiry. Google brought up a bunch of links on sites of varying quality that purported to rank physicians -- fair enough -- but my Facebook query got me some excellent recommendations from people I knew. I was more comfortable with Facebook's suggestions, because they came from people I knew, at least tangentially, and because I knew the information was relatively current. A Google search gives no guarantee of whether the information is current, nor of the motivations behind the strangers who provide it.

Go Green with RingCentral's Eco-Friendly Fax Service

Some news about RingCentral! Enjoy!

At a time when the economic climate is especially tough, the “going green” movement has become the “in” thing for enterprises that both want to spend wisely and lower their impact on the environment.

One technology, in particular, that is growing in popularity is Internet fax services, according to RingCentral, a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of Internet phone systems for small businesses.With it, companies can send and receive faxes through the Internet without a fax machine. And since users receive documents online, they can read them on from their monitors.

Here’s the best part. Users can decide whether or not to print the fax, helping them save paper, ink, hardware, electricity and the impact on mother Earth.

“Two things really help our customers to not only be eco friendly, but save money and provide and better level of service to their customers,” Praful Shah,RingCentral’s ( News - Alert) vice president of strategy, told TMCnet in an interview. “First, enabling employees to work efficiently from different locations, like home offices, [helps them] avoid necessary travel. Second, our Internet fax capability automatically delivers all incoming faxes as attachments via e-mail that dramatically reduces waste of paper, and at the same time delivers the fax no matter where the person is.”

Beyond the feel-good environmental benefits of Internet fax, the technology offers significant savings, RingCentral said in a recent blog. For example, RingCentral’s most popular service is a hosted cloud-based business phone system plan called "RingCentral Professional, which of offers auto-receptionist, multiple extensions, voice mail boxes and Internet fax starting at $9.99 a month.

Shah said Internet fax is “significantly cost effective” and also helps users improve their efficiency.

“A business does need a separate fax line,” he said. “There is no need to buy a fax machine, no need to buy paper, and most important, faxes get delivered to wherever the recipient may be, rather than near a fax machine.”

RingCentral Fax over Internet service is easy to use. Users compose and send a fax online to any fax machine in the U.S., Canada, or international destination using RingCentral’s Internet fax software interface. Faxes can also be sent from any e-mail account,Microsoft ( News - Alert) Office program, or any Windows program.

GuestHouse International opens in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

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GuestHouse International® Hotels, Inns Suites, announces the opening of its newest GuestHouse International Inn in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, (formerly America’s Best Value Inn). Located at 202 Emert Street, the hotel features 100 rooms and is just steps away from major entertainment and family adventure attractions of Pigeon Forge, yet serenely removed from the noise and bustle of the Parkway. The well appointed guest rooms amenities include: Cable television with movie, news and sports channels, Free local calls, Free Long Distance (USA), Hair dryer, Iron/ironing board, Refrigerators, Express check-out, Complimentary continental breakfast, Copy and fax service and Free wireless Internet. After a fun filled day guests can relax and unwind in the outdoor swimming pool. For added convenience the hotel offers custom designed vacation packages. "The Pigeon Forge, TN GuestHouse International Inn has the features and designs that today's travelers want and is a great addition to our franchise family," said Terry Kline, Sr. Vice President of Franchise Development for Boomerang Hotels.

Awareness Month With Donation

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Search engine positioning company Customer Magnetism is donating funds to local breast cancer research and support foundation.

Hampton Roads, Virginia - October 6, 2009 - October is breast cancer awareness month. Customer Magnetism, a Virginia Beach Internet Marketing firm, announced today that it will donate 5% of funds from all new contracts signed and received during this month toward breast cancer research and support for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Tidewater Affiliate. With 1.3 million men and women diagnosed with breast cancer annually and no known cause or cure existing, research and support for cancer victims is critical. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Many of the Internet marketing firm’s employees have had their lives touched by cancer and support the company’s efforts. “My friend Susan was in her twenties when she died of breast cancer,” said CEO and company founder Kurt Noer. “Fortunately, with early detection and improved education, many are winning this battle.” The struggle with breast cancer has also hit close to home for employee Nicole Newsome, whose mother is fighting the battle daily. Andrea Edwards was diagnosed in 1999 and had a mastectomy. After a year of chemotherapy and radiation, Edwards was cancer-free for more than six years. Three years ago, the cancer returned, spreading to her sternum, and is now inoperable. “Every day is a gift to my mom,” said Newsome. “She works full time, volunteers at her church, and is a wonderful grandmother to my children. She loves life and has faith that a cure will be found in her lifetime. Her courage and strength is an inspiration to all that know her. She is my best friend and I love her.” Every 75 seconds someone dies from breast cancer. By donating locally to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which supports breast cancer research and education, Customer Magnetism hopes to help reduce those statistics. Employee Nicole Harris has lost a grandparent and great-grandparent to cancer, and supports the company’s initiative in trying to help find a cure for breast cancer. “I miss them both dearly,” said Harris. “I truly hope that one day soon they find a cure for cancer.” In addition to the company’s 5% donation during October, some of Customer Magnetism’s employees will make personal efforts in fund-raising by participating in the 10th Annual Komen Tidewater Race for the Cure on Saturday, October 17th at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Located in beautiful Virginia Beach, Virginia, Customer Magnetism has become well known as one of the most reliable and affordable companies offering search engine positioning services. The company specializes in organic search engine positioning services, strategic link building services and full service pay-per-click management. About Susan G. Komen for the Cure: The Komen Tidewater Affiliate celebrated ten years of service in September 2009. In 1998, a core group of three volunteers had the vision for an affiliate in Southeastern Virginia. They received affiliate designation from Susan G. Komen in 1999. The first Komen Tidewater Race for the Cure® was held in October 2000 and, with approximately 3,400 participants, was the fifth largest inaugural race in Komen history. In the first year, the affiliate awarded $99,502 in grants and sent $40,500 to the Komen Award and Research Program.

Threat forces lockdown at Franklin Regional High School

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Sep 30, 2009 (Tribune-Review - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- An e-mailed threat advising that a shooting was to occur at 9 a.m. Tuesday at Franklin Regional High School resulted in a lockdown at the school while police searched the building.
Murrysville police said school administrators contacted the department yesterday morning regarding the threat, sent Monday evening, allegedly from a ninth-grade student's e-mail account.

Superintendent Dr. Emery D'Arcangelo said students remained in their second-period classes while lockers and the school were searched.

No weapons were found, police said.

The investigation revealed the e-mail did not originate from the student, but from an unknown person who used the student's e-mail by way of a foreign Internet proxy server to send the message.

An anonymous proxy server can serve as a buffer between the user and the Web sites he visits, effectively keeping the user anonymous.

D'Arcangelo said that the source of the email may have been the Czech Republic.

There was no compromise of the district's Internet service, D'Arcangelo said.

At 10:15 a.m., the district posted a notice on its Web site that the search was completed, the building was found to be secure and the students and staff had resumed their normal schedules.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident.

FAXAGE Internet FAX expands local service in Utah

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Denver, CO (1888PressRelease) - FAXAGE, the value-leader in Internet FAX services, has recently reported additional coverage for local number inbound FAX services in Utah. With this expansion, FAXAGE now serves over 63,000 exchanges in the United States with local fax numbers. Local number portability is also offered in all exchanges served. FAXAGE additionally offers Toll-Free numbers that are accessible from all of the United States and Canada and flat-rate outbound faxing to the Continental United States, Canada and Hawaii.

In terms of network presence, FAXAGE covers 45 major metropolitan markets and surrounding areas.

FAXAGE now serves the following specific areas in Utah with local Internet FAX numbers, providing coverage in both the 801 and 435 area codes.

"Expanding our local FAX number coverage over time allows us to service more business clients, who value the ability to obtain local numbers and to maintain their existing numbers when transitioning to email and web based FAX services such as ours." says Christian Watts of EC Data Systems - the owner and operator of the FAXAGE service, "We're looking forward to further significant additions in late 2009 and early 2010, as we continue to roll out our Internet FAX platform."

About EC Data Systems / FAXAGE
EC Data Systems is an Application Service Provider located in Denver, CO. Founded in 2002, the company focuses on providing value-added services to clients in the small and medium business (SMB) segment through its in-house designed and operated application portfolio. FAXAGE is EC Data Systems' flagship platform and has been providing Internet FAX services since 2004.

FAXAGE provides unique value to SMB's through its fully multi-user design, competitive pricing, and multiple integration methods including Web site, email and API. The service strives to be the recognized value leader by offering the best balance of price, quality, performance and features in its space.