Press Room

Telappliant, the leading Internet telephony provider for UK based small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), has launched a new VoIPOffice Custom Quote Wizard on its website, www.telappliant.com. The Custom Quote Wizard guides users through five simple steps that enable them to configure a custom telephone system that perfectly meets their business requirements. Users then receive a quote for the system via email within two hours.

All quotes are backed up with the reassurance of Telappliant's Best Price Promise - so if businesses receive a lower quote elsewhere, Telappliant promises to beat it by at least 5%. Live chat functionality allows users to instant message a Telappliant consultant during business hours, for any guidance or assistance they might need.

Tom Dobson, Head of Business Sales at Telappliant, comments, "The VoIPOffice Custom Quote Wizard allows business to quickly and easily design a bespoke telephone system, without any prior telecoms knowledge. A good phone system is crucial part of any business infrastructure, and this tool enables users to create the perfect system for their business, rather than simply selecting the closest match and paying for features they don't necessarily need. And because our VoIPOffice phone systems are hosted in the cloud, there is no expensive hardware to purchase or maintain."

To try the VoIPOffice Custom Quote Wizard, visit http://www.telappliant.com/voipoffice-quote.

Telappliant, the leading Internet telephony provider for UK based small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), has published a new whitepaper entitled 'Unified Communications for the Small or Medium-Sized Enterprise'. The whitepaper explains unified communications and its benefits in the context of SMEs.

Three-quarters of senior managers experience delays from inadequate business communication. Team performance, company efficiency and business competitiveness are frequently compromised because communications are not unified. By demolishing the barrier between the phone system and IT infrastructure, and by adding an additional layer of advanced capability, unified communications offers an easy to implement and simple to manage solution.

Telappliant's whitepaper provides an overview of unified communications technology and analyses its benefits in the context of SMEs. It also covers six essential things you need to know about unified communications and provides useful guidance on how to calculate the return on investment from a unified communications strategy.

Tan Aksoy, Chief Executive Officer at Telappliant, comments, "Top priorities for today's business decision makers include improving productivity and employee response times; simplifying IT infrastructure; increasing collaboration and flexibility; and providing more support for home/mobile working. Unified communications has a big part to play in helping businesses achieve these goals. Our new whitepaper will help SMEs understand the business benefits of unified communications and enable them to accurately calculate the return on investment."

To download the free whitepaper visit http://www.telappliant.com/white-papers.

Telappliant, the leading Internet telephony provider for UK based small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), has been awarded 'Best Business ITSP (Medium Enterprise)' at the Internet Telephony Services Provider's Association (ITSPA) 5th annual awards.

The award winners were announced in the House of Commons by Dr Julian Huppert MP and Vice Chair of the Parliamentary Internet Communications and Technology Forum. The ceremony marked the third ITSPA award for Telappliant in three consecutive years.

Awards were presented in eight categories that represent the range and scope of the VoIP and Unified Communications industry in Britain. Telappliant was also shortlisted in the 'Best Business ITSP (Small Enterprise)' and 'Best Consumer VoIP' categories. An independent third party, Malden Electronics, conducted two months of technical testing for all three awards.

Tom Dobson, Head of Business Sales at Telappliant, commented, "We are thrilled to have won the ITSPA Award for Best Business ITSP, as well as to have been shortlisted in two additional categories. This 'best in industry' recognition from the ITSPA judges and an independent testing panel demonstrates the strength of our Internet telephony solutions, for businesses and consumers alike."

Eli Katz, Chair of the ITSPA council, said, "The ITSPA Awards celebrate the innovation and best practice in our industry. This year saw the highest number of entries we have received so far".

For more information about the ITSPA Awards and a full list of the winners, visit www.itspaawards.org.uk.

For further information about Telappliant's business VoIP telephony systems, visit www.telappliant.com, or visit www.voiptalk.org for details of our consumer VoIP services.

About ITSPA
Internet Telephony Services Providers' Association (ITSPA) is the UK's industry body for Internet Telephony Service Providers. Founded in 2004, it has over 60 members, ranging from the largest Tier one operators to the new entrants, providing services to millions of consumers and businesses. Given the rise in ITSPs (Internet Telephony Service Providers) it was deemed appropriate to form a representative body for the industry in order to both represent industry views to Government and also to implement methods of best practices.

Telappliant, the leading Internet telephony provider for UK based small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), has announced it has been shortlisted in the 'Best Business ITSP (Medium Enterprise)', 'Best Business ITSP (Small Enterprise)' and 'Best Consumer VoIP' categories for the forthcoming Internet Telephony Services Providers' Association (ITSPA) annual awards.

The event, scheduled to take place at the House of Commons Members Dining Room on 6th March 2013, will celebrate innovation and best practice in the fast-growing VoIP telephony industry. The award ceremony will be hosted by Dr Julian Huppert MP, Vice Chair of the Parliamentary Internet Communications and Technology Forum. An independent third party, Malden Electronics, conducted two months of technical testing for all three award categories.

Tan Aksoy, Chief Executive Officer at Telappliant, commented, "We are delighted to once again be shortlisted in both business and consumer categories at this year's ITSPA Awards. This demonstrates the flexibility, integrity and quality of our VoIP solutions. It also signals the increasing demand for innovative and robust VoIP services for business and home use."

Eli Katz, Chair of the ITSPA council, said, "Those shortlisted are an excellent line up to represent the significant growth of VoIP telephony and communications in both the consumer and business sectors".

For further information about Telappliant's business VoIP telephony systems, visit www.telappliant.com, or visit www.voiptalk.org for details of our consumer VoIP services.

About ITSPA

Internet Telephony Services Providers' Association (ITSPA) is the UK's industry body for Internet Telephony Service Providers. Founded in 2004, it has over 60 members, ranging from the largest Tier one operators to the new entrants, providing services to millions of consumers and businesses. Given the rise in ITSPs (Internet Telephony Service Providers) it was deemed appropriate to form a representative body for the industry in order to both represent industry views to Government and also to implement methods of best practices.

Telappliant, the leading Internet telephony provider for UK based small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), today announced the release of VoIPOffice Communicator, a free desktop application that turns a PC or Mac into a powerful unified communications tool.

VoIPOffice Communicator provides users of Telappliant's VoIPOffice hosted telephony service with a range of unified communications features - including presence, instant messaging, screen popping and click to dial. The software can be used as a stand-alone softphone or integrated with a hardware IP phone to simplify the placing, receiving and managing of calls and voicemails.

VoIPOffice Communicator integrates with web browsers, contact management software and CRM suites from companies such as Apple®, Google®, Microsoft®, Mozilla®, Salesforce.com® and SugarCRM® for a seamless communications experience.

Tan Aksoy, CEO at Telappliant, commented, "It is widely agreed that unified communications and collaboration are key components of a successful business environment, so I am delighted announce the launch of VoIPOffice Communicator, which will bring a host of UC benefits to Telappliant's business customers at no additional cost. I am confident that features such as presence, instant messaging and CRM integration will help drive business efficiencies across our customer base."

VoIPOffice Communicator includes the following key functionality:

• Softphone with video: Make and receive telephone calls using your computer, or take part in video conversations with other VoIP users
• Call management tools: View and manage your dialled calls, received calls, missed calls and voicemails
• Screen popping: See who's calling you with a pop-up window on your computer desktop
• Presence: See whether your contacts are available before you call them
• Click to dial: Click to dial telephones numbers in emails or web browsers
• Instant messaging: Take part in on-screen text chats with individuals or groups
• Contacts integration: Import contacts from Apple® Address Book, Google® Contacts, Linux™ Contacts and Microsoft® Outlook®
• CRM system integration: Automatically open a CRM contact record when calls are placed to or received from that contact

For further information about VoIPOffice Communicator, visit http://www.telappliant.com/voipoffice-communicator or call 0845 004 4040.

Telappliant, the leading Internet telephony provider for UK based small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), today announced the appointment of Don McQueen as a non-executive director.

Don McQueen brings over two decades of telecommunications experience, having held senior-level roles in organisations such as Cable & Wireless and GemStar Europe. As Chief Executive Officer of GCI Com, McQueen increased revenues tenfold in just six years.

Tan Aksoy, CEO at Telappliant, commented, "I am delighted to welcome Don McQueen as a non-executive director. The VoIP market is an incredibly exciting sector and is showing even greater relevance to businesses that want to remain agile and competitive. We want to continue to grow our market position and Don will help to accelerate us towards our strategic goals."

Don McQueen, newly appointed non-executive director, added, "It is a great privilege joining Telappliant and at a time when the company is continuing to experience a steady uptake of its services."

Telappliant owns one of the largest VoIP networks in the UK, with over twenty thousand business customers. The company has 40 employees and annual revenues of just under £6 million.

The Telappliant executive management team comprises:

• Tan Aksoy, Co-founder and CEO
  As an electronic engineering Imperial College graduate, Tan Aksoy started his career working as an analyst programmer, before joining Nortel Networks where he progressed to become a senior professional services consultant. In 2003 he formed Telappliant with Muhammad Nasim. In his capacity as CEO, Tan is responsible for formulating and driving the company's future growth strategy.
• Muhammad Nasim, Co-founder and CTO
  Muhammad Nasim is a Cambridge University medical graduate, with 15 years' experience of management consultancy and software development in the banking and telecommunications sectors with a number of firms including PricewaterhouseCoopers. Muhammad has spent the last nine years as a co-founding director at Telappliant with a portfolio covering company strategy; business planning; process improvement and automation; and human resources. His primary focus now as Chief Technology Officer is to drive ongoing innovation to ensure the company's range of VoIP services remain at the forefront of the telecoms industry.
• Shahin Khan, Operations Director
  Shahin Khan holds a Master's degree in information technology and started his career as a software developer within the financial services industry. He was head hunted by Dresdner Kleinwort to work in its foreign exchange software team for a number of years before joining Telappliant as a founding member. During his career at Telappliant, Shahin has managed various technical departments within the company and is now the Operations Director.
• Nigel Appleton, Finance Director
  An ACMA qualified accountant, Nigel Appleton started his career working for blue chip financial services organisations. After a role at Canada Life as a management accountant, Nigel moved to GE Life where, as Financial Controller, he assumed responsibility for a £2 billion balance sheet. Nigel then moved on to director-level roles at Bank Machine and Vision (Office Automation) before assuming the role of Finance Director at Telappliant in 2012.
• Don McQueen, non-executive director
  Don McQueen holds a First class BSc Engineering from Bristol University and an MBA. He started his career as a Shell International Petroleum engineer and has held a number of senior posts with multinational companies. These include Kodak, Cable & Wireless and Gemstar Europe where as EMEA Managing Director he built a £36 million profit line. In 1998 Don founded Pathfinder Telecom, where he developed 15 telecommunication patents before merging the business with GCI and becoming CEO of GCI Com. Since 2005, Don has led, negotiated, closed and integrated eight major telecoms acquisitions, growing GCI revenues from £5 million to £50 million.

Telappliant, the leading Internet telephony provider for UK based small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), today issued a set of practical guidelines to help businesses that are reviewing VoIP (Voice over IP) telephony services as a way of cutting operational costs.

The upward trend of VoIP adoption is supported in a study* conducted earlier this year, showed that 41 percent of UK companies are actively using VoIP telephony to improve efficiencies within their business, while a further 25 percent have plans to review and implement VoIP within the next 12 months. The study also indicated that 7 out of 10 UK businesses are expected to be using VoIP telephony services next year. However according to Telappliant many businesses are open to making costly mistakes if they do not have a clear understanding of what they need and more specifically what's being offered by VoIP suppliers.

Tan Aksoy, Chief Executive Officer at Telappliant, commented, "The successful adoption of VoIP telephony begins with finding the right provider that can guide you to a VoIP solution with the features, capabilities and service that fulfil all practical requirements, without incurring excessive costs for equipment upgrades. A comprehensive VoIP consulting service will address your requirements, explain the business benefits and provide technical and operational support before, during and after the switch. By finding a provider that will ensure effective design, deployment and ongoing support, your business will benefit from a smooth and effective transition to VoIP."

Telappliant's seven steps to securing a successful switch to VoIP include:

1. Review the telecommunication requirements of your staff: Look at the number of employees that are desk bound and will benefit from access to a mobile fixed line. VoIP offers the ability to roam or work from home with an office phone line, which can give staff more freedom to do their job.

2. Look at your annual telephone bill: This is a great time to take a quick health check of your telecommunications costs and look at the number of mobile and International calls that have been made. Switching to VoIP can save at least 50 percent compared to standard BT tariffs. A VoIP audit is a quick and easy process which could potentially save you hundreds of pounds in 2013.

3. Cut through the jargon: Don't be frightened by VoIP and the technical jargon. VoIP telephony is basically a telephone system designed to deliver voice communication over the Internet. It's efficient, fast and reliable – and more importantly it's seamless for your staff, customers and prospects. VoIP telephones (IP handsets) look and work the same as a standard office telephone (albeit with additional functionality, should you require it), so there is no training required for employees.

4. Consider your growth plans: VoIP is a scalable solution that grows with your business, with the ability to easily add phone lines, numbers and extensions as your company expands. A range of VoIP telephone numbers for various national and International destinations can help you expand your operations beyond your immediate location.

5. Broadband: One of the most common mistakes made when adopting VoIP is using the same broadband connection for data downloads and voice, rather than purchasing an additional broadband connection for voice. Although basic Internet traffic such as emails and web browsing are unlikely to cause any problems, bandwidth-heavy activities like file downloads and live streaming can significantly impact the quality of your VoIP. It would be most embarrassing for a colleague watching YouTube, taking part in a webinar or downloading a large file to affect the quality of an important business call. It is also important to ensure that your VoIP traffic is prioritised over data, in order to achieve the best possible call quality. Depending on variables, a connection should have at least 100kbps on both the upload and download. Ideally, you will need a broadband connection with a speed of at least 128 kbps such as ADSL to ensure good call quality and successfully use VoIP.

6. Ensure you can transfer your existing telephone number to your new VoIP provider: Another common mistake made by businesses is failing to check that existing phone numbers can be transferred to the new VoIP telephony provider. Many business owners sign their VoIP contract, only to find out afterwards that their number cannot be ported. Not all phone numbers can be ported to all VoIP networks, although a good VoIP provider will be able to port most UK geographic numbers from networks such as BT and Virgin Media, as well as Freephone, premium rate and International numbers from certain destinations. It is vital to discuss this thoroughly with your VoIP provider prior to formalising any written agreements.

7. The right tools for the job: A good quality VoIP telephone can ensure communication is as clear, smooth and simple as possible. VoIP works best with an IP handset that behaves just like a normal phone, bit it is also possible to use a ‘softphone' running on a PC or Mac, or even a VoIP app on your smartphone. There is also an ever-increasing range of hardware available to businesses such as video phones and cordless IP phones that mean you don't have to be near a computer or be bound by a headset. Bear in mind that losing power can affect your VoIP calls if it causes your Internet connection to go down. You will not be able to make calls unless you are equipped with a backup UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), which can power the connection for a limited duration. A UPS can be purchased for as little as £100 and will power your modem and VoIP adaptor to keep you connected during short local outages.

For further information about Telappliant's range of business VoIP telephony services or a free telecoms audit, visit www.telappliant.com or call 0845 004 4040.

*The survey was conducted by independent technology market research specialists Vanson Bourne in March 2012. 100 UK businesses were surveyed. The following sectors; financial services; manufacturing; retail, distribution & transport; business & professional services; were equally represented in the 100 interviews. The surveyed group also represented in equal proportion the following size bands; 5 - 100 employees and 100 – 500 employees.

Telappliant, the leading Internet telephony provider for UK based small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), today launched its free 'Telecom Review Campaign' to help businesses review their current telecommunication setup and advise where they can increase productivity and save money.

The free Telappliant telecommunications audit will take just 30 minutes with no obligation to buy. The company is so confident that it can reduce UK business landline and mobile phone bills by at least 20 per cent that it will give a £20 Love2shop gift voucher if it is unable to meet that promise. For full terms and conditions please visit www.telappliant.net/telecom_review.

According to Tan Aksoy, Chief Executive Officer at Telappliant, "A large number of businesses are still struggling with high line rental fees, escalating call costs and outdated phone systems. Keen not to disrupt their daily business, many just put up with the status quo. However, this way of thinking is no longer viable for businesses that want to cut costs and expand their operations. Hosted VoIP telephony is an attractive proposition, particularly for small and medium sized businesses as they can dramatically cut operating costs, improve workforce productivity and enhance customer service without investing in expensive IT equipment. Our free audit will show businesses the cost savings and benefits of VoIP. We can then help them make the switch in a quick and non-intrusive way."

A study conducted earlier in the year, which interviewed 175 UK businesses from a variety of industries, showed that 63 per cent of businesses have successfully been using VoIP telephony for three or more years. A further 15 per cent of businesses have been using VoIP between one to two years, and 22 per cent less than a year. The primary business drivers for switching to VoIP include the need to reduce communications costs (70 per cent), enable staff remote working (37 per cent), improve operational efficiencies (33 per cent) and to improve customer care and call centre support (15 per cent).

The survey, entitled 'VoIP telephony adoption', was conducted between June - July 2012 using Smart-Survey™ amongst Telappliant's customers. The sample interviewed included 175 small to medium sized businesses based in the UK.

Telappliant, the leading Internet telephony provider for UK based small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), today launched its VoIP 'Best Price Promise' to match any comparable quote and to also beat it by a further five per cent – without compromise to quality.

The Telappliant Best Price Promise applies to its core services which include Hosted telephony services, call plans, SIP trunking, VoIP phone numbers and VoIP number porting.

Tan Aksoy, Chief Executive Officer at Telappliant, commented, "Telappliant provides high quality and feature-rich VoIP services for small and medium sized businesses – and this new Best Price Promise signals our continued commitment to deliver value for money. We want to assure our customers that in the unlikely event that they find similar quality VoIP services at a lower price elsewhere; we will not just match but beat that price. We are extremely proud to be one of the largest VoIP networks in the UK, with over eighty thousand subscribers and I would like to encourage businesses to pilot our award winning telephony solutions."

To qualify for the Best Price Promise, customers must provide written evidence of the competing quote (on official company letterhead, including the name of the sales representative that prepared the quote). The competing quote must be for a service that offers an equal or greater level of functionality and service quality than provided by Telappliant. The competing quote must be for a similar or longer contract term. Quotes containing typographical pricing errors will not be accepted.

For full terms & conditions please visit www.telappliant.com/price-promise.

Telappliant, the leading Internet telephony provider for UK based small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), today released Fax38TM, a new service to allow old fax machines to take advantage of VoIP. Fax38 enables low-cost faxes over Telappliant's VoIP network through a Cisco® T.38 compatible Analogue Telephone Adaptor (ATA). Transmissions can cost as little as one pence per page and potentially cut fax transmission costs by as much as 95 per cent a year.

Despite the ubiquitous use of email, fax messages remain an important means of business communication – particularly for legal documents. There are still more than 200 billion pages faxed worldwide every year. The UK is the 13th highest fax-using country* which is the equivalent of one fax machine for every 40 people.

Tan Aksoy, Chief Executive Officer at Telappliant, commented, "Many organisations are already experiencing the benefits of VoIP for mobile and landline communications – and VoIP adoption is expected to rise next year too. However fax continues to be an important means of business communication in the legal, finance and public sector for example. The launch of our Fax38 service will provide an easy-to-use, secure and cost effective method to help extend the savings already being made by organisations through VoIP telephony."

Telappliant's three simple steps to gain access to cheaper fax transmissions:

• Fax38 is automatically enabled for all Telappliant VoIPtalk accounts. Sign up for a free account at https://www.voiptalk.org/products/signup.php
• Connect an ATA to your fax machine and broadband router.
• Dial the prefix *38 to send a fax message via Telappliant's VoIP network.
• Fax messages will be charged at standard Telappliant call tariffs and you can use your call plan minutes for even greater savings.

Telappliant also provides an additional service called Fax2email, which is an ideal solution for individuals and businesses that want to receive fax transmissions direct to their email inbox without the need for a physical fax machine.

To learn more about Fax38 visit www.telappliant.com/fax38.

Notes to editor

* Source: statistical website www.nationmaster.com Japan, USA and Germany occupy the top three positions for fax usage.

Saving illustration

• Estimated savings are based on an average transmission time of one minute per page (actual transmission time will vary based on page content). Locations with 1p-per-minute tariffs include the UK, USA, Canada and several European countries. For further details of pricing see http://www.telappliant.com/tariffs
• Fax38 is based on T.38, a global standard for sending fax messages across IP networks in real-time.
• Fax38 is not currently compatible with Telappliant VoIPOffice. VoIPOffice users should sign up for a free VoIPtalk account to use Fax38, or alternatively use Fax2email.