The 5 Best Virtual Phone System Providers in the US - Kev's Best

The 5 Best Virtual Phone System Providers in the US - Kev's Best
How disposable tech is putting businesses data at risk - Techradar
Encrypted Phones — iPhone and Android Encryption - Reader's Digest

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 12:40 AM PDT

A virtual phone system is essential for almost any business. Whether it is used for talking to customers or communicating with colleagues within the business, a virtual phone system is a highly convenient structure to implement that makes effective communication possible from wherever you may be. Various providers deliver this service in the US and each of their platforms comes with a variety of benefits.

These are the top 5 virtual phone system providers in the US. Find out why they are trusted by businesses and the nature of the services that they could deliver to you and your company.

#1 Talkroute

Talkroute is the industry leader for reliable and exemplary virtual phone system providers. Started in 2011, Talkroute was developed as a solution for handling customer calls remotely. While there are other providers that deliver this service, the CEO of Talkroute, Paul Howey, was dissatisfied with the features that they provided and the costs that they charged. When working remotely, Paul found that there was no proper solution for handling calls provided by these existing services.

As a result, Talkroute was born and has a mission of allowing any business to simply and efficiently handle customer calls both inside and outside of the office. Usable from any desktop, web browser or mobile device, Talkroute has continued to evolve as one of the most practical and cost effective virtual phone systems. Deployed in minutes, the provider has spent the past decade maintaining their trusted services and adapting to suit any and every team.

Whether your company is big or small, Talkroute remain dedicated to providing a well-rounded and effective service for an affordable price. When you engage the services of Talkroute, you can guarantee that you will not be surprised by any extra taxes or fees. There is no contract required and you will not need to purchase or install any expensive and unnecessary equipment. Talkroute is built on the belief that you should not have to pay for an extensive amount of features that are not needed by you or by your business.

They keep their service easy to implement and simple to use, providing expert results without hassle or confusion. With 24/7 support available and an exclusive free trial for every new account, there's no surprise that Talkroute has become the standout virtual phone system provider in the US.

#2 MightyCall

MightyCall is a fast and secure virtual phone system that specializes in providing this service to small businesses. Offering a range of features within the service, this is one of the most well-rounded yet affordable options in the US. Their list of features includes, but is not limited to, call forwarding, voicemail, texts, voice-to-text, mini-CRM functionality and live support. Making it easier than ever to work from anywhere, MightyCall has a professional and usable feel to it. One of the most unique aspects of this virtual phone system is the flat rate which they charge.

While other providers typically charge per user, MightyCall have a set price for your entire business each and every month. Another standout aspect is the company's dedication to security. The last thing you want as a business is for your texts and calls to be intercepted by hackers. With MightyCall, you can have the reassurance that this will not happen thanks to their high-class methods for encrypting your communications (and payments). No extensive setup is necessary for this service, you can easily and instantly start using it to improve your business communications both internally and externally. Your existing virtual phone number, if you have one, can also be ported in for free so that you can continue to use it.

Your customers will have a much more streamlined experience when dealing with your business if your team has an easy way to communicate with them. So what are you waiting for? Try a free test with MightyCall and experience some of the high-class features for yourself.

#3 Phone.com

Phone.com is an innovator in the field of virtual phone system providers. With no contract required, you are free to customize and experiment with the service to your heart's desire. Collaboration within your business can be achieved with Phone.com through a combination of voice, text, video, fax, and conferencing. Boasting over 50+ features, this may be one of the most extensive virtual phone system services available in the US. It is able to provide even the smallest of businesses with the tools required to operate like a big business. Whether you prefer to use a physical phone or mobile device or a softphone, Phone.com will be supported.

The service also includes free software upgrades and new features to ensure that you constantly have the most up to date, state of the art resources for running your business. Should you have any trouble with the system, Phone.com has a 24/7, bilingual support team ready to assist you with any problem at any time. With no special hardware to install, however, problems are rare with the easy to operate and adaptable system. With Phone.com you can easily contact customers from anywhere and give them a powerful first impression of your company.

The range of features is unmatched and allows you to customize the experience that your customers and employees have to your liking. Phone.com has emerged as a successful virtual phone system provider in the US that is trusted by businesses to boost their brand image and improve their communications.

#4 CallHippo

CallHippo offers a range of innovative and high-quality communication options for businesses, including a virtual phone system. CallHippo utilizes the power of AI to create a modern and effective approach to communication for businesses. Their services range from virtual phone systems to call tracking to speech analytics. The virtual phone system in particular makes it extremely easy for any business to call customers or business partners from around the world. CallHippo works by allowing users to buy phone numbers from over 50+ countries and use this to make and receive calls.

From there, you can access detailed caller insights and use these to optimize your business strategies. With both web and mobile apps available, this process can be undertaken from absolutely anywhere. It takes less than 3 minutes to set up CallHippo and start benefitting from the services that the system provides. For any growing organization, this service can have a range of benefits. The system is secure, easy to implement, and provides a comprehensive solution for any of your business endeavors.

The insight on your customers that you can gain from the service is highly valuable for shaping your business and making connections that matter. Don't let the wideness of the world restrict your company's reach, CallHippo can provide a simple way to get in touch with any potential customers or partners, no matter where in the world they are.

#5 Grasshopper

Grasshopper is particularly convenient for those wanting to keep their business and personal calls separate, yet don't want to use multiple devices. Grasshopper allows you to quickly and easily install a business line and virtual phone system into your existing personal phone. This allows you to do business from absolutely everywhere while also being able to find a distinction between your business communications and your private communications. With an affordable price, this service is ideal for small business owners who are looking for an easy way to integrate their business operations into their everyday lives.

A range of toll free numbers are available with Grasshopper and are perfect for making your business appear more professional to customers. You can also opt for a vanity number, a local number or simply use your existing business number with the service. The service requires no extra hardware and is incredibly easy to implement. There is also 24/7 support available via phone, email, Twitter, and Facebook. Grasshopper's goal is to provide a stress-free and affordable virtual phone solution for small businesses, consistently updating their methods of providing exemplary services.

To get started with Grasshopper, all it takes is 4 easy steps. Simply select your phone number, choose your plan (free trial, monthly, or annual), download the app, and start calling or texting right away. If you miss a call from a client, you can also rely on Grasshopper to send them an automated text. Make a good first impression with your customers, try Grasshopper for fast and easy communication and watch your small business flourish into a trusted and loved company.

Conclusion

A woman outside in the grass with a child, phone and laptop talking using a US virtual phone system provider.

Virtual phone system providers can deliver a number of benefits for any business, particularly smaller businesses looking for an easy and affordable way to grow. These 5 providers are some of the top ones in the US due to their wide array of features and the results that they deliver to the companies that use them. If you are planning to upgrade your business' methods of communication, both internally and externally, and need a way to access customers from anywhere, these virtual phone system providers are great options to consider. Try them today and watch your business operations steadily improve and create a reputation for you as a friendly and efficient company.

Sinead Jacobi is the head of content and news columnist for Kev's Best. Prior to joining Kev's Best, she was a journalist at SFJ.

She covers business and product reviews but also writes news and opinions.

How disposable tech is putting businesses data at risk - Techradar

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 12:23 AM PDT

It has become common practice for people to chase the latest technology trends. As tech becomes part of our everyday life, the lifecycle of our devices becomes smaller and smaller.

This is posing a huge issue to the sprawl of data.

About the author

Rick Vanover is a Senior Director of Product Strategy at Veeam.

With the lifecycle of tech shortening, many are abandoning old devices at second-hand stores and selling them to new owners without thinking about the data and personal information that is left on them.

The unforeseen jump to working from home in 2020 for large swathes of the population meant many organizations became virtual entities. Their operations and output became cloud-dependent, and huge volumes of company data – accessible across a range of employee devices – were transferred online.

IT management teams face a serious ongoing challenge of controlling and managing their organization's data online, which in many cases is near impossible. With data sprawling across company and personal devices, there is almost no control over it, especially in instances where staff sell their personal devices on to their next home, or throw them away.

To add to this, wider workplace trends like BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) continue to gain popularity and make it harder for organizations to keep track of sensitive data. IT teams have less control over employees' personal devices as it is, and so protecting the data on them becomes a real difficulty. Issues such as lack of encryption or outdated operating systems can lead to potential hacks and data loss as well.

This is something businesses need to consider when implementing a cyber security strategy in 2021 and beyond. This means educating staff in understanding the risks involved with discarding old devices and setting up the right protections within an organization too.

Educating staff in the basics

The first step in managing this is for IT teams to educate employees about the risks involved with using personal devices for work purposes and then eventually discarding them. Employees should be trained in the security practices of an organization and also understand how that translates to personal devices.

Part of this should be educating staff on how to properly wipe the contents of their business smartphones if they eventually discard them to a second-hand store. This is not something that is considered by most organizations, but it should be.

Employees also need to be briefed to understand how to identify potential malware, phishing, or ransomware attacks on their personal devices. If employees are able to identify these threats, it mitigates risk of data being lost.

Ensuring the right protections are in place

If educating staff fails, there are some protections IT teams can put in place to mitigate risk even further.

Constant software updates – if employees opt to use their devices for work purposes, this has to be under the precedent that the phone is updated regularly. Be sure to provide employees with the support necessary to deliver these updates.
Multi-Factor and Password security – to minimize security risks, roll out a compulsory monthly password management change alongside modern multi-factor authentication methods. Also ensure that you are putting up restrictions around the type of passwords employees are using, making it less obvious to potential hackers.
Encrypt data for protection – smartphones and tablets have encryption options that will provide protection of storage. Smartphones that are encrypted have a lower risk of being hacked.
Clear all phone data – if employees decide to move on to a new device or stop using their current device, ensure you manage the deletion of all data from that phone and have a strict policy around discarding devices.

It is advisable, where possible, that IT teams automate these processes for staff, as this will free up their time and ensure that updates are routinely made by default. With the abundance of software available to automate such procedures, an organization's best IT brains can add more strategic value to the business rather than performing these tasks manually.

Managing data in the new normal

As working from home became the new normal last year, it also became increasingly complicated to manage the sprawl of a company's data. While these agile work trends had been predicted for the next 5-10 years, organizations were not prepared for them to become so mainstream – almost overnight. As we look to the future, this is only going to become more and more complicated.

The rapidly growing digitization of businesses across sectors is undoubtedly a significant undertaking, requiring clear objectives, strategy and buy-in at all levels. Understanding these challenges and breaking them down into smaller, more solvable areas to focus on is crucial for success. Protecting staff devices, for example, should be seen as a top priority, as it will help IT teams lay the groundwork for safer practice in the digital age.

Ultimately, it is important for IT teams to understand all the risks associated with managing more distributed workforces, as companies take on more flexible working arrangements over the coming year. A huge part of this is of course understanding the risks that come with using personal devices, particularly in the process of discarding them or sending them to a new home.

Access your business network securely with the best VPN.

Encrypted Phones — iPhone and Android Encryption - Reader's Digest

Posted: 11 Jan 2021 12:00 AM PST

Don't let the term "encrypted phone" intimidate you. It's a feature you probably already have and use on your phone without knowing it—and that's a good thing.

Encryption may sound like a tech buzzword, but even if you're not tech-savvy, encryption is probably a very important part of your life. More than likely, your bank, credit card companies, and even some social media sites that you may use, including WhatsApp, incorporate encryption to protect your data. Your phone probably has this capability, too. Here's what an encrypted phone means and how to use it to protect yourself from identity theft.

What is encrypted data?

Encrypting your device means that the data (such as credit card info, social security numbers, addresses, or any other extremely personal information) that is entered into the phone will be jumbled up, making it indecipherable to anyone who might be trying to steal your information. To unjumble the information, it has to be unlocked using a password, PIN, or another key that identifies you as the owner of the information, according to Tom Kirkham, founder and CEO of IronTech Security.

"When you set a pin or passcode on your device and set up fingerprint or facial recognition, this is used to generate the key for encrypting and decrypting your device," says Jack Mannino, CEO at nVisium, a Virginia-based application security provider.

Want to be extra safe? Here are eight apps security experts would never have on their phones.

Why to encrypt your phone

Encrypted phones make it much harder for cybercriminals to gather your personal information because it is very difficult to decode encryption. Is encryption foolproof? "Device encryption is an added layer of security and a necessary step to keep hackers away; more often than not, cybercriminals are going to see a device is encrypted and just move on because it's too much work," says Kirkham. That said, "nothing is 100 percent foolproof when it comes to cybersecurity," he reminds us.

There are a couple of downsides to cell phone encryption. "An important thing to keep in mind is that it does slow down your phone, depending on the amount of data and the age/speed of the phone," says Tim Koster, tech expert and founder of CleverCreations.

A bigger caveat is that should you ever forget your PIN/password to your phone when it is encrypted, it is impossible to retrieve your data, Koster says. A backup would be the only way to retrieve the data.

Both Android and iPhone devices fully support encryption out of the box nowadays, so there isn't much need for third-party encryption apps, advises Koster.

iPhone Encryption

When your iPhone is locked, personal information is automatically encrypted, as is any data on the iCloud. Find out how to do it and the other iPhone privacy settings you should check right now.

Android Encryption

Setting up encryption on your Android device is easy, even for those that don't usually change the default setting on their phones. While there are many different types of Android phones and the menu options vary, these directions should get you to where you need to go without a lot of steps.

Open the "Settings" app.
Tap the search bar and type in "encrypt."
Choose the encryption option
Follow the onscreen instructions

Some Android devices, such as certain models from Vivo, Huawei, and OPPO can't be encrypted. If you try the steps and you can't find an encryption option, contact your service provider. They will be able to determine if your phone can be encrypted or not.

Encryption can take up to an hour and can't be interrupted, so you won't be able to use your phone. Make sure your phone is plugged in while it is encrypting to prevent it from dying, too. If your phone dies while it is finishing the process you may lose all of your data.

Make your password strong

Since the data on your phone can be viewed as unencrypted when your phone is unlocked, it is important to make sure the method to unlock your phone is strong, just in case it ever gets lost or stolen. For example, a weak password like 123456) or PIN like 0000 may put a device at risk regardless of the encryption's strength. Make the password or PIN more complex, or use face recognition, your fingerprint, or a pattern to unlock your phone. Even with encryption, hackers can still do these four things with just your phone number.

Sources:

Search This Blog

Android Full Encryption