Small Businesses – How to Start a SMB

www.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver/

Releases

Release date

RTM: 16 July 2007

Retail: 7 November 2007[citation needed]

Current version

6.0.2423.0 (Power Pack 3) (24 November 2009)[citation needed]

Source model

Closed source / Shared source

License

Microsoft EULA

Kernel type

Hybrid

Support status

Mainstream support until August 01, 2013

Windows Home Server, code-named Quattro, is a home server operating system from Microsoft. Announced on 7 January 2007, at the Consumer Electronics Show by Bill Gates, Windows Home Server is intended to be a solution for homes with multiple connected PCs to offer file sharing, automated backups, and remote access. It is based on Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2.

Windows Home Server was released to manufacturing on 16 July 2007 and officially released on 7 November 2007. Power Pack 1 for Windows Home Server was released 20 July 2008, Power Pack 2 was released 24 March 2009, and Power Pack 3 was released 24 November 2009 . The next version of Windows Home Server, Windows Home Server V2 is expected to be released sometime in 2010.

Contents

1 Features

2 Technology

2.1 Home Server Console

2.2 Drive Extender

2.3 Computer Backup and Restore

2.4 Remote File Access

2.5 Remote Desktop Services

2.6 Add-Ins

3 Compatibility

4 Minimum system requirements

5 Resolved issues

5.1 File corruption

5.2 No native backup

6 Pricing

6.1 Refund of Windows Home Server license fees

7 References

8 External links

//

Features

Centralized Backup – Allows backup of up to 10 PCs, using Single Instance Store technology to avoid multiple copies of the same file, even if that file exists on multiple PCs.

Health Monitoring – Can centrally track the health of all PCs on the network, including antivirus and firewall status.

File Sharing – Offers network shares for computers to store the files remotely, acting as a network-attached storage device. Separate categories are provided for common file types like Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos. The files are indexed for fast searching.

Printer Sharing – Allows a centralized print server to handle print jobs for all users.

Shadow Copy – Takes advantage of Volume Shadow Copy Services to take point in time snapshots that allow older versions of files to be recovered. However, after introduction Microsoft has recommended not enabling shadow copies on HomeServer for unspecified reasons, and had not fixed the problem by September 2008.

Headless Operation – No monitor or keyboard is required to manage the device. Remote administration is performed by using the Windows Home Server Console client software provided in the bundle. Also supports Remote Desktop connections to the server while connected to the same LAN.

Remote Access Gateway – Allows remote access to any connected PC on the network, including the server itself, over the Internet.

Media Streaming – Can stream media to an Xbox 360 or other devices supporting Windows Media Connect.

Selective Data redundancy – Guards against a single drive failure by duplicating selected data across multiple drives.

Expandable Storage – Provides a unified single and easily expandable storage space, removing the need for drive letters.

Extensibility through Add-Ins – Add-Ins allow third-party developers to extend the features and functionality of the server. Add-Ins can be developed using the Windows Home Server SDK, to provide additional services to the client computers or work with the data already on the server. Add-Ins can also be ASP.NET applications, hosted in IIS 6 running on WHS.

Server Backup – Backs up files which are stored within shared folders on the server to an external hard drive.

Technology

Windows Home Server is built on the same codebase as Windows Server 2003 SP2. It includes almost all technologies found in Windows Server 2003 SP2 but has been modified in some areas to remove or limit features. It also includes some new capabilities not found in Windows Server 2003 SP2:

Home Server Console

While the underlying operating system is built on Windows Server 2003 SP2, the configuration interface is designed to be user friendly enough that it can be set up without prior knowledge of server administration. The configuration interface, called the Home Server Console, is delivered as an RDP application to remote PCs – while the application runs on the server itself, the UI is rendered on the remote system. The Home Server Console client application can be accessed from any Windows PC. The server itself requires no video card or peripherals; it is designed to require only an Ethernet card and at least one Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 computer.

Drive Extender

Windows Home Server Drive Extender is a file-based replication system that provides three key capabilities:

Multi-disk redundancy so that if any given disk fails, data is not lost

Arbitrary storage expansion by supporting any type of hard disk drive (Serial ATA, USB, FireWire etc.) in any mixture and capacity similar in concept to JBOD

A single folder namespace (no drive letters)

Users (specifically those who configure a family’s home server) deal with storage at two levels: Shared Folders and Disks. The only concepts relevant regarding disks is whether they have been “added” to the home server’s storage pool or not and whether the disk appears healthy to the system or not. This is in contrast with Windows’ Logical Disk Manager which requires a greater degree of technical understanding in order to correctly configure a RAID array.

Shared Folders have a name, a description, permissions, and a flag indicating whether duplication (redundancy) is on or off for that folder.

If duplication is on for a Shared Folder (which is the default on multi-disk Home Server systems and not applicable to single disk systems) then the files in that Shared Folder are duplicated and the effective storage capacity is halved. However, in situations where a user may not want data duplicated (e.g. TV shows that have been archived to a Windows Home Server from a system running Windows Media Center), Drive Extender provides the capability to not duplicate such files if the server is short on capacity or manually mark a complete content store as not for duplication.

Additional information can be found on the Windows Home Server Technical Brief for Drive Extender

Computer Backup and Restore

Windows Home Server Computer Backup automatically backs up all of the computers in a home to the server using an image-based system that ensures point-in-time-based restoration of either entire PCs or specific files and folders.. Complete computer restores are initiated through a restore bootable CD, file based restores are initiated through the WHS client software which allows the users to open a backup and “drag and drop” files from it. This technology uses Volume Shadow Services (VSS) technology on the client computer to take an image based backup of a running computer. Because the backup operates on data at the cluster level, single instancing can be performed to minimize the amount of data that travels over the network and that will ultimately be stored on the home server. This single instancing gives the server the ability to store only one instance of data, no matter if the data originated from another computer, another file, or even data within the same file.

Computer backup images are not duplicated on the server, so if a server hard drive fails, backups could be lost, however, of course, the original source machine should be available. The “Server Backup” feature added in Power Pack 1 does not include duplication of backup images.

Remote File Access

Web Interface showing the shared files UI

The system also offers an SSL secured web browser based interface over the Internet to the shared file stores. The release version offers access to the web interface via a free Windows Live-provided URL, which uses Dynamic DNS. The web interface also allows the uploading to and downloading of files from the content stores. However, there is a limit of 2 GB for a single batch of upload.

Remote Desktop Services

The system also supports Terminal Services Gateway, allowing remote control of the desktop of any Windows computer on the home network. Currently supported systems are those which would normally support Remote Desktop: Windows XP Professional, Tablet and Media Center editions, Windows Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions and Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions. The web interface also supports embedding the Remote Desktop ActiveX control, to provide remote access to home computers from within the web interface directly. Remote sessions can also connect to the Home Server console to configure the server over the internet.

Add-Ins

Windows Home Server allows for developers to publish community and commercial add-ins designed to enhance the Windows Home Server with added functionality. As of January 2010, nearly 100 of these add-ins have been developed for the WHS, including applications for antivirus & security, backups, disk management, automation, media, network/power management, remote access, and more. The Windows Home Server SDK (Software Development Kit) provides developers with a set of APIs and tools to use when developing for and extending Windows Home Server.

Compatibility

Windows Home Server features integration with Windows XP (SP2 or newer), Windows Vista, and Windows 7 (after the release of Power Pack 3) through a software installation, either from a client CD or via a network share.. Files stored on Windows Home Server are also available through a Windows share, opening compatibility to a wide variety of operating systems. Also, the Administration console is available via Remote Desktop, allowing administration from unsupported platforms.

64-bit Windows client support was introduced in Power Pack 1. Windows XP Professional x64 isn’t officially supported. However, unofficial workarounds allow Connector software to work on XP x64.

Integration of the file sharing service as a location for Mac OS X’s Time Machine was apparently being considered, but upon Mac OS X Leopard’s release, Apple had removed the ability to use the SMB file sharing protocol for Time Machine backups. One WHS provider, HP, provides their own plug-in with their home server line capable of Time Machine backup to a home server.

Windows Home Server has not officially supported Domain Controller capability and cannot readily join a Windows Server domain.

Minimum system requirements

The following minimum specs are needed:

1.0 GHz Intel Pentium 3 (or equivalent) processor

512 MB RAM

80 GB internal hard drive as primary drive

100 Mbit/s wired Ethernet

Additionally, the following are required for installation of the operating system only

Bootable DVD drive or USB stick

Display

Keyboard and mouse

Dedicated devices will have the operating system pre-installed and may be supplied with a server recovery disk which reloads the OS over a network connection. This is utilised on the HP MediaSmart Server.

Resolved issues

File corruption

The first release of Windows Home Server, RTM (Release to manufacturing), suffered from a file corruption flaw whereby files saved directly to or edited on shares on a WHS device could become corrupted. Only the files that had NTFS Alternate Data Streams were susceptible to the flaw. The flaw led to data corruption only when the server was under heavy load at the time when the file (with ADS) was being saved onto a share.

Backups of client PCs made by Windows Home Server were not susceptible to the flaw.

Even though the issue was first acknowledged in October 2007, Microsoft formally warned users of the seriousness of the flaw on 20 December 2007. Microsoft then issued a list of applications, including Windows Live Photo Gallery, Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft Outlook and SyncToy 2.0, which might have triggered the flaw if they were used to edit the files on a WHS share directly.

This issue was fixed by Power Pack 1, released on July 21, 2008.

No native backup

Windows Home Server RTM did not include a mechanism for backing up the server. Power Pack 1 added the ability to back up files stored on the Shared Folders, to an external drive. Users can also subscribe to 3rd-party online services, for a fee. However, there remains no way to back up the installed server operating system. Backing-up of the client backup database is available either manually using the instructions provided by Microsoft on page 24 of this document or can be done using the WHS BDBB add-in written by Alex Kuretz and available from this website.

Pricing

While some hardware manufacturers have developed dedicated boxes, Microsoft has also released Windows Home Server to enthusiasts via the usual OEM/System Builder route. In November 2008 Microsoft lowered the price of the WHS System Builder SKU to US$100.

Users can also choose to use an existing PC or build their own systems, which would include the use of WHS System Builder.

As of March 23, 2009, Microsoft has also made Windows Home Server available to MSDN and Microsoft Technet subscribers.

Refund of Windows Home Server license fees

Some computer systems are available only with a bundled Windows Home Server license. As is the case with other versions of Windows it is possible to request a refund of the license fees paid for Windows Home Server.

References

^ “Power Pack 3 instructions for users running pre-release versions”. The Windows Blog. 2009-11-24. http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowshomeserver/archive/2009/11/24/power-pack-3-instructions-for-users-running-pre-release-versions.aspx. Retrieved 2009-11-24. 

^ “Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 available November 24th includes enhancements for Windows 7-based computers”. The Windows Blog. 2009-11-19. http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowshomeserver/archive/2009/11/19/windows-home-server-power-pack-3-available-november-24th-includes-enhancements-for-windows-7-based-computers.aspx. Retrieved 2009-11-28. 

^ “Windows Home Server Support Lifecycle”. Microsoft. http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=12624. Retrieved 2010-02-08. 

^ “Microsoft press release announcing Windows Home Server”. Microsoft. 2007-01-07. http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2007/jan07/01-08WindowsHomeServerPR.mspx. Retrieved 2007-01-08. 

^ “Bill Gates keynote at the International Electronics Show 2007″. Microsoft. 2007-01-07. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/speeches/2007/01-07ces.mspx. Retrieved 2007-01-08. 

^ Dan Fernandez (28 January 2007). “Windows Home Server for Hobbyist Developers”. MSDN Blogs. http://blogs.msdn.com/danielfe/archive/2007/01/26/windows-home-server-for-hobbyist-developers.aspx. Retrieved 2007-05-29. 

^ a b c d “Power Pack 1 – come and get it!”. 2008-07-21. http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2008/07/21/power-pack-1-come-and-get-it.aspx. Retrieved 2008-07-22. 

^ “Power Pack 3 instructions for users running pre-release versions”. The Windows Blog. 2009-11-24. http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowshomeserver/archive/2009/11/24/power-pack-3-instructions-for-users-running-pre-release-versions.aspx. Retrieved 2009-11-24. 

^ “Windows Home Server Blog : Speaking of the number 10″. Microsoft. 2007-05-04. http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2007/05/04/speaking-of-the-number-10.aspx. Retrieved 2007-05-07. 

^ a b c d e f g h Paul Thurrott (2007-01-07). “Windows Home Server Preview”. Windows SuperSite. http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/whs_preview.asp. Retrieved 2007-01-08. 

^ a b “Windows Home Server in depth: Remote Access and SDK”. Ars Technica. http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/Windows-Home-Server-the-Ars-Technica-review.ars/4. Retrieved 2007-10-15. 

^ Nathan Weinberg (2007-01-07). “Windows Home Server In Detail”. InsideMicrosoft. http://microsoft.blognewschannel.com/archives/2007/01/07/exclusive-windows-home-server-in-detail/. Retrieved 2007-04-28. 

^ Ken Warren, Microsoft MVP and Moderator asserts this as an official Microsoft position at http://social.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/whssuggestions/thread/b7cc7610-9ceb-42ab-89f5-f62b60e27c1f/

^ a b c d “Technical Brief for Windows Home Server Remote Access”. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=8505e3a8-bbbc-445d-ba65-13782661dcb0&DisplayLang=en. Retrieved 2007-10-04. 

^ a b c “Remote Access to Files and PCs”. Windows Home Server Team Blog. 2007-02-28. http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2007/02/28/remote-access-to-files-and-pcs.aspx. Retrieved 2007-04-28. 

^ “The Death of the Drive Letter …”. Windows Home Server Team Blog. 2007-02-15. http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2007/02/15/the-death-of-the-drive-letter.aspx. Retrieved 2007-04-28. 

^ “Home Computer Backup”. Windows Home Server Team Blog. 2007-02-08. http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2007/02/08/home-computer-backup.aspx. Retrieved 2007-04-28. 

^ a b “Microsoft Windows Home Server CTP Privacy Statement”. Microsoft Connect. January 2007. http://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer/content/content.aspx?ContentID=4318. Retrieved 2007-04-28. 

^ “Installing Windows Home Server Connector Software Without the CD”. 2009-08-12. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee378523(WS.10).aspx. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 

^ http://mswhs.com/2008/03/13/existing-connector-software-works-on-windows-xp-x64-sp2/

^ “Windows Home Server Preview”. Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite. 2007-01-07. http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/whs_preview.asp. Retrieved 2008-07-02. 

^ “Windows Home Server & Time Machine Fall Apart”. christopherprice.net. 2007-10-26. http://www.christopherprice.net/windows-home-server-time-machine-fall-apart-63.html. Retrieved 2008-07-02. 

^ Technology, Expert (2008-12-29). “New HP MediaSmart Server Adds MacOS Time Machine Support”. blogspot.com. http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2008/12/new-hp-mediasmart-nas-adds-os-x-time.html. Retrieved 2009-03-02. 

^ “Windows Home Server: Getting Started”. Microsoft. 2007-07-26. http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/c/0/9c0ef09a-585f-4e20-a605-9f225cc11721/WHS_GettingStarted.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-14. 

^ http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/mediasmart-server/index.html?jumpid=ex_r602_link/kimcon/zo/1Q09MediaSmartServer//DM:/351482/30295795/208134550/#/Main/

^ a b “When you use certain programs to edit files on a home computer that uses Windows Home Server, the files may become corrupted when you save them to the home server”. Microsoft. 2007-12-20. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/946676/en-us?spid=12624. Retrieved 2007-12-27. 

^ “Data files that contain NTFS alternate data streams can be corrupted on a Windows Home Server-based computer”. Microsoft. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/943393/en-us. 

^ a b What the real story on the Windows Home Server data corruption bug?

^ “Known Issue: KB943393 – Data corruption issues identified”. Microsoft. 2007-10-02. http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2234532&SiteID=50. Retrieved 2007-12-27. 

^ “Windows Home Server price cut, plus surprising storage stats”. http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/brierdudley/2008/11/05/windows_home_server_price_cut.html. 

^ “Windows Home Server – Now available on MSDN”. Windows Home Server Team Blog. 2009-03-23. http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2009/03/23/windows-home-server-now-available-on-msdn.aspx. 

^ “How to get a Windows Home Server license fee refund”. http://ss4200.pbworks.com/Windows+refund+on+Scaleo+2200+(SS4200-E). 

External links

Official Website

Official Blog

Official Forums

Windows Home Server Drive Extender

MS Windows Home Server

We Got Served

Home Server Plus – Full List of Windows Home Server Add-ins

CNET Review of HP MediaSmart Server

Canada’s Steve Dotto reviews HP MediaSmart Server

Home Server Land

Home Server Hacks

Windows Home Server PP3 Beta 1

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Categories: Microsoft Windows | Windows Server | Backup software | Home servers | Servers | Home applicancesHidden categories: Articles lacking reliable references from August 2008 | All articles lacking reliable references | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from January 2009

A recent iLogos Research study revealed 94% of Fortune 500 companies now hire employees online, a stark contrast from 1998, when only 29% of them were doing the same. If you own or manage a small business, that means the vast majority of your fiercest competitors are now spending less time and less effort on recruitment. And that leaves them with more time to, simply put, get a leg up on you.

Sure, it sounds like a threat. But isn’t lack of technology an inevitable drawback for most small businesses? Absolutely not. Maybe 10, even 5 years ago. But not today.

Every time we do market research with small businesses, we hear three top reasons why the business has not yet implemented an online hiring solution, in which job candidates apply online:

1. The cost is too high
2. They lack the technological know-how
3. They believe setting up a recruitment software would take longer than just doing it the old-fashioned way

Those are all valid concerns, considering most small businesses operate on a tight budget and without an in-house IT department.

The good news is small businesses are fundamental to the North-American economy. In fact, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses drive the U.S. economy, representing 99.7 percent of all employer firms. In Canada, according to Statistics Canada, businesses with less that 100 employees account for 98% of all employer businesses.

Business software developers are now recognizing the importance of SMBs and designing employee recruitment software that caters to the specific budgetary and technological needs of small business.

It’s important to do your research and find the technology that’s the best fit for your company. When shopping around for a recruitment manager program, make sure to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Cost: Is the advertised price of this product the actual price my company is going to pay?
Beware of offers that are full of limitations. For example, will you have to pay more if a lot of people apply for your job? Is there a hosting charge for filing all the applicants’ resumes? Is there a time-limit for your job posting, after which you have to pay extra charges?

2. Ease of technology: Is the technology really easy-to-use, even if I’m a computer novice?
The best way to find this out is by trying the product yourself. Most companies offer free trials of their products, which are a great idea, as long they are risk free. Keeping in mind question 1, make sure the trial has no hidden charges. Also try out the front-end application process to make sure it’s really going to be easy when your job candidates apply online.

3. Setup: How long will it take to get up and running?
You don’t want to get stuck with a product that takes so long to setup, that by the time you’re done, you could have done everything the old-fashioned way. It’s a good idea to talk to a sales representative and ask him/her to explain to you the exact steps you’ll need to take to setup for a job.

4. The product: What’s included?
What does this product do? What doesn’t it do? Some programs offer only the online job posting functionality. Others focus on the back-end, like collecting resumes, organizing, filtering and searching employees, scheduling interviews, etc. When looking for a program that takes care of the back-end, make sure the company will also be able to help you with the posting functionality, whether you’re putting up a poster on your store window, running an ad in the local paper or posting on job websites.

5. Service: Will I get a helping hand?
Since most small businesses do not have an IT department, one of the most important questions to ask here is what kind of service will you get. Will you get email support? Phone support? Online Live Help? Will you be speaking to a real business person who knows about the specific challenges you’re facing, or to someone who only knows the tech aspects of the program?

Remember it’s your company’s efficiency that’s at stake here, so don’t be afraid to ask questions or request a free trial. Hiring online may sound like something only fit for the big guys, but remember this is the 21st century, which means technology and small business are the most important aspects of our economy.

The 2010 G20 and G8 conference is now behind us. Business leaders from around the world have returned home with a renewed determination to somehow repair their damaged economies. Just how long that determination will last or how it will play out in every nation, not just Canada, but in all nations, will be determined by the efforts of the people of each country, particularly by those people running business. Business leaders all over the world need to proceed at unprecedented levels of increased efficiency and productivity. To do it, all will need high quality and timely information along with an increased level of awareness of new opportunities.

Opportunities are the fuel of entrepreneurs. They love opportunities!

With just a short explanation it isn’t difficult to get most people to understand why Entrepreneurs are the catalyst of every business. More difficult for most people to grasp is the fact that true entrepreneurs have a never ending passion for continually developing their personal entrepreneurial skills, simply by exercising them. Entrepreneurs have in them what drives businesses to grow.  

Small businesses become big businesses because new opportunities are recognized, tried, and the more promising ones get taken into the marketplace. The faster this cycle takes place, the faster the businesses grow.

Advancing on new opportunities does astounding things for the development and stabilization of national economies. So too does enhancing the efficiency and productivity of existing business processes.

However, to be truly successful, let there be no doubt, we must get back to both. When they work together, they present a very powerful combination. While achieving productivity and efficiency means we will ultimately get more for less, corporate productivity and efficiency must never be achieved at the sacrifice of others, nor should it ever present a sacrifice on our fragile environment – in any nation. Striving for productivity and efficiency should always be included as an objective to be met in returning to a greener planet.

We have to change how we position ourselves as individuals and what we expect from our efforts. It does not mean we need to become lesser citizens or expect a lot less. In fact, just the opposite is true.

Those people who produce and are giving more of themselves, they will receive more. The opportunity to succeed has never been greater than it is to-day. Small Business ERP Software that can help SMB businesses in this new economy is also available, designed to help SMB business leaders do what has to be done. The unERP does all of these things admirably and it is simple, easy to use and affordable.

For those who are prepared for change, know they need change, are the driving the force to create change, they are the ones in control of their position, and the ones most apt to achieve their expectations. In other words, our future as individuals and as a nation is still within our control and we can still be where and what we want to be as both individuals, regardless of where we live.

To me, this is truly great news!  I believe it will be small business ERP software that pulls us through – in a truly wonderful way, and we all will be much richer for it.

Small businesses are always looking for ways to increase their competitiveness by cutting costs, improving their value proposition and requiring their staff to work more efficiently.

Today, in the telecommunications industry, a new technology called VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol (Internet-based phone service) has emerged and is making all of the above and more, possible for SMBs (small and medium-size businesses).

VoIP technology compresses voice (audio) data into packets that can be transmitted over data networks and the public Internet, and converted back into voice at the receiving end. This is the basis for some of the significant cost savings as voice now becomes just another form of data, allowing for integration with web based applications and the development of new features that would be impossible using traditional networks.

SMBs Demand Higher Functionality at a Lower Cost

Traditional telephone networks were designed solely to carry low-fidelity audio signals with a high level of reliability. Although these networks are very reliable for voice communication, they are not well suited to service today’s explosive growth of digital communication applications, because they: are expensive to build; must have the capacity from day one to address potential growth, increasing initial costs and creating an underutilized investment; transmit data at very low rates and resolutions, making them poorly suited for delivering high-fidelity audio, entertainment-quality video, or other rich multimedia content; use dedicated circuits for each call, which allot fixed bandwidth throughout the call’s duration, whether or not voice is actually being transmitted; cannot be leveraged to provide new or differentiated services or functions, such as video communication, that the network was not originally designed to accommodate.

Advantages of VoIP Technology

VoIP uses packet-switched networks to carry non-real-time data using much less bandwidth. The advantages of such networks are flexibility, efficiency, and scalability.

Flexibility: networks can be built in a variety of configurations to suit the number of users, client/server application requirements, and desired bandwidth availability.

Efficiency: bandwidth is consumed only when needed; service providers can converge their traditionally separate voice and data networks, and carry voice, video, fax, and data traffic over the same network; many terminals can share the same connection to the network and as a result, significantly more traffic can be transmitted over a packet-switched network than over a circuit-switched telephony network.

Scalability: Extensions can be easily added to the network as growth demands.

These advantages help create cost savings that can be passed on to consumers in the form of lower telephone bills. Around the world, more than 25 million SMBs could realize significant benefits by employing VoIP as their phone service.

A Hosted PBX

A Hosted IP PBX system is built using a VoIP infastructure specifically for small business. This system offers many advantages to SMBs compared to traditional telcom offerings. Businesses that opt for non-hosted VoIP phone systems, must first invest in a scalable and very expensive platform; as well as devote resources to set up, configure, and maintain them — a significant overhead cost.

In a hosted PBX service, configuration and maintenance are handled by the service provider and included in the monthly service price. In any price comparison, an SMB must look at all these costs and consider the entire total cost of ownership associated with on on-premise based system versus a hosted solution.

In a hosted IP PBX environment, a subscriber uses their broadband IP network for a small business phone system as well as data service. Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) for VoIP service requires only IP phones, or analog-to-digital converters for analog phones. This dramatically reduces start-up costs. Typically, all applications are also hosted, eliminating multiple vendors and points of contact.

Hosted PBXs Reduce Costs from 50 to 90 Percent

With traditional business phone systems, each company must pay for expensive equipment, phones, applications, installation, and maintenance, as well as bring in trunk lines. On top of this, a business will need to add in expensive monthly fees for local and long distance calling, a maintenance contract and annual upgrade costs.

Payback periods for a PBX phone system may never occur, preventing smaller companies from considering a traditional business phone system and forcing them to rely on basic, multi-line service and phones, which can be really expensive. Even after the upfront and quite substantial investment, customers could hear a busy signal if traffic exceeds the number of available lines.

For small businesses, the only alternative has been to use regular, basic phone service, which requires that all users must be in the same physical location, have a limited features and pay a large up front cost.

Hosted PBX services nearly eliminate the upfront investment and cover the local and long distance calling costs for a low monthly fee, and include all the features.

For a monthly subscription fee, a business enjoys unlimited long distance and local calls in the U.S. and Canada, and can use all the advanced applications including auto-attendant, ring groups, and extensions. These features would cost much more if provided with traditional solutions. Also, since each user can have two non-blocking lines, up to 20 calls can be handled by a single extension, reducing busy signals and customer abandon rates.

Hosted PBX Features

Unlimited Calling – using the Internet backbone for routing calls to any number in the United States and Canada

E911 – automatically routes emergency calls, along with computer-based “screen pops” of caller information, to dispatch operators at local public service answering points (PSAPs) for every extension based on location

Business Class Telephone with 99 name directory and 99 number display for inbound outbound calls and one touch controls for regularly used features such as voicemail, forward, DND, park, conference, transfer and more. 7 speed dials, 100 name directory, headset ports with separate connect control

Auto-Attendant – automated system that can replace the need for a receptionist, 24 x 7 with multiple schedules and greetings, transfers calls

Full Featured Conference Bridge – audio conferencing system to hold meetings involving participants at multiple sites

Business-class Voicemail – up to eight prerecorded greeting options, password protected, Voicemail to e-mail, one number access allowing follow me search and many more productivity features

Ring Groups -incoming calls routed to a group of phones simultaneously

Music/Messaging On Hold – replaces dead air with melodic music or important information

Administrative Controls – Web portal for all PBX, auto-attendant, ring groups, and complete extension control.

Includes Extension Manager and Switchboard.

Call Park / Call Pick-Up – gives receptionist flexibility to park a call while paging the recipient

Do Not Disturb – calls automatically forwarded to voicemail

Caller-ID and Call Waiting Caller-ID – number of incoming call appears on display; controls for single Call ID blocking 67/68 or block all Call ID also per Call Waiting Disable *70, and perminant call waiting disable

Distinctive Ringing – advises whether call is from inside or outside the company

Small businesses are always looking for ways to increase their competitiveness by cutting costs, improving their value proposition and requiring their staff to work more efficiently.

Today, in the telecommunications industry, a new technology called VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol (Internet-based phone service) has emerged and is making all of the above and more, possible for SMBs (small and medium-size businesses). VoIP technology compresses voice (audio) data into packets that can be transmitted over data networks and the public Internet, and converted back into voice at the receiving end. This is the basis for some of the significant cost savings as voice now becomes just another form of data, allowing for integration with web based applications and the development of new features that would be impossible using traditional networks.

SMBs Demand Higher Functionality at a Lower Cost

Traditional telephone networks were designed solely to carry low-fidelity audio signals with a high level of reliability. Although these networks are very reliable for voice communication, they are not well suited to service today’s explosive growth of digital communication applications, because they: are expensive to build; must have the capacity from day one to address potential growth, increasing initial costs and creating an underutilized investment; transmit data at very low rates and resolutions, making them poorly suited for delivering high-fidelity audio, entertainment-quality video, or other rich multimedia content; use dedicated circuits for each call, which allot fixed bandwidth throughout the call’s duration, whether or not voice is actually being transmitted; cannot be leveraged to provide new or differentiated services or functions, such as video communication, that the network was not originally designed to accommodate.

Advantages of VoIP Technology

VoIP uses packet-switched networks to carry non-real-time data using much less bandwidth. The advantages of such networks are flexibility, efficiency, and scalability. Flexibility: networks can be built in a variety of configurations to suit the number of users, client/server application requirements, and desired bandwidth availability. Efficiency: bandwidth is consumed only when needed; service providers can converge their traditionally separate voice and data networks, and carry voice, video, fax, and data traffic over the same network; many terminals can share the same connection to the network and as a result, significantly more traffic can be transmitted over a packet-switched network than over a circuit-switched telephony network. Scalability: Extensions can be easily added to the network as growth demands.

These advantages help create cost savings that can be passed on to consumers in the form of lower telephone bills. Around the world, more than 25 million SMBs could realize significant benefits by employing VoIP as their phone service.

A Hosted PBX

A Hosted IP PBX system is built using a VoIP infrastructure specifically for small business. This system offers many advantages to SMBs compared to traditional telcom offerings. Businesses that opt for non-hosted VoIP phone systems, must first invest in a scalable and very expensive platform; as well as devote resources to set up, configure, and maintain them — a significant overhead cost.

In a hosted PBX service, configuration and maintenance are handled by the service provider and included in the monthly service price. In any price comparison, an SMB must look at all these costs and consider the entire total cost of ownership associated with on on-premise based system versus a hosted solution.

In a hosted IP PBX environment, a subscriber uses their broadband IP network for a small business phone system as well as data service. Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) for VoIP service requires only IP phones, or analog-to-digital converters for analog phones. This dramatically reduces start-up costs. Typically, all applications are also hosted, eliminating multiple vendors and points of contact.

Hosted PBXs Reduce Costs from 50 to 90 Percent

With traditional business phone systems, each company must pay for expensive equipment, phones, applications, installation, and maintenance, as well as bring in trunk lines. On top of this, a business will need to add in expensive monthly fees for local and long distance calling, a maintenance contract and annual upgrade costs.

Payback periods for a PBX phone system may never occur, preventing smaller companies from considering a traditional business phone system and forcing them to rely on basic, multi-line service and phones, which can be really expensive. Even after the upfront and quite substantial investment, customers could hear a busy signal if traffic exceeds the number of available lines.

For small businesses, the only alternative has been to use regular, basic phone service, which requires that all users must be in the same physical location, have a limited features and pay a large up front cost. Hosted PBX services nearly eliminate the upfront investment and cover the local and long distance calling costs for a low monthly fee, and include all the features.

For a monthly subscription fee, a business enjoys unlimited long distance and local calls in the U.S. and Canada, and can use all the advanced applications including auto-attendant, ring groups, and extensions. These features would cost much more if provided with traditional solutions. Also, since each user can have two non-blocking lines, up to 20 calls can be handled by a single extension, reducing busy signals and customer abandon rates.

Hosted PBX Features

Most hosted PBX include unlimited calling to the US and Canada; E911 emergency calling; a business class telephone with one-touch controls, DND, park, conference and much more; auto attendant that will route your calls to the appropriate extensions; full featured conference bridge and much more!

For SMBs that demand more features at a lower cost, VoIP is an alternative with great results!

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Nov. 3, 2009) – Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can obtain productivity, cost-savings and the investment protection critical to success in today’s business environment with new unified communications-based (UC) software from Nortel* (OTCBB:NRTLQ). The latest software release 5.0 for Nortel’s award-winning Business Communications Manager (BCM) adds new UC capabilities, including unified presence, and greater simplicity with the introduction of a common software stream for BCM50 and BCM450.

The Nortel BCM450 and BCM50 are Linux-based IP/TDM PBXs delivering application-rich, all-in-one solutions for converged voice and data communications. The BCM50 serves businesses with up to 50 users while the larger capacity BCM450 is suitable for growing medium to large businesses and branch offices with up to 300 users. Each supports a mix of IP and digital clients and can enable firms to save up to 70 percent of their original investment by reusing existing equipment.

As part of the new BCM Rls 5.0 software, BCM450 and BCM50 provide SMBs with dynamic UC features like InTouch, which delivers true federated presence, and popular integrated communications applications and capabilities. InTouch lets users communicate easily with anyone in their personal directory – across Microsoft Outlook, Nortel BCM, MSN, and Skype for click-to-call, click-to-IM, and click-to-email. By connecting people faster, improving collaboration and speeding up the time to decision, Nortel estimates that unified communications can help businesses realize cost-savings and an increase in productivity of up to 18 percent.

Last year, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau** (NCVB) leveraged its BCM450 solution to book more than 650,000 hotel rooms while marketing tourism on behalf of various partners. NCVB is now trialing BCM Rls 5.0 and plans to roll out the InTouch application in the coming weeks. Kay Hopwood, NCVB’s director of Information Technology, is looking forward to seeing real-time presence for everyone on the network and having a view into missed calls even when a caller does not leave a voicemail. For now, NCVB is enjoying the first BCM Rls 5.0 feature it deployed, FindMe/FollowMe (FMFM), which enables simultaneous ringing of up to five additional external devices. “Every call is potential business,” said Hopwood. “With BCM’s FindMe/FollowMe capability, our sales team never has to miss another revenue-generating call again.”

Minitel**, a premier Nortel partner providing service across Canada, also chose to trial BCM Rls 5.0 in its own office production system. Its Toronto vice president of Operations, Dan Silverman, was so pleased with the progress of the in-house trial he convinced a large accounting firm client to deploy it as well. “The installation was as smooth as could be and the client is now rolling out both InTouch and FindMe/FollowMe to multiple users in their organization with ease. We were able to get our client up to speed on the interface and rolling the application out by themselves in less than an hour,” said Silverman.

Mexico’s Universidad Latinoamericana** (ULA) similarly tested the latest BCM software with positive results. “We are in the business of educating today’s youth and preparing them for the future and the challenges ahead,” said Mario Ahumada Sandoval, subdirector of Systems, ULA. “To do so, we count on having the latest in communications technology that helps us offer a rich UC experience for staff and students. Trialling BCM Rls 5.0, we found that the product’s new feature set enhances our UC experience, while maximizing equipment already in place.”

BCM50 customer, Philkeram-Johnson**, the oldest ceramic tile producer in Greece, also welcomed the new software release. “Our Nortel BCM50 gives us room to grow, in terms of capacity and functionality, and it delivers the features we need to evolve to a unified communications environment,” said Christos Syropoulos, commercial manager, Philkeram-Johnson. “We are constantly seeking ways to enhance our products and our productivity so we can respond more quickly to customers. I’m eager to find out more about the new features available in BCM Rls 5.0 and how we can use them to enhance our communications.”

In addition to the InTouch and FMFM capabilities, BCM Rls 5.0 lets a user forward a voice message using a file so that it can be played or read by any mobile device in the world. Meet-Me Conferencing for BCM now provides up to 125 ports with support for as many as 300 users. Professional Call Recording, a capability typically supplied by a third party is also available as part of the latest BCM release.

As a further means of streamlining costs and operations making it even more simple for SMBs and Nortel channel partners to install, provision, and migrate pre-existing data, the new BCM50 and BCM450 portfolio includes common software and applications, O/S, training, accreditation, user interfaces, and documentation.

Dell’Oro ranks Nortel’s SMB portfolio #1 in the world in number of hybrid-IP lines shipped and #2 in SMB market revenue for the second quarter 2009. Nortel’s BCM solutions are localized and sold in over 120 countries through more than 1000 channels.

Hear from more BCM users and partners:

“FindMe/FollowMe and Message Forwarding allow Charter Telecom’s** sales and technical staff to be more accessible to our customers, whether in the office or on the road. With the ability for individual users to customize these features to their liking through a Web-based GUI tool Mailbox Manager. Our system administrator no longer has to make daily changes. FMFM and the ability to seamlessly transfer calls between our desk phones and cellular phones has also allowed us to lower our costs, provide our staff with more flexibility, and increase our availability to customers.” – David Harper, voice systems engineer, Charter Telecom – Canada “Our office communications have been based exclusively on Nortel’s BCM systems for years. We recently upgraded to the latest BCM technology, retaining most of our initial investment in hardware and all of the investment in software licenses. The new UC functionality increases our productivity and saves time. It also allows us to connect to other systems like Communications Server 1000 and Microsoft OCS. With InTouch we are able to manage our online contacts at MSN and Skype from a single application interface in MS Outlook, along with our office colleagues, customers, and partners.” – Nikos Koulioumbis, SMB solutions director, UniNortel SA** – Greece “Innovative new features such as InTouch with federated presence, FindMe/FollowMe, Professional Call Recording and enhanced CTI applications are all great productivity enhancers that will save businesses time and money and this really resonated with the customers we talked to at a recent seminar held in Nortel’s Maidenhead office. We had enthusiastic feedback from attendees including a London-based voice and data solutions provider who said he most enjoyed the portion of the seminar that focused on BCM Rls 5.0.” – Thomas Jacques, managing director, 1st Communications** – UK “The BCM product has always been one that we’ve been proud to offer to our customers due to its converged voice and data solution for small and medium businesses. As a longtime channel partner of Nortel’s in Mexico, we look forward to being able to offer those same features, in addition to newly enhanced ones with the new software release of BCM Rls 5.0 with new features such as FindMeFollowMe, Professional Call Recording, and enhanced CTI applications which will increase our customer’s productivity.” – Jorge Alberto Jimenez Hernandez, director of engineering, Innovaciones Telemáticas, S.A. de C.V.** (INTELEMATICA) – Mexico

About Nortel

Nortel delivers communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel’s technologies are designed to help eliminate today’s barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit www.nortel.com/news.

Certain statements in this press release may contain words such as “could”, “expects”, “may”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “targets”, “envisions”, “seeks” and other similar language and are considered forward-looking statements or information under applicable securities legislation. These statements are based on Nortel’s current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the operating environment, economies and markets in which Nortel operates. These statements are subject to important assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict and the actual outcome may be materially different from those contemplated in forward-looking statements. For additional information with respect to certain of these and other factors, see Nortel’s Annual Report on Form10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other securities filings with the SEC. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Nortel disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

*Nortel, the Nortel logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel Networks.

**This is a 3rd party link as described in our Web linking practices.

Use of the terms “partner” and “partnership” does not imply a legal partnership between Nortel and any other party.

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