Just what exactly is T-1? T-1 is a digital communication line offered by a telecom company in order to carry digital communication traffic within a private business network and linking it to service providers for internet access, carrying a bandwidth of 1.544 megabits per second. Businesses shop for T1 services in order to have a computer network and multiple phone lines installed, maintained and repaired, among others. But how should a business shop for T1 services? Should a company just shop for phone lines and simply choose who is offering cheap phone services, dial tone and internet access?

It would be best to find a telecom company that offers not just cheap phone services but a wide range of telecom services and consultancies. The telecom company should be both reliable and reputable. A good benchmark would be if the telecom company is state licensed. Furthermore, it should also be certified by the Building Industry Consulting Service International, Inc. or BICSI as a Registered Communications Distribution Designer or RCDD. Any RCDD certified company is required to adhere to the BICSI RCDD Standards of Conduct as well as the BICSI Code of Ethics upholding the highest standards in professional and ethical behavior in the Information Transport Systems (ITS) industry, whether in the rendering of services or the provision of products.

It is basic for a telecom company to be able to install, maintain, repair or move the leading brands in telephone and voice mail systems, covering the smallest systems with less than 10 phones to the largest call centers with phone extensions of up to several hundred. Call Accounting, Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) and other special applications should be supported, as well.

Another item important to businesses that is within the turf of telecom companies is Voice IP or VoIP technology. VoIP systems can establish IP connections across offices that are distant geographically; can integrate computers with phones; can manage phone answering and directing services for several offices from a centrally managed location; and can apply different call forwarding options.

The telecom company you choose should base the design and implementation of a special VoIP solution on your particular business requirements. It should also have the proper relationship with several VoIP carriers so as to have the capability of getting you the lowest costs possible.

The installation and maintenance of fiber optic cabling, structured cabling, computer Ethernet cabling and phone cabling and jacks are likewise within the services provided by telecom companies. Fiber optic cabling in particular is used to create connections between buildings. It is also used for distances not covered by copper cable capabilities.

Tribute Telecom, LLC, based in Tampa, FL, is a Florida state licensed and BICSI RCDD certified telecom company that provides all the aforementioned services at the highest quality and with cost effective rates. In addition to that, Tribute Telecom, LLC offers consultancy services wherein your company’s telephone, cellular phone and Internet service invoices are meticulously inspected for billing errors. Upon finding any errors, Tribute Telecom, LLC works for reimbursements from your service providers or carriers. Tribute Telecom, LLC can also work to get lower rates for you from your service providers. Like about 90% of their clients, you can save up to 20% to 50% on your telecom expenses.

So when your business has to shop for T1 services, do not just shop for phone lines and do not automatically choose the company that offers cheap phone services and internet access. Make sure you get a reputable professional telecom company that is duly licensed and certified and can provide a full range of telecom services with the most cost effective arrangements.

Direct mail advertising and catalog mailing are two initiatives that could definitely benefit any business in Miami FL.

Direct mail advertising is much better than more expensive mass media campaigns that are blindly sent out to a wide unclassified audience. With direct mail advertising, your advertising and marketing efforts and costs are specifically targeted to carefully identified market segments, down to individuals who meet your company’s required criteria for certain products and services. This makes for a more cost effective advertising and marketing campaign that could result in more sales in Miami FL.

Catalog mailing is one of the best examples of direct mail advertising that you can do in Miami FL. In fact, it has been proven by research that every year, up to 167 million people in the United States make their purchases from catalogs they receive in the mail. Each person has been found to be making an average of 11 orders in a year. Summed up, that makes $1.8 billion worth of sales from catalog mailing every year. If the purchases of businesses are included, the amount goes up to $150 billion worth of sales from catalog mailing every year.

When your target consumer receives your catalog mailing, it becomes a convenient reference material helping them decide on what to buy. Studies show that with the printed catalog in hand, the consumer is more than twice as likely to buy one of your products online. Statistics show that majority of online sales come from consumers who based their purchases from a catalog received by mail. Such consumers are more valuable than others because they have also been shown to spend an average of 16% more than others. They also often become repeat buyers who make frequent purchases, increasing sales by 15% more on the average.

Aside from encouraging consumers to buy your products or services online, catalog mailing can also give them the option of placing their orders through the phone or through regular mail. When done in the same area as the company’s physical store or office, the catalog can also send you additional walk in shoppers who may be curious to check out your products in person.

Direct mail advertising and catalog mailing is an effective way of introducing your company’s products and services to your prospects in order to establish brand recognition and recall. You can use them for your current customers, too, giving them information about your other products, aside from the ones they are already using. Furthermore, your direct mail advertising and catalog mailing campaign can be used to strengthen your relationship with your clients by being a venue for their feedback and for a continuing dialogue between you. You can also use the mailing campaign to reward them with discount coupons and freebies.

One of the advantages of direct mail advertising and catalog mailing is that both can be adjusted depending on the size of your firm’s budget. You can make it as small or as large as you need or want. You can even intentionally launch a mini campaign first in Miami FL for the purpose of testing, tracking and measuring responses. Results can then be used to make the subsequent larger campaign more efficient and effective, ensuring higher revenue per cost.

To assist you with your direct mail advertising and catalog mailing efforts, postal services are sometimes not enough especially when you will be handling bulk mail. Find a professional mail house that offers business mailing services. Make sure that they offer fulfillment services such as presort services. With this simple step, your business is on its way to success in Miami FL.

If your business still does not have a merchant account that allows you to offer full credit card services, you are turning your back on profits. Just take a look at all of your competitors. All of those that pose serious competition accept credit card payments. Those that do not have credit card services do not have great sales figures to show, either. Even statistics point to the fact that companies that have credit card services earn much more than companies that do not have credit card services. The average credit card sale is $40 while the average cash sale is only $9. That means you are losing potentially $31 per sale.

You may also be spending more by accepting only cash and check payments in your business. The processing of cash and checks has been found to be more costly, requiring more manpower in handling. Studies have shown that the average processing cost of credit card payments is only 2.7% of a transaction while the average processing cost of checks is 4% of a transaction and the average processing cost of cash is 4.8% of a transaction. Once again, you are leaking profits by refusing to accept credit card payments.

So how do you accept credit card payments in your business? This is where credit card services come in. The old route is to apply for a merchant account in a bank. You will then have to lease the software and equipment necessary to actually process payments and send the data to your account. If you want to accept credit card payments online, you need to apply to a payment gateway that allows real time credit card authorization for online transactions. You should ensure that your payment gateway is compatible with the bank or financial institution where you have your merchant account, and with the software and equipment you have leased.

In choosing the bank or financial institution for your merchant account, consider their expertise in combating fraud and reducing chargebacks. Also make sure that they are experienced in handling merchant accounts with online transactions.

If you are a small business owner, stick to a bank or financial institution that caters to small businesses rather than large companies. You may be able to get better rates and packages designed for your specific niche.

There are options for credit card services that offer everything you need in one easy package. You will not have to deal with various entities or go through various procedures. Often, these options also have added benefits, among them, quick reporting on your credit card sales figures. They may also offer interest on your credit card sales income, even up to money market rates.

One very important feature of your credit card services that you may not know of is that it can automatically qualify you to avail of small business loans. Once you have established a record of sales through credit, most credit card services will allow you to make cash advances that are practically like getting previously approved small business loans without having to put up any required collateral. The credit card services consider your future income through credit card sales as your collateral. This can go a long way in further growing your business.

Payment will not be a problem, either. For as long as you have sales through credit payments, you automatically get to pay your small business loans. It does not matter how much your sales are. Your payments are automatically deducted as a percentage of your sales. You are always covered.

Now do you still need further convincing on the benefits of credit card services for your business?

September 12, 2008 – Toronto, Canada.— XBASE Technologies Corp. is pleased to announce its participation in the 2008 Financial Services Technology Forum scheduled on October 28 & 29, 2008 at the Design Exchange in Toronto, Canada.

The Financial Services Technology Forum is the largest Financial Services Technology event in Canada; the leading global meeting place to learn about ongoing innovation and enterprise applications and solutions for the financial industry.

XBASE Technologies has been supporting organizations by providing network services and solutions, along with an extensive range of professional services on IT issues (including network design and implementation, server technology, business analysis, software selection, application development, relocation services, and interim IT staffing), since 1988.

Our offerings fit the needs of different types and sizes of organizations — we provide services on a project basis to support your IT department or on an ongoing basis.

Managed IT Services enable our clients to concentrate on their core business – looking after customers and generating income – while we ensure their systems perform at top efficiency, 24/7.

We have the knowledge and experience to help organizations develop and implement structured backup facilities and resumption solutions to ensure business continuity in case of a serious interruption of operations. XBASE partners with and will be joined at the Forum by its industry-leading technology partner NeverfailGroup, and will showcase Neverfail, the award-winning high availability, data protection, and disaster recovery solution for Blackberry Enterprise Server, Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server, File Server, IIS, and SharePoint.

XBASEs Virtualization products and services provide a fundamental technological innovation that addresses the issues of cost-effective IT infrastructure and the need for quick response to new business initiatives and organizational change.

About XBASE

XBASE Technologies has been delivering Managed IT Services and Network Solutions since 1988.

XBASE serves clients in many sectors, with particular expertise in Financial (our clients include the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, fund and portfolio management firms, debt and equity financing providers, and operations within several major banks), Not-for-Profit, Healthcare, Legal, High- tech, and Logistics.

More information can be found at www.xbase.com.

Company Contact

Seymour Gladstone

seymour.gladstone@xbase.com

(416) 340-1020 ext. 2247

About WowGao Inc.

WowGao Inc. is an award winning leading event management company that produces, since 2003, internationally renowned conferences and expositions that address the latest innovations and developments in the information technology industry.

For more information about the events, please visit http://www.WowGao.com/ 

Contact information
416-292-0038, Ext 601
attendee@wowgao.com

Since June 15, 2009, the United States Small Business Administration has been processing deferred payment small business loans of as much as $35,000 to be given out to 10,000 small businesses. This is covered by the SBA’s America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) Loan Program.

To qualify, companies should be private enterprises that are for-profit. They should have up to five hundred employees only and should be at least two years old. Furthermore, they should be able to prove financial need with a twenty percent decrease in sales, revenue or working capital. On the other hand, they should be able to prove that one of their two years in business has been profitable, and that with the infusion of cash they will be able to meet their existing and future debt obligations. This means positive cash flow projections. The ARC small business loans are intended to be used to pay outstanding debt such as payables to vendors.

For this batch of small business loans, there are no fees or costs involved, except if the borrower defaults on the loan later. In that case the SBA-approved lender can charge costs for securing and liquidating collateral.

The ARC small business loans also do not charge interest. Actually, the SBA pays the interest for the borrowers. Disbursement of the loan can take as much as six months but payment of the principal is also deferred for the next 12 months. After that, the borrower has five years to repay the loan principal.

Each small business can only avail of one ARC loan. SBA-approved lenders will offer the loans until September 30, 2010 or until available funds run out, whichever comes first.

There are, however, an estimated 30 million small businesses in the United States and only 10,000 of them can avail of the government’s small business loans. What if you do not happen to be among the 10,000 lucky recipients? How will your small business survive?

There are even doubts being raised on whether as much as 10,000 businesses can indeed avail of the ARC loans. There are fears that there may not be enough lenders willing or able to participate in the program. Lenders will have to advance the full amount of the loan, will not receive payment on principal for a full year, and will not be able to charge any fees, thereby absorbing all administrative costs. This may be too steep for many lenders. They may not be able to afford to participate at all.

This is where you as a small business owner can and should maximize your credit card services. We are not talking about your personal credit card services here. Instead, we are referring to the merchant services that enable your small business to receive credit card  and debit card payments. Surely, any business these days avails of these types of credit card services. After all, more people pay by credit card or debit card rather than cash.

Most credit card services offer small business cash advances that can be as substantial as small business loans. These small business loans do not require any collateral because they are secured by your company’s future credit card receivables. This is even more convenient for your business because repayment is also built into those receivables. Credit card services automatically deduct a percentage from your income to go toward loan repayment. For as long as you have incoming sales, you can support your loan. Interest rates are often quite affordable considering how the loan can help your business.

Small businesses should therefore look into maximizing these credit card services for small business loans. The survival of your business could hinge on this.