Applying for unsecured loans online is one instance where doing so online provides as instant result; it’s easy to see just how much you can save and enables you to get all the information you need from the comfort of your home or office. And, you can do so at any time of the day or night – perfect for night owls or those people making efficient use of their lunch hour!

It isn’t just convenience that makes going online a positive approach to your personal finance. You will most likely have all the information required by a provider for an unsecured loan application at your fingertips. By placing access to unsecured loan applications on their website, the provider can save on their overheads, which results in better loan rates when you apply online.

Of course, any good lender will always have a method of contacting them, so it isn’t an inhuman process. You can always talk to someone, and if a lender has absolutely no way of contacting them, it’s wise to steer clear.

Microsoft® announced in a post on its website that it would end sales, development, and support for its small business phone system – Response Point – on August 31, 2010.

Microsoft’s announcement comes just three years after its Response Point system was launched in a blaze of publicity.  According to Microsoft at the time of launch, only about one-third of small businesses used PBXs (or switchboards) because they were expensive and difficult to install and manage. Microsoft saw this as an opportunity to make phone systems as accessible to small businesses as PCs.

In 2007 they said “The Microsoft Response Point System will be available this year. Microsoft is not yet disclosing the pricing, but it would be “competitive” with typical small-business PBXs that cost from about $5,000 to more than $10,000”.  Its Response Point software was used by several phone makers, including Quanta, whose system was sold for a time at Costco.com.

“We believe that while Microsoft’s VoIP service was technically sound, small businesses want above all simplicity and clear pricing.  At Cloud Net, we are simplifying the purchase and use of internet based PBX systems.  Our Cloud Net Connect users are not bamboozled with a large number of hardware, software and reseller options.  All the main call features and a phone are included for a one off monthly fee, starting from £8.50.  It is not difficult to see why even a giant such as Microsoft could not sell a VoIP system that required customers to approach resellers and may have been difficult to configure for small business owners”, commented David Hill, Chairman, Cloud Net.

“We are confident that our conscientious investment into our business and consumer VoIP service  will lead our customers to agree that our internet phone service offers the best features and quality currently in the marketplace”, added Charles Chance, Managing Director of Cloud Net.

Cloud Net is not aware of any UK-based Microsoft Response Point customers currently but the company believes that its business VoIP system is the most comprehensive on the market today. There is no capital outlay required and, with a 30-day money back period, no risk involved either. Customers will benefit from a powerful internet phone system with a low-cost, inclusive subscription model.  And because it’s internet-based and updated automatically, the system is always state-of-the-art.

Microsoft’s decision to pull out of the VoIP market follows a similar decision by Tesco, in April 2010, which left its VoIP customers without a product offering.

*Cloud Net call charges

Landline UK

Tariff (up to 4 phones) 1.2p per minute

Standard Tariff (Between 5-20 phones) 1.0p per minute

Standard Tariff (Over 21+ phones) 0.9p per minute

Mobile UK

Tariff (up to 4 phones) 9.5p per minute

Standard Tariff (Between 5-20 phones) 9.2p per minute

Standard Tariff (Over 21+ phones) 9.0p per minute

For further information, please visit, www.cloudnetuk.com, call 01922 21 33 33 or email solutions@cloudnetuk.com

-ENDS-

About Cloud Net

Cloud Net supplies business phone systems to SMEs and start ups with the advantage of no capital expenditure necessary to run a professional PBX and dramatically lower running costs. Cloud Net has developed a dedicated small business VoIP network providing free calls within the network.  The company has a happy and growing customer base.  Cloud Net is privately financed and started trading in March 2009.

Contact for media information

For more information, to review Cloud Net services or for case studies, please contact Ranbir Sahota or Sara Pennant of Vitis Tech PR agency, on 0121 242 8048, ranbir@vitispr.com or sara@vitispr.com

“Customers of AT&T Inc.’s U-Verse Voice said their landline phones have had no dial tones since the morning. Reached by cell phone, the customers said those who call them get a message that the line has been disconnected. Support personnel are telling customers that a server crash brought down U-Verse Voice in AT&T’s entire 22-state local-phone service area,” Svensson writes.

“AT&T spokeswoman Mari Melguizo said the outage started at about 10:30 a.m., and service was restored to most subscribers at 2:45 p.m. She said the extent the outage was unknown.” Svensson reports.

Click the link below to read the full AP story:
Widespread outage for AT&T’s digital phone lines

http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=32984&email=text

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Previously, it was difficult to buy an affluent phone system at an affordable cost, which made it difficult to manage the budget, especially for small businesses. However, now with Business Voip solution at hand, small business owners can easily run their business and make as many business calls as they deem necessary in exchange of a fixed flat monthly rate, which is as low as $29. Normally, traditional phone systems can cost up to hundreds of dollars monthly, nevertheless, if you can get a phone system that is not only based on the latest technology, which doesn’t even cost you much in terms of your local, long distance or even international calls.

With a business VoIP phone, all data including calls are routed via the high speed internet, compressed and sent across into digital packets. On reaching its destination, it is converted back to its original format, analogue that is. All this process is very affordable and doesn’t cost much at all. You can even use your existing phone for your business voip facility. But, bear in mind, that you ought to have an excellent internet connection to work with your business voip phone. Get yourself an Ethernet or DSL internet connection, as it works best with voip phone systems.

There are many exciting features available in a business voip phone. Many small business owners are switching to business voip phones because of their rapid availability, cost effectiveness communication solution and scalability. Additionally, you can choose from a number of exciting calling plans, which offer viable options for making local or international calls. Depending on your communication needs, you can sign up with a package that suits your calling demands. A business Voip service provider can even assign you with a toll-free number. That way, your customers can reach you easily.

If your business is in a rural area while you have your customers residing in a metropolitan city, you can even get a local number of that city with your VoIP phone service. Simply, bring it into the notice of your service provider and get a local number of that city. This will not only give you an ease to communicate with your clients or customers, but also provide them with the convenience of reaching you at local call rates.

Business Voip phone service for SMBs allows you to make international calls at very affordable call rates. VoIP phone services have given ease to many small business owners, who once had no option but to use the rather pricey traditional phone services for use.

Drac is a peer-to-peer communication system designed to make IM and VoIP traffic anonymous and unobservable. It achieves this goal by exposing the social connections of the users who make up the nodes of the peer-to-peer network.

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The Telfree iPhone application is also the first and currently the only application in the entire iTunes library that allows you to receive calls even when you are not logged into the Telfree application, using Push Call technology. The app also offers instant messaging and chat on social networks.

The developers offer a flat-rate to fixed-line and mobile phones, while there is no cost for calls between users.

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Why VoIP is favored hasn’t been explicitly stated, but the obvious reasons are the importance of VoIP as a key technology and hence money earner, and the fact that communication applications actually need to run alongside other applications because they achieve their purpose best when idle (rather than being off) ready to spring alive on any communication event, like a call.

Source: About.com