Communication Tools

Leveraging technology to advance business processes is Lineson specialty.  The Business Tools and Solutions section will provide immediate benefits  to all the stakeholders in the industrial construction channel.  Nothing is more important to the sales chain than communications, that doesn't mean that communications need to be expensive.  Lineson has been using these tools extensively and although they may not provide a complete replacement for traditional land lines and cell phones, they are an extremely cost effective and efficient.  Click the links below to signup or find out more. 

For manufacturers, reps or distributors business and personal communications are key.  Check out the free tools below. 

Business Communication Tools

VOIP Internet Telephony

Voice over IP has recently received a lot of positive press, and for good reason, call quality has improved greatly and prices have dropped.  As more people gain access to a broadband connection, the growth of VOIP is assured.  However, there are some drawbacks, voice quality can still be iffy and most importantly 911 and other location based emergency services may not work with VOIP. 

The question becomes, is VOIP ready for business.  Lineson has been testing Skype, a free download that enables you to make free computer to computer telephone calls anywhere in the world to other Skype users.  Additionally, Skype provide premium services.  SkypeOut allows calls from your computer to any phone number in the world for about 2 cents per minute.  Skype bills in Euros so it is actually 1.7 Euro cents per minute.  With SkypeIn, you can get your own, regular phone number. So if your friends and business associates  who aren’t using Skype want to call you by dialing a regular number, you can still receive the call in Skype. No matter where you are.  SkypeIn numbers are sold on a subscription basis: a 12 month subscription is € 30 and 3 months is € 10. That's $37.86 and $12.62 or $3.16 a month for 12 months or $4.21 a month for three months.  Skype Voicemail is free with a SkypeIn number or for a small fee (€ 5 for 3 months or € 15 for the year) you can pick up messages when you’re away or busy on another call and you can keep the messages for as long as you like. In fact, you don’t have to be online at all for someone to leave a message. People will be able to contact you when you’re sleeping, walking the dog, mowing the lawn, knitting, playing with the cat, ignoring people, practicing your tap dancing... and we could go on here. When you can’t or don’t want to pick up the phone, Skype Voicemail does it for you. 

The answer is a qualified yes.  Qualified, because it will depend on your situation.  You need a broadband internet connection.  Secondly, we believe that if you are looking to  replace your existing phone system, Skype is not the answer, it doesn't support emergency calling and while the vast majority of calls have excellent quality, a few had horrible connections.  You will most definitely want to pickup a a headset with microphone to plug into your PC or laptop, for less than $10 at any office supply store the sound quality for calls is excellent.  You will have feedback problems if your microphone is positioned in front of the computers speakers.  We have used Skype to call all over the world and for the most part the other party is unaware of the difference, but to really leverage the advantage Skype offers, is to make sure your frequently called contacts have the free Skype installed. 

Free  Skype to Skype calls work like instant messaging, a list of your contacts appears, showing their status, online, unavailable etc.  Just click their name or picture to make a call.  Skype also provide free  conferences. It’s completely secure for you and up to four others to get together to make one of those important business decisions or simply have a chat, even if you’re all on different continents.  Did we mention that you can also send instant messages with Skype? Well, you can. That’s nice for when you’re talking about a website and you want to send that really long address or if you’re writing a song maybe. Either way, you can send one of those little smiley faces along with your message.  Skype runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Pocket PC. 

FAX Services

Faxing remains an important business tool in the industrial and contractor supply market, however, services like eFax can improve on the necessary evil of faxing.  With eFax there is no need for an additional phone lines, a dedicated fax machine or even the expense of toner and paper.  To find out more visit our eFax page or signup by clicking below. 

Web Conferencing

GoToMeetings provides you with the  the ability to host meetings on-the-fly with sales prospects, perform live demos in real-time to multiple customers or collaborate on projects with your colleagues. You'll be able to host unlimited online meetings - with up to 10 attendees per meeting!