Call Accounting solutions have been available for a long time - well over 30 years now. Over the years these solutions have been marketed under a variety of other names, like call tracking, expense / productivity management, call analytics, etc..., but mostly have provided some level of "Call Accounting" functionality, regardless of the name.

Taking a look around the marketplace today, I see a lot of old, outdated technology still being marketed as leading-edge stuff. Some of it just doesn't make sense: how can a product be current when it's "new" features that have been industry-standard for 10+ years? Why do the reports look like they were designed in the 80's?

I see companies advertising some product / feature releases that just make me scratch my head, like:

- Now web-based (it hasn't been for the last 10 years!?)

- Multi-PBX / location reporting (the largest group of users are multi-PBX!)

- 911 Alerting

- Now available as: hosted / cloud / virtual (take your pick)

If these are the new features in a solution you are looking at, it is simply "old technology".

You won't find the most important differences on the company's website either - like third party software and licensing dependencies which add significant cost to the solution, missing support for current data collection methods, excessive PC/server hardware requirements, etc. Unfortunately, many times you aren't aware of these limitations until you're already committed, and then locked into using outdated methods or purchasing additional licenses.

It's not all bad though! Feel free to reach out to us if you have questions about or are just looking for some more clarity on Call Accounting and which solutions best fit your needs. We love Call Accounting! The uses for are seemingly endless; over 30 years in, and we're still discovering new problems we can help customers solve with Call Accounting. It's truly a universal solution, with a compelling use case for nearly any business with telephones.

Most software includes some form of an annual support option to provide you with periodic updates and access to technical support when the need arises. Subscribe to annual support is not much of a decision for many of us - the software was purchased to fill a void (e.g. business analytics, emergency notification, etc.), and it just needs to work.

We subscribe to annual support so help is there when we need it.

Have you looked closely at your support coverage and terms though? There are always limitations, and the biggest ones may not be obvious until you encounter them. Many will leave you wondering what your support actually covers. We've all been there. A few examples of services and items I've seen other manufacturers charge additional fees for:

• Software installation & re-installation (or moving the software to a new PC)
• Phone equipment changes (e.g. changing or upgrading your phone equipment)
• Software training
• Physical copies of software & updates

Do these not seem like opportunities to up-sell you on services you believed were included with your support in the first place? Since you're under annual support, shouldn't you at least have access to the necessary support so you can continue to use your existing software?

We think so. It's a simple, yet illusive concept, and is one we strongly believe in.

Lower total cost of ownership, simplified deployment, reduced in-house staff administration, always up-to-date...

These are the themes echoed in most cloud-solutions marketing collateral - and for good reason - they are consistently the top 4 reasons why businesses of all sizes choose a hosted solution over an on-premises one. It's a compelling pitch, what business wouldn't want to improve their efficiency and reduce their costs?

But... It's not always that simple. Take for example:

A law firm customer I worked with had been using monthly telephone reports to substantiate their activities related to each client. Receiving these details broken down by each client vastly simplified their billing process, reduced errors, and improved billing transparency for clients. They had been using these reports for years and had become reliant on them for simplifying their billing process.

Their phone system was becoming obsolete and the firm made the choice to replace their old phone system with a new cloud-based solution due to some of the above reasons. Their set up was quick, and after a couple months the entire office was quickly trained on and moved over to using the new system. 

All was good until the first time client bills were generated after their migration. Their reports now had no unique client numbers on them, essentially giving them no way to associate the time spent on calls with the appropriate client! This was a huge issue for them. Their billing process changed entirely overnight, with staff now were having to keep track of billable time manually.

Needless to say, the customer was surprised to lose this long-time functionality, especially given that their new system had promised more features than their previous premises-installed one. The simple functionality they'd been using for 10+ years was now gone, the new system had no way to allocate calls to clients, and the customer was inevitably left scrambling to find a solution to this issue.

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Genesis Systems makes every effort to ensure our solutions, whether premises-based, virtual-installed or cloud based, feature all of the same functionality to eliminate these types of issues. We consult with your organization prior to implementation to ensure there will be no unpleasant surprises or limitations so you know exactly that you're getting.

For more information on the benefits of Genesis hosted, visit our website at: http://www.buygenesis.com/features/cloud-hosted.htm

The latest software release includes a major appearance update. Users of our web versions will notice this upgrade immediately, which provides easier navigation, reporting updates, and significantly enhanced usability on a variety of devices including tablets, smartphones, and other browser-enabled devices.

Feel free to contact our support office with any questions or concerns you have and we’ll be more than happy to show you around your new software. If you haven't received your upgrade yet feel contact our sales office to find out when you will be receiving it.

Users of Genesis Hosted Solutions are already upgraded this latest version, and have the benefit of always having access to the most current features. With Genesis Hosted Solutions you can expect all the same powerful call analytics, management & exception alerting available in our premises-based solutions, but with greater accessibility and virtually no configuration & ongoing maintenance required on your part. Interested in going hosted? Give sales a call to discuss!

Are you running older phone equipment but still want access to the latest in hosted / cloud solutions, detailed analytics, simplified management, and reporting?

 We can help!

 Working with legacy equipment is one of our specialities - we're here to work with you regardless of your system's age. Since we've been in business for over 35 years it may not come as a surprise that we likely worked with your phone system while it was still new!

 Older phone systems often have limited or non-existent support for the newer connection methods & protocols necessary to connect to hosted / cloud-based solutions. This often means you need additional conversion solutions, equipment, and may make you feel like you are out of luck.

 Our solutions work around these issues and allow your older equipment to seamlessly integrate with our state of the art cloud and hosted solutions, giving you access to our powerful trend-monitoring, telecom analytics, telephone management, contact center and E911 reporting solutions with all of the latest features.

 Are you considering a phone system upgrade in the future? Genesis solutions can work with your legacy & new equipment and provide you with a seamless system management experience with consistent access to reporting & analytics throughout the migration process. We can even manage and report on both your legacy and new systems in parallel while you transition from one to the other.

 Contact Genesis today for more information about cloud / hosted solutions, working with legacy equipment, and solutions bridging your older and newer systems. Our accessible-anywhere Cloud solutions start from $29 / month and include any conversion equipment & tools necessary.

Genesis software is extremely flexible and will work with new and legacy telephone systems, as well as many hosted and cloud telephone providers. Genesis also interfaces with any Property Management System, and can run on the same PC. At Genesis, upgrading is a simple process without any hidden costs. 

Call Accounting has been one of our top sellers over the last 30 years. With the cost of long distance falling and the introduction of VoIP telephony the telecom industry is rapidly evolving and our customers are changing the way they use it.

The functionality of Call Accounting can be so diverse. Whether your customer is a small hotel looking to track long distance calls or a large corporation verifying a phone call for compliance purposes. If your customer needs something we can give them the solution.

For Example: A large corporate office may spend thousands of dollars a month or year in advertising.

By running some basic reports on the sales phone lines based on area codes you can determine where advertising money is best spent. This will help a company more effectively allocate their advertising budget based on actual incoming sales and interest.

Some other examples of how our current customers are using Call Accounting:

1. In assisted living homes we have set up an automatic report to generate based on the patients phone history. If there was no activity on the patients phone in the last 12 hours a staff member is sent out to check on the Patient.
2. Basic call centers use Call Accounting to run reports on the activity levels. They can determine the staff usage, and take action where needed.
3. Cities & Police Offices use our Call Accounting for investigating compliance issues
4. Law offices use the software to substantiate the amount of time spent on the phone with or on behalf of a client.

Along with Call Accounting we offer other software solutions that are suited for a diverse group of customers and their very unique requirements.

Genesis strongly recommends routine backups of your software’s configuration and data files to avoid downtime and loss of potential revenue. CDs, flash drives, disks, or any other type of removable media can be used. It only takes a minute to perform a backup, but hours or even days to reconfigure your software’s settings!

In hotels and motels, the more often a Guest uses your telephone system to make long distance calls, the more money you make.

The rates that Genesis uses for long distance calls are user configurable and can be changed to virtually any rate that you wish to charge for any type of call.

• Advertise the rates that you charge in your lobby and guest rooms. Guests are more likely to use your phone system if they know what the costs will be.
• Check the rates that you are being charged by your long distance provider. Most hotels can negotiate a discount rate plan with their provider. The lower the rate that you pay equals higher profits.
• Add value for your Guests. Keeping your rates competitive can be a low cost way to add value for your Guests. Little things can make a difference and make your hotel stand out against competing hotels in your area.
• Knock out the other phone competition. Offer long distance telephone rates that make cell phones with their long-distance charges and roaming fees unattractive.
• Consider changing your rates to a flat rate per minute. This type of rate structure makes it easy for your Guests and your staff.

Advertised flat rates that are higher than your cost and lower than cell phones can dramatically increase the long distance usage of your telephone system and can increase both revenue and profits.