Contact Center & UCaaS

LineSpeed LLC is excited to share this guest blogpost, written by Frost and Sullivan, about key competitive differentiators between UCaaS providers. Frost & Sullivan is a leading group of financial analysts in the United States. They work to uncover market trends, highlight technological advancements, and award strong companies through their Best Practices Award.

Today, businesses of all types and sizes are actively moving their software workloads to the cloud. Many business applications, including e-mail, office productivity, file sharing/storage, customer relationship management (CRM), payroll, IT/ticket management solutions, and others have already moved to the cloud, and in the process disrupted traditional software licensing models in favor of subscription-based cloud service consumption models. Real-time communications solutions were among the last business workloads to be effectively supported by cloud computing architectures, and are now quickly joining the ranks of successful cloud services. Today, the unified communications as a service (UCaaS) market is experiencing high adoption rates. Per Frost & Sullivan research, the global hosted IP telephony and UCaaS installed user base grew by 27% in 2016 and will experience strong double-digital growth rates going forward.

As businesses weigh the options to migrate their communications workloads to the cloud there are many criteria to evaluate, including: price, scalability, feature functionality, security, reliability, integration capabilities, provider reputation, and more. In addition to these attributes, the ability to offer a one-stop shop for business communications that includes telephony, conferencing, mobility, and contact center services is a key factor in UCaaS purchase decisions. This last attribute has become a position on which UCaaS providers attempt to differentiate in an increasingly competitive marketplace, which ultimately benefits customer organizations.

One-Stop Shop Portfolios

Like telephony, most businesses require some level of contact center or customer care functionality. Contact center solutions are the life blood of many businesses, while others have less formal processes that are currently supported by telephony hunt groups or basic automatic call distribution (ACD) features and workflows that would benefit from more robust contact center capabilities.

Because virtually all businesses need both communications and some level of contact center functionality, it makes sense to take advantage of the benefits offered by one-stop shop cloud communications service providers. This makes contact center services an increasingly important factor in UCaaS purchase decisions. But while many providers can check all the boxes today, there are significant differences in the breadth and depth of their respective applications sets.

Contact Center Considerations in UCaaS Purchases

Does the provider offer multiple contact center options?

As discussed above, organizations of all stripes inherently need contact center functionality, with needs differing due to business model, size, industry and other factors. Therefore, business decision makers must be careful not to over or under-buy in their selections. Just as providers offer tiered communications functionality (from entry-level to advanced; a la carte and bundled) decision makers should seek providers such as Jive Communications that likewise offer tiered contact center functionality spanning basic voice to multi-channel solutions.

Is basic contact center enough?

Peeling back the onion to understand all the included functionality can save from add-on charges later. Whether basic or advanced, decision makers should look for contact center solutions that include analytics and reporting capabilities that provide the necessary depth of insight into agent and business performance as well as overall trends. Analytics-driven decision making enables businesses to quickly make informed adjustments to drive efficiencies and customer satisfaction.

Are the one-stop advantages real?

Most providers evangelize the potential cost and support the advantages of selecting a single provider for UCaaS and contact center. However, the benefits should not stop there. Prospective buyers should consider whether management utilities across the two solutions are truly unified, as this capability streamlines administrator training and can save significant time on overall day-to-day management tasks.

Will you be nickel and dimed?

It’s common for stand-alone contact center providers to charge for basic capabilities as well as to incrementally charge additional fees for added or enhanced contact center functionality. However, Jive Communications and a select few other leading one-stop communications providers do not; they are more focused on delivering the value that keeps their customers competitive. Buyers should ensure their selected provider is in the latter camp as there will always be requirements to enhance technology, but paying much more down the road than was initially agreed is a downward slope.

Is customization possible?

Access to the same functionality as everyone else does not gain a business any ground—it only maintains the status quo. The most value is derived from tailoring solutions to the specific needs of each business. Prospective buyers should ensure their chosen solution can integrate efficiently with existing popular business software (i.e., CRM) as well as a greater range of industry and line-of-business solutions that are integral to established workflows.

Key Takeaways

The businesses that continue to piece-meal solutions together, put up with “good enough” solutions or have not thoroughly evaluated their requirements are doing themselves an injustice. Businesses that recognize the need for more robust capabilities should consider not only the functionality that they truly require, but why it’s important to include contact center as part of their overall unified communications solution selection. An ideal provider offers more value by making multiple contact center options available for the best fit, as well as added advantages in support, pricing and tight integration with the rest of the enterprise communications stack. In these regards, prospective UCaaS buyers should ensure Jive Communications is on their short list for evaluation.  

This article is by Frost & Sullivan.

Contact LineSpeed today to create your unique UCaaS solution: service@inclink.net 862-208-3383 Contact LineSpeed

How Can Cloud Increase Business Value?

Cloud computing is a resource that meets the needs of companies with growing employee bases and departments. It can be used as an exceptional technological tool to measure company value, if the company takes advantage of the value provided. With the ups and downs of the world’s economy, affordable and reliable technology is more and more necessary. Cloud computing fills that void.

If used strategically, cloud computing can provide true business value. Let’s review how:

Fuel Top-line Growth

Value can be seen through the increase of business agility, reach, and scalability. Agility can be difficult to quantify, but it is a real win when it comes to cloud computing. It can facilitate exactly what your business wants/needs – how much CPU, what type of application configuration is required, and how you want to distribute these. Cloud computing also drives business growth and value by helping businesses develop rapidly, transition into a new market, integrate applications, and much more. Agility provides great value to those that are competing in an environment of uncertain high-growth markets. Increased innovation creates great value to businesses alongside improved communication and collaboration. According to IBM, leading companies are 73% more likely to rapidly innovate products and services via the cloud. Having agility can improve business services at an increasing speed, reducing delivery time from months to just weeks.

• Enable innovation of new services
• Differentiate with new technologies
• Enhance business resiliency by improving data center/application uptime

Improve Bottom-Line Economics

With cloud computing you pay only for what you consume, when you need to consume it – that’s the pay-as-you go model. By reducing total cost with cloud solutions, resources can be utilized more efficiently. Cloud solutions replace on-premises applications, which increases your reach and scalability and increases value. By eliminating expensive maintenance issues, which would normally cost the IT department time and money, cloud offers great efficiency and true value to a company.

• Improve resource life cycle management
• Eliminate constant, expensive upgrades
• Pay as you go
• Experience TCO reductions greater than 50%

Bring Forth Collaboration

Cloud computing also provides the ability to reach your customers at any time. A reliable solution transfers all data securely into the cloud and can be accessed by any authorized client, partner, or employee. Barriers between once-separate departments are broken down, which allows for sharing of expertise and business information. This level of collaboration effectively leads to a dynamic workforce.

With a strategic, focused approach to cloud computing, it can power transformation within the digital and business worlds, and increase business value.

Contact LineSpeed LLC today for more information: 201-596-4000

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How Cloud Computing Can Improve Your Business

Cloud computing is a technology that uses a network of remote servers to store, manage, and process data, rather than the traditional local servers you might have on-site today. It is an Internet-based computing, so all of your business’s critical data and computing resources are stored securely in the remote location and delivered to authorized users and the organization through the Internet. You can think of the word “cloud” as a metaphor for “Internet.” Cloud computing provides businesses with growth opportunities, high performance, quality, affordable prices, easy collaboration, and simple data access. The cloud can improve your business in many ways. Here are some benefits of implementing cloud computing:

Cost Efficiency

Stop purchasing expensive hardware and spending so much time on managing and maintaining your servers. Cloud computing not only cuts down hardware costs dramatically, but it maintains your data securely so that it can also minimize ongoing IT costs. Cloud doesn’t eliminate your IT team, but instead allows IT to focus on their more demanding and strategic tasks instead of worrying about maintenance and management.

65% of businesses move to the cloud to free IT to work on more strategic tasks.

BYOD

Bring Your Own Device is a cloud trend that gives businesses and their employees the ability to utilize and have access to data from anywhere in the world, on any device. With the help of the Internet, you can make the world your office and use any personal computing devices you want, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones, to securely access company information and applications.

50% of companies will require employees to provide their own device by the year 2017.

Real-Time Collaboration

Implementing BYOD allows your company to make real-time decisions and have real-time conversations.  It keeps your clients and employees connected anywhere, at any time. Cloud applications can increase collaboration by creating shared storage and files for users, and allowing your company to talk virtually and share information in real time.

65% of businesses say that responding faster to business is a key driver for adopting the cloud.

64% of business execs say that initiatives are implemented faster when the business is using cloud collaboration tools.

Recovery

Natural disasters or security breaches are nothing to be feared if you choose to implement cloud solutions. By choosing cloud computing, you remove the necessity to have your own on-site physical equipment. If you accidently spill coffee on your computer, or your laptop breaks down, you won’t lose all your files. Cloud solutions allow you to log into any Internet-capable device, whether it be a phone, tablet or laptop, and access all your files, which will be up and running in no time. Your data is protected in enterprise-grade data centers with multiple layers of security and disaster recovery technology.

57% of companies using cloud say it’s provided better data security.

Scalability

Cloud solutions allow for simple scalability by making resources available whenever clients need them. This means no delays when you’re expanding or updating information. You can easily upscale or downscale your IT resources exactly when you need to. And with the cloud’s pay-as-you-go model, you’ll see your costs adjust accordingly.

Flexibility

Flexibility is another benefit of cloud solutions that saves both money and time for a business. Using mobile technology allows your employees to access files at their ease and have the ability to share documents over the Internet. This also helps support both internal and external collaboration, as mentioned previously.

Productivity

This capability of having a secure, remote, accessible can reduce time-to-market and improve product development and customer service. The risks and burden of maintaining IT infrastructure in-house can be eliminated, therefore giving your IT team the ability to be productive with more crucial tasks.

93% of businesses move to the cloud to increase productivity outside of the office

Becoming knowledgeable about how cloud solutions can improve your business is the first step, but your second and most critical step would be choosing the right cloud solution! We ensure that customers’ cloud services to run efficiently and, better yet, have 100% uptime. We enable this through the most advanced and secure cloud infrastructure and platform available. Our “We Care” support gives customers a 24x7x365 reliable team to turn to with any questions. Work anywhere, at any time, remain secure, scale easily, and be productive! You can achieve all of this by implementing our cloud solutions.

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Managed Cloud vs. Unmanaged Cloud

The beauty of the cloud is in the copious options it offers a business. One of the most important options to consider is whether or not you want to control your own cloud infrastructure or have a provider like RapidScale manage it for you. It ultimately depends on your business and the goals you have set.

Here are some benefits that both managed and unmanaged cloud computing offer and how they differ from one another:

Managed Cloud (AKA Private)

It is estimated that the managed cloud market will grow from $17 billion in 2014 to $43 billion by 2018. (451 Research) It’s evolving at a quick rate, and the reason for its increased popularity is that providers, like RapidScale, take on a lot of the management and maintenance responsibilities and constantly ensure that everything is running smoothly. Having a managed cloud allows for redundancy and full support, as well as guidance. The operating system, control panel, server setup, added applications, ongoing maintenance and management, and more is all supported. RapidScale’s managed cloud offers the opportunity to work together to create a perfect, customized cloud solution. Businesses can reap the benefits of cloud computing while avoiding added responsibility and the added time it would take to manage a cloud solution alone.

If you don’t want to worry about the cost, stress or time it takes to manage your cloud environment, a managed cloud is for you. It’s perfect for organizations that don’t necessarily have the technical expertise in-house, or those that simply want to focus on strategic business initiatives rather than maintaining infrastructure.

RapidSale’s managed solutions offer the following:

• End-use troubleshooting and device setup
• Operating system management
• 100% uptime SLA
• Licensing management
• Application management
• Patches and upgrades to server
• Managed backups
• 24x7x365 support
• And more…

Unmanaged Cloud (AKA Public)

Unmanaged cloud still provides the core cloud computing services, but with a “do it yourself” method. It allows you to access the cloud solutions and their benefits, but with minimal support, unlike a managed cloud. The default solution configuration is supported, but beyond that, overall solution management becomes the organization’s responsibility. An unmanaged cloud is great for businesses that have a strong IT team in place already and need little to no assistance. It’s a great way to maintain granular control of your cloud environment, as you receive unrestricted access to your infrastructure.

However, unmanaged cloud does not offer support for customizations or third-party software a business wants to install. If a business wants to make changes or encounters an issue, this would largely be solved by the business alone, with its own personnel, money, and time.

If having sole freedom and control over your business’ cloud environment is important to your business, then unmanaged cloud is for you:

RapidScale’s unmanaged cloud offers:

• Support for operating system and default solution configuration
• Free setup and provisioning
• Organizational control over implementation and overall solution management

Making a decision between managed and unmanaged cloud is critical for any business transitioning into this new environment. A managed cloud results in far less work and requires little to no expertise, but if being in control of all aspects of your business is your preference then it’s important to consider unmanaged cloud. RapidScale offers both options, but its key differentiator is managed cloud. Managed cloud computing allows RapidScale to do what it’s best at, while freeing up your business to focus on what you’re best at!

Contact us today! service@inclink.net

Or visit us online:  LineSpeed LLC

201-596-4000, x111

Data Security in the Cloud

One of the most common considerations about cloud solutions is their ability to secure critical data. Those who are still on the fence about implementing the cloud due to fear of data security can rest assured knowing that cloud solutions will actually improve security. 94% of businesses say they saw an improvement in security after implementing cloud solutions. While it’s clear that cloud security has improved in general, the specifics rely on the cloud provider that is chosen.

Let’s take a look at the great security benefits that cloud computing offers, as well as what RapidScale can offer.

Security Against All Odds

Cloud solutions remove your on-site physical equipment, making natural disasters and security breaches last year’s concerns. Making mistakes, overlooking, or even misplacing things are actions that are inevitable as humans. Imagine spilling coffee on your computer, losing it at an airport, or even dropping and breaking it. Having cloud solutions in place means these situations, while still unfortunate, are not detrimental. That’s because the data isn’t locally stored on the device itself. The virtual world secures data in a location where it cannot be physically harmed. By having infrastructure running out of data centers that a cloud provider owns and manages, businesses don’t fall captive to the integrity of their physical location. Data won’t be vulnerable on-site, and that’s a major perk of the cloud.

A huge misconception surrounding the cloud is that anyone can access the Internet, so anyone can access data stored in the cloud. This is not the case – if it was, cloud wouldn’t be the huge force it is today. RapidScale has multiple layers of physical and network security in place that allow businesses to experience enterprise-grade security, regardless of their size. The cloud solutions include in-flight and at-rest encryption, strong firewalls, password protection, around-the-clock monitoring, exterior security systems and more. Full redundancy and multiple data center locations also eliminate the fear of ever losing your data. A business gains secure yet constant access to its critical data, no matter where users are, while outside eyes remain outside.

RapidScale’s Tier 3 Class 1 data center facilities include full credential-limited access, key card protocols, biometric scanning systems, exterior security systems, on-premises security guards, digital surveillance and recording, secured cages, around-the-clock monitoring, redundant HVAC systems, and much more. This cloud security is stronger than what you can provide for yourself, and that’s because RapidScale has the team and budget in place to make this happen. Don’t allow security stand in the way of taking advantage of cloud computing.

These security benefits are what make it possible to have a secure experience in the cloud. With the issue of cloud security out of the way, cloud becomes much more difficult to ignore. The only thing to consider now is exactly how it can work for you. Reach out to us today to learn more!

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The Risks of Using Amazon for Your Cloud Solution

With thousands of customers across the globe, Amazon Web Services serves some of the highest-profile companies. It’s easy to trust that a big corporation like Amazon will be the most secure, reliable provider for switching to the cloud, but this isn’t necessarily the best mindset to have. In recent years, there have been multiple Amazon incidents that might make you think twice about trusting AWS with your critical data and cloud transition.

AWS has recently had numerous high-profile outages (56 to be exact) despite its 99.9% uptime SLA. (CloudHarmony) It faced a major cloud service glitch that disrupted several major websites, and Bloomberg Businessweek reported that a hacker set up a cloud account with Amazon and used its servers to attack a 100 million user account, the Playstation Network. IT author, George Reese, has even stated that there could be a severe security risk by handing over control of data to Amazon. Since Amazon’s services include more than just cloud solutions, there are more ways for data to be exposed. Most companies have regulations or corporate standards governing their data security, and these organizations just can’t afford to risk it.

And if you’re looking for cloud computing guidance, management and support, you won’t find it with AWS. Unlike our white-glove service and full management options, AWS has a “Do It Yourself” mentality and lacks enterprise-grade support for all customers. Instead, customers are forced to upgrade their plan to receive support. There is little help given to those who are just entering the cloud world and very little attention given to small to mid-size organizations. So unless you’re one of the big guys, AWS probably isn’t the best fit.

At first, it might seem like the obvious choice to trust a big corporation like Amazon for your move to the cloud. But unless you’re ready to face the cloud by yourself with minimal guidance and likely outages, you’ll want to look elsewhere.

With our cloud solutions, your company can take advantage of full management, white-glove service and enterprise-grade support around the clock, and a 100% uptime SLA guarantee. We don’t share the same mentality that Amazon has. Instead, we take our “We Care” service and customer-focused approach very seriously, for companies of all sizes. We can work with you from the planning phase onward so you’re receiving the perfect cloud solution for your business needs.

For more information visit here: LineSpeed Managed Cloud

Or call us anytime: 201-596-4000

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Costs of On-Premises Phone Systems

You can’t research business phones without reading that Hosted VoIP is cheaper than its on-premises cousin. But while Googling you might ask yourself: what would it really cost your business to stay with an on-premises solution? Perhaps you’re skeptical that Hosted VoIP could revolutionize both your phone bill and your company’s image, and rightly so.

So let’s take a look at some of the key points, and see how the costs can add up when you get behind on phone service.

1. Upfront Requirements.
   For the traditional option, you’ll need on-premises analog PBX hardware, which is used to manage your call flow and extensions. It may seem like the perfect opportunity for rolling up your sleeves to DIY. But according to an estimate by PCG Telecom & Data Network, running an on-premises PBX for 75 extensions costs about $75,000 upfront. You’ll probably also need an in-house IT staff member to maintain it, again adding to the upfront cost.
   With Hosted VoIP, the whole point is that someone else is running your servers—which means no additional hardware is required. That same estimate by PCG Telecom noted that a Hosted VoIP system with 75 extensions costs $22,500 or less, even with all new phone hardware. The main requirements are high speed internet service and a business-grade router, which are staples in many workplaces. And since you can often configure your own line directly from your computer, there’s no need to acquire new staff.
2. Ongoing Costs.
   Minutes are the most expensive part of an on-premises bill, primarily for long distance calling at an average of 6 cents a minute. Calls to toll-free numbers and international dials can have an accumulated effect, too.
   This is where Hosted VoIP shines, precisely because it treats sounds as data packets traveling through the Internet rather than as minutes. Analysis shows that you save as much as $1,200 per phone line over 2 years with VoIP, as compared to a traditional line. With Hosted VoIP you generally pay a flat rate per month for typical business traffic, including long distance calls. Even the international and toll-free calls are cheaper!
3. Contact Centers.
   Some have claimed that the age of the call center is over, since call center packages are more costly and unwieldy than smartphone apps. It’s true that on-premises call centers can cost a whopping $1,500 per agent, not including the additional fees for setup and installation. But with Hosted VoIP, you pay a monthly flat rate for agent, making it nearly 70% more cost-effective than the traditional call center. If you’re one of the many businesses that rely on contact centers for customer outreach, Hosted VoIP can be a great alternative.
4. Customer Perception.
   On-premises phone systems are time-tested, and that can seem like an asset when dealing with customers. However, 90% of consumers say they would consider avoiding a company if it uses outdated technology. Customers have come to expect things like auto attendants, call queues, and customized voicemail, and will perceive your company as less efficient and professional if you opt out of these extras.
   In Hosted VoIP, these enterprise-grade features usually come included, so there’s no need to worry about paying for more. As OnPoint co-founder and CEO Brian Clark said, “Standing still is falling behind. Either you implement new technologies or you risk getting passed by your competitors.”
5. Employee Retention.
   The Pew Research Center found that Millennials now constitute the largest generation in the workforce, at 34% and rising. An Intel study also found that these Millennial employees have a strong understanding of technology and demand much more from it. They also prefer to use their smartphones and have greater job flexibility, something that can only be achieved with the mobile apps and gadgets that Hosted VoIP can provide. If you stay with on-premises phones that are stuck at a single location, you risk alienating that base of candidates, or causing your tech-savvy employees to flock elsewhere.

Choosing a phone system may not be easy. But when it comes to immediate costs, it’s clear that Hosted VoIP is indeed cheaper than an on-premises equivalent. And as a long term solution, Hosted VoIP can strengthen your public image and keep your employees happier for longer.

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Industries That Can Benefit From the Cloud

Many industries today are joining the innovative cloud computing world. 93% of businesses move to the cloud to increase productivity outside of the office, as well as improve security, efficiency, and scalability. Cloud computing is important to gain reliability and a competitive advantage. Here are ten industries that can benefit from the cloud:

1. Hospitality

The global hotel industry produces approximately 400 to 500 billion dollars each year. Distinguishing yourself with high guest satisfaction is extremely important for organizations in this industry. Connecting quickly and easily with guests is something that can be achieved with cloud solutions. When a hotel implements BYOD solutions, guests can sign up for appointments or order room service at the touch of a button. And the cloud makes it easier on the business side to. Many hospitality organizations have already moved to the cloud because they realized it can improve their spending and overall internal efficiency, while boosting the guest experience.

2. Healthcare

61% say that cloud computing will be a major player in the healthcare industry in the next five years. One of the greatest benefits that cloud computing offers the healthcare industry is the delivery of efficient health services and improved doctor-patient relationships. With the cloud, information regarding patients’ diagnoses and treatments can be made available, securely, from the touch of a button on their phone, tablet, computer, etc. Cloud also creates a one-on-one connection between the doctor and patient. Doctors can stay connected and communicate with their patients easily. Cloud computing also frees up time for doctors, allowing them to focus more on their patients, rather than spending excessive time on paper work. Tasks like scheduling appointments, making referrals, or completing patient history can be completed anywhere at any time with greater efficiency.

3. Automotive

Making sales is huge for the automotive industry, and having constant availability of data is big part of producing sales. Cloud computing migrates data to the Internet using remote servers, giving automotive businesses the ability to access inventory or other necessary data easily. Employees will have the information they need at any given time, even if they’re on the floor with a customer. Sale reps will be prepared constantly, generating sales successfully. With this competitive advantage, it’s easy to direct customers to their perfect car. Instant access of information closes deals faster, and the cloud makes this possible.

4. Real Estate

Communication is key in the real estate industry, and cloud computing can be a lifesaver for real estate agents. These professionals are constantly out in the field with customers, and they need easy access to information to share with clients on the spot! Accessing business files, customer information, or listings is quick and easy in the cloud. Agents can remain focused on sharing the best information with clients and closing deals. Agents can maintain access to customer and prospect information, new listings, and efficient marketing platforms. Everything is centralized in the cloud.

5. Financial and Banking Services

Cloud computing offers the financial and banking services industry the agility to innovate and scale rapidly. And an industry with so much important data can’t afford to lose access to it. With access to virtual infrastructure through the cloud, the financial sector can maintain privacy and security of customer and business information, while also accessing efficient, modern computing solutions. Our cloud solutions come with 24x7x365 support and monitoring, and multiple layers of security and disaster recovery services. This allows the financial world to focus on the customers.

6. Education

The technology world is constantly advancing, creating new, innovative ways for students to learn. It’s important for students to keep up with technology and the education industry is starting to include this more and more today. 43% of higher education institutions have already implemented or are maintaining cloud computing. With the cloud, communication will evolve between staff, students and parents, and all parties will develop greater knowledge on today’s modern technology solutions and maintain quick and easy access to the information they need at all times. With cloud solutions, students can access their assignments and resources from any of their Internet-connected devices, and teachers can assign and upload materials to one central location. It’s that easy!

7. Legal

Implementing cloud solutions in the legal industry allows law firms to store client data, financial records, legal documents and more in a central, virtual location, securely. When you look deeper, cloud computing services are actually proving to be more secure than traditional on-site infrastructure. Since the legal industry holds a lot of sensitive data, secure accessibility is key. Thanks to cloud solutions, you can achieve this today! Through secure client portals, authorized users can access necessary data from any location, at any time, using any Internet-capable device. Our cloud solutions include advanced backup and recovery services, and multiple layers of enterprise-grade security. This makes the cloud accessible for any legal firm.

8. Manufacturing

Manufacturing depends heavily on suppliers, distributors, and customer interactions. Accuracy, speed and knowledge are all key in this sector. Cloud-based systems allow manufacturers to focus more on efficiency and the creation of new products. They often face the challenge of handling multiple locations and supply chains, and all of the communication that goes on between them. Cloud computing generates real-time data, places it in a central location, and allows all team members to collaborate, communicate and share information easily, from afar. Cloud syncs files in the central location so users can access them on any device, no matter where in the world they are. Cloud computing creates a big competitive advantage for manufacturers, as they can experience increased efficiency throughout all operations and improved communication.

9. Nonprofit

It is crucial for nonprofits to stay connected and innovative using technology. They face a demand for transparency, either in competition for funding or accountability for organizational outcomes. However, nonprofits also rely heavily on low budgets and this has traditionally been a barrier when it comes to investing in new tech. With our cloud solutions, we can eliminate this barrier. The cloud offers nonprofits mobility, accessibility, efficiency and productivity for prices they can afford. Collaboration can occur 24×7 via the Internet, allowing for real-time management, insight, and action.

10. Insurance

In the insurance industry, cloud computing can reduce the total cost of IT operations, engage customers more effectively, and handle peaks in demand with unlimited scalability. The cloud offers the opportunity for real-time communication between a business and its employees and customers, and allows customers to have constant access to their accounts and information. It allows insurers to better address the demands of consumers, achieve faster speed to market with new products or services, and achieve efficiency overall.

Want to learn more about how cloud computing is impacting business across all industries? Visit ourIndustries page!

For more information visit here: LineSpeed Managed Cloud

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24 x 7 US based service: LineSpeed Service

Do you need a Network Engineer to maintain your phone system?

If you answered yes to that question, then you're doing it wrong.

The IP-PBX came onto the Telecom scene in a big way several years ago, and finally the IT Department was able to fully control Voice Communications over "their" network.

Watch out what you wish for.

So how has all this turned out? Well it turns out that running all this voice traffic over the existing network required some upgrades to the infrastructure. You just doubled the amount of endpoints you are dealing with. Real-time voice communications is not a very forgiving application either, and QoS capable routers are a must. Oh, and do you really want everything on the same media? Maybe new cable plant would be better. Then there was the question of power. We can't have all those clumsy power supply "bricks" cluttering up the desktop now can we? OK, upgrade all the switches to PoE.

But hey, at least you could move a phone from one office to another without getting the "phone guy" in to punch down some cross-connects right?

The benefits of the premised based IP-PBX have been greatly exaggerated. It is a bear to maintain. The desktop hardware itself is not cheap and has to be added to your network maintenance plan from the manufacturer. Have you ever tried to analyze your Smartnet contract? The "simple" guide to understanding your contract is 25 pages!! And that's just the guide! I'd rather stick pins in my eyes.

Why are you doing this?

Well you did after all, make the upgrades so your network is more robust than ever. As a matter of fact you probably have less internal data traffic on your network now than you did when the IP-PBX was first deployed. But how can this be in the age of "big data"? Because at least some of your data is now in the Cloud, and the rest is either virtualized in-house or some form of Hybrid Cloud. The result is a very efficient network infrastructure with optimized throughput. A valuable investment that will continue to serve the organization well for the next few years at least.

And that IP-phone sitting on the desktop? It's a relic. You're driving a jalopy on the Autobahn. But you can upgrade right? Yeah, try getting that one approved.

The time has come for ALL premise based systems to be put out of your misery. Cloud-based voice has come of age and it is sooo much better than anything else that it's not even a debatable topic. Think about it: You're interfacing 1980's T-1 technology (ISDN PRI, look it up!) to your gigabit network in order to talk (literally, talk) to the outside world. Not only is that an inferior technology platform but the cost goes away completely by connecting directly to the Cloud!

Moves Adds and Changes? All done through a web portal that any 12yo could manage. And they're part of the service.

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is this: You've built the infrastructure to efficiently handle voice traffic on your internal IP-network, why haven't you taken advantage of The Cloud. Think you have "too many" phones? Wrong. This stuff scales. Redundancy? Built-in. Flexible, responsive service, new feature deployment is a snap.

You really need to look into this. The war is already over.

Steve Melillo
LineSpeed LLC
201-596-4000, x103

The case for a hosted phone system

As a former "Authorized Dealer" for one of the top business telephone system manufacturers for many years, I have seen my fair share of systems that greatly exceeded the generally accepted life expectancy for a PBX. Seven to 10 years is fairly common, and I have even seen some of the larger systems approach 20 years.

Eventually the day does come when the system is just too much of a risk and has to be dealt with. In spite of the many ways there are to communicate these days, for most organizations a sustained outage of the telephone system is simply unacceptable. So what should you do?

You could continue to tempt fate, and hope that your vendor can put together the required hardware and software of your obsolete system when the inevitable failure occurs. Or you can do the prudent thing, and start the process of evaluating various systems and services, so you have at least some idea of what you will be up against in terms of dollars and implementation. How soon can you get systems and services provisioned and deployed? Two weeks? Two months? Reality is probably somewhere in between, IF you've already done your homework.

One option I suggest you consider is a Hosted IP phone system. There are a multitude of players in the space, so pricing is competitive, and there is no longer a significant gap in features. As a matter of fact, Hosted offers some real elasticity that is much more difficult to achieve in a purchased or leased on-premise hardware/software solution. Hosted systems can easily grow (or contract) with your organization.

Other advantages to the Hosted or "Cloud Phone" systems include easy deployment of remote or home users, low start-up costs and the virtual elimination of your outbound calling costs. Most providers in this space include domestic calls at no additional charge. International and 800 inbound calls are billed over and above your flat monthly fee. Very often, the amount you are paying currently for a combination of analog trunks and/or a PRI T1 is MORE than you might pay for the flat monthly fee of a Hosted System.

Contact me directly at LineSpeed: LineSpeed for more information: 201-596-4000, x103

smelillo@inclink.net

Time to reconsider Verizon?

Is it time to reconsider Verizon for land-based service?

The rumors of Verizon's demise in the land-based services space have been greatly exaggerated. There was a time when it seemed as though the mammoth carrier was headed towards a wire-less only future, but in recent years Verizon has made an aggressive push for wire-line products and services with promotions and a continued network build-out, bringing FiOS and IP-based services to commercial enterprises all over the northeast.

If you have some wireline services coming to term, now is a good time to re-visit what Verizon has to offer, even if you are currently a Verizon customer. Verizon seems to have this odd habit of neglecting to tell existing customers about their latest promotions. So, if you don't ask, they wont tell, and you could be leaving dollars on the table. Not to mention more bandwidth, storage and overall performance. Oh, and that Visa gift card promo for FiOS? They have one for business customers as well.

Contact LineSpeed for additional information and a cost comparison with other providers including Optimum and Comcast. We can tee up all of the pertinent information for you to make an intelligent decision. Not sure what your current term is? We can figure it out for you and submit a simple analysis revealing the true cost of options that make sense.

Steve Melillo
LineSpeed LLC
201-596-4000, x103

Get a better deal without changing providers

You know you could be saving money on your Telecom/Internet bill but you dread getting involved in that whole process? Let's examine:

First you will have to contact other providers. That means dealing with people who are trying to sell you something. This is at best, unpleasant for most people. They will want all your contact information, and you know they are going to start "bugging" you at some point or other.
Then you have to assemble your bills.

How many lines do you HAVE anyway?

What is your bandwidth? Is it the same up as it is down? Does it matter?

Do you have "direct inward dial"? How many numbers?

Are lines the same as number? What is a "trunk"?

But there might be an easier way: Contact your current provider. Here are some questions to ask THEM:

• What is the term of my service? Is there a contract? Or am I being billed "month-to-month"?
• Can you tell if there is traffic on ALL of my voice lines? If so, can you furnish a report? Are there any lines with NO traffic at all for an extended period?
• What current promotions are there that are a fit for my configuration?
• How can I save on my bill?
• What is the bandwidth that I am paying for on my Internet access? How can I test that to make sure I am getting what I am paying for?

If you haven't made changes to your service in several years, you are most likely in one of 2 scenarios:

1. Your contract has expired, and you are being billed "month-to-month". This is good and bad. Good because you are free to make a change without the threat of Early Termination Fees, and Bad because you have most likely been over paying for a while.
2. You are under a contract that has an automatic renewal and are now subject to ETF's for however long remains on the contract. You have to do some due diligence here and find out exactly what conditions have to be met to cancel the contract (if you decide to change carriers). Typically this means sending written notice at least thirty days prior to expiration anniversary.

Very often your current carrier is willing to make a better deal on the spot because they know you are looking and they want to keep you as a customer. BUT THEY WILL NOT TELL YOU ABOUT THESE DEALS UNLESS YOU ASK!!

For more info feel free to contact me:
Steve Melillo
201-596-4000, x103
or visit our web page: LineSpeed LLC

Cloud Migration: Building The Path

As you migrate applications and storage to the Cloud, you also increase your dependence on bandwidth capacity as well as availability. Your Path to the Cloud is as mission critical as the applications and data that reside there. Here are some important steps to consider:

1. Review and assess your current internet circuit(s) for through-put, "actual" speeds, history of availability, contract terms, SLA's and active management and monitoring.
2. Determine the maximum number of simultaneous users and obtain guidelines from your "as a service" providers to help with estimated bandwidth requirements. This is especially important for any voice applications such as Hosted PBX and SIP Trunks. Then give yourself a 20% buffer for spikes and modest growth.
3. Closely examine the capabilities of your existing network equipment and firmware revision levels. What is the capacity of your network infrastructure as it exists today? How many circuits can you interface with? What types of signaling are compatible? What are the upgrade costs?
4. Incorporate some redundancy. Circuits go down, and sometimes they take hours (days?!) to be restored. This does not have to be a bullet-proof plan (in most cases) that provides the same level of service and through-put as the primary circuit, but there needs to be some type of failover or people will not be able to work effectively during service interruptions. A dual purpose of this secondary circuit could be for your guest WiFi.
5. Meet with your current carrier(s) to review your current plan and find out what options are available. What services do they have that allow you to increase bandwidth incrementally as demand increases? Do they have a failover plan on separate facilities? Find out what your options are within your current contract terms. You might not have to reinvent the wheel.
6. Monitor usage on a regular basis and stay ahead. Bandwidth creep can be insidious, and go unnoticed until you hit a tipping point when users suddenly realize response rates have become tedious and frustration levels rise. Trying to implement a solution from scratch at this point could take weeks. Have a plan.

Dependence on Cloud applications and storage will most likely increase for most organizations. Make sure you have a robust Path to get there.

Steve Melillo
201-596-4000, x103

LineSpeed LLC LineSpeed LLC

smelillo@inclink.net

Circuit Redundancy: Don't wait for an outage

Your organization relies on stable internet access more than ever. Losing your internet connection means losing access to Cloud Apps and that means lost productivity, lost CRM continuity and potentially lost business. All it takes it one major service outage to drive this point home, but leaving your organization exposed for any length of time is a bad idea.

Loss of internet access is no longer just an inconvenience. It will cripple productivity and frustrate your customers as well as employees. Don't wait until there is an angry mob at your door with pitch forks and torches. Plan for service interruptions and failure NOW.

For small organizations, this can be as simple as adding a Cable TV circuit which will often include a wireless router.Reserve this internet access as a "guest" wifi network, so visitors to your office can have an easy to connect without introducing additional traffic to your primary network. Then if your primary circuit does go out, users can jump on the "guest" network and at least get some work done until the primary circuit is restored.

Automated failover to redundant circuits is more appropriate for larger organizations, but can be tricky to configure, and may also require additional equipment and/or licensing depending on the network architecture. However, the seamless continuity provided will make your users blissfully ignorant to downed primary cricuits.

Have a conversation with your trusted tech advisor to discuss this topic in more detail, but do not wait until you have an access crisis on your hands. Outages often have poor timing with respect to your deadlines and workflow.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

LineSpeed LLC
201-596-4000, x103

Do you need IP Telephones?

Do you need IP Telephones? There has been so much hype around IP-Telephony and Voice over IP (VoIP) that I think sometimes people believe it has fully replaced every other kind of telecommunications systems available today. This is completely untrue. Although the vast majority of systems being sold today are at least "IP-Enabled" only a very small percentage are being installed with all IP-Phones, or even a mostly IP-Phones.

Of course the people spreading the hype are naturally the companies that manufacture and/or install IP-only telephone systems. They don′t have anything else to offer, so they want you to believe that they have the system that makes the most sense: The pure IP system. The fact of the matter is that IP, whether for IP-Telephony or VoIP, is simply another form of transport and does not inherently offer any additional features or applications in and of itself. It′s just another way of getting "there". And although we tend to refer to the internet as the "Information Superhighway", when it comes to transporting voice, we should really think of IP as "off-road" because much the same way a car requires special equipment such as 4-wheel-drive, special tires, greater clearance, etc, in order be driven on dirt roads or sand beaches, your voice communications system needs special equipment in order to travel over the internet or private circuits using Internet Protocol.

Routers and switches with QoS, and Cat5 cable to name a few. So what good does IP-Telephony or VoIP do for us? Plenty if it is deployed properly and with the intention of yielding some tangible benefits which need to be identified and evaluated BEFORE deciding on how much of your phone system, if any, should be IP. What kind of benefits? Let′s take a closer look at what you can and cannot do with an IP-Phone, versus a non-IP or ′traditional" digital phone.

Assuming a typical "plain vanilla" type organization, the needs of the telephone set begin with being able make and take calls, dial numbers, put a call on hold, transfer, conference, some flexible ringing perhaps. So far, no big deal. The ironic thing is that those manufacturers with only IP-Phones have gotten into the telephone business late, and they do not have the rich feature set that traditional telephone companies have been offering for many, many years. I′m talking about simple features like "Call-forwarding", and multiple call-forwarding, speed-dials etc.

But in reality, most organizations only use a small percentage of the features available in most telephone systems. The manufacturers create such feature-rich platforms in order to appeal to the widest customer audience. OK, so what are the real “killer apps” that take advantage of the fact that an IP-Phone is utilizing the same network infrastructure as your PC and servers? Unified Messaging? Outlook Integration? Click-to-Call? Believe it or not, none of the applications named above require an IP-Phone. Let me repeat that: You do not have to have an IP-Phone to be able to utilize Telephone-to-PC applications via your desktop or laptop PC, nor applications that reside on the server, including Unified Messaging and Outlook Integration.

Surprised? Most non-technical people are. It’s the hype. Then why are organizations deploying IP-Phones at all? The reasons are tactical: Overcoming geographic and logistical limitations of traditional circuits to achieve seamless integration of remote users. Or, to put it more simply: Anywhere you have internet access, you can have an integrated office phone. That’s right. And it will work just like the one sitting on the desk at your place of business. A remote office, work from home situations, a vacation home (aghhh!), multiple offices etc. are all good reasons for deploying IP-Phones.

How about VoIP? Does it allow me to make “free” calls on the internet? That question is a lot more complex than most people want to believe. First of all, you must understand that the business world still ultimately communicates over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Even organizations that are running pure-IP phone systems with all IP-Phones still have to connect to the rest of the world or all they have is a very expensive intercom. Copper trunks and/or some type of T1 will connect to a pure-IP phone system via some kind of gateway. What about VoIP T1’s you ask? Lol Well that’s a topic for another blog I think. But if you’d like to contact me, please feel free to do so by filling out the form and I’ll be happy to speak with you. I might even use an IP-Phone from my vacation home. And you’ll think I’m in my office. Unless you hear a seagull in the background.

Steve Melillo, President INS Technologies

Getting Value from your phone system

Getting Value #5: Getting Value from a business telephone system
3/7/09

With all the different ways to communicate these days such as email, cell phones, text, etc; do you ever find yourself wondering why you still have a business telephone system? Well there must be a reason. After all, didn’t you go through a lot of trouble and expense when you acquired that system? You probably went through some kind of bid process: Got 2 or 3 quotes, compared features, and warranties, maybe involved some of your staff, asked about service contracts, and on and on……...

So, even though systems today are not as expensive as they were several years ago, they still represent a significant investment of dollars and time. Now here is my question for you: Where is the VALUE? What kind of INCREASE has this investment brought you? Where is the PRODUCTIVITY? The GAIN? The PROFIT?

The business telephone system is a portal into your organization; a tool for increasing productivity, enhancing customer service and generally providing a platform for efficient communications on all levels. That efficient communication will help your organization become more profitable.

Now think about this: If your telephone system was having some kind of negative impact on your business or organization, how would you know? Have you ever overheard an employee say something along the lines of “This phone sucks!”? How might this be affecting the morale of other employees? What about customers?

In order for any business phone system to bring value to an organization, it must be configured and programmed properly and according to who your callers are and what you want them to experience. All phone systems today are very feature rich. Even the smallest office telephone today system has many of features that, a few years ago, would only have been offered in systems with several hundred phones. How those features and applications are utilized will determine how successful you are at optimizing value.

So when is the last time you thought about any of those features that were so important when you first acquired that system? Most businesses forget much of their system’s capabilities, and many useful features remain dormant or undiscovered for years, when they could be solving communications problems and building customer loyalty on a daily basis.

Try this sometime: Pretend you’re a customer, and call into the number that your company or organization publishes, the number that customers normally call into. What happens when you try to obtain some information? Or get through to a particular individual? Or how about place an order? Did you get what you needed? Any problems? Get transferred to the wrong department? Or how about this: You get transferred to a voicemail box of a former employee who’s been gone for 2 years! Yeah, that will make a good impression on your customers!! So what will you do about it?

Auto-Attendant or “Live Answer”?

Steve Melillo, President INS Technologies Call me: 973-787-1004 Or text: 973-632-5454