Article contributed by Yeastar*

Thought you knew Yeastar's Cloud PBX well? We are sure there are some useful features you have yet to discover. Below are 10 sweet features of the Yeastar Cloud PBX that might not be on your radar. Learn more about Yeastar's Cloud PBX (and stay for lunch) next July 24 in Austin, Texas. Dealers who attend are eligible for three months of Free Yeastar Cloud PBX! Click here to register. 

By Dorothy Murach, Marketing Manager at Grandstream Networks*

The on-premise vs. hosted IP PBX battle continues. Which to choose? Each IP PBX option comes with its own characteristics and benefits, and the key is to determine which works best for your business’s unique needs. While it may seem that everything is moving to the cloud, hosted IP PBX options are not right for everyone. I’ll help you navigate through the details of each to see which IP PBX is the right choice for you.

By Leo D’Alessandro, Product Marketing Manager, Sangoma Technologies

If you are looking for a cloud-based phone service for your business, you may find it confusing to decide between the many options available. The low cost of the internet infrastructure is allowing more companies to offer their own cloud-based phone solutions. Since many of them are already bundling local & long-distance calling, caller ID and voicemail into their monthly service, how do you know which option makes the most sense for your business?

Below are some of the top criteria to keep in mind when choosing your cloud-based service.

Find the conferencing solution that's made for you. Presenting the GVC3200 series.

By Dorothy Murach, Marketing Manager at Grandstream Networks

We all know that no two businesses are exactly alike, so why settle for conventional business communications solutions? Instead of accepting the idea that devices “just work that way,” we should be asking for products that “work OUR way.” With this in mind, Grandstream set out to create a line of videoconferencing systems that are flexible, powerful and affordable — allowing businesses of all kinds to create a videoconferencing solution that works the way they operate, not the other way around.  

The GVC3200 series of videoconferencing (VC) systems offers options that cover the diverse needs of businesses big, small and in-between. The series consists of three models: the GVC3200, GVC3202 and GVC3210. In this article we’ll explore each device in the GVC family and help you understand the flexibility and customization provided by each one — guiding you to choose a device that works the way your business does.

New Eastern Management Group study reflects input from more than 3,500 IT managers surveyed worldwide.

Advances in technology in the office environment often move both quickly and slowly

Five Essential Sales Metrics

By Mike Schmidtmann, Trans4mers 

Many telephone dealers and ITSPs aren’t growing because they are breaking fundamental rules of sales. They don’t even realize it! How can you break the rules when you don’t know the rules? 

Here’s a metaphor to illustrate this problem and the solution. Imagine playing golf without a scorecard. Now imagine playing without knowing what “par” is for each hole. Wouldn’t that be a bit odd? Disorienting?

Your score in golf is always compared with par. If you shoot a “4” on a hole, you don’t know how good that is until you know what the par is. It could be fair, good, or great depending on whether it’s a par 3, 4, or 5. Of course, if you post a “Snowman," (an 8), that’s bad no matter what the hole is!

Many resellers play a version of this game with sales. How do we know if we are shooting bogies, pars, or birdies? Below, you will find five invaluable metrics that should be on every sales scorecard.

Answers to the most frequently asked questions about our HD, IP door phone

By Kate Clavet, Content Marketing Specialist, Grandstream Networks

Grandstream Networks recently came out with our first facility access solution, the GDS3710 an HD, IP door phone.  It’s been a huge hit within the industry and we really enjoy using it in our offices, but as with any new product there are a lot of questions. I took this time as an opportunity to answer the most common questions, in one handy spot. Enjoy!

Are you hearing both sides?

By Kate Clavet, Marketing Specialist, Grandstream Networks

The very technology that makes VoIP so efficient can also indirectly cause one-way audio issues.

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), indicating that the communication travels over the internet in little packets using RTP (Real-Time Transport Protocol). Since the packets are traveling through the internet, they must pass through firewalls and network address translation (NAT). Due to the tricky nature of firewalls, a common complaint of customers and installers alike is that either the caller or callee cannot hear the other party. Although this is a common inquiry and topic for support tickets, it is also rather easy to fix.

Quantum-leap technology advancements will enable on-demand services anytime, anywhere, with ubiquitous connectivity.

by Laureen R. Cook, Principal Telecoms, Media and Technology Advisor, IFC (World Bank) 

Nordic Mobile Telephony (NMT) was introduced as the first 1G system in the Scandinavian countries in 1982. 2G was commercially deployed in 1992 and 3G launched commercially in 2001, allowing mobile data as a mainstream service. 4G has been deployed since 2012, and is still being deployed around the world in developing markets, and 5G is on the horizon for the early- to mid-2020s. On average, we deploy a new generation of mobile communications every 10 years. In 25 years’ time, we will have deployed 7G and be well underway with design of the specifications for 8G, where wireless high-definition video streaming and virtual reality are part of the everyday norm. We will have transformed ourselves from the Digital Era of the 1990s to 2020, to the Digital Era of Automation from 2020 and beyond, which will be an all-immersive, high-definition user experience, taking us seamlessly from Gigabytes GB = 10⁹ of data to Zettabytes ZB = 10²¹.