5G is emerging onto the telecom landscape. What’s new and different about it? 5G does indeed promise phenomenal potential. In this article we examine 5G and its applications for unified communications.

Topics: Trends, Mobility (including remote work), IoT, Unified Communications, WAN Technology

If you’re looking to grow your business, consider serving micro-enterprises with 1-20 employees. According to the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs, firms with between 1-20 employees made up 89% of all U.S. firms in 2016. While this has traditionally been an underserved market when it comes to VoIP telecommunications, more and more equipment manufacturers are offering products tailored to their needs. In this article, we review some cutting-edge devices that are ideal for micro-enterprises.

Topics: Customer Service, SIP Phones, IP PBX, Business Telephone System, VoIP, Grandstream, Yealink, Trends, Mobility (including remote work), Headsets, Leasing, Videoconferencing, Conferencing, Android, Product Review, Business Strategy, Bluetooth, Yeastar, Avaya

Device as a service (DaaS) is a growing trend for all types of companies who don’t want to tie up their capital in business equipment. With DaaS, you rent the equipment for a small monthly fee without having to pay anything up front, and the monthly payments count as an operating expense rather than as a capital expense.

Offering a DaaS equipment rental program to your customers is a great way to provide equipment for companies who might not have the budget allocated to buy equipment, or who would prefer to account for the expense as an operating expense. In this article, we show you how you can easily offer a DaaS rental program to your customers.

Topics: Customer Service, Business Telephone System, Total Voice Solution, Trends

Did you miss Channel Partners in Las Vegas last week? Fear not - we've jotted down some of the key themes for you. Take note!

Topics: Trends, Network Security, Cloud, Events, News, IoT, Unified Communications

Internet Protocol Version 6 is the next-generation protocol on which the future of the internet, and a huge part of telecommunications in general, is based. In this article, we review the characteristics of IPv6 and examine its benefits and challenges when applied to voice over IP, as well as suggest some practical tips for your deployments.

Topics: VoIP, Trends

Even as VoIP has become widespread, governments are still figuring out how to regulate it. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is responsible for creating the regulatory framework for both the PSTN (public switched telephone network) and VoIP telephony.

In this article, we look at how FCC regulations affect both internal enterprise VoIP installations and Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs), and how they impact your VoIP deployments.

Topics: VoIP, Trends, Regulations

The U.S. mobile worker population will grow steadily to 105.4 million in 2020, according to a forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC). By the end of the forecast period, IDC expects mobile workers to account for 72% of the total U.S. workforce.

If your communications infrastructure is not set up to handle the needs of mobile workers, your business could be missing out on gains in productivity and employee loyalty. Since adequately equipped mobile workers can do their job anywhere, they can perform on the go without having to wait until they get back to their desk to implement certain tasks. A study conducted by Staples found that 76% of telecommuters are more willing to put in extra time on work and report being more loyal to their company since telecommuting.

Here are six ways that you can leverage your VoIP telephony system to enable workforce mobility.

Topics: VoIP, Trends, Mobility (including remote work), DECT, Videoconferencing, Productivity, Wi-Fi

 

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a field of information and communications technology (ICT) that has been increasing exponentially for the past few years, with the number of connected devices now exceeding the world’s human population.

But many IoT device users may not be aware of the inherent security risks of their internet-connected devices, according to a January 2018  study by the Cybersecurity Research Institute. According to the report, hackers have already proven themselves adept at discovering flaws in these devices and turning them into botnets (botnets are a collection of connected devices infected with malware and controlled without the owners' knowledge).

In this article, we review some of the vulnerabilities inherent in connected devices and steps you can take to secure your network and protect against hackers.

Topics: Trends, Network Security, IoT

If you have customers that have not yet migrated to VoIP and are thinking about making the switch, this would be a great time to do it. According to the FCC, VoIP telephone subscriptions in the U.S. have been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 10% since 2013, and retail switch access has been declining by 11% annually during the same period. At that rate, VoIP subscribers now outnumber switched access customers, and ISDN connections are quickly sliding into obsolescence. SIP trunking is becoming the standard for PSTN connectivity.

To ensure a smooth transition, start by helping your customers answer these four basic questions to set them up for success.

Topics: IP PBX, Business Telephone System, VoIP, Trends, Business Continuity, Business Strategy

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

Topics: SIP, Trends