SMBs, Cloud Computing, and UCaaS – Oh My!

Due to faster adoption rates, it’s no secret that the majority of vendors have selected small and medium-sized businesses – and not large enterprises – as the target customer base for their cloud computing and Unified Communications solutions. According to a study that was conducted recently by CompaniesandMarket.com, in the next 6 years the market for Unified Communications is predicted to expand close to 33% CAGR. However, after being compared against the projected 83% growth in small and medium-sized businesses spending on IP Telephony in this year alone, it isn’t even a blip on the radar.

The reasoning behind the rate of adoption for hosted and IP Telephony solutions lie much in how small and medium-sized business owners tackle both business and technology operations. Avoiding the need to purchase expensive software and hardware is an extremely attractive aspect for smaller businesses. And due to the fact that most small and medium-sized businesses employ cloud solutions for tracking sales, managing customer databases, emailing, and many other essential business functions, the question whether to add Unified Communications as a Service to the mix is not a tough one.

More than anything, a small or medium-sized business owner’s chief concern is generally operations improvement. They are interested in learning how to put their best, most professional foot forward, and how to appear larger than they are in order to compete with the big dogs. As a result, the music-on-hold feature is the most sought after and utilized feature of a smaller business’s hosted communications solution.

According to the VP of sales and marketing for Broadvox, David Byrd, the key essentials related to Unified Communications as a Service include:

  • Reliability
  • Conferencing
  • Cost-efficiency
  • Responsiveness
  • User-friendliness
  • Productivity enhancements
  • Integrated features and apps
  • Integrated communications for mobile staff

It should be noted that while an average of 90% of large companies employ this technology in one way or another, that number only embodies about 5% of their IT applications or services. Simply put, they continue to search for confidence that hosted solutions are secure and capable of tracking their future needs while being incorporated into their current business process. Until that happens, on-premise based services will carry on being the preferred option for large companies in the years ahead.

If you’re interested in learning more about one of these solutions for your business, contact one of our professional account managers today!

Posted in Internet T1 | No Comments »

Level 3 Communications and Global Crossing Merger – Waiting for FCC Approval

Back in April, Level 3 Communications – one of the world’s six Tier 1 Internet operators – announced a $3 billion agreement to purchase Global Crossing, a provider of fully integrated and interoperable IP and legacy services. Once complete, the acquisition would produce a company with connections to over 70 countries and ownership over networks in more than 50 countries, which Level 3 claims would allow it to better serve governments, carriers, content providers and businesses throughout Europe as well as North and Latin America.

Until recently, XO Communications strongly protested the merger, claiming it would give rise to a “global colossus” in the market that would cause service quality to drop and prices to sky rocket – something that would clearly not be in the public’s interest. Randolph Nicklas, the chief technology officer for XO filed a declaration with the Federal Communications Commission that alleged the proposed acquisition would be a catalyst for Level 3 to terminate Internet peering deals with additional providers of Tier 1 networks and in its place stipulate payment to exchange traffic.

However, in a message that was recorded with the Federal Communications Commission in early August, it was noted that Level 3 was prepared to amend its arrangement with XO because it believes that “XO now meets, and is willing to embrace, the framework of Level 3’s developing peering policy.”

Thankfully for Level 3, an additional letter filed last month with the Federal Communications Commission reports that XO now feels the acquisition is in the public’s interest; but when pressed for answers, outside counsel for XO – Thomas Cohen – declined to go into detail on the agreement.

As a result, both Global Crossing and Level 3 are now asking the Federal Communications Commission – who is nearing the half-way mark on the 180 day timeline for reviewing the contract – to approve the merger due to the fact that there is nothing left for the agency to investigate. Representatives for the two companies had informed the Federal Communication Commission in August that “postponement in attaining authorization for the matter “would result in significant financial and other burdens,” but refused to remark on the reason why or whether the Federal Communications Commission specified a timeline to rule on the acquisition.

Outside counsel for Level 3 also wrote the Federal Communications Commission, adding that the two companies trust that there aren’t any outstanding barriers “to the prompt grant of the Applicants applications.”

Posted in General, Internet T1, XO | No Comments »

TelePacific is Expanding

TelePacific Communications is a Los Angeles, California-based CLEC that serves small and medium-sized businesses in California and Nevada is expanding. Back in early May of this year, it was announced that TelePacific would be acquiring two new companies: OCiX Inc. (Orange County Internet Xchange), a provider of dedicated colocation services, and its sister company Telekenex, a provider of IP services.

Aside from being purchased by TelePacific (the acquisition is anticipated to close in the third quarter), the two companies have a number of things in common – they sharing the same owners, such as Brandon Chaney (CEO) and Anthony Zabit (COO), and OCiX bought Telekenex’s data center business in 2008.

The acquisition of OCiX will give TelePacific its second SAS 70 data center – the first one was gained after the purchase O1 Communications almost a year ago. Moreover, through the acquisition of Telekenex, TelePacific will gain managed network and security services, a fiber network in the SFO area, a nationwide MPLS backbone and hosted PBX platform as well as over 120 employees and roughly 1,000 new business customers.

TelePacific has made plans to run the customer operations and service offerings as a separate channel headed by Telekenex’s Brandon Chaney. Chaney has said the acquisitions will add managed, VoIP and cloud services to TelePacific in addition to their current offerings.

Many are looking forward to the acquisition, including Alan Sandler, the president of master agency Sandler Partners, who praised the Los Angeles based CLEC, “TelePacific has grown rapidly through both organic growth and acquisition, and has one of the few management teams that has been able to manage acquisitions and integration in a manner that has been painless to the agent/customer.”

Likewise, Datatel Solution’s executive vice president, Jeffery Ponts had positive remarks regarding TelePacific’s ability to smoothly incorporate new acquisitions. Since signing their master agency agreement, Telekenex is the sixth acquisition for TelePacific. Ponts also stated that with a national SIP and MPLS product, “TelePacific will now be competing with the national CLECs with the advantage of their legendary customer care group,” and is no longer limited to operating solely in California and Nevada. Ponts noted that, “With each acquisition business and care disruptions were minimal to non-existent, which gives me complete confidence in this merger of cultures and customer support.”

So what else is in store for TelePacific? The company’s channel chief, Ken Bisnoff, left much to speculate when he said that, “With the new network and services, TelePacific is positioned for some exciting developments in the near future.”

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Verizon Strike is Over but New Deal Negotiations Are Not

The Verizon Communications strike that began on August 6th has ended almost as quickly as it began – and without any major resolution. The duo of labor unions that represent 45,000 Verizon employees, the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, have called off the strike after two weeks, even though they have not yet ironed out a new contract, leaving many workers confused, upset, and wondering what all the hubbub was for.

Throughout the strike, Verizon has stated that the negotiations were on-going, and now both sides agree that enough progress has been made to remove employees from the picket lines and put them back at their desks (or out in the field) by this Tuesday morning. While enough common ground was reached in regards to job security, benefits, expense structure, etc. there are still some big hot-button issues left up in the air at the moment that will require delicate compromise from both sides of the table, it’s a positive sign that both are actively seeking a fair resolution.

For the time being, Verizon’s union employees will go back to work under the same expired contract that was up earlier this month until the new contract is put in place. Due to the fact that the negotiations are on-going, there is no specific time limit for instituting a new cooperative bargaining agreement.

Both the unions and Verizon are declaring a win on their side; however some union employees see it as a stalemate. A Verizon cable splicer, Jeff Rafos, recently told the Wall Street Journal, “What was the point of all this? Why give up our paychecks just to start talks all over again?” The truth is, until the new deal is reached and agreed upon by both parties, it’s hard to tell what the point of all this really was.

Verizon Communication’s executive VP of human resources, Marc Reed, stated that the company decided to end the strike “because we believe that is in the best interest of our customers and our employees,” and went on to say that Verizon will “look forward to negotiating the important issues that are integral to the future health of Verizon’s wireline business.”

Meanwhile, Verizon customers have arguably suffered as much as anyone after it was reported that acts of “sabotage” by union workers have not only increased call center support wait times and service repair wait times, but the deliberate attacks on their network have affected paramedics, law enforcement, hospitals, and other first responders.

Posted in Internet T1, Verizon | No Comments »

Verizon Reports Acts of Sabotage by Strikers

The Verizon strike, which began when Verizon Communications could not reach an agreement with roughly 45,000 of its union employees over healthcare premiums, retirement benefits, and pensions, has turned ugly.

Due to striker’s actions, Verizon Communications has successfully acquired preliminary injunctions in Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania, and was recently in court to obtain two more for New Jersey and Massachusetts. The injunctions prevent strikers from illegally blocking Verizon facilities as well as using intimidation tactics on non-striking employees that show up for work at picketed locations.

Since August 6th, (just prior to 45,000 union members going on strike after their contract expired) Verizon Communications has reported almost 100 acts of “sabotage” against its network facilities. Aside from intimidating drivers, Maryland has cited 8 picketers being arrested; 2 in Salisbury for blocking employees that were not on strike from entering work, and 6 in Randallstown for illegally blocking an entrance to the facility there. Verizon refuses to accept such uncouth acts as these, and Mike Mason, Verizon’s Chief Security Officer, stated that it will not be tolerated. Furthermore, he noted that it is “a federal offense to damage or destroy critical communications equipment.”

One of the most shocking complaints was that Verizon reported the acts of “sabotage” had “temporarily affected service to thousands of customers across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, including police stations and other emergency responders.”

Verizon maintains that they are simply trying to stay competitive in a dying landline business, while union members keep pushing the idea of corporate greed. The CWA claims that, despite the fact that over the past four years Verizon made $19.5 million in profits – with $258 million going to the top five execs – they still want $1 billion in annual concessions, or approximately $20,000 a year per worker.

Moreover, the strikers believe that Verizon is refusing to cooperatively reach a deal. James Wagner, President of the CWA Local 1122, which represents almost 600 employees in the Buffalo, NY area, said that Verizon has not moved away from any of their “regressive demands,” adding that “Verizon’s way of negotiating is their way or the highway.”

In one of the many Channel Partners blogs on this hot topic, commenter Mike Jones makes a valid argument, citing that “the portion of the company that turned a serious profit last year – the wireless business – is almost entirely NOT union. Why should Verizon NON union employees’ hard work go to fund the union employees’ outrageous salaries and benefits packages?”

We’d like to know what you think! Who are you siding with?

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Attention Verizon Customers, Verizon Workers are on Strike

After unsuccessful negotiations, Verizon union workers say they have had enough, and are now on strike. Approximately 45,000 Northeast wireline unit workers of the two unions involved – the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America – believe that Verizon Communications wants too many concessions, and have refused the company’s proposals to make employees pay more for healthcare, change work rules, and cut benefits and pensions.

Workers say that in this economy they cannot afford to contribute more for their health benefits. Verizon claims that the wireline business has been waning for the past decade, and that it is merely trying to keep costs in check and stay competitive as more customers decide to cut-the-cord and move to wireless services by having union workers pay for healthcare upfront as other non-union employees do.

The Communications Workers of America however, isn’t falling for the ‘poor Verizon is only trying to save money’ bit, blaming it on corporate greed and noting that over the past four years the company paid out $258 million to its top five executives after raking in $19.5 billion in profits. Edward Mooney, VP of CWA District 2-13 has said that his union workers “are determined to fight back against Verizon’s corporate greed and bargain a fair contract.”

In regards to negotiations, legislative and political director for the CWA, Bob Master stated in a recent interview that Verizon is adamant about “gutting health care,” and that he has “never seen bargaining this unproductive in 25 years.”

The Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers represent just about 45,000 and 13,000 workers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, respectfully. As a result of the strike, the burden now falls on non-union workers that are called on from other states, such as North Carolina. With the least amount of Verizon employees that are represented by a union, newsobserver.com reported that North Carolina has roughly 200 of its 1,800 workers at one location on standby to travel to New York as well as other states affected by the strike in order to pick up the slack. The non-union workers will fill in a number of various positions for the time being.

Although the last time they voted to authorize a strike was in 2008, the last time CWA actually went through with it was back in 2000. And while it’s clear all sides are looking for a resolution, as of now it is difficult to determine just what the end result will be.

Posted in General, Internet T1, Verizon | No Comments »

PBX Sales Are On the Rise

A Private Branch Exchange (PBX for short) is a small telephone switch that is purchased by an enterprise in order to reduce the total required number of POTS lines. Traditionally, businesses would purchase one telephone line from the telephone company for each employee. With a PBX system that number is decreased, and you are only required to lease as many lines as you plan to have employees making calls outside of the system at a given time. Moreover, making calls within the system is also made easier, as the person you are trying to reach is only 3 or 4 numbers away.

A few months back, the Eastern Management Group – one of the world’s premier strategic research companies – conducted a study reporting that between 2009 and 2010, the sales of Private Branch Exchanges (PBXs) grew 16%. The study also indicated that out of all newly installed PBXs, SIP trunks were also installed 45% of the time.

The expansion in PBX sales is traversing enterprises as well as small and medium-sized businesses seeking the advantages of enhanced productivity and reduced costs via PBX installs, replacements, and upgrades. Leading the PBX market with over a 34% share is Cisco, with Avaya (who has demonstrated to be very capable in engrossing Nortel and cultivating it in combination with their new and existing product lines) being its really only other big competition, coming in with just over a 23% share.

Meanwhile, while Cisco and Avaya have a significant hold among large systems, Panasonic is targeting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that require 50 lines or less for sales, giving them just a hair over 4% overall market share. Open source PBXs are another steady trend, as they are customarily employed by smaller businesses that require no more than 60 lines and account for 18% of the market share.

According to the Eastern Management Group’s study, roughly three quarters of Panasonic’s sales are from offices with up to 50 PBX lines; of North American line sales, approximately 40% are from offices with less than 20 PBX lines. As a result, Panasonic is rolling out new products as well as a new campaign in marketing directed toward SMBs in the hopes of increasing revenue even further.

Additional Information

For more information on PBX systems and how they could help improve your business – whatever size it may be – contact one of our professional account managers today!

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Business Mobile VoIP Use Is Expected to Soar Over the Next Five Years

Mobile Voice over Internet Protocol (aka Mobile VoIP) acts as an extension of Voice over Internet Protocol wherein voice traffic is transmitted over the available broadband connection (either Wi-Fi, 3G, GPRS or EDGE) so you can make IP-based calls from a mobile phone.

According to recent figures from In-Stat, a research and consulting firm with over 30 years of experience, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology is quickly advancing from fixed-line to mobile.

As it turns out, the ever-growing number of businesses employing mobile VoIP is producing considerable opportunity for suppliers of gateway equipment as well as their partners. In-Stat believes that it will become so popular, that by 2015 the use of mobile VoIP by companies will skyrocket to 83 million lines, and the amount spent on it will surpass a whopping $6 billion!

For the most part, In-Stat discovered that over the next five years the number of business mobile VoIP customers will likely increase tenfold, with the majority driven by mid-sized businesses and enterprises using IP PBX. And while In-Stat did not go into great detail about mobile VoIP operators, they did state that they do pose an adoption barrier, but could also turn out to be significant promoters of the service. Vonage, Verizon Wireless, Skype and Clearwire are just a few of the companies that are already part of the mobile VoIP sector.

In-Stat market analyst, Amy Cravens, stated that it wasn’t until recently that businesses began implementing mobile VoIP, and that “one of the key benefits of mobile VoIP for enterprises is extending desk-phone functionality to mobile devices.”

To put it simply, mobile VoIP customers have the ability to allow wireless devices to deliver more than just voice services (think instant messaging, e-mail, and collaboration) and can therefore essentially use their cell phones as an extension of their business desk phone.

There are multiple advantages to adopting mobile VoIP that make it a wise choice, including:

  • Better coverage where reception is frequently lost when using cell phones
  • A simple implementation path
  • Cost-efficient international long distance
  • The fact that you can make use of the benefits of IP-based communication features
  • The ability to essentially bring your desktop phone with you – wherever you go

For more information on how mobile VoIP can help improve your business, contact one of our professional account managers today!

Posted in Internet T1, voip | No Comments »

NetInterCall Integrates with Microsoft Lync Online

For those of you that might be a bit unfamiliar with the cloud, let me back up a bit. There are countless definitions and explanations about what the cloud is, but when it comes down to it, the cloud is the Internet. Yes, it really is that simple! Today, the popularity of cloud-based services is on the rise – and there are many reasons why. For starters, employing cloud-based services eliminates your need to purchase or maintain hardware or software, and because you are always using the latest version, there is no need to fret over making sure you have the latest upgrade for each service you use. Furthermore, cloud-based solutions can be employed in any location, and they eliminate the need for your dedicated IT staff to manage your solution which allows them to focus on other mission-critical issues – what’s not to love?

And when it comes to cloud services, InterCall is the cherry on top of the cloud-based services sundae. For over 20 years businesses have been safely and securely leveraging InterCall’s conferencing solutions over their reliable network.

Today marks the launch of Microsoft Office 365. Another leap into the cloud for InterCall, Microsoft Office 365 is a subscription-based service that blends the Office applications you are most likely already familiar with (such as Outlook Exchange, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Office desktop suite, etc.) with cloud-based versions of collaboration services Lync Online and SharePoint Online.

This launch is special because of the unique value that InterCall brings to Office 365. If you are wondering why your business should partner with InterCall for Office 365, there are three main benefits to consider:

  • Experience – as the world’s leading conferencing provider, InterCall offers everything from personalized training and adoption programs to more involved assistance such as professional migration services. In addition, along with the multiple certifications InterCall holds, they are also a Microsoft Silver Certified Partner and national systems integrator
  • Support – InterCall provides worldwide 24/7 tier 1 and tier 2 customer support with skilled agents that are experienced in all aspects of Office 365, as well as consultations and technical pre-sales assistance. InterCall also offers recorded training sessions available online free of charge
  • Features – InterCall’s robust list of features includes:
    • Support at the touch of a button on your telephone keypad
    • The ability to mute/un-mute lines
    • Customers can dial-in to your meeting, or you can dial-out to them
    • Connect to your meeting via multiple devices
    • Lock/un-lock your meeting to ensure complete privacy
    • Schedule your conferences simply and easily through Outlook
    • Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and/or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) integration, including mixed recording

Posted in Conferencing, Intercall, Internet T1, Microsoft, Tier-1 Carrier Networks, voip | No Comments »

SMBs find Opportunity in SIP Trunking

Typically, a traditional company might have a local Public Switched Telephone Network gateway, a line dedicated to routing voice calls to the outside – typically a PRI – and an Internet circuit dedicated for Web and data use – often a T1. Generally the data circuit is underutilized; however, by using Voice over Internet Protocol you eliminate the need for a PRI altogether, leaving only the T1 circuit and the necessary number of SIP trunks. SIP trunks save those same businesses $700 to $1000 per month, by letting those with an IP PBX connect internal data and voice traffic to the outside Public Switched Telephone Network via Internet Protocol.

Another benefit of SIP trunking is that they are often sold as concurrent calls, allowing you to purchase in increments of one – something very hard to do with a PRI, and definitely comes in handy for businesses that opt to grow incrementally.

Steven Johnson, the president of SIP traffic and firewall technology company, Ingate Systems, believes that like unified communications, SIP trunking has potential to become a gateway to more enhanced aspects of Voice over Internet Protocol. Johnson also states that there will be significant future growth from adjacent applications, “As people see the value of SIP trunking, and as they recognize the power of the other features included in their PBX, they will start to do more with the SIP they have installed.” He added that over time, worldwide SIP connectivity amid companies will equate to more peer-to-peer traffic, and no longer require a service provider for making calls.

Most companies have some kind of Internet Protocol communication need – whether its wireless IP phones that work off of a Wide Area Network, a mobile worker using a softphone connected to a PBX, or a telecommuter using an IP phone as an extension off of the PBX. According to Toshiba’s product marketing manager, Jon Nelson, “These are all really practical and usable solutions to most people, and once they discover these are things that are out there, and they’re already converging with an IP PBX and SIP trunks, there’s a lot of interest there.”

For more information on how SIP trunking can help your SMB, contact one of our professional account managers today!

Posted in Internet T1, Tier-1 Carrier Networks, voip | No Comments »

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