Author: Kevin Gulley
Imagine this scenario. You’re a financial advisor and you get a phone call while at your daughter’s soccer game from a client you haven’t spoken with in 5 years. His name pops up on your phone and you’re thinking “Brendan McSheffrey, why do I know that name?” You take the call, faking things while you chat and get back up to speed. Calls like this happen all the time to field-based employees in all kinds of industries, right? Now what if that same call came in and a screen-pop appeared showing you not only his name, but the last…
I was sound asleep at 6AM one morning a couple of January’s ago when my phone rang. Actually, my house phone rang, which scared the hell out of me because NOBODY ever calls us on it anymore. Before I could answer it, my wife’s cellphone started buzzing across the room and my phone started ringing downstairs. When I answered I heard, “Hello, this is the superintendent of schools. Today is a snow day, all schools are closed. Have a great day.” “That was awesome!” I muttered as I flopped back into bed. “The kids are going to be psyched…
Traditionally, when purchasing a major communications technology system like a new UC or IP-PBX platform, or performing a significant upgrade to an existing system, businesses have favored Capex financing over Opex financing. Capex is used by companies to purchase or upgrade assets such as property and equipment. and is typically a major financial decision for a company because it is a significant, one time investment that must be maintained for a period of time using opex. Opex, on the other hand, is an ongoing cost used for running or maintaining fixed assets like telephone infrastructure, computers and other systems. …
Since being awarded top honors in the recent Gartner UC Magic Quadrant, Microsoft Lync has been all the buzz in the UC market. While companies have been rapidly deploying Lync for presence management, collaboration, IM and conferencing (mostly intra-company capabilities), when it comes to true enterprise voice deployments – in which Lync replaces the traditional Private Branch Exchange (PBX) telephone system and extends beyond the organization – companies are moving more slowly. This makes sense, as prior to executing on a project like this businesses need to think through issues of interoperability, security, policy and management – not to mention the software,…
Like so many forms of communications, voicemail has been transformed in the last decade. Gone are the days when being able to leave a message for someone that didn’t pick up the phone revolutionized our ability to connect with people. Now, according to studies, 80% or more of all business calls go to voicemail, and businesses and business people are looking for ways to make voicemail more efficient and effective – and less time consuming. To answer the question, how is voicemail evolving and staying relevant in a hyper-connected world, we spoke with Jeremy Parker, Director of Operations at Mutare.…
The adoption of Unified Communications and Collaboration solutions is accelerating in every industry, and healthcare is no exception.The docs and nurses I know love their gadgets and are always early adopters of the next new thing (let’s face it, there’s a reason Apple made the iPad Mini the exact size to fit in the pocket of a lab coat), and of course they want to take this tech to work and use it to serve their patients more effectively. In healthcare, however, things aren’t that simple and one big reason is HIPAA. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, established in 1996, has…
The trends and demographics are working against the deskphone. It’s not the deskphone’s fault…they’re just not cool anymore (sort of like Facebook for my teenage daughter). In fact, as eWeek stated when highlighting a recent Ring Central report: A great majority of corporate employees (86 percent) use their personal smartphones to get work done even outside business hours, the survey found. Further, half of the people polled said they’d prefer to use their personal phone, even when sitting next to a desk phone. This may sound like a big number, but a Forrester Mobile Workforce Adoption Trends report upped the ante and found that 64%…
I remember starting my first job, and sadly, I’m old enough that the only technology I was provided with was my deskphone and the passcode to log into my voicemail. When I traveled for work, I used payphones and hotel phones along with AT&T phone cards to connect with clients and the home office (and a separate phone card for calling my wife). Needless to say, times have changed. Portrait of smiling businessman with headset at computer in office Today the voice communication options for knowledge workers both in the office and on the road seem endless. This month (so…