March 12, 2012
Laurie Dack, UC and Voice Sales Specialist
As consumers living in an ever-evolving world, we expect access to information nearly every waking moment of our day. Many of us carry a cell phone, laptop and tablet to and from work each day. Some of us may even have another cell phone and computer at home. While all of these devices may seem necessary, are we using them all to their full potential? Can they be shared devices and used both at work and home?
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is an increasingly popular trend in which enterprise users are connecting their devices of choice to the company network. While this does increase virtualization and mobility for employees, BYOD can bring about challenges to a company’s network security. Make sure the necessary precautions are taken to make sure your network is robust and information is kept secure.
Take advantage of BYOD and utilize the tools available to increase your mobility and connectivity with colleagues. There are many popular apps and tools that can make your mobility much easier. Avaya’s Flare Communicator app, announced earlier this year, simplifies your communication tools and keeps you connected from virtually anywhere with WiFi or 3G access. This app is only available for the Apple iPad at the moment, but Avaya does plan on releasing the app for other consumer devices before the end of the year. The app provides voice, instant messaging with presence and email integration to users. Connecting with your network’s Avaya Aura, the app allows one to manage call history and contact management, answer calls, receive voicemail, and stay connected and updated with instant messaging and emails. Check out the Avaya page for a video demo of this product. The application is available for download through the Apple App Store.
As you or your employees decide to add their own device to the company network, take full advantage of added mobility but remember to keep the company’s network, infrastructure, and private information protected.
Tags: Avaya, Avaya Flare Communicator, BYOD
Posted in: General,Technology,Uncategorized,VoIP
January 16, 2012
- Laurie Dack, UC and Voice Sales Specialist
This past year we have seen outstanding growth and development with communications in the workplace, and as we kick off 2012, we can only expect the trends to continue. In my opinion, here are some of the key trends to watch this year:
Continuous connectivity in the workplace. Employees want the freedom of mobility to work from home and beyond while also having full access to voice, e-mail, and corporate servers.
Evolution of contact centers. Take advantage of available technology and discover how you can raise your contact center ROI to control costs and delight customers with quicker responses utilizing less costly email, chat and text communications. As we discussed here , end-users are now responding through social media avenues. Avaya’s Social Media Manager is a strategic tool companies are using to sift through information posted about their particular brand.
SIP. While SIP has been a growing trend for several years, companies need to protect their voice networks with a Session Border Controller. Adding a SIP Trunking trial to your 2012 initiatives is a great way to learn the benefits of the robust and affordable trunking options available.
Managed Services. Let SKC help your company keep your Avaya firmware updated, support downloads current and investigate and clear minor and major alarms. We can also assist by managing the day-to-day maintenance issues while you and your team can focus on the future.
Want to read more about what’s in store for 2012? This whitepaper digs deeper into their topics – and more.
Tags: Avaya, Managed Services, Session Border Controller, SIP Trunking, Social Media Manager
Posted in: General,Technology,VoIP
December 30, 2011
Laurie Dack, UC and Voice Sales Specialist
As you may have seen in our Techno Talk earlier this month, Avaya has acquired Sipera, a Unified Communications security applications provider.
This is great news for all businesses who are planning to trial SIP trunking in the near future. When adding SIP trunking to your network, it is always recommended to include a Session Border Controller on your premise that protects your voice network. Sipera provides an affordable Session Border Controller that was designed for enterprise businesses of all sizes, but offers many of the redundancy and features of a more expensive carrier-grade Session Border Controller. Sipera’s SBC works with ALL types of enterprise voice systems and SKC has the technical skill to design the best SBC solution to work with your Cisco, NEC, Avaya or other voice provider. SBC functionality is scalable, compatible in environments of 20 to 10,000, with much lower costs for its small capacity SMB offering as well.
Additionally, Sipera’s Secure Access Proxy allows companies to confidently and safely extend their UC applications to any supporting endpoint in any location over any network. Using the Secure Access Proxy can save companies thousands of dollars by avoiding traditional trunking methods. SKC recommends trialing SIP trunking on a smaller scale before transitioning your entire voice network to SIP trunking. The Sipera e-SBC has a scalable solution that can be sized for a smaller trial, while growing to fit your entire SIP trunking network in the future.
Tags: Avaya, SBC, Session Border Controller, Sipera, Unified Communications, VoIP
Posted in: General,Technology,VoIP
