What 7 things are you looking for from UCaaS?

Companies continue to struggle to align their IT strategies with their business goals, effectively handle security and privacy concerns, and manage a web of multi-vendor solutions. Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) tools can help mitigate these challenges and support corporate goals for investment. But many businesses struggle to provide a complete suite of UC tools to all end users.

7 Reasons to move to UCaaS solutions:

1. Secure, reliable performance. With more than 50 percent of employees routinely working remotely and with companies competing on a global stage, ensure your Cloud-based solution can deliver on its SLAs.

2. Cap-ex savings and cost consistency. If you want to reduce up-front investment and move to an Op-Ex model, make sure your chosen provider offers a subscription model in which prices are consistent.

3. Advanced features. Businesses look to Cloud-based UC services to deliver cutting-edge capabilities as soon as managers and end-users want them. Make sure you’ll be able to turn on advanced functionality as needed without incurring unexpected costs or needing a contract renewal.

4. Quick deployment. To stay competitive, you need to move on a dime. Make sure your chosen Cloud-based solutions can be up and running in hours, that users will always be on the latest version of the software, and that it is easy to configure for new users and use cases.

5. Scalability and flexibility. Cloud-based UC services let companies add and remove new employees as needed. This supports fluctuations in staffing needs and helps growing companies quickly catch up to larger competitors. Make sure your solution provider can offer the kind of flexibility and scalability your business needs today in any location and on any network or device.

6. Support for multiple locations and remote workers. Few businesses can afford to have IT staff at all their corporate offices, and none can personally support home-office and traveling workers. Look for a cloud solution that can be deployed and managed from anywhere.

7. End-to-end solution set. A single provider makes management a breeze and ensures consistency across applications and platforms. One of the biggest challenges IT managers face is handling the various tools in place at their organizations—some of which are brought in by employees themselves, without input from IT. By deploying a single solution with end-to-end capabilities, companies can give their employees everything they need to get work done—all while streamlining contracts, billing, support, and management.

Are you ready to find the UCaaS solutions to meet your specific needs? Contact us today!

7 Things Your UCaaS Solutions Needs

Unified Communications (UC) is here to stay -- as evidenced by a recent report from Frost & Sullivan, where almost two-thirds of companies report that UC is deployed within their organization. But it isn't perfect. Companies continue to struggle to align their IT strategies with their business goals, effectively handle security and privacy concerns, and manage a web of multi-vendor solutions.

Why You Should Consider a Cloud-Based Solution:

Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) tools can help mitigate these challenges and support corporate goals for investment. But many businesses struggle to provide a complete suite of UC tools to all end users, across campuses and home offices, geographies and time zones. Enter UCaaS: Unified Communications as a Service.

Moving communications and collaboration applications to the cloud allows companies to see significant, measurable benefits across a range of areas. But, not all UCaaS solutions are alike.

If you're evaluating potential UCaaS providers, make sure to look for key criteria:

1. Secure, reliable performance. With more than 50 percent of employees routinely working remotely, and with companies competing on a global stage, make sure your cloud-based solution can deliver on its SLAs.

2. Cap-ex savings and cost consistency. If you want to reduce up-front investment and move to an Op-Ex model, make sure your chosen provider offers a subscription model in which prices are consistent.

3. Advanced features. Businesses look to cloud-based UC services to deliver cutting-edge capabilities as soon as managers and end-users want them. Make sure you'll be able to turn on advanced functionality as needed, without incurring unexpected costs or needing a contract renewal.

4. Quick deployment. To stay competitive, you need to move on a dime. Make sure your chosen cloud-based solutions can be up and running in hours; that users will always be on the latest version of the software; and that it is easy to configure for new users and use cases.

5. Scalability and flexibility. Cloud-based UC services let companies add and remove new employees as needed. This supports fluctuations in staffing needs and helps growing companies quickly catch up to larger competitors. Make sure your solution provider can offer the kind of flexibility and scalability your business needs today in any location, and on any network or device.

6. Support for multiple locations and remote workers. Few businesses can afford to have IT staff at all their corporate offices, and none can personally support home-office and traveling workers. Look for a cloud solution that can be deployed and managed from anywhere.

7. End-to-end solution set. A single provider makes management a breeze and ensures consistency across applications and platforms. One of the biggest challenges IT managers face is handling the myriad tools in place at their organizations-some of which are brought in by employees themselves, without input from IT. By deploying a single solution with end-to-end capabilities, companies can give their employees everything they need to get work done-all while streamlining contracts, billing, support, and management.

UCaaS delivers numerous benefits to businesses as they fight to stay competitive in an increasingly global, collaborative, and always-on world. Make sure your chosen solution can deliver leading-edge capabilities without the need for up-front investment, is easy to deploy to all employees, offers access to advanced features, helps maintain security and compliance, and delivers 24/7 management and support everywhere you need it.

If you are interested in finding out more about Unified Communications, please contact us today!

Nextiva’s New Platform & New Capabilities Are Here!

Introducing Nextiva’s NextOS Platform: New Capabilities, New Packages, and Pricing.

Nextiva’s NextOS platform is here! Exciting enhancements and four new packages enable greater sales flexibility for their partners.

Nextiva created more differentiation between packages with new offerings and customization through add-ons. Starting with the affordable Essentials package, for the most basic communication needs and scaling up to the new Ultimate package, fully loaded to support the customer journey through the power of the NextOS platform.

Nextiva offers more options to support businesses of any size to ensure customers’ teams stay connected from work, home, or anywhere else. Nextiva is also growing add-on options to expand solutions’ value as businesses grow and their needs change.

The new Nextiva packages, powered by the NextOS platform, feature:

• Single Sign-on: Access the web, mobile, and desktop applications using the same sign-on criteria.

• Self Set-up: Configure specifications in a step-by-step flow and be up and running within minutes.

• New Admin and User Dashboards: A new UI, easier navigation, guided tips, educational videos, and links to support articles.

• Video and Collaboration: Keep communication, documentation, and tasks in one, virtual teamwork space.

• CRM with CallPop: Key caller information, recent survey results, and account revenue details are displayed instantly when calls come in.

• Voice Administration: Manage individual voice settings and make adjustments to preferences easier and faster than ever.

Learn more about Nextiva’s new packages.

Nextiva Offers HIPAA-Compliant Voice, Fax and Video

Nextiva is the first cloud communication company to offer a HIPPA-compliant suite of products. .

We are now able to offer HIPAA-compliant voice, fax, and video conferencing with Nextiva's Business Phone Service. 

HIPAA Business Phone Service

Nextiva offers HIPAA-compliant business phone service that is used and trusted by some of the biggest brands in healthcare. Their call security and reliability has been vetted to be HIPAA-compliant and comes backed by a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). 

HIPAA vFAX

HIPAA vFax can be purchased as part of a business phone service package. Just like with standard vFAX, the HIPAA vFAX service will be unlimited when included with a voice plan. Nextiva has the security controls in place to provide secure and reliable service to healthcare companies of all kinds.

HIPAA Video

Amazon Chime’s video conferencing and online meetings platform is HIPAA compliant and comes free with any Enterprise plan. Nextiva’s partnership with Amazon Chime makes them the only provider to offer a HIPAA-compliant voice, fax, and video conferencing solution.

Download the HIPAA Compliance Guide for the complete list of available features.

If you want to look at voice improvement options for your business please give us a shout.

Are You Remote Workforce-Ready?

Today the coronavirus epidemic continued to prompt new travel restrictions and emergency declarations around the world, with the U.S. State Department on Sunday warning citizens against cruise travel and Italy resorting to a massive lockdown affecting millions of people. Work at home declarations from the CDC and other government agencies are probably going to become the new normal. Not only could it become a temporary law, but it's also the best way to protect your employees from exposure to the novel virus.

So how can you as a business owner prepare to transition your workforce into a work-at-home team that still performs at a high level? Here are six things to consider before you go virtual:

HIGH-SPEED INTERNET - The first thing you need to do as a business owner is to survey your employees to see what kind of broadband they are using at home. To run business voice and video calls, they're going to need plenty of throughput. A good standard that should provide enough horsepower is 50 Mb down, 5 Mb upload speed.

MOVE YOUR PHONE SYSTEM TO THE CLOUD - Here are the key features of UCaaS that will enable your work-at-home employees by leveraging the benefits of unified communications in the Cloud:

• Video Conferencing

• Mobile App

• Collaboration

• CRM Integration

MOVE DESKTOP WORKSPACE TO THE CLOUD - With Active Directory, you can ensure certain file-sharing rules within your own Local Area Network. Two promising technologies address these features and move them all to the Cloud while maintaining centralized control over access permissions.

• Workspace as a Service

• Desktop as a Service

MOVE CONTACT CENTER TO THE CLOUD - Does your business have a contact center or help desk in-office? Having a Cloud Contact Center solution allows your employees to support your clients while working from home.

IDENTIFY & PROVIDE NECESSARY DEVICES - Don't let Coronavirus hold your company back; make sure that your employees have the technology they need:

• Mobile or softphone

• Desktop or laptop computer

REMOTE FILE SHARE

When you send your workers home, they must be able to share, collaborate on, and store files in the Cloud. The most popular cloud file storage providers are:

• Microsoft Office 365 - OneDrive

• Google G-Suite - Google Drive

• Dropbox

• Box.com

HOW FAST CAN YOU MAKE THE PIVOT?

If you'd like assistance in putting a work-at-home technology plan in place, contact us.

Choose Caisson and Work with a Local RingCentral Sales Professional

If you would like to drastically improve your business communications give us a shout.

CallTower’s Microsoft Teams Direct Routing

Why did Allen Press go with CallTower over Microsoft for a Teams solution?

It always helps to know what you want. Allen Press knew what they wanted when they met with their unified communication channel partner: they needed to move their old telephony system to the cloud. And, since their users were already used to a Microsoft environment, it made sense to make the move to a Microsoft Teams Calling Plan solution.

Who is Allen Press, you ask? Allen Press is a full-service printing company, complete with scholarly publishing and marketing services. Allen Press works hard to stay at the top of their game, so they know how to research. They realized Microsoft Teams Calling Plans would be the perfect fit – but Microsoft would be unable to aid in the “heavy lifting” of implementation. It was time to call in the experts.

Allen Press’ Sales Partners found two potential unified communication solution providers: CallTower and Altigen. Altigen was removed from contention early on, so CallTower was selected as the first choice. Which makes a lot of sense: we’re a proven Direct Routing Partner with Microsoft, our Microsoft Teams Calling Plans with Direct Routing solution is well integrated, and it fit all of Allen Press’ requirements.

One of those requirements was flexibility. Allen Press has several hundred users-a majority of them had low call volume-so plan flexibility was critical to keeping their telephony system economically viable. We were able to provide flexible licensing for users with varying call volumes without issue and managed to consolidate everything into one dialing plan.

Since Microsoft Teams was relatively new on the market, I decided to spearhead the project with our Solution Architect and Engineering Teams. The Sales Partner and my CallTower team worked on discovery, presentation, demonstration set-up and the remainder of the sales process to secure the deal. When the Sales Partner and I didn’t have an answer for Allen Press on a component of the process, the rest of my CallTower team was able to respond quickly and accurately.

Allen Press loved our approach to sales discovery – they ensured the CallTower Solution Architects designed a plan that worked specifically for their organization. The implementation phase was flawless! “CallTower made the transition to Teams Direct Routing Phone System seamless for our users,” noted Allen Press’ System Administrator Supervisor, Richard Wilhite. “By performing all the necessary setup in Office 365 prior to, and at the time of, the migration, and conducting training sessions for our users, they provided a literal turnkey solution for our new phone system.”

The result of this deal was a win-win for everyone. Allen Press got a flexible, fast and well-designed solution their users love while we got a phenomenal new client. We look forward to supporting and maintaining a fruitful relationship with Allen Press for years to come. Due to the efforts and expertise of the whole CallTower Team, Allen Press went from a legacy communications solution to cloud-enabled Enterprise-grade Microsoft Teams Direct Routing solution in less than 60 days.

If your business is looking to successfully implement Microsoft Teams Calling Plan solution. Give us a shout we can help.

4 Reasons to Replace your Premises-based Phone System

Business communications are changing dramatically. The steady adoption of the cloud and the delivery of these services are shortening the lifespan of current on-premises phone systems. According to Gartner, there has been a 6.6% decline in premises-based revenue over the last 5 years.

So, why the steady decline of the premises-based phone system?

1. Cost - With premises-based systems, upgrading an entire system is no longer a financially attractive option, with many systems requiring a longer commitment and the inability to scale. UCaaS models offer greater flexibility, with financing options and the ability to add and remove services and users whenever needed, providing businesses with the assurance that they can scale at any time with ease.

2. Advanced Features - UCaaS systems integrate traditional telephony solutions with other communication and productivity applications, enabling a myriad of capabilities, including audio, web and video conferencing, company-wide chat, presence, email, file sharing and integrations with leading CRM solutions. The enhanced capabilities that UCaaS solutions are able to deliver are much more equipped to meet the growing demands of the modern workforce.

3. Maintenance - Premises-based switched telephony systems, typically a PBX or IP-PBX system, can be time-consuming, complex and costly to maintain, requiring dedicated IT staff to manage the systems and servers for even the most basic of changes. Unlike equipment that just depreciates, the cloud continues to update automatically and often for no cost. UCaaS systems are easy for both employees and administrators to manage the features of the system without IT support, provide the ability to save even more time and money while improving operations.

4. Security - Premises-based systems don't offer much in the area of security, with equipment and critical data all stored on site. UCaaS systems are hosted on the provider's servers and accessible through an encrypted web browser, ensuring that nothing is left on-site where it could be vulnerable to hacking, theft, or damage. Most UCaaS providers guarantee calls using the public internet are encrypted from the handset into a secure network, ensuring call data remains protected and confidential.

If your business is looking to ditch your old cluegy PBX and move to the cloud or upgrade to a more secure UCaaS solution, we can help!

Contact us today.

Help Voice Play Nice on the Network

UCaaS is the next step in the voice evolution, but voice is tricky. It is not just another app on the network. When users experience issues they are not as forgiving as when email is "slow." VXSuite analyzes all aspects of cloud communications, marrying the phone call records, video sessions, network traffic, etc. with their effects on the voice, in real-time. 

Let us help you correlate and unify disparate data sets, enabling you to handle issues regardless of where they may occur.

VXPulse offers: 

• Universal reporting for any IP address, regardless of manufacturer 

• Simulated calls across the network to test voice and video success 

• Reports to determine average as well as high and low MOS scores 

• Enable multiple teams to have real-time visibility 

Learn more about how VXSuite can help you understand your environment, optimize the network, and deliver great call-quality to your end-users.

Give us a call or shoot us a email . . . Contact Us