unified communications

Musings on the Polycom Deal

April 18, 2016

So MITEL is getting bigger by buying Polycom. It had been rumored for weeks and now finally hits the news.

I wonder if Polycom saw the writing on the wall that the battle is going to come down to Microsoft versus Cisco? Motley Fool thinks that is why the OTT ITSP 3Some - 8x8, RC and Vonage - all had a bad day at the stock market.

Posted in BPaaS , apps, hosted uc, mergers, telecommunications, unified communications, voip, webRTC

Why Do You Look at an iPhone That Way?

April 7, 2016

The promise of the iPhone wasn't that you could make HD voice calls. Actually the original promise was a beautifully designed cellphone. Then it became more with iTunes and the app store and the ecosystem.

The ecosystem is the environment around software like Apple, Amazon, Google or Microsoft.

Posted in apps, broadsoft, communications, hosted uc, mobile, sales and selling, telecommunications, unified communications, voip

The M&A Train Rolls Along

April 5, 2016

In the UCaaS space, "Fusion has completed the acquisition of the intellectual property and assets of Technology for Business Corporation (TFB), a provider of contact center solutions," reports Channel Vision magazine.

In a different kind of merger, Genuity Networks in New Hampshire is merging two diverse broadband sources together. It is "based on technology from Mushroom Networks that enables the company to bond together landline or wireless connections from multiple network operators to create a single higher-speed and more reliable connection," reports Telecompetitor.

CenturyLink acquires netAura, an IT security services firm that specializes in engineering, developing and consulting on managed security technologies.

Posted in broadband, data center, hosted uc, mergers, unified communications

Channel Strategy: A Quick Look

March 21, 2016

Often I hear from channel execs that Agents aren't the future because they aren't moving to selling cloud and managed services fast enough. It is always the MSPs and VARs that will be the partners of the future.

Funny how different vendors are trying different things. Fonality is placing bets on both sides as they announced both a distribution deal with Ingram Micro and an exclusive deal with The (Agent) Alliance.

Posted in PBX, VAR, agents, channel, hosted uc, master agency, msp, sales and selling, unified communications

What Happens in Vegas

March 17, 2016

At the Channel Partners Expo in Vegas, rumors are running wild. Metaswitch-Genband being settled in patent court. Polycom-Mitel cuz money.

Another Broadsoft client gets bought. MagicJack (yes, magicjack) decides to over-bid in order to not be the bridesmaid again.

Posted in Marketing, SDN, broadsoft, channel, expo, hosted uc, mergers, unified communications

2 Reasons It is Hard to Sell UC

March 14, 2016

Despite the numerous UC providers crowding the marketplace, the actual sales of UC seats is not skyrocketing. Companies with 25% growth like 8x8, number in the dozens, not in the hundreds.

For some, it is a focus-message mess. They want to appeal to everyone - and that market is already taken.

Posted in Marketing, hosted uc, mergers, sales and selling, unified communications, voip

What Are They Feeding Enterprise?

March 9, 2016

After a 27 hour trip to Enterprise Connect, I can safely say that we have an unqualified me-too business. Video conferencing and collaboration - now called meetings and workflow - were printed on every booth. Here is what I saw.

Cisco demonstrated Spark, which I thought was for SMB, but is being pitched to Enterprise especially with its big hook into Salesforce.

Posted in PBX, conferences, conferencing, expo, hosted uc, im/chat, metaswitch, tele-presence, telecommunications, unified communications, video, webRTC, xmpp, xo

Winstream's Blunder Customers, Agents Are Paying For

February 22, 2016

In the news, Windstream on its trek up-market is plowing through a field of customers and partners.

"In December, Windstream sent letters to 171 small-to-midsized business (SMB) customers and their partners explaining that negative or low-margin accounts would be subject to significant rate increases, or these customers were also given the option to move to another carrier without penalty. As part of an ongoing effort, more letters will be delivered to partners and customers in March."

Is it the customers' fault that WIND signed a contract to deliver services they couldn't afford to?

Windstream quoted an MPLS network for me a few years ago.

Posted in CLEC, agents, channel, smb, unified communications

It Will Be an Outsider That Kicks Your Butt

February 22, 2016

Bloomberg has an article about Facebook at Mobile World Congress and how FB looks like a competitor to telcos. FM Messenger, WhatsApp (that FB owns), SnapChat, Skype, Slack, and many other messaging apps are video and voice enabled (in many cases thanks to WebRTC). More minutes are moving away from telcos. At least, the US cellcos have realized that they are in the dumb pipe bytes business.

Posted in PBX, hosted uc, mobile, unified communications

Telecom Tidbits #2429

February 17, 2016

PRIVACY

First up is Apple versus the FBI over end-to-end encryption on the iPhone. For privacy nerds, Barry Eisler's new book, God's Eye View, was a scary realization that the NSA has too much reach -- and very little oversight.

Over at AVC, there is a discussion about privacy - or rather whether you think Apple should bother - or if all info will be hacked, why not just let it out to stop terrorists and child porn??

Posted in CLEC, communications, conferencing, hosted uc, metaswitch, privacy, saas, unified communications

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