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October 26, 2020

• FreeSWITCH The Spookiest Tech Trends of Recent Years

  The world of tech has always had its scary aspects, even for those who love it and work within it constantly. Now that spooky season is here and we have smarter tech than ever before in one of the most frightening years in recent memory, there’s perhaps no better time to look at the spooky side of tech. It’s not always just science fiction. Here’s a few trending technologies of current times that can be positively frightening:

  Artificial Intelligence

  We all know AI isn’t REALLY that scary. At least not in the way science fiction seems to depict it. Many of us in the world of telecom work with AI applications all the time. Even so, some AI have been able to accomplish some creepy feats, and the deep-seated fear in humans that robots will become smarter than us and take over the world will probably never go away until we’re proven right. Some spooky examples of AI surpassing humans in recent years: chatbots inventing new languages we can’t understand, mind-reading AI, and we can’t forget about the time Sophia said she would destroy all humans. 

  Drones

  Just like AI, drones themselves are neutral and many of us use them for all kinds of projects. But as it turns out, surveillance drones are pretty common too, and being spied on is pretty chilling to think about. Drones are VERY sneaky. For the past decade or so, many people have been picking up on this, and requests have been made to legislators to author laws surrounding the use of drones to protect the privacy of the public. Small, inconspicuous drones can be used to spy on people completely without their knowledge from thousands of feet away, and what’s scarier than government or police state surveillance? In 2020 in some countries, there are even drones monitoring people to make sure they stay inside in the face of the pandemic. The horror!

  3D Printed Weapons

  3D printing offers a world of possibilities for anybody that wants to try it. When we think of 3D printing, we might think of small household objects, some crazy good innovations like 3D printing homes for cheap, or in the world of medicine, things like 3D printing a cast for a broken bone. In the last couple of years, however, the 3D printing of weapons has increased. A 3D printed gun movement that could consist of thousands of people across the world has grown, and it’s surprisingly difficult to regulate as it’s so decentralized. Currently, 3D printing weapons is illegal across Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia. It’s a little bit horrifying that just about anybody could take manufacturing weapons into their own hands. And since these guns are made of plastic and not metal, they’re highly undetectable, which is where concern usually lies from government and law enforcement. 

  Driverless Cars

  Self-driving cars might very well become the norm in the future. But they’re still a work in progress, and until every single car on the road is driverless, there are huge hiccups that can occur between how human drivers act compared to autonomous vehicles. In the meantime, since they’re connected to the internet, they’re a perfect target for hacking that could land you in an unknown location – a completely nightmarish situation for anyone. It’s no surprise that most Americans are actually afraid of self-driving cars.

  Spooky Robot Dogs

  Boston Dynamics’ Spot, the robot dog, has been around for the better part of a decade. In 2020, it gained a lot of popularity as a coronavirus prevention mechanism, patrolling around public spaces to scan for proper social distancing habits and playing an automated message asking people to stay 1 meter apart. But these robot dogs can be programmed to do just about anything. There’s something unsettling about an army of these little things towing a truck. And when they’re unexpectedly patrolling public parks and streets, they can really freak people out. 

  Brain Chips

  Brain chips evoke an uneasy feeling, like they’re something that would only be widely used in some dystopian sci-fi world. But for the last couple of years, Elon Musk has been working on Neuralink, brain-machine interfaces that connect minds to machines. There are more wholesome sides to this project, which ideally would be used to cure Parkinson’s disease, or to allow people who are paralyzed to operate technology with their minds. Although that sounds pretty cool, there’s a lot we don’t know about the project at the moment. If the chip were hacked, what could the risks be? Could a person lose control of their own mind or suffer from brain damage? We won’t really know until the technology is more widespread.

  Smart Speakers

  Smart speakers like Echo and Google Home are listening to your every move. Not only that, but real humans could then listen to hours of data – and as recently as last year, they were! It’s pretty terrifying that you could be spied on in your own home, with anything you say recorded by a home assistant, from mildly private conversations to your deepest secrets. Even if the home assistants only start recording after hearing their wake word, we all know how easy it can be to trigger one of these things. Stop spying on me, Google!

  Facial Recognition

  Facial recognition algorithms aren’t just used to unlock smartphones or tag yourself in photos on social media. This kind of technology can be used in policing, and the biggest problem is that it’s not always entirely accurate – false positives could incriminate the wrong people altogether. That’s a nightmarish outcome for anyone, so hopefully its use won’t become widespread until, or if ever, the technology is able to be perfected.

  Don’t get too spooked out there, and stay safe this year. Happy Halloween from the team at FreeSWITCH and SignalWire!

  The post The Spookiest Tech Trends of Recent Years appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

October 23, 2020

• WebRTC Hacks How does the new Azure Communication Services implement WebRTC? (Gustavo Garcia)

  Walkthrough and deep analysis of how Azure Communications Service makes use of WebRTC by Gustavo Garcia

  The post How does the new Azure Communication Services implement WebRTC? (Gustavo Garcia) appeared first on webrtcHacks.

October 20, 2020

• Digium What Will the Future Contact Center Agent Look Like?

  I was recently asked the question in the title of this blog when I was briefing an analyst about Sangoma. Without really thinking about what timeframe or anything like that, I blurted out “Probably a computer that sounds like a native language speaker”. In other words, a sophisticated chatbot.  

  The reason I gave that answer is because as more and more contact center conversations are recorded (aren’t they all now), there is more data generated. And the more data that is generated means there is more learning that can be gleaned from these conversations. More than a human can go through. And so this data is being analyzed and sliced and diced, and, slowly but surely, being turned over to computer engaging you verbally – the chatbot. Some refer to this process as Artificial Intelligence, but no matter what it is, it is the future in the contact center. This chatbot will engage you more, and take you further down the discussion as time inexorably marches on. It means, over time, less and less real humans.

  Chances are you have talked to a chatbot and did not even know it. I once was talking to a person who gave very robotic answers and so I asked “are you a chatbot?” It took some time to answer, and it said “no, I am not a chatbot.” What a bizarre response cycle. At least to me, yes, it was a chatbot. But it was a good one and I didn’t care because it got me what I needed.

  Like most contact center innovations, chatbots have been driven by the oxymoronic need to both reduce costs and provide better service. And as speech recognition, text-to-speech programs, and computing power have all improved and come down in cost, the advent of computer driven speech into the contact center occurred. In fact, right now, both Google’s and Microsoft’s speech recognition claim to be 95% accurate, which happens to be as accurate as a human brain.

  So, I guess that was all in my head when I blurted out that answer. If I was a computer, I probably would have articulated my response better….

  The post What Will the Future Contact Center Agent Look Like? appeared first on Sangoma.

October 18, 2020

• François Marier Using a Let's Encrypt TLS certificate with Asterisk 16.2

  In order to fix the following error after setting up SIP TLS in Asterisk 16.2:

  asterisk[8691]: ERROR[8691]: tcptls.c:966 in __ssl_setup: TLS/SSL error loading cert file. <asterisk.pem>
  

  I created a Let's Encrypt certificate using certbot:

  apt install certbot
  certbot certonly --standalone -d hostname.example.com
  

  To enable the asterisk user to load the certificate successfuly (it doesn't permission to access to the certificates under /etc/letsencrypt/), I copied it to the right directory:

  cp /etc/letsencrypt/live/hostname.example.com/privkey.pem /etc/asterisk/asterisk.key
  cp /etc/letsencrypt/live/hostname.example.com/fullchain.pem /etc/asterisk/asterisk.cert
  chown asterisk:asterisk /etc/asterisk/asterisk.cert /etc/asterisk/asterisk.key
  chmod go-rwx /etc/asterisk/asterisk.cert /etc/asterisk/asterisk.key
  

  Then I set the following variables in /etc/asterisk/sip.conf:

  tlscertfile=/etc/asterisk/asterisk.cert
  tlsprivatekey=/etc/asterisk/asterisk.key
  

  Automatic renewal

  The machine on which I run asterisk has a tricky Apache setup:

  • a webserver is running on port 80
  • port 80 is restricted to the local network

  This meant that the certbot domain ownership checks would get blocked by the firewall, and I couldn't open that port without exposing the private webserver to the Internet.

  So I ended up disabling the built-in certbot renewal mechanism:

  systemctl disable certbot.timer certbot.service
  systemctl stop certbot.timer certbot.service
  

  and then writing my own script in /etc/cron.daily/certbot-francois:

  #!/bin/bash
  TEMPFILE=`mktemp`
  
  # Stop Apache and backup firewall.
  /bin/systemctl stop apache2.service
  /usr/sbin/iptables-save > $TEMPFILE
  
  # Open up port 80 to the whole world.
  /usr/sbin/iptables -D INPUT -j LOGDROP
  /usr/sbin/iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
  /usr/sbin/iptables -A INPUT -j LOGDROP
  
  # Renew all certs.
  /usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet
  
  # Restore firewall and restart Apache.
  /usr/sbin/iptables -D INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
  /usr/sbin/iptables-restore < $TEMPFILE
  /bin/systemctl start apache2.service
  
  # Copy certificate into asterisk.
  cp /etc/letsencrypt/live/hostname.example.com/privkey.pem /etc/asterisk/asterisk.key
  cp /etc/letsencrypt/live/hostname.example.com/fullchain.pem /etc/asterisk/asterisk.cert
  chown asterisk:asterisk /etc/asterisk/asterisk.cert /etc/asterisk/asterisk.key
  chmod go-rwx /etc/asterisk/asterisk.cert /etc/asterisk/asterisk.key
  /bin/systemctl restart asterisk.service
  
  # Commit changes to etckeeper.
  pushd /etc/ > /dev/null
  /usr/bin/git add letsencrypt asterisk
  DIFFSTAT="$(/usr/bin/git diff --cached --stat)"
  if [ -n "$DIFFSTAT" ] ; then
      /usr/bin/git commit --quiet -m "Renewed letsencrypt certs."
      echo "$DIFFSTAT"
  fi
  popd > /dev/null
  

• François Marier SIP Encryption on VoIP.ms

  My VoIP provider recently added support for TLS/SRTP-based call encryption. Here's what I did to enable this feature on my Asterisk server.

  First of all, I changed the registration line in /etc/asterisk/sip.conf to use the "tls" scheme:

  [general]
  register => tls://mydid:mypassword@servername.voip.ms
  

  then I enabled incoming TCP connections:

  tcpenable=yes
  

  and TLS:

  tlsenable=yes
  tlscapath=/etc/ssl/certs/
  

  Finally, I changed my provider entry in the same file to:

  [voipms]
  type=friend
  host=servername.voip.ms
  secret=mypassword
  username=mydid
  context=from-voipms
  allow=ulaw
  allow=g729
  insecure=port,invite
  transport=tls
  encryption=yes
  

  (Note the last two lines.)

  The dialplan didn't change and so I still have the following in /etc/asterisk/extensions.conf:

  [pstn-voipms]
  exten => _1NXXNXXXXXX,1,Set(CALLERID(all)=Francois Marier <5551234567>)
  exten => _1NXXNXXXXXX,n,Dial(SIP/voipms/${EXTEN})
  exten => _1NXXNXXXXXX,n,Hangup()
  exten => _NXXNXXXXXX,1,Set(CALLERID(all)=Francois Marier <5551234567>)
  exten => _NXXNXXXXXX,n,Dial(SIP/voipms/1${EXTEN})
  exten => _NXXNXXXXXX,n,Hangup()
  exten => _011X.,1,Set(CALLERID(all)=Francois Marier <5551234567>)
  exten => _011X.,n,Authenticate(1234) ; require password for international calls
  exten => _011X.,n,Dial(SIP/voipms/${EXTEN})
  exten => _011X.,n,Hangup(16)
  

  Server certificate

  After setting everything up, I saw the following error in my logs:

  asterisk[8691]: ERROR[8691]: tcptls.c:966 in __ssl_setup: TLS/SSL error loading cert file. <asterisk.pem>
  

  due to the fact that I didn't set tlscertfile in /etc/asterisk/sip.conf and that it's using its default value of asterisk.pem, a non-existent file.

  I initially thought that since my Asterisk server is only acting as a TLS client, and not a TLS server, there's probably no harm in not having a certificate. In practice however, my TLS connection was a little unreliable and it would regularly fail with the following TLS errors:

  asterisk[534775]: ERROR[534879]: iostream.c:538 in ast_iostream_close: SSL_shutdown() failed: error:00000005:lib(0):func(0):DH lib, Underlying BIO error: Broken pipe
  asterisk[534775]: ERROR[610289]: tcptls.c:553 in ast_tcptls_client_start: Unable to connect SIP socket to w.x.y.z:5061: Connection refused
  asterisk[534775]: ERROR[610289]: tcptls.c:553 in ast_tcptls_client_start: Unable to connect SIP socket to w.x.y.z:5061: Connection reset by peer
  

  I therefore decided to setup a Let's Encrypt certificate in Asterisk to eliminate the original error.

  Firewall

  This originally appeared not to be necessary, but I found that I ran into a number of intermittent connection errors such as:

  asterisk[1280841]: ERROR[1537920]: tcptls.c:553 in ast_tcptls_client_start: Unable to connect SIP socket to w.x.y.z:5061: Connection reset by peer
  

  and so I put the official firewall recommendations in /etc/network/iptables.up.rules:

  # SIP and RTP on TCP/UDP (servername.voip.ms)
  -A INPUT -s w.x.y.z/32 -p tcp --dport 5061 -j ACCEPT
  -A INPUT -s w.x.y.z/32 -p udp --sport 5004:5005 --dport 10001:20000 -j ACCEPT
  

  where w.x.y.z is the IP address of servername.voip.ms as returned by dig +short servername.voip.ms.

October 15, 2020

• Digium 4 Crucial Ways VoIP Benefits Healthcare Providers

  Are you involved in running the day-to-day operations of a clinic or practice and feel like your medical office phone system has been giving you nothing but problems?

  If so, then you know that it doesn’t take long before you’re tired of trying to work around all the technical limitations of an outdated or inadequate phone system.

  Maybe you’ve thought, “Why can’t we just get a plain old telephone?”

  You know how it is:

  • Terrible connections
  • Awful call quality
  • Dropped calls
  • Phantom calls
  • Complaints from patients

  These are all signs that it’s time to bring your medical office phone system into the modern era.

  And the good news is, with today’s technology, upgrading to a quality medical office phone system is easier and more affordable than ever.

  So if you’re looking to simplify your processes and be more efficient, if you want to enable your team to take more calls with less stress, and if you want to improve your overall phone quality at the same time, it’s time you looked into a new VoIP phone system.

  What is VoIP?

  Simply put, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the transmission of phone calls over the Internet instead of using traditional telephone landlines.

  VoIP helps businesses and organizations simplify and reduce IT complexity, eliminate the need to pay a phone company for traditional phone lines, save money on phone bills (sometimes as much as 60-70%), and have access to advanced features that aren’t available with traditional business phone systems.

  But VoIP also offers specific benefits for medical offices as well. Here are a few of the primary benefits a VoIP phone system can offer medical offices.

  Patient experience

  It goes without saying that patient experience is the lifeblood of your doctor’s office. Just like with business, when people feel as though they did not receive the experience they deserved, they typically won’t hesitate to share that experience with others.

  And nowadays, with technology enabling people to be more connected than ever before, they’re only a few clicks away from publicizing every poor experience they have with businesses and doctors’ offices, alike.

  This might be surprising to hear, but one of the best ways to improve the experiences of your patients is to make communication with your patients as smooth as possible, and a VoIP medical office phone system can make that easy.

  If you have practice management software, a CRM, or some other third-party patient software, you can set it up to where when a patient calls in, a popup automatically appears with specific account information displayed on a summary screen with notes, previous appointment details, insurance, demographic information, and whether or not there’s a balance on the account.

  This is all information that would normally be located across four or more screens in some practice management software, so having it integrated with your medical office phone system and right in front of you when you need it can really save time for both patients and staff.

  This enables your team to operate more efficiently and enables them to deliver more effective care for patients by making patient retrieval automatic.

  Another useful benefit VoIP offers that helps improve patient experience is the ability to forward, block, and reroute calls from multiple locations as though they’re all in one location without the caller knowing any differently. This is especially helpful if you have multiple locations and you need to route a call to another location that doesn’t share the same phone system with your location.

  Not only can you route calls easier with VoIP, but you can also automatically route calls based on caller ID. For example, many people do not like auto attendants. They might have a hard time following menus or they don’t like having to punch in a bunch of numbers and listen to multiple messages to reach their doctor or nurse.

  In these scenarios where you know certain patients struggle with auto attendants due to age or other conditions, it’s extremely helpful to be able to route calls based on caller ID so their call will go directly to their doctor or nurse without them having to go through the auto attendant.

  Another way VoIP helps healthcare providers, including vet and dental offices, is by allowing them to choose when they want to answer calls themselves and when they want to have them automatically answered and routed. Smaller medical offices might want someone to answer the phone as often as possible, but for the times where your front office needs a break or it’s outside of business hours, VoIP gives you the option to have an automated attendant automatically answer, give custom messages based on day and time, and route callers to scheduling, billing, and more.

  Another benefit VoIP offers for doctors’ offices is music on hold. Callers are often put on hold for a variety of reasons when they call in to your office, so why not make sure their experience is pleasant while they wait?

  After all, pleasant experiences while waiting on the phone makes for better communication when you get to the call.

  Not only that, but you can also use the music on hold feature as a chance to let callers know about any specials you may be running in your office or to convey other messages to your patients.

  Speaking of callers having to wait, VoIP can also make it to where if your receptionist steps away from the desk for a moment, any unanswered calls that come to that phone while the receptionist is away will automatically go to another designated phone in the office (maybe a back office, billing, etc.) before going to voicemail. This ‘call rollover’ feature cuts down on missed calls, lowers stress on the receptionist, keeps callers happy, and optimizes your available staff to ensure each patient is being served more efficiently.

  And, of course, let’s not forget call quality. When it comes to call quality, the difference a modern VoIP phone system can offer is like daylight and dark. With the correct amount of bandwidth, traditional telephones simply cannot hold a candle to the clarity you gain when you switch over to a new VoIP system.

  So VoIP helps improve patient experience by enabling you to make a better impression when new and existing patients call your office, ensuring calls get answered and routed more efficiently, and helping eliminate dropped calls and poor call quality.

  Productivity

  A doctor’s office staff members typically want their medical office phone system to be as simple as possible. After all, having tons of phone features is great, but there typically isn’t enough free time to learn how to use a complex new system.

  So when technology is overly complex in a doctor’s office, it can be a burden to the staff and actually drag down productivity.

  Modern VoIP phone systems like Switchvox are especially helpful in this area because they typically focus on making the phone as easy to use as possible while also giving you access to the most advanced features available.

  And any time you get an advanced, high-quality phone system that’s incredibly easy to use, people get more done, making it a win-win for doctors’ offices.

  But not only does the simplicity of most VoIP phone systems drive productivity, the built-in features that come along with that simplicity can also be huge productivity-drivers.

  For example, doctors are very busy and don’t always have time to be on the phone, so they tend to rely heavily on their voicemail. As a result, receptionists are often sending callers to a doctor’s voicemail box. Well, with some VoIP phone systems, you can drop voicemails directly into the doctor’s voicemail box with the click of a mouse. This essentially makes using the phone system and managing voicemails as easy as browsing a website.

  Not only that, but staff members can also set up an after-hours IVR and voicemail box, then when you get back into the office you can click and drag voicemails from an easy to use web-based interface to forward them and drop into the appropriate voicemail box.

  Once the voicemail goes to the doctor’s voicemail box, she’s also able to receive those voicemails in the form of an email. Many doctors love this feature because it saves them the time and hassle of having to dig through an archaic phone system to find their voicemails.

  Simply put, being able to easily manage voicemails helps further simplify communication between callers, office staff, and doctors. Because less missed calls and less missed voicemails mean less headaches for everyone involved, and that always boosts productivity.

  And most VoIP phone systems come with mobile applications, too, so the doctor has the option to check his voicemail quickly and easily from a mobile app.

  All of this means that voicemails and missed calls are easier to manage, and less end up getting overlooked, which are huge productivity-boosting benefits of VoIP.

  Speaking of being able to use a mobile app to check voicemails, that’s not just a feature for doctors. Everyone on staff can have the same ability to not only check voicemails from their mobile devices, but also to make and receive calls as if they’re sitting at the desk in the office.

  For example, if your medical office is closed for a holiday, if someone’s out of town, or if the entire staff is homebound due to inclement weather, you can actually use the phone system’s mobile app to change the phone greeting, change call routing, reroute emergency calls to an emergency facility, check and manage voicemails, and of course, make and receive calls as if they’re calling from the office number.

  And if you’re out of town or if you’re office is closed for some reason, you can also get notifications sent to your mobile device, then you can check your voicemail and email directly from the app. Then if there’s something that can’t wait until regular business hours, you can call them back directly from your mobile device.

  Many staff members may not like the idea of working from home, but they enjoy being able to at least change the phone greeting and check voicemails from their mobile device as needed no matter where they are.

  And if you have employees who move from office-to-office and don’t necessarily have desks of their own, VoIP mobility capabilities allow those employees to use softphones to communicate on-the-go as if they’re at a desk.

  Another thing VoIP phones can do that drive productivity is when emergency calls come in, the person answering the call can park it, page the doctor, then the doctor can pick up the call from any phone in the office. This feature keeps emergency communication seamless, and it saves both doctors and staff time by keeping them from having to track each other down.

  VoIP also helps simplify the billing process within medical offices. Billing departments have to call insurance companies constantly to confirm coverage. This can be a huge pain, and they typically have to do it over and over again throughout the day.

  With VoIP, you can save contacts in your phone system and simply click-to-dial those numbers instantly instead of having to manually dial them over and over again. This can save a ton of time and frustration over the course of the day, and is especially helpful when you’re busy and have to dial an important number quickly.

  Another way VoIP boosts productivity is by giving staff members the ability to see when other staff is available or unavailable. From within the medical office phone system, you can see when nurses, staff, billing, or any other department are on the phone, on vacation, on lunch, on pause, etc. This gives you a quick way to see who’s available to answer the phone, saving everyone the time and frustration of trying to track down the appropriate person to see if she/he can take the call.

  If you want, you can also see how many calls each department has taken, how long they’ve been on the phone, and more. You can even export this information into a report you can look back at on a regular basis. Office managers typically like having this ability because it helps them prevent any one person or department from getting overloaded with calls.

  On top of all of this, many quality IP phones (the phones that go with VoIP systems) are typically very easy to install and configure, meaning in many cases employees can simply plug them in and start using them right away.

  Not only are the phones easy to set up, but you can also easily setup and change the call flow to and from certain departments, change call options, change extensions, and move phones as needed without having to waste a ton of time doing so. If you’ve ever had to try and do these things on an older more traditional phone system, you can imagine how much time it can save just being able to do these tasks simply and easily.

  So, in summary, VoIP helps increase productivity by allowing you to use an auto-attendant (IVR) to not waste time manually fielding every call whenever there are time or staffing constraints, and it just generally helps you keep the staff better connected through features like mobility, availability, call flow, call reporting, and more.

  Flexibility

  It should go without saying, but no one wants to spend a ton of money on something and then find out fairly quickly thereafter that they’ve outgrown the item they just invested money into.

  Yet, sadly, that’s how many office phone systems work.

  Being that most offices do intend on growing or expanding in some way in the near future, this is very important to think about upfront before investing money in a phone system that will only get more expensive as you use it more and more.

  The good news is, some VoIP phone systems make it easy to grow and scale your office operations without spending a fortune.

  With VoIP systems, like Switchvox for example, you get everything you need for now and for the future – upfront, for one low price. That means you’re never nitpicked on licensing fees and add-on costs later on when you decide you need more functionality for your expanding office.

  After all, successful offices grow, and with growth comes change. Because of that, your office and the way you do things may change in two years, and it’s smart to be prepared for whatever may come your way.

  Many systems, even some VoIP systems, try to save you money upfront by giving you only the essential features, then when your practice grows or your needs change in a year or two they charge you extra.

  However, with systems like Switchvox, there’s not much you can’t do with all the features available, and you get them all from day one instead of being nickel-and-dimed along the way as you need them.

  And the best part is, you don’t have to worry about getting overwhelmed with features you don’t need because each feature can be turned on or off as the office needs change or as you notice needs along the way.

  This helps ensure you have the best quality phone system right now while also meeting the growing demands of your expanding medical center without having to spend excessive amounts of money on expensive upgrades.

  Cost

  Cost is another important factor to consider when it comes to investing in a new medical office phone system. Many medical offices are private practices, which means they may not have the funding that other organizations have.

  With VoIP, depending on your situation, you can typically decide whether you want to pay for your office phone upfront or on a monthly basis. Some vendors offer leasing options for equipment such as phones in order to lower your upfront investment. And if you like the idea of reducing the amount of hardware on-site and paying for your phone system on a monthly basis, a cloud or hosted option might be a good fit for you. Being able to pay monthly like this offers a great opportunity to smaller offices who may want to conserve cash flow.

  Not to mention the fact that many doctors’ offices are using outdated phone systems that will be obsolete in a matter of years, leaving you left will little to no support. Phone systems are much like computers, home appliances, and automobiles in that the older the phone system is, the more expensive it becomes to maintain. That means if you’re using a very outdated phone system, IT maintenance bills are sure to steadily increase.  

  Here’s another thing to consider:

  Many healthcare providers pay too much money for their phones because they have multiple locations and each location has a different phone system.

  VoIP can make a big impact when it comes to lowering expenses because using VoIP and consolidating multiple separate phone systems across several locations can help reduce other telephone costs by 40 percent or more in some instances.

  Physicians with multiple locations often struggle with upkeep and maintenance of different phone systems at different offices. Not to mention the issue of transferring calls; should someone call for a doctor or staff member at one facility, and that person is located at another office, it can be frustrating to have to transfer the call between facilities.

  What’s even worse in this situation is sometimes you have to give the caller a different number to call or transfer the call outside the system, overloading facilities and causing constant patient complaints of not being able to get through. In the emergency medical field, this can be a huge disadvantage.

  With VoIP, you can replace multiple telephone systems used across separate office locations with a single phone solution, alleviating both the high costs and frustration associated with managing multiple systems.

  This gives you a centralized, integrated business communications system with one telephone number to call.

  Last but not least, VoIP can also save you even more money by using your existing infrastructure and phones. For example, some VoIP companies will let you use your existing SIP-standards-based IP phones, paging equipment, or analog lines. This can save tons of money, depending on your individual situation.

  To see how much VoIP can offer your hospital, clinic, or practice, check out our solutions for healthcare!

  The post 4 Crucial Ways VoIP Benefits Healthcare Providers appeared first on Sangoma.

October 13, 2020

• Digium AstriCon 2020 is Next Week!

  Just a reminder that next week on October 21 and 22, is AstriCon Plan (9), the virtual AstriCon. To register, please go here.

  We have purposely set up the event with set schedules of talks, so you can listen in to whatever talk you want to at that set time. We have heard folks want this discipline so they can manage their calendars .

  However, we will be recording the sessions so you can listen and watch them whenever you want. The only difference will be we’ll have live Q&A at the end of each session.

  We’ve set up a mix of topics ranging from what’s going on with STIR/SHAKEN in Asterisk to hearing some success stories to a Fireside chat with Sangoma’s CEO.

  We know that the “hallway sessions” at AstriCon are hugely popular, and many interactions and networking occur there. To facilitate something similar at the virtual event, we’ve set up several Slack channels, along with Sangoma Meet rooms, where you can chat with other attendees and meet with our open source developers and support technicians.

  https://meet.sangoma.com/AstriconAsteriskA

  https://meet.sangoma.com/AstriconAsteriskB

  https://meet.sangoma.com/AstriconAsteriskE

  https://meet.sangoma.com/AstriconAsteriskC

  https://meet.sangoma.com/AstriconAsteriskE

  There will also be a Spanish track on Tuesday, October 20th.

  We hope you can attend. We look forward to seeing you (on video) and hosting an in-person event in October 2021!

  The post AstriCon 2020 is Next Week! appeared first on Sangoma.

• WebRTC Hacks Implementing REDundant audio on an SFU

  Chrome recently added the option of adding redundancy to audio streams using the RED format as defined in RFC 2198, and Fippo wrote about the process and implementation in a previous article. You should catch-up on that post, but to summarize quickly RED works by adding redundant payloads with different timestamps in the same packet. […]

  The post Implementing REDundant audio on an SFU appeared first on webrtcHacks.

October 06, 2020

• Digium Introducing our Next-Generation Mobile App: Sangoma Connect

  We know that right now, communication is key. We also know that you need to be able to work where it makes the most sense for you, so mobility is a must. The latest milestone in our mission to help you communicate more effectively is the next-generation mobile softphone app for FreePBX and PBXact. It’s called Sangoma Connect Mobile, and it is now available to download! 

  Sangoma Connect Mobile combines the best of our existing solutions with new core mobile technologies to provide a greater communication experience for calling and collaborating with coworkers.

  Sangoma Connect Mobile provides rich voice and video calling for PBXact and FreePBX, on iOS and Android devices. We’ve made the onboarding experience very simple for system administrators to provision, and for users to install:

  • Administrators: enable Connect users via the User Manager within the PBXact or FreePBX admin interface. That automatically sends an invitation email message to each user. 
  • Users: open their invitation email and follow simple instructions to download the app from the app store, then click a ‘magic log-in link’ in the email to immediately configure – no need for details like hostnames, extension numbers, or passwords. 

  And that’s it! It just works. Issues like certificate management, which can be a manual process with other apps, are handled automatically.  

  Features Included: 

  • Blind and assisted transfer
  • 3-way calling
  • Contacts and favorites – including BLF
  • DND with scheduling for out-of-office convenience

  Another great feature is that we’ve integrated Sangoma Meet, our award-winning video conferencing platform within Sangoma Connect Mobile, making it super simple to create or join a multi-party video conference. 

  How to Get It

  Sangoma Connect Mobile is included, free-of-charge, for all new and existing PBXact systems.  It is also free-of-charge to FreePBX customers with an active Zulu license, for the same amount of users already purchased. Simply perform an update on your system, and Sangoma Connect will be available within the User Management Module. 

  Purchasing Options

  FreePBX customers, without Zulu, wishing to purchase a Sangoma Connect Mobile license can do so from the Sangoma Portal Store.  We have integrated Sangoma Connect Mobile with Zulu Desktop so that customers  can take advantage of even further collaboration tools for your MacOS or Windows computer. Simply purchase the Zulu license from the portal store and choose to use Sangoma Connect Mobile, or both! If needed, here are some helpful instructions on how to purchase a license and how to install on your FreePBX system.

  Download the Mobile Client

  End users can download the iOS or Android app, for free, by searching for ‘Sangoma Connect’ in the respective app stores. A direct download link is also available within the invitation email end-users receive. Here is information on how to use the app. 

  For system administrators, click here for setup instructions.

  Stay tuned because, as mentioned, this is simply the beginning of our efforts in bringing you and your users a more connected experience!

  The post Introducing our Next-Generation Mobile App: Sangoma Connect appeared first on Sangoma.

• Digium Are Softphones or Deskphones Better?

  On September 1, I wrote a blog titled “Why People Still Use Deskphones”. And I got a few questions mainly along the lines of: “Are Softphones or Desktphones Better?”

  Well, like I said in the blog,  it’s not a question of which is better, it’s more a question of which is better for your use case. But I guess that wasn’t good enough since people wanted to know which one was ‘really’ better. Since we sell both, I should have a position on this.  

  OK, I do have a position on this, so let me restate my position in different words. And yes, I use both, so my position is not just a company position, but also my personal position.  So…….they are both great, and it depends on the use case. I know some of you don’t like that answer, but that’s my answer.

  With “hardphones”, it’s something people are used to.  They are there, they are on, they have conference and speakerphone ability. And I use this often when I want to be on speakerphone, or don’t necessarily want headphones on all day…

  And with softphones, I hear many times people say they are cheaper. And yes, they may be cheaper to a point  – but you likely need a headset. And headsets can be similarly priced to phones.  

  Softphones obviously are better for mobility purposes, and I use them also when I talk out of a conversation that started on our chat engine.

  So it does depend on the use case, at least for me.

  The post Are Softphones or Deskphones Better? appeared first on Sangoma.

October 01, 2020

• Digium 7 Tell-Tale Signs Your Business Is Using Outdated Technology

  Is your company using outdated technology? If so, it could be hurting your business more than you realize.

  But what’s considered “outdated?” Computers and operating systems are technologies at the top of the list that may impact customer experience. Many IT professionals consider technology outdated if it’s using a five-to ten-year-old operating system. Just imagine trying to remain productive on a 10 year old PC, with no hardware upgrades.

  To help gauge when equipment is on its last legs, it’s important to understand the life expectancies of various technologies. Fortunately, there are some general guidelines as to the recommended lifespans of tech.

  Take PCs, for example. Three to five years is generally the max before PCs start wearing on a business. After five years, employees begin to lose productivity due to slowing processing speeds and inevitable repairs.

  Even so, many businesses are using their PCs much longer, as much as 10 to 15 years or more, trading productivity and long-term returns on investment for short-term cost-savings.

  The same rule can generally be applied to other technologies as well. For example, phone systems are very similar to other types of servers and typically have a life expectancy of around 5 to 7 years, depending on the setup. 

  Okay, so outdated technology can hurt a business’s chances of winning over customers. What if you run a business and the technology you’re using is on the edge of its life expectancy, but you’re just not sure whether it’s time to upgrade?

  Well, here are 7 tell-tale signs that your technology is in fact outdated and is likely negatively impacting your business.

   

  Slow Speeds

  Do your computers take forever to boot up or load applications? Does your website take painstakingly long to load? Does using Internet-based software feel like it takes a lifetime? If so, it may be time to upgrade. Slow speeds can be an indication that you either need new hardware, new software (or applications), a faster internet connection, or all three.

  When it comes to computers, software and hard drive corruption, lack of RAM and hard disk space, and just plain overloading with too much software can all contribute to slower speeds. Either way, when technology starts lugging around and running slowly, that’s a sign it might be time to upgrade.

   

  Overspending

  Perhaps one of the most obvious signs of outdated technology is the amount it’s costing you to keep it running smoothly. Even if you’re not paying a ton in maintenance and repair bills, it could still be that your older technology is holding you back from cost savings of newer technology. After all, modern technology tends to be more efficient (especially cloud-based technology like cloud phone systems), so if you’re starting to notice that other businesses around you are paying less, it could be time to upgrade.

   

  Security Problems

  As technology ages, security vulnerabilities are exposed, which means the older a technology is (or the longer it goes without being updated), the more vulnerable it typically is from a security standpoint. Newer versions of software, for example, often include security patches that have been acknowledged, fixed, and pushed with the latest version. If you never upgrade to the latest version, those security holes don’t get fixed. Over time, security gaps can add up, making your outdated technology more and more vulnerable the longer you hold onto versions of the past.

  So if your computer is getting more viruses or you find yourself paying IT resources to fix more security issues, it could be a sign it’s time to upgrade.

   

  Downtime

  Does your phone system, computers, point of sale (POS), or other systems crash on a somewhat regular basis? Do you find yourself having to reboot because things “freeze” or “lock up?” Scientific American offers one explanation for why older computers crash: “Newer OSs are robust against application crashes, but in older systems application bugs can affect the OS and cause a system-wide crash.”

  Another potential culprit for crashes and downtime could relate to security issues, which also can point back to outdated technology. Regardless of the exact cause, excess downtime due to consistent crashes or freezes are almost certainly a sign it’s time to start looking into updating your technology.

   

  Inability to Upgrade or Access Support

  As technology advances and new applications, software, and hardware becomes available, they are often less compatible with older technology, and it becomes more and more difficult to hang on to outdated equipment. Manufacturers eventually stop offering upgrades and providing support for outdated technology. This is often the case with legacy phone systems. So if your business is using technology that is no longer being supported or updated by the manufacturer, it may be a sign it’s time to move on to something a bit newer.

   

  Inefficient Processes

  Another tell-tale sign it’s time for a technology upgrade is the lack or absence of technology in processes that could be optimized with the use of technology. For example, if you still have someone answering initial incoming phone calls just to route them to the appropriate location or extension, it might be time to upgrade your phone system.

  Many modern VoIP phone systems come with an auto attendant (or “IVR”) that answers and routes calls quickly and effectively without the need for dedicated personnel. This allows businesses to streamline their communications process and provide a better, more professional experience for callers.

  The list of helpful, productivity-enhancing, cost-cutting business technologies is rather long these days, so if you find yourself getting frustrated with antiquated business processes, it might be time to embrace new technology.

   

  Falling Behind Competitors

  Last but not least, if you’re starting to lose business to competitors as a result of your outdated technology, it’s definitely time to make the move to upgrade. Russ Madlener, senior director at Microsoft, commented, “More than 90% of people [we surveyed] would consider going elsewhere if they perceived the small business is using old and outdated tech.”

  It’s really common sense when you think about it. Outdated technology signals to customers that a business either isn’t willing to invest in improvements or it doesn’t have the ability to do so. Either way, like it or not, outdated technology has the ability to send the wrong message to potential customers, so investing in up-to-date technology can go a long way for you business.

   

  Next Steps

  Want to upgrade your business to a professional phone system with all the bells and whistles and still save significant amounts of money in the process?

  Take a look at our free guide How UC Improves Businesses to discover what a new, reliable, impressive UC phone system could do for your business.

  The post 7 Tell-Tale Signs Your Business Is Using Outdated Technology appeared first on Sangoma.

September 29, 2020

• Digium How Do You Know if it is Time to Upgrade your Phone System?

  You think you might need a new phone system, but you are not sure. See if any of these 7 signs resonate with you… and if they do, it’s probably time for a new one…

  1. The most obvious one, of course, is can your phone system make all of the phone calls you need to make? What I mean by this: the requirements you had when you first bought the system years ago may not be the same requirements you have today. You likely have more requirements. So can the phone system handle these new requirements?

  2. Are you starting to ‘notice’ your phone system? For many small and medium businesses, the phone system is likely in some kind of computer or telco ‘closet’. If everything is working great, then you don’t even notice it. But if you ‘notice’ it, that means it’s having some issues.

  3. Does your vendor doesn’t even offer maintenance contract anymore? This could be an issue since your phone system could fail you.

  4. Very important these days: does your phone system support mobility? That is the ability of your office phone number to ring on your smartphone and on your computer and for you to make phone calls out from those devices with the office phone number. Especially these days that is important because this is key for enabling a remote office.

  5. Are you paying for functionality that you shouldn’t be? For instance, mobility that I mentioned above. Chat functionality. File sharing. You shouldn’t have to pay more for that.

  6. Are you finding that you need some basic contact center functionality now? Such as setting up call queues, and call backs to customers on hold.

  7. Are you paying too much for your monthly phone charges? PSTN connections to your business cost more than SIP (internet) connections to your business. If you want to save money on these monthly charges, moving to a modern IP-based phone system is the way to go.

  The post How Do You Know if it is Time to Upgrade your Phone System? appeared first on Sangoma.

September 28, 2020

• FreeSWITCH The Complications of Virtual Learning

  Love it or hate it, virtual learning has become such a huge part of 2020 that it may very well outlast the coronavirus pandemic that made it a necessity to begin with. Students, teachers, and parents all have their own opinions about it – and just as working from home has its supporters and detractors, learning from home seems to be even more polarizing. There are so many factors to consider when trying to determine how well it works: how old are the students? How technologically literate are the teachers? Are the students in a home situation that allows them to have all the materials and resources they need to thrive?

  Schools vary in their rules for students who are stuck at home. For as long as 6 hours, a student may have to sit in front of a webcam to video conference while not being allowed to turn off the camera until lunchtime, eat on screen, or even wear pajamas. Those are stricter rules than most of us working from home have ever had to deal with. Schools with these types of structures are viciously trying to mimic the exact classroom setup that existed pre-coronavirus to keep students on a tight routine. Other schools are much more lenient. Students might show up in Zoom calls in spurts throughout the day, with no requirements to turn on their cameras. Younger students, especially, find a lot of stress having to be on camera for 6 hours a day. Attitudes around virtual learning can vary immensely based on how the classroom is structured alone.

  And there’s a ton of variation in the needs of students. Something as simple as age can entirely determine how well students and parents like learning from home – it can be so much harder to get a six year old to focus on virtual learning than a typical high school student. That’s not even considering that there are also teachers who focus on special needs children, where in-person learning can be especially critical. Not to mention glaring economic differences that can exist in one school or even one classroom. Some districts have a disproportionate amount of economically disadvantaged students. This can mean both parents having to work, while not having the option of working from home, and what are small children supposed to do when they need an adult with them when they’re learning? 

  Meanwhile, in more affluent suburban communities, parents have resources to do things like hire tutors for their children at rates as much as $70 an hour. The demand for tutoring services and babysitters alike is off the charts. Educators fear that a lack of funding mixed with a lack of parental involvement can gravely be exacerbated by remote learning plans, putting many students behind. Schools that can afford it provide laptops and wifi hotspots to students, but educators across the board are begging political representatives to allocate funds for virtual learning resources.

  Many schools have gone back to in-person learning this fall, as educators and parents alike have been eager to get students back in the classroom for these reasons. Some schools have gone back and forth, offering in-person learning and then having to shut down due to an outbreak. Some schools are split, where parents can choose to either send their children back to the classroom, or keep them home for their health and safety, resulting in a hybrid classroom for teachers who now have to deal with both in-person and online students. And all kinds of full-time virtual schools have gotten a boost – there are public, state or district run schools, and private or charter schools available for families who want to keep their kids at home.

  Blended learning opportunities have also increased in their popularity this year. These are virtual schools that also incorporate face-to-face opportunities, and the amount of time spent in-person varies by school and curriculum. Their strategies are built around students’ diverse learning styles and allow them to work before or after typical school hours in ways that aren’t usually possible with a conventional classroom structure. Students can use this kind of online learning to improve productivity and accelerate their learning outside of school hours, helping teachers to make better use of their time. Some of these public options even offer free computers to students who need them, which is excellent news for more economically disadvantaged students who want to catch up. 

  And we can’t forget about how stressful the situation can be for teachers, too. Educators have been sharpening their tech skills to get up to speed in a working-from-home environment to best help their students. The range of tech skills that can exist in just one district or school building is incredible – people of different technology comfort levels have all been thrown into the same situation. Many districts have been, before the pandemic even began, trying to introduce more online learning tools. Some have been difficult to get stubborn people to use, and now, everyone is being forced to learn them regardless. More professional development courses are being offered to teachers to help them learn the skills they need. It’s the perfect opportunity for districts’ technology-adaption timelines to accelerate. 

  Having to build a virtual classroom means it’s also been a booming time for virtual learning tools. We all think of Zoom and video conferencing when we think of any kind of working, learning, or meeting from home – but tons of tools are needed when it comes to remote schooling, as it’s so much more than just a series of virtual lectures or meetings. Teachers have so many options now when it comes to engaging parents and students alike: texting tools that send reminders to students and parents, screencasting and video recording tools, portals to submit assignments and post grades, student progress tracking tools, content management tools, virtual lesson planners, online classroom discussion platforms, collaboration tools, website building platforms, slideshow builders. Any online classroom is using at least several of these kinds of resources that everyone has had to learn how to use and master. 

  Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time distance learning has been adapted, either. In the 1930’s, during a polio epidemic in the U.S. that shut down some schools, districts had a different version of learning from home: lessons over radio. This didn’t really stick, of course, with many teachers simply picking up where they left off when classes returned to the schoolroom. Today, there are improvements in engagement between teachers and students, as well as their parents – more frequent check-ins, breaking work down into smaller steps, and honing in on more challenging topics. And students’ problem-solving abilities are being put to the test, forcing them to be more independent without having a teacher available to them constantly. Regardless of if learning from home sticks this time around or not, those are skills that will certainly outlive the pandemic.

  The post The Complications of Virtual Learning appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

September 24, 2020

• Jitsi Join us in the #HackingFromHome hackathon!

  Ever since the project’s inception as a multi-protocol chat client back in 2003 collaboration has been at the heart of Jitsi. Protocols came and went and now thanks to WebRTC anyone can use Jitsi Meet for their video conferencing needs pretty much anywhere.

  2020 will go in the history books as a really unusual year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic millions of people had to stay home and continue working. This situation put companies, families, schools and many more through a very rough test. People had to change the way they worked. They had to hack from home, and they needed the tools to do this effectively. We were fortunate enough to help by answering the call of duty and offering a free video conferencing platform anyone could use: meet.jit.si We are hardly alone in this one. Other companies such as Mattermost and their messaging collaboration tools are essential for any form of productive remote work.

  Today we are thrilled to announce that we’ve teamed up with Mattermost and will be co-hosting a virtual hackathon, our first one no less! Hacking from Home: Thriving in a Remote Environment. The goal of this hackathon is to build atop the existing platforms in order to further improve remote work for everyone, anywhere.

  The hackathon will take place November 10-17 of 2020 and yes, there will be prizes! Go check all the details and sign-up on the event’s website.

  

  The post Join us in the #HackingFromHome hackathon! appeared first on Jitsi.

September 22, 2020

• Digium A Random Discussion with Five “30 and Unders” about Using the Phone While Working from Home

  When I went on vacation this summer, I found myself with five 30 and under year olds for a week (The Group of Five), all who are still working, and all who are now working from home. They worked for companies ranging from a large Fortune 50 company to a small 10 person and under company. So a good representation of company size. None are in the business communication phone business, so, to them, the phone and IT systems are just there as part of their work environment.

  I was wondering how they communicate with their colleagues these days, so we had a roundtable about this – a topic I’m sure they were totally thrilled to talk about on vacation – but I believe there was some Jameson involved. Anyway, we had a discussion – whether they liked it or not.

  It turns out between this Group of Five, for their ‘regular at work phone system’, one used Microsoft Teams, one used Cisco, and the rest used some kind of on-prem system.  When they communicated internally, they tended to use instant messaging via either these systems or Slack from their computer – including collaboration / sharing of documents.  One of them even got on cell phone conference calls and used Teams to share documents.  I was like “ah…you know, you can do that, but you can also talk using Teams and you don’t have to call from the cell phone�.  (Note: they now do 😊)

  When they needed to do video calls, they did Zoom, or Webex. (One now uses Sangoma Meet 😊).

  But when they communicated externally to customers or partners, they tended to use their cell phones. I was like “why don’t you use your smartphone� and explained how they could have an app to use their business phone number.  It hadn’t occurred to them, or their company hadn’t told them how.  One even used an app called “Burner� since he did not want his clients getting his cell phone number – his company had an old fashioned PBX and did not have app capability.

  So, what was my point of all this?  I was curious about Unified Communications and whether it was making a difference.  It seems to me, based on this very small sample size, there is still huge room for growth.

  The post A Random Discussion with Five “30 and Unders” about Using the Phone While Working from Home appeared first on Sangoma.

September 17, 2020

• Digium Sangoma Recognizes 2020 Pinnacle Partner Award Winners

  Since 2011, Sangoma has recognized our top performing partners with the annual Pinnacle Partner Awards.

  These businesses and individuals are not only true leaders in the industry, but they are respected members of their local communities as well.  They work hard before, during, and after the sale is completed to insure the customer’s buying journey surpasses all expectations.

  Not only do they have wonderful relationships with their customers, but they also have grown and developed their partnership with Sangoma. They have outstanding product knowledge of Sangoma’s industry leading UC solutions including, Switchvox (both on-premise and hosted), SIPStation SIP trunking, FAXStation, open source solutions (Asterisk, PBXact, and FreePBX) IP phones, gateways, and SBCs.

  Our Pinnacle Partners truly are the pillars on which we stand as a “channel first” company and we are proud of what they have accomplished and the examples they have set.

  Join us in congratulating these partners:

  Unitel

  Logista

  Creative Solutions

  Velocity Network

  Powernet Global Communications

  Munger Technical Services

  Consolidated Electrical Distributors

  American Business Phones

  CCi Voice – LeBlanc Communications Group, Inc.

  Network Services and Support

  BGM Informatique

  Chromis Technology, LLC

  Golden Integrated Solutions, Inc

  BEMA Information Technologies, LLC

  Crosstalk Solutions

  Impression Solutions

  NetWorks, Inc

  KME Systems, Inc

  Slappey Communications

  The Fulcrum Group

  Farmer’s Telecommunications

  Digital Agent, LLC

  Bizco Technologies

  Brightstar Communications

  VONETO

  LBMC

   

  Sangoma Cloud Services Partner of the Year

  Creative Solutions

   

  Partner of the Year US

  Unitel

   

  Partner of the Year Canada

  BGM

   

  Distributor of the Year US

  Jenne

   

  Distributor of the Year Canada

  Gentek Marketing

   

  The post Sangoma Recognizes 2020 Pinnacle Partner Award Winners appeared first on Sangoma.

September 15, 2020

• Digium Offering Unified Communications as an ILEC, CLEC, or Coop Telecom

  Way back in March, I wrote a blog about the need for telecom coops, ILECs (Independent Local Exchange Carriers) or small CLECs (Competitive Local Exchange Carriers) to potentially update their network infrastructure. Within that blog, I also talked about how they could offer their own Unified Communications solution to their business customers.

  Many of these types of service providers also provide internet, TV and other non-voice services and thus have their own datacenters. So instead of offering businesses on-prem voice service (in form of a PBX that would go into the “communications closet” in a business), these service providers could offer business a modern hosted UC system. How? Because they could take Sangoma Switchvox in the Virtual Machine incarnation and put it into their datacenter.

  One telecom co-op who utilized Switchvox in this fashion was Farmers Telecom. They wanted to provide hosted UC to their business customers, but the softswitch provider’s solution was untenable for a cloud solution, and too costly. Farmers Telecom turned to Switchvox to provide a full UC solution to their business customers. And they were so impressed it turned out they adopted it as their own business communication system they use in their business, with over 120 seats.

  Read the full Farmers Telecom case study here.

  The post Offering Unified Communications as an ILEC, CLEC, or Coop Telecom appeared first on Sangoma.

September 14, 2020

• FreeSWITCH Everything to know about the current TikTok controversy

  If you’ve never used TikTok, you aren’t alone. 41% of users of the app are between 16 and 24 years old. But it has over 800 million users worldwide, putting it ahead of other popular social media platforms like LinkedIn, SnapChat, and even Twitter in terms of active users. Regardless of if you’ve used the app yourself, you’ve still probably heard bits and pieces of the controversy surrounding TikTok between the United States and China. So, here’s all you need to know to be up-to-date on the international drama surrounding this relatively new social media app.

  What is TikTok? If you aren’t exactly familiar with its function, it’s simply an app made for sharing very short videos, with a 60 second limit per video. It was launched as Douyin in September 2016 in China. The following year, the app was released by ByteDance for markets outside of China. TikTok and Douyin both use the same software, but they each maintain separate networks in order to comply with Chinese censorship restrictions. The app has gotten a boost in popularity from the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, attracting young people looking to escape the boredom of quarantines and lockdowns. 

  Like many social media platforms, TikTok feeds are built using a recommendation algorithm. TikTok markets this as “videos #ForYou,” describing it as central to the user experience to have content delivered to the individual user, with each person’s feed completely unique and tailored to them. Users are guided to new content by diversifying their recommendations in ways that are also suited specifically to them. All of this is only possible by making use of an immense amount of user data. 

  Millions of American users of the app were horrified when in the summer of 2020, the White House spoke of banning the app. This was followed by reports of companies such as Microsoft discussing potential takeover of the app’s American operations. Due to TikTok’s ownership by the Chinese internet company ByteDance, there were concerns about the Chinese government gaining access to American user data, something TikTok itself has denied is even a possibility. As tensions heightened over the last couple of months, there was word that the White House would possibly even ban the app through executive order if need be. 

  The U.S. isn’t alone in its concerns about the app, either. India, which had the largest TikTok market, has already banned it. Australia, Japan, and Pakistan have all expressed desires to limit the app or ban it, too. The U.S. Army and Navy, the House of Representatives, and the Senate have all banned members from downloading the app to government-issued phones. Concerns originate in part from the perceived authority of China’s ruling party to access user data and the inability of Chinese companies to reject such requests.

  TikTok has claimed that none of its data is subject to Chinese law, as U.S. data is stored separately. The social media app then attempted to address concerns directly by offering to sell its U.S. operations, which would stop the U.S. from banning the app outright, resulting in potential buyers as big as Microsoft. TikTok also attempted to paint itself as an American brand, hiring thousands of U.S. employees, highlighting prominent U.S. investors, and hiring an American chief executive, Kevin Mayer, who used to work for Disney (as of late August, he has already resigned). Statements were also released about how U.S. data is stored with strict controls on employee access to information.

  In September, ByteDance abandoned the sale of TikTok in the U.S. to pursue a partnership with Oracle Corporation. The goal is to spare the app of an American ban while appeasing the Chinese government. Reports were released that the Chinese government would rather the app shut down in the U.S. than be part of a forced sale. Under the newest proposed deal, Oracle would take over management of U.S. data, perhaps also taking a stake in TikTok U.S. assets. 

  Currently, there is a November 12 deadline for the sale of TikTok before the app gets banned, however that happens and what it looks like. ByteDance would also have to delete any data obtained through U.S. users. Assuming a ban does occur, it will be extremely tricky to enforce. Even if the app disappears from stores, Android devices can still download apps outside the Google Play Store. There are also difficulties around making an app illegal for everyday use for average people. Tech communities have expressed hesitance to go along with an app ban, too, as it sets a precedent for the government to ban other apps or even for other global apps to be inaccessible to the U.S. market. As an example, India banned over 50 Chinese apps following its TikTok ban.

  TikTok has sued the U.S. government, accusing the Trump administration of depriving the company of due process. ByteDance was given a 90 day deadline to sell U.S. assets of TikTok, meaning there’s still around two months of controversy to unfold. Just after the U.S. general election, we’ll know for sure if the app is going to be banned, or if it will continue spiking in popularity through the remainder of the global pandemic. 

  The post Everything to know about the current TikTok controversy appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

• Digium 7 Signs That It’s Time to Upgrade your Business Phone System

  One crucial element to improving and expanding a business that many owners, managers, and IT administrators often overlook or do not recognize is the central role the business phone system plays in facilitating both internal and external communication. If your business’s phone system lacks functionality or modern feature sets, it’s highly likely that you are missing out either on new business (through missed or mishandled inbound calls) or on more efficient communication processes (such as lacking advanced call routing functionality provided by IVR, or Interactive Voice Control, and intelligent call rules).

  Here are 7 signs that it is time to upgrade your business phone system:

   

  1. Is your existing phone system becoming technologically obsolete?

  Can it support mobility, conference calls, and basic call center features? A business phone system that cannot support new communication features is a pretty obvious indicator that it’s time to consider an upgrade. 

  And it’s not just about advancing technology. The cost of maintaining legacy phone systems quickly adds up, making them not worth the effort. You’re not only losing out on features and operating money, but while you are relying on a legacy phone system, your competition has already made the switch. That can put your business at a significant competitive disadvantage. After upgrading, you might be surprised how much you end up saving.

  2. Are you paying too much for your monthly phone charges?

  PSTN lines to your business cost more than SIP (internet) connections. If you want to save money on these monthly charges, moving to a modern IP-based phone system is the way to go.  

  3. Does your phone system allow your mobile work force to stay connected and accessible?

  Today, remote workers are a common feature of the business landscape. Business phone system must have the capability to support mobile executives and road warriors, as well as employees working from home. If your current phone system cannot redirect calls seamlessly from the employee’s business desk phone to a mobile phone, a laptop, a home landline, a softphone, or an IP phone of their choosing, then you need to look at upgrading your phone system.

  4. Is your phone system helping you to grow?

  Growing your business is a natural objective for most, and so your business phone system shouldn’t hold you back as you expand. Is your system unable to provide you with advanced functionality like auto attendant, call recording, music on hold, call queue, and conference etc? If so, your phone system is probably outdated and in dire need of a revamp.

  One of the primary functions of a business phone system is the capability to handle incoming calls without missing or letting any calls go unanswered. Has your call volume outpaced the capacity of your current phone system? If your phone system is struggling with the volume of calls or is not flexible enough to be able to accommodate more callers during busy times and holding you back in terms of corporate expansion, then you should consider upgrading your phone system.

  5. Does your phone system have a multi-office support feature? 

  One of the biggest reasons to upgrade your phone system is that many legacy solutions cannot accommodate multiple locations. Adding and managing phone line extensions to other locations should not be an overwhelming or costly task for you. For multi-site businesses, the goal is to find a phone system that can unify communications across all locations and employees, keeping all your phone numbers and services under the same IP service provider, administered from a single location. If your current phone system doesn’t allow easy multi-location support, then you should immediately consider upgrading.

  6. Can your current phone system protect your data?

  While hanging onto legacy systems is comfortable for your employees and might seem safe, it can open you up to significant security risks. Hackers today can easily target your old phone system and gain access to your valuable data and personal information. Meanwhile, a modern phone system integrates with your security plan and protects your network from these malicious attacks.

  7. Does your phone system have a disaster management plan?
  What happens if, due to an unavoidable situation, your phone system breaks down? You still need to be taking customer calls even if your system is facing downtime. It is crucial to have a thorough disaster recovery and contingency plan to keep the business going regardless of natural disasters and other unforeseen events. Modern phone systems make sure calls can be routed even if your phone system goes down so that your business does not suffer. If you want your business to run seamlessly then upgrading the phone system may the only option.

   

  ---

  If your business phone system is showing any of these 7 signs, chances are good that your business could save money on your monthly communication expenses while expanding the features and functionality available to your employees. In other words, many businesses setting out to improve their communications technology also end up saving significantly over the lifetime of their new system.

  Contact a Sangoma solution specialist today! Or check out our Unified Communications (UC) offerings. Sangoma not only offers industry-leading business phone systems, we offer an entire ecosystem of compatible IP phones, network connectivity solutions, and award-winning Cloud services. With Sangoma, everything connects. Connect with Sangoma!

  The post 7 Signs That It’s Time to Upgrade your Business Phone System appeared first on Sangoma.

September 10, 2020

• Digium Moving to Cloud: A Marathon, not a Sprint

  Making the move to Cloud has been a hot topic in the VoIP industry for a while now. There are plenty of reasons to consider it:

  • Less hardware to manage
  • OPEX make for easy monthly payments and less upfront expenses
  • Flexibility to grow as your business grows or reduce during slow seasons

  And, with the industry as a whole making a move to hosted offerings, it’s a future-proof business decision that’s sure to benefit your business. So, if it’s such a smart move, why are intelligent vendors not throwing their customers into the Cloud overnight? Like most business transitions, moving your business phone system to the Cloud needs to be accomplished gradually. If you rush the process, you could overlook some crucial steps and make what should be an easy transition into a nightmare.

  Consider your Contracts

  First and foremost, be aware of your contractual obligations to your current phone service provider. It can actually cost you an arm and a leg of your company if you abandon ship too soon. Secondly, be aware of any phone numbers that your current provider may “own” that you intend to use with your new hosted provider. Setting up a forwarding process to temporary DIDs from the new hosted vendor is a necessary limbo land you will live in for a few days-weeks. If you cancel your service too soon, you can lose those numbers, and there is usually no getting them back.

  Evaluate your ISP

  When making a move to Cloud, your ISP network is about to be important in a whole new way: it will be the highway that is used to deliver your hosted service from your new vendor. Although hosted vendors are offering very attractive limited time offers, it would behoove you to take the time to call your Internet provider and confirm your bandwidth. Evaluate how much of your bandwidth is used for day-to-day operations and remember that in order to have an optimal voice quality with hosted phone service or a hosted phone system, it’s recommended that you have at least 100Kbps, per concurrent call. 

  Compare Vendors and Try Demos

  Finally, take your time and really compare vendors. Although vendors boast a lot of the same features, what you actually receive when you sign the line on a contract can vary substantially. Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions around contract obligations, support hours, pricing per feature, what if I need to add or drop extensions, and if a vendor offers a trial that is a great bonus you should definitely consider. What better way to evaluate a vendor’s service than taking the system out for a test ride?

  Enjoy a free Moving to the Cloud Playbook

  Just like a runner needs to know their own skill level before entering a marathon, you need to know what you require from your phone system before making the move to Cloud. Where do you stand with your current vendor? Do you have the bandwidth to support a hosted phone system? Spread out all the quotes you procured from different vendors and get out your magnifying glass to see what the differences might be. In order to give you a head start, Sangoma put together a Moving to the Cloud playbook that covers additional tips that can make this important transition one of the easiest. Also, feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Our knowledgeable sales team is always eager to help.

  The post Moving to Cloud: A Marathon, not a Sprint appeared first on Sangoma.

September 08, 2020

• Digium What Makes a Good Channel Partner Program?

  I’ve been meaning to write this blog for a long time. When Sangoma merged with Digium a couple of years ago, there was a lot of integration we had to do. And one of them was with the channel partner program. It took some time. But during that process, I had to do a lot of thinking about what we wanted in our partner program, and the company did a lot of thinking about this as well.

  Commitment to Partners is Most Important

  First of all, before I get into that, I want to say the most important thing about a channel partner program is the company’s commitment to its partners.  I’ve been in the communications industry approaching 25 years now, and I’ve seen a lot of things (some great, some good, some baaaaaad). I’ve seen some great partner programs on paper, but I’ve also seen some of them just be worth the paper they were printed on. (Yes, we used to actually print brochures back in the day!)

  Commitment to the channel is the most important thing, even if a vendor doesn’t have a stellar partner program on paper. If they’re committed, the channel will be there. I distinctly remember back in Dialogic when I was talking to one of our primary competitors at the time and they asked me, “How do you stop yourselves from taking large deals direct?”  Well, that said it all didn’t it? That was a knock on them before this conversation even took place. Our distributors and resellers were loyal to us because we were loyal to them. I remember also thinking to myself “I’m not giving these guys a direct answer,” but really the answer was “we don’t even entertain that.” Commitment.

  Anyway, back to the question. 

  A channel partner program needs to have some basic elements such as the following:

  • Requirements to Join (both vendor and partner need to make sure there aren’t tons of channel partners who don’t really know the product out there)

  • Levels (so the more committed channel partners get additional benefits)

  • Meaningful benefits (such as product discounts, promotions, MDF availability, ability to get to key company personnel for help if required, special webinars for the partners to learn what is coming, for help, etc.)

  • A “portal” to log into, so that key material, such as company logos, company presentations, pricing, quote tools, etc., are available for the partner for self-help use

  Some partner programs go above and beyond the basic program.

  • Is there a playbook?  This will help you understand how to best position the products, and really, just as importantly, if the company has resources committed to the partner program.

  • Deal registration is also an example of going above and beyond. There are likely instances where the channel will be going after the same deal. As such, a reseller being able to register the deal insures there is no channel conflict for the same deal.

  • Content syndication. This includes ability to co-brand key collateral, re-use key email templates that the vendor has created, reposting key blogs, etc.

  • Help with specific vertical focus.

  • Does the vendor enable their product experts to be available to help with unique, customer tailored demos and quoting assistance?

  • Support renewal notification to the reseller, so the reseller can go get a maintenance support contract.

  At Sangoma, we believe our partner program works for all different types of our channel partners, up to the most committed to us.  We enable all of what I described above. And we are committed to the channel as well. If you want to learn more about Sangoma’s excellent partner program, go here.

  The post What Makes a Good Channel Partner Program? appeared first on Sangoma.

September 03, 2020

• Digium Building the Business Case: Convincing your Boss to Upgrade the Phone System

  As more and more legacy phone systems are reaching their end of life, system administrators all over the country are researching their options and taking on business phone upgrade projects for their clients or boss. Technology forums across the Internet are filled with system administrators asking other IT professionals which phone system they are using and how their implementation projects are going. While it’s understandable that the first hurdle in upgrading technology is comparing solutions, the second (and hardest) task is often gaining the support, buy-in, and budget needed from decision makers.

  Many times, businesses don’t even know what their current monthly communications costs are and simply don’t realize exactly how much money they are dumping into their legacy systems. As a system admin, you know the benefits of upgrading a phone system, but you need to present your case in a way that the boss will understand – including cost savings to the business. Your job is to position the proposed technology in a way that effectively communicates the problems it would solve, the additional business advantages it would provide, and the overall return on investment (ROI).

  In order to receive approval for a new business phone upgrade, here are some suggestions for presenting your business case to your boss.

  Issues with Current System

  When presenting your case for a business phone upgrade, along with your suggested solutions, first remind your boss of the issues with the current system. Are you getting customer complaints about the ability to reach employees? Are the hardware parts becoming impossible to find and order? Is remote work not an option on the existing system? Did you finally realize you were spending hundreds more than you should be every month for a system that doesn’t even have a conferencing option? Reminding the boss how much your system is holding your business back will make it much easier to present your proposed solution. If you can put data and statistics behind these problems, it makes your case for increased efficiency a lot easier.

  Network Evaluation

  Based on your complete network assessment and map of the current infrastructure in place, present your proposed solution and state your case as to why it’s the best option. Include:

  Features: Standard and advanced features offered, as well as the advantages of having them. What specific benefits will users experience with these new features? What indirect benefits will the users enjoy, such as streamlines processes or shorter on-hold times?

  Here is an example: “As you know, teachers want to be reachable outside of school hours, but aren’t comfortable with parents having their private cell phone numbers. Using the Switchvox Mobile app, teachers can make and receive phone calls to and from parents on their cellphone using their work extension. The parents only see the school caller ID, and teachers can keep their phone numbers private.”

  Cost: Pricing between an on-premise solution and a hosted solution look very different, as one is an up-front capital expense, and the latter is a monthly expense based on usage. Whichever deployment type you choose, explaining it as an investment that will pay for itself is important (especially when you compare it to what you are currently paying, which is likely to be much higher). If you pay for the on-premise system up front, it will be a lower TCO than a hosted system will be. However, if your business lacks the capital for an on-premises system and has the required setup for a hosted system, the expense become operational, and is based upon usage and number of extensions. While the TCO of a hosted system is higher than an on-premises, the little to no up-front cost is a major selling point to decisions makers. Think of it this way: Netflix has a much higher TCO than your DVD collection, but which one are you getting better use out of?

  Another element of cost includes what a new business phone upgrade would save every month in terms of employee staffing, and IT support and maintenance. If you put your phone system in the cloud, you no longer require IT support and maintenance of a PBX server in your building, which “would save [insert dollar amount here] a month in expenses.”

  Timetable: Include an explanation of when you think the system should be deployed, and what impact it could have on the business (example: most schools upgrade their phone systems in the summer months when staffing is minimal).

  Additional information. Your boss is likely to ask you several questions about this project, so having a solid understanding of your proposed business phone upgrade is essential. Know about this information or be able to easily access it:

  – Support options available

  – Manuals & training resources (for both IT admins and users)

  – Hardware required for implementation (gateways? IP phones?)

  – Structure of monthly bill

  – Case studies & references from businesses in a similar industry

   

  Want to Learn More?

   

  See what Switchvox UC is all about!

  

  The post Building the Business Case: Convincing your Boss to Upgrade the Phone System appeared first on Sangoma.

September 01, 2020

• Digium Why People Still Use Deskphones

  With this current work from home / work remote period we are now in, many of us are using softphones or headsets to do our daily calls.   At Sangoma, we’re still selling deskphones, and in fact, we’ve had a lot of requests from customers about how they could take their work deskphone home (yes, it can work 😊).

  So why are people still using deskphones?  It’s not a question of which is better, it’s more a question of which is better for your use case. 

  For instance, a business user is used to a phone on the desk.  It’s there and easy to use.  In fact, it’s incredibly easy to use.  Just pick it up and dial it.  No fussing around with which softphone to use since there might be different ones connected to your computer.

  Additionally, with a good desk-phone, especially with executive models, you get a whole array of features that enable you to personalise your phone, create shortcuts, and increase your efficiency. Generally, soft-phones have far fewer additional features.  

  Another reason though is the deskphone probably has a speakerphone option.  This is a big draw for many deskphone afficionados.

  The deskphone is also there and ready to go.  You walk by it, you look at it, it’s on.  You can see lights powered.  As long as you have power and your internet is running, you won’t run into any issues. With a soft-phone, there are more potential problems because the software runs on your PC. If your PC is going through one of those loooooong OS upgrades, or won’t turn on, has a virus, or is generally performing badly then receiving and making calls becomes impossible. Keeping your phone separate from your PC with a deskphone is a safer option.  If you need to dial 911, as an example, it’s ready.  With a softphone that is generally connected to a laptop, one would have to make sure the laptop is powered up and ready to go.  This might take some time.

  Quality of phone calls could also be better on a deskphone.  With both SIP deskphones and SIP headsets use HD audio, a more expensive deskphone or headset usually comes with better quality of sound.  It likely just depends on the price.  

  So deskphones aren’t going anywhere – at least not yet. At Sangoma we allow you to take advantage of Unified Communications (UC) and have both deskphone and softphone options for our UC platforms.   Many of our customers actually use both in a typical day.

  The post Why People Still Use Deskphones appeared first on Sangoma.

August 25, 2020

• Digium Why Businesses Still Use Desk Phones Over Softphones

  There is a long ongoing debate over the advantages of using deskphones with VoIP phone systems. As with most technology debates, there are pros and cons on both sides. Companies choose VoIP to reduce their overall phone bills, upgrade their communication features, and enhance client communication. While the practical functionality of both deskphones and softphones are similar and maybe even identical in some cases, there are a few differences (beyond the obvious!) that differentiate them from one another.

  The question is: which of the two is better?

  It’s really more a question of which is better for your use case, because it depends on the needs and expectations of the user. 

  For instance, a business user is used to a phone on the desk.  It’s there and easy to use. There is no training required since it behaves like the “old” phone. It’s incredibly easy to use, especially for those already familiar with traditional phone systems. Tech-savvy users will find softphones easy, but there is usually some onboarding or training involved.

  Additionally, with a good deskphone, especially with executive models, you get a whole array of features that enable you to personalise your phone, create shortcuts, and increase your efficiency. Generally, softphones have far fewer additional features. Group meetings over the phone are everyday occurrences in the majority of small offices, and you always want these to run as smoothly as possible. Most desk-phones are built to support these types of engagements, where multiple people are gathered around the same desk. Softphones, on the other hand, can sometimes make this task quite difficult for inexperienced users.

  Another good reason for investing in deskphones is its dependability. It’s always there and ready to go. As long as your internet is working, you won’t run into many issues. Softphones, in contrast, rely on your device for operation. If your PC won’t turn on, has a virus, or is just performing badly, then receiving and making calls becomes impossible. Keeping your phone separate from your PC by using a deskphone represents a safer option. For any call you need to make, it’s there, and it’s ready.

  Plus, call quality is often much better on a deskphone. With HD audio available on both IP deskphones and IP headsets, overall sound quality often depends on price. But if you are comparing just a basic headset versus a basic deskphone, the sound quality offered by the deskphone is the clear winner.

  The most important thing to remember: deskphones aren’t going anywhere – at least not yet.

  With Sangoma, you can take advantage of Unified Communications (UC) with deskphone and softphone options designed for our UC platforms. Enjoy easy communications anywhere, anytime with Sangoma UC systems. 

  Happy Calling with Sangoma IP phones!

  The post Why Businesses Still Use Desk Phones Over Softphones appeared first on Sangoma.

• Digium Four Going Forward Essentials of a UC System

  At the end of last month, I published an article on Toolbox that highlighted the four essentials of a UC Systems.  Outside, of course, of just making a phone call, I believe they are:

  1. Mobility. And the mobility features should be free.
  2. Presence Ability.
  3. Video Collaboration.
  4. Contact Center Feature Integration.

  Why do I pick these features?  It’s because the “office” has now became not just a place you go (or used to go), it’s more of  just where you decide to do your work that day, be it a home office, an AirBnB in some nice location, your parents house, the couch, the deck, the ….  It’s just where you decided to work that day.  And to do that, these four features are required.

  The post Four Going Forward Essentials of a UC System appeared first on Sangoma.

August 21, 2020

• FreeSWITCH The tech keeping us one step ahead of the pandemic

  Drones, smart thermometers, robot dogs, and illness detectors – what do they all have in common? Each of these technologies has played a unique role in 2020 in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. While digital technology like smartphone apps has been used this year to implement modern contact tracing, other unique devices have played a role in preventing the sick from coming into contact with others in the first place – by monitoring temperatures in crowds, detecting common and early signs of illness, disinfecting indoor spaces, or promoting social distancing.

  With some essential locations that are never able to fully close, like airports, hospitals, parks, apartment buildings, or grocery stores, workplaces can make use of technology to help keep the ill apart from the healthy, especially when it comes to protecting essential employees. And even though it’s a tricky virus, given that asymptomatic people can still spread it, every preventative measure that can be taken counts. The innovative world of technology is in a unique place to come up with ways to take care of people. 

  So what’s some of the spectacular tech in place to help mere humans in the face of a global pandemic?

  Spot, the robot dog

  In Singapore, a popular park is home to a robot dog named Spot, built by Boston Dynamics. Spot’s job is to help people maintain social distancing rules as they stretch their legs and get out in one of the few places they can roam. The robot has 360 degree sensors and walks around the park scanning for people breaking social distancing rules, and when it finds people standing too close together, plays an automated message asking them to please remain one meter apart from each other. 

  Proximity Trace

  In a similar vein, Triax built a device called Proximity Trace that beeps when employees stand less than 6 feet away from one another. This little device is not only useful for promoting social distancing, but tracks workers’ movements throughout the day. This way, if one person is infected by the virus, the tracker can identify people and equipment that may have been exposed to them.

  Smart thermometers 

  There have also been a number of technologies in use to detect temperatures in an attempt to sense people in a crowd who may have a fever or other flu-like symptoms. Hitachi created a device that detects body temperature from up to ten feet away using infrared cameras. This gives businesses a chance to identify high-risk individuals and take secondary measures like additional screenings and quarantine before allowing these people into a building or other property. The temperature scanners are useful for areas where people come and go constantly, like airports and train stations. 

  Kinsa Health has also developed smart thermometers that connect to the internet and can detect fevers as soon as people experience them. This thermometer data is then used as an early warning sign that illness is spreading, and has been used in the last few years to detect outbreaks of the flu. In the recent case of the coronavirus pandemic, these thermometers have been used to detect unusual clusters of fever that could indicate hotspots. Daily maps can be used across entire countries to indicate spikes. With fever being the most common symptom of COVID-19, this data is incredibly useful in finding hotspots for the disease as soon as they erupt.

  Drones

  At the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., there exists a little drone called the Draganflyer X4-ES which lurks in the sky to monitor crowds from a distance. Infrared sensors can read a person’s facial temperature from up to 100 yards away from the safety of the sky. But unlike smart thermometers, these drones could be adjusted to detect other common symptoms besides fever, such as watery eyes, blood pressure, stress levels and heart rate. 

  Always-listening devices

  A device called FluSense, which can be adapted to look like a smoke detector, takes a slightly different approach. Instead of reading temperature, this technology listens for another incredibly common symptom of the virus: coughing. Using an onboard microphone array that detects coughing and sneezing, as well as a thermal camera to monitor crowd sizes, this device records data on flu-like symptoms as they spread. This can be used in public spaces to record the transmission of symptoms and identify hotspots.

  Workplace monitoring devices

  In workplaces that contain essential employees who must gather in a certain location, there are also gadgets that exist to make sure workers are taking care of themselves while making it easier to do so. Triax Technologies has a device that functions as a sensor for construction sites which can be clipped onto belts. It automates a check-in, check-out process that eliminates the need for groups of people to line up and gather at entry points. Hitachi has an automated hand-washing monitoring device, which detects whether employees wash their hands efficiently for 20 seconds in a company restroom.

  UVD robots

  With spaces like hospitals having to constantly disinfect, robots and AI that can help speed up and regulate this process are particularly advantaged in keeping doctors, medical staff, and other essential people safe. Some hospitals have implemented the use of UVD robots that move autonomously through empty rooms, using ultraviolet light to destroy viruses, bacteria, and fungal spores. Some are stationary, but others are mobile bots that even have robotic arms that can pick up items or open doors.

  Many of these technologies report data online where the public can check in, to avoid hotspots and figure out if they may have come into contact with sick people, or allow employers to monitor the health of employees. It remains to be seen if such technology will be in use once the coronavirus pandemic is under control, especially with concerns about privacy and mass surveillance. But many of these devices have existed for a few years now, and are simply finding a particular usefulness in the current year. So whether they’re temporary or here to stay, the main goal for now is to keep as many people healthy as possible.

  The post The tech keeping us one step ahead of the pandemic appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

August 20, 2020

• WebRTC Hacks RED: Improving Audio Quality with Redundancy

  Back in April 2020 a Citizenlab reported on Zoom’s rather weak encryption and stated that Zoom uses the SILK codec for audio. Sadly, the article did not contain the raw data to validate that and let me look at it further. Thankfully Natalie Silvanovich from Googles Project Zero helped me out using the Frida tracing […]

  The post RED: Improving Audio Quality with Redundancy appeared first on webrtcHacks.

August 19, 2020

• Digium Why Businesses Need IP Phone Systems

  Globally, the most trending business communication technology today is still the IP phone system. With VoIP services, your phone calls travel over the internet as data, just like emails. This type of service can dramatically lower your telecommunications costs while increasing your productivity.

  The following are some of the benefits of opting for an IP telephony system:

  Flexible & Scalable

  Adding more phone lines or extensions often requires expensive hardware modules. In some cases, you need an entirely new phone system. Not so with an IP PBX. A standard computer can easily handle a large number of phone lines and extensions – just add more phones to your network to expand! Also, IP phone systems are very flexible, allowing easy remote collaboration from any device and from anywhere. 

  Better Customer Service & Productivity

  With an IP PBX, you can deliver better customer service and better productivity. Since the system is now computer-based, you can integrate phone functions with business applications. For example, outbound calls can be placed directly from Outlook or a business’s customer database, removing the need for the user to type in the phone number. Plus, the system can bring up the customer record of a caller automatically when you receive their call.

  Cost Effective

  Making international phone calls through digital or analog phones is expensive. With IP phones, however, you do not have to worry about the per-minute price of calls because your phone service is accessed via your broadband connection, enabling you to make international calls as often as you’d like. Also, with this system, calling between branches becomes more convenient— and free! Most VoIP phone systems come with a rich feature set, including IVR, auto attendant, voice mail, ring groups, and advanced reporting. Unified Communications features are included, to support presence, video and audio conferences, and free calls via the data network. These options are often very expensive in proprietary systems.

  Remote Working

  Hot-desking, the process of being able to easily move offices/desks based on the task at hand, has become very popular. Unfortunately, traditional PBXs require extensions to be re-patched to the new location. With an IP PBX, the user simply takes his phone to his new desk – no patching required! Users can roam too – if an employee has to work from home, they can simply fire up their softphone from either their computer or mobile device. This enables them to make and answer calls from their extension, just as they would in the office. Calls can also be forwarded anywhere in the world!

  Worldwide Access

  More employers are discovering the benefits of having their staff work from home. This has come with the benefits of smaller office spaces, decreased utilities costs, etc., for businesses. VoIP allows employees to securely utilize the voice, fax, and data services of your office from anywhere. VoIP technology has become extremely portable, allowing users to connect from home offices and abroad. 

  Ease of Installation, Configuration, Maintenance

  One of our favorite benefits of VoIP is that IP phones are incredibly easy to install—even for those who are less technically savvy. There is no need to have expert technicians running phone wiring throughout your office. Instead, IP phones are virtually plug-and-play. Hosted VoIP software also makes it incredibly simple to add new users, and a web portal makes moving, adding, or changing your systems configuration much easier. 

  Easy Integration with Other Business Systems

  Your business likely utilizes various other systems and technologies to enhance your operational efficiencies. VoIP easily integrates with a wide variety of existing business systems. That means you’ll realize all of the benefits of VoIP without requiring modification of your existing applications or IT infrastructure. For example, outbound calls can be placed via Outlook or other business systems, and customer records can even be viewed during inbound calls from customers.

  Built-in Backup Plan

  Without virtual phone systems in place, your company runs the risk of losing telephone service due to outages and other unexpected incidents. The costs associated with losing phone service could be immense depending on the hours business is down and the cost of potential repairs. On the other hand, VoIP allows you to reduce the impact of disasters on your business by quickly redirecting calls in response to an outage according to preset routing plans.

  Increased Security

  Phone system security is a big deal, especially for businesses. VoIP can mitigate security threats by leveraging features like encryption and improved identity management. Hosted VoIP providers work around the clock to protect their networks. Plus, IP phone systems integrate easily with session border controllers, which more intelligently protects your voice network.

  Supports Multitasking

  Along with traditional phone calls, VoIP allows you to send documents, images, and video— all while simultaneously engaging in a conversation. So, you can seamlessly hold more integrated meetings with clients or staff from other corners of the globe.

  The post Why Businesses Need IP Phone Systems appeared first on Sangoma.

August 18, 2020

• Digium Cloud and On-Premise: Why Businesses and End Users Need their UC Vendor to Offer Both

  Buying a Unified Communication business phone system can be confusing.  There are many options, many pricing models and many features.  And in many cases, what’s right for an SMB is not right for a large enterprise, and vice versa.  What is right for me?  One of the first decisions you’ll need to make is should I install a system on-premise, or be serviced via a cloud.

  If you talk to different people, you’ll get many different answers.  And that’s because whether you go to cloud or prem will be dependent on your unique requirements.  What is good for the business next door may not work for you.  And if you talk to different vendors, you’ll get different answers as well, most likely extremely skewed to whatever they offer (because most don’t offer the same product in premise or cloud form), or which part of the company the particular sales person is getting paid from.  So you might even get different answers from different sales people from the same company!  Super confusing.

  So what are you to do?  One of best things to do is to start with a vendor that offers both on-premise and cloud.  And one that offers the same product for both.  Many companies offer premise and cloud, but because of various M&A they have done, the cloud product is very different from the prem product.   What are the top 5 reasons you should choose a vendor like this?

  

   

  One – The vendor (or reseller of the vendor) can act as a true trusted advisor.

  If the vendor (or reseller) offers the same product both premise and cloud, all the vendor (or reseller) cares about is making the sale.  Not a cloud sale.  Or not a premise sale.  Just a sale to you, that fits what is best for you.   A true trusted advisor can help you understand and navigate through your unique needs. 

  Two – A product with the same look and feel will have future benefits.

  If the company is growing and you want to put remote offices on the cloud, then all employees will have the same tools and look and feel for their UC system.  It also gives you as the end user flexibility should you want to change to/from cloud or prem for some reason.

  Three – As you go through the process, you’ll be dealing with the same sales people.

  In many cases, companies have different sales teams because they represent different products or different divisions.  You’ll want to maintain talking to the same sales team so you get consistent answers you can understand.

  Four – You won’t have to worry about channel conflict causing you confusion.

  Many vendors with large on-premise installed bases are essentially instructing their sales people or channel to sell cloud.   They can’t possibly act as trusted advisors in that case.   And in some cases, the channels are entirely different.  You may get calls from two different resellers – one selling a vendor’s cloud product and another selling a vendor’s on-prem product.

  Five – Maybe you haven’t decided which is best for you.

  This could be about cloud vs. on prem, but also could be about remote work capability, CRM integration, video calls, contact center features, etc.  You need to talk it through.  Which brings us back to the Trusted Advisor role as described in number 1.

  Sangoma offers both on-premise and cloud solutions for both PBXact and Switchvox UC products.

  The post Cloud and On-Premise: Why Businesses and End Users Need their UC Vendor to Offer Both appeared first on Sangoma.

August 17, 2020

• Digium Switchvox + SIPStation: A Winning Combination

  Sangoma is a “one-stop shop” vendor, meaning that Sangoma offers everything you need for your UC solution. From the phone system with contact center features to faxing solutions that are still (surprisingly) very much in demand, Sangoma has a product for you. Certain combinations of those UC solutions really stand out, and perhaps one of the most popular combinations is Switchvox, our all features included UC phone system, and SIPStation, our award-winning SIP trunking services. 

  Let’s make one thing clear: Switchvox by itself is already a stand-out winner. All features included (seriously, everything), an easy-to-use interface, and flexible deployment options –

  all at a price that can’t be beat. Switchvox is built on Asterisk, the world’s most widely-used open source communication software, by the company who supports and maintains the Asterisk project. So, when a customer decides to deploy Switchvox in an on-premise environment and they’re looking for the phone service to pair with it, SIPStation SIP trunking joins the spotlight.

  A SIP trunk is essentially phone service that “rides” over your internet connection. The revolutionary aspect about that delivery method is that, dollar for dollar, SIP trunking is cheaper than traditional analog or PRI service because you pay only for the channels you need. SIP trunking allows you to consolidate your technical infrastructure while taking advantage of your ISP (internet service provider) that is already there, making it a future-proof decision for your company’s communications. 

  Business continuity is never an issue with Remote Call Forwarding which automatically directs calls to mobile phones or other locations in the event of a phone service outage. 

  SIPStation is Sangoma’s award-winning SIP trunking service that is supported by the same team that will support your Switchvox system. Instead of calling three different companies, you have one point of contact for support and service. And, as an added perk, SIPStation can be set up and configured directly from the Switchvox interface. 

  The combination of both Switchvox (either on-premise or virtual) with SIPStation is a winning combination for several reasons. 

  • SIPStation can be set up right in the Switchvox admin portal.
  • Using SIPStation means you also get SMS, expanding the way you communicate with your staff.
  • Switchvox has all features included with a path to migrate from on-premise or virtual to the Cloud. If your phone service is also with SIPStation, that only increases your flexibility.
  • Fax over the internet (FoIP) is also an option with FAXStation. You can keep your fax machine or consolidate to the Cloud – whatever is best for your company.

  Most importantly, everything is being delivered through one vendor. While you are saving on your telephony bill with lower rates for local and long distance and simplifying your communications into a single data connection, Sangoma is here to provide end-to-end connectivity. 

  Contact us now to see how you can reduce your telephony costs while maximizing your UC phone system with SIPStation + Switchvox.

  The post Switchvox + SIPStation: A Winning Combination appeared first on Sangoma.

August 16, 2020

• FreeSWITCH We are back soon.

  Sorry for the inconvenience. We will be back soon.

August 13, 2020

• Digium Break the Boundaries of Typical SIP Trunking Service Providers

  Why You Need Wholesale SIP Trunking

   

  We are all using SIP Trunking today, either to receive service or deliver it to customers, but are you actually taking full advantage of this technology?

  For a while now we have been treating SIP Trunking service similar to traditional phone line services, where it’s only available in a bundled set of features, at a flat rate cost.  In this way, SIP Trunking has been doing well, saving customers up to 50% of their traditional phone service; offering additional revenue opportunities; delivering efficiency and productivity through dozens of features and more. But did you know we are only tapping into a small percentage of the benefits of SIP trunking? 

  You – The Large Enterprise

  Let’s say you are a large distributed enterprise business receiving service from local SIP trunking providers for each of your locations. This means that You:

  • Have to maintain multiple regional locations that could have differing service features and settings
  • Are paying a flat monthly service fee regardless if your business has low call volume a given month, so you’re paying for what you are not using.
  • Are spending a lot of time dealing with billing and calculations of local tariffs
  • Managing services with multiple points of contacts from each local vendor
  • Have to contact local providers for adds, moves and changes to services 

  Did you know that all of the above challenges are solved by switching to a wholesale SIP trunking provider? A Wholesale provider touches many carrier networks and is able to aggregate features from other SIP trunking providers and deliver them to you a la carte. So you can pick and choose the specific features your business needs, without paying for anything more, and package them together to deliver a unified solution across your locations. For example, only pay for E911 and SMS services on the numbers that you need those services on.  Also, wholesale providers charge you by the minute! With most retail SIP providers, you’re paying for phone lines while your business is closed; Wholesale SIP trunking has you paying for what you use.

  You – The ITSP, MSP or VAR

  Access to a wholesale SIP trunking provider lets you support your existing retail SIP trunking customers and sell phone numbers and other VoIP services not available within your network reach, adding new revenue streams. Or if you are just getting started, offer new retail SIP trunking service and choose and bundle which features you want to offer your new customers. For example, add SMS to your customers’ main lines or offer ancillary services like conference bridges, call forwarding, fax to email, and more.

  If you are still trying to understand retail vs wholesale SIP trunking click here for a quick comparison table.

  If you are interested in wholesale SIP trunking, check out SIPDepot. It is a turnkey service, which means minimal fuss and hassle, whether you are using the service for your own business, or selling it to your customers.  With SIPDepot take advantage of :

  • Single Point of Contact
  • • SIPDepot is responsible for delivering you the diverse set of services from across regions and eliminates the labyrinth of contacts and procedures required to perform moves, adds and changes with individual localized providers.
  • Cloud-Based Management Portal
    • Manage services and place orders on your own terms, such as phone number provisioning, rather than having to contact the provider’s technical support staff for changes. 
  • Simple Billing
    • Receive just a single invoice for all the diverse set of services being delivered from across regions, making it really easy to accurately bill your business or customers.  Also leverage SIPDepot’s hosted billing platform to handle number porting, billing, tax calculations, reporting and compliance, so that you can focus more time on growing your business.

  Learn more about SIPDepot and its features such as SMS and E911 Monitoring.

  If you want a more indepth look into wholesale SIP trunking, read our Frost and Sullivan white paper .

  The post Break the Boundaries of Typical SIP Trunking Service Providers appeared first on Sangoma.

August 11, 2020

• Digium Top 3 Lasting Benefits of a Video Call and Collaboration System

  By now, most of the readers of this blog have been on countless (yes, I bet you can’t really keep track anymore!) video calls. I certainly have been almost living on Sangoma Meet. By the way, I just did a podcast with Mo Nezarati, EVP of Products and Strategy, about Sangoma Meet, if you want to listen to it.

  I definitely see the benefits of the video calls, especially in today’s environment. But someday, hopefully relatively soon, we’ll be back to normal. Are these video calls we’re having today bound to continue, or are they some ‘fad’ that in 10 years we’ll laugh about?

  My perspective is that they are going to become a part of our business environment, just like email or voice phone calls are. There are benefits that are just too hard to ignore.

  From my almost 5 months of experience, these are the top 3 benefits of video conferencing:

   

  First: seeing somebody establishes much more of a ‘connection’ than by having a voice call.

  I (used to) travel a lot, especially to see customers and to visit employee locations. Right now, seeing people on a video call is definitely better than just a voice call or voice conference call. And even when business travel resumes, you can’t be everywhere all the time. So, even if I visited a location last week, and this week I want to do a conference call with my colleagues there, I would definitely do it via a video call. 

  Second: most video call systems now include video sharing, where you can share documents on the screen and everyone can see them. 

  This collaboration element of a video call is huge! For example, recently I went over the marketing plan with my team. Doing this via sharing the document on Sangoma Meet was much more interactive and collaborative than if I was saying “go to page 27 now” and then saying “in the upper right we have “xyz”. I simply circled what I wanted to highlight and discuss. I also think this keeps people engaged better on a call like this. Maybe my team faked me out really good, but I felt like they were better engaged than if we just had this on a large conference call.

  And third: from an economic perspective, this certainly will help keep travel costs down. 

  While there is no substitute for a face to face meeting, sometimes there will be reasons where meeting on a video call would be better. I mean sometimes there are meetings where you fly in, have a 2 hour meeting, and then leave. If you haven’t seen the person in a long time and/or if this is a deal closing, sure there are reasons to do this. But if it’s a check-in meeting, maybe you check in half the time in person, and half the time via a video call. Or what about the sending 4 people to a meeting. Maybe you send 2, and the other 2 people that are there for specific support just attend via a video call. This enhances productivity because the 2 people don’t have to travel.   

  Anyway, my point on all this is that businesses now are seeing the T&A expense line drastically down, and business continuing “OK”, so it likely won’t come back to what it was for a long time, simply because the CFO can now make a case that that level of spending is not necessary. 

  If you haven’t been using video collaboration, or just want to try a new one, please visit https://meet.sangoma.com.

  The post Top 3 Lasting Benefits of a Video Call and Collaboration System appeared first on Sangoma.

August 06, 2020

• Digium Creating the Best Video Conferencing Experience for your Team

  Consider how your video conferencing experience has been so far. Do you like the solution that your company uses, or do you wish it had features tailored to how you do business? You may even be adapting to using video conferencing so well that you are starting to consider updating your hiring practices to include more remote employees.

  By this point, most companies are using some kind of face-to-face video service and, frankly, they all do similar things at their basic function.  

  So, what’s the best video conferencing solution out there? 

  This depends on a few factors, such as the type of business you are and what you use video conferencing for. 

  Does it Have the Features You Need?

  For example, if you are a small business and simply want to discuss how the team is doing, you’re not going to need any fancy features beyond sharing video and audio. But if your team gets together to collaborate, then you will want features like screen-sharing and maybe chat too. 

  If you are a larger business you may be looking for:

  • Large participant capacity
  • Strict security to protect sensitive information shared on the calls
  • Email integration for quick meeting invitations
  • Ability to video conference with your external customers who require support for your product or services
  • Dial-in for participants who are unable to open the video conference service

  After Features, It Comes Down to Ease of Use

  You may find that many video conferencing solutions available today offer quite a few of these features, but then it comes down to their ease of use. 

  Are you required to install a dedicated app? Do you have to log in each time to use it? Is it easy to screen-share or enable a different audio/video device?

  The more time spent working around the particulars of a solution, the less efficient your team is – not to mention the growing feeling of frustration to get on another video call. These tools need to work for your team, intuitively, because we’ve all learned, all too fast, that business video conferencing solutions have become mission critical.

  Have You Tried Sangoma Meet?

  If you are looking for a video conferencing platform better suited for your business needs, take a look at Sangoma Meet! It’s easy-to-use and simple and lets you start a call right from the website, meet.sangoma.com, with the click of a button. And if you want to invite someone to your call, simply share a meeting link, which automatically launches the conference from the browser on whatever computer they are using or from the optional desktop/mobile apps.  

  Its features are intuitively designed so that you have an optimal video conferencing experience with your team. Sangoma Meet is:

  • Secure: Offers end-to-end encryption on 1-to-1 calls and high encryption for multiparty calls, without storing any of your information on any servers when routing your calls.
  • Reliable: Based on WebRTC technology, Sangoma Meet works over WiFi and cellular network and adapts to your network connection
  • Multi-Party: Have up to 50 participants on a single video call
  • Multi-Platform: Launch from browser, dedicated MacOS or Windows apps or iOS and Android apps!

  Other features include Google and Outlook integration make meeting invites a breeze, as well as screen-share and chat to optimize productivity and collaboration on calls.

  Sangoma Meet is free to use, including all its features and with more coming too. Learn more about it, or better yet, start using it today by navigating to meet.sangoma.com .

  The post Creating the Best Video Conferencing Experience for your Team appeared first on Sangoma.

August 04, 2020

• Digium AstriCon 2020

  AstriCon typically takes place in October. And this year we had a great one planned. However, as announced two weeks ago, we have decided not to do an in-person event this year. I think we all understand it’s just not feasible in this environment.
  Instead, we will do a virtual event on October 21 and 22. We’re calling it AstriCon Plan(9) to differentiate it from regular FTF AstriCon. We’ve received a bunch of inquiries about the weird name. But when we again have a regular FTF AstriCon, you can ask me how we got to that name, but let’s keep that for a FTF meeting in a real OpenSource Lounge we set up at the regular AstriCon ☺.

  After much debate, we decided to structure the online event as if it were happening in real-time at a location. Day one will be workshops, and day two will be conference talks at specific times. And there will be structured Q&A with the talks, and we’ll have lounges to meet and talk to people. Like you’re at an event, but you’re not. So if you want to join, for example, three talks, you’ll know when they are, and you can join the webinar at the appropriate time.

  We’re looking forward to seeing you at AstriCon in October. You can register here.

  The post AstriCon 2020 appeared first on Sangoma.

July 30, 2020

• Digium UC in Times of Pandemic

  By now, we have all been impacted by the pandemic situation, whether directly or indirectly. You or someone you know has probably contracted COVID-19, lost a job, or cancelled this year’s vacation. There have been many difficult situations to work through this year.

  This article is available in Spanish. ¡Lea este artículo en Español!

  Ecuador, a small country in South America, was among the first countries to suffer from the effects of the virus, with dramatic spikes in the number of infections and casualties. Today, I would like to share with you the story about how the UC system from one of our customers in Ecuador was employed in a meaningful yet completely unexpected way to connect people to the help they need.

  

  Back in late January—after finally getting the green light to move away from their legacy system—our customer Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo, a private university, had just completed the implementation of their brand-new phone system. Shortly after, COVID-19 hit. 

  Luckily, the business phone system and its capabilities nowadays has greatly evolved since the days when the operator billed you for internal calls between branches or even different buildings.

  Thanks to this, the university’s response to the virus was swift, rapidly enabling faculty and staff to work remotely when the mandated quarantine began and travel became legally restricted. This was possible for the university because our solutions allow you to take your business phone number wherever you go, so that you can answer regular work calls, conference, chat, and collaborate with coworkers by using the UC client app on your laptop or mobile phone.

  Want to know the best part? The university did not incur any additional licensing costs to enable these features and start working remotely. The faculty and administrative staff, even the chancellor who was abroad at the time, were all able to connect and communicate as though nothing had changed. 

  As a next step, they migrated the call center operation, so that no calls from current students or potential applicants would be missed. This soon sparked an idea: If our staff can be set up to connect remotely so easily, what if we expanded the advantages of the system to do our share for our fellow citizens?

  Think about it for a second. It was the first few weeks of the lockdown. Local health systems and regular emergency lines had collapsed due to unexpected high volumes. Uncertainty and fear was the order of the day, since even the experts struggled to understand the virus. This was the environment in which the university decided to host a COVID-19 hotline, providing anxious callers with access to medical professionals qualified to screen for coronavirus symptoms. 

  

  Over 80 doctors from around the country decided to join the initiative, connecting to the university’s phone system via the Zulu UC app installed on their mobile phones. By the end of the teleservice’s first day, the system reported that over 12 thousand inbound calls had entered the queue.

  Over the last two decades, new and exciting technologies have emerged in the telecom field, and our communication needs have developed correspondingly. We now need more and better ways to interact in our business world. It certainly hasn’t been easy for anyone to deal with the crisis, and the path to recovery and regaining some sense of ‘normalcy’ is long. Duly prepared or not, companies have had to manage to offer their personnel with the appropriate resources to push on. We can only hope that the versatility and increased flexibility prompted by the situation will prove to be lasting, positive change in the work ecosystem.

  As for the university, they have moved on to support those affected by the crisis by broadening their activities in health relief, such as opening new biolab testing and clinic facilities. Surely, little did they suspect when they first implemented their UC phone system, that it would turn out to be such a relevant and crucial organizational decision, enabling them to more rapidly and completely lend a helping hand to their community. 

  As a UC vendor, we at Sangoma have always been strong advocates for mobility and remote work enablement. Still, I can personally say that it has brought us great satisfaction to see our tools used in such a purposeful way.

  If you want to find out more details on this implementation, download the UEES University case study!

  The post UC in Times of Pandemic appeared first on Sangoma.

July 28, 2020

• Digium The Merging of Contact Center and Unified Communications, Part 2

  Business owners today are now understanding that having a basic contact center as part of their UC system enables much better customer service, and are asking to add multimodal contact center features to the UC system. Why have another specific expensive contact center unit (either on-prem or another monthly cloud expense) if the UC system can handle the basic contact center features that would help a small business?  Because why not – the UC system already includes multimodal communication potential.   

  Some basic phone features include music on hold, callback when available, call queues, having inbound callers hang-up while in queue and still retain their position in line, built-in queue priority so specific customers can be prioritized above others in the queue, automated appointment reminders allowing your team to schedule calls and allowing recipients to confirm, cancel or reschedule, and routing rules (such as time of day routing or department routing). These all-important call center or contact center features enable better customer service and even make the small business look bigger to the outside world. All of what is described above can be routed to a business phone number, which as described above can be your desk phone and/or your smartphone and/or your laptop.  So you can handle customer service calls remotely as well.

  And some businesses also want their phone system to integrate with other commonly used business tools, such as CRM, help desk, property management or practice management software. This is an aspect of expensive dedicated contact center software that is also being brought into the UC realm, as UC starts to merge with CC. For example, customer information can easily be accessible to whoever answers the phone, even if it’s not a dedicated agent, in a small business, saving valuable time for the customer. The customer phone number can help pull up prior customer information so when the small business gets on the phone, they may already know what the customer is calling about. Also, if a customer service rep needs to find an expert in the company, then a UC tool with presence can help the rep get an answer fast.  

  We are seeing more and more contact center features start to become part of the UC phone system. There are many businesses that need some contact center functionality, but not like those required for large gigantic contact centers like large airlines or financial institutions might need. So we’ll see offers for smaller businesses emerge, where the features they need are just part of the overall system.

  If you are looking for an affordable business phone system that includes all the features you typically need, even contact center features and a desktop and smartphone mobile client, Sangoma’s UC platforms are for you. 

  To read the first part of this two-part Machi Minute series, click here!

   

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  The post The Merging of Contact Center and Unified Communications, Part 2 appeared first on Sangoma.

July 23, 2020

• Digium Essential Features for your Virtual Contact Center

  In case you missed it, the business world is going through some growing pains as organizations grapple with the unique challenges of staying in contact with employees and customers, without any close contact. The recommendations of the US Center for Disease Control and other public health organizations have forced businesses to rapidly roll out policies and technology to continue to operate “business as usual,” while our lives feel anything but usual. 

  The question for these businesses is how to accommodate both the increased contact volume from customers quarantined at home and the need for employees to address these customers while working from the safety of their own homes. And that’s where a trend that was already gaining popularity perfectly addresses at least some of the challenges of the “new normal”: virtual contact centers.

   

  What is a Virtual Contact Center?

   

  As Jim Machi mentioned in a recent Machi Minute, the concept of a contact center arose out of the old-school call center when customers began to contact businesses in ways other than a telephone call (especially after the advent of email and other web-based communications). While adding a variety of new contact methods, contact centers still looked like call centers with dozens (or hundreds) of employees commuting to offices to do their work of addressing customer needs. 

  While this might still have been necessary even a decade ago to ensure network security and quality of service, the reality of modern life and network technology is such that most people have the high-speed Internet necessary to take care of their work, from home. This has enabled a radical reenvisioning of the workplace and the rise of virtual contact centers, which can save businesses money while boosting employee morale. Rather than commuting to an office, agents in a virtual contact center simply login from home to complete their work, with no change in service for customers contacting the business.

  Essential Features for Virtual Contact Centers

   

  So, let’s say you’re a business who may not have realized before that they operate a contact center in some capacity (and that can be any business that receives enough contact to require a dedicated employee or team to handle the calls, emails, and more), what should you look for in a virtual contact center solution? Here are some of the essential features for virtual contact centers:

   

  Reliable Web Client – the Central Hub of the Virtual Contact Center

   

  What separates virtual contact centers from “regular” contact centers is the flexibility for agents to work from anywhere. Naturally, that means that the web client for virtual contact center solutions is the central hub of operations for agents and managers and must be reliable and intuitive, to allow streamlined, remote onboarding and ensure the trustworthiness of the solution.

  The best virtual contact center solutions feature easy-to-use, browser-based user interfaces that enable agents to simply login to access the full suite of communication tools available to them.

  To see examples of this type of intuitive web-based user interface, check out the Switchboard and Switchvox Softphone for Switchvox Unified Communications contact center solutions or Zulu UC and Zulu Mobile for PBXact contact center solutions.

   

  Call Queues – the Heart of the Virtual Contact Center

   

  Contact centers exist for the sole purpose of boosting revenue and providing better customer service by more efficiently handling customer communications. The crucial element in achieving this is a well thought-out system for contact distribution. In modern contact centers, this is accomplished through call queue functionality, which provides virtual lines for customers to wait as short a time as possible to receive attention.

  The best virtual contact center solutions feature advanced call queue features like queue priority and global arrive time that allow any number of important parameters to determine the right order to address incoming customer contact. Other useful call queue features include the ability to assign overflow agents who can seamlessly handle customer contacts when queues become too full for those responsible for it.

   

  Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Technology – Intelligent Automatic Call Distribution

  On a side note, you may be wondering how incoming calls and other forms of communication are assigned to the right queue. Long ago, this task would have been handled by an army of receptionists, but now that would be an unheard of expense. That’s because current technology enables automatic call distribution, a cornerstone of the modern contact center. 

  And what’s more, not only can customers indicate the call queue they believe addresses their needs, advanced Interactive Voice Response technology (commonly known as an IVR) allows callers to be qualified conversationally, using their voices instead of listening to endless directories of numbers to press. Sometimes, these IVRs are so well-designed that it can be difficult to tell, as a caller, whether or not you are speaking to a human being or an artificially intelligent contact center solution.

   

  Statistics, Reports, and Analytics – the Brain of the Virtual Contact Center

   

  Just as the web-based user interface is the central hub and call queues are the heart of the virtual contact center, the communication platform’s ability to provide detailed reports, real-time statistics, and actionable analytics serves as the brains of the contact center.

  The best contact center solutions provide robust reports instantly, while giving the option to schedule reports to be generated and sent automatically for review. The reason for this is simple, especially for virtual contact centers. Agent performance can easily be monitored, and contact center workloads can be more flexibly managed. If there is a consistent spike in activity, more agents can be assigned to a queue. And for random flare-ups or declines, agents from other queues or job responsibilities can be reassigned as temporary overflow agents, and vice versa.

  Real-Time Wall Board

  One very useful feature of Sangoma Contact Center solutions is the ability to display valuable switchboard statistics on a dedicated “wallboard”. This is useful for agents trying to stay on top of workflow and for managers looking to most efficiently staff their call queues. And this is just as true for virtual contact centers, with agents and managers having access to the Wallboard functionality from their home offices.

  Sangoma Virtual Contact Centers and CCaaS

   

  Looking for an affordable contact center solution for your business?

  Many organizations, even small businesses, are finding that contact center functionality is a vital component of their next business phone system. Luckily, Sangoma is proud to offer the best value in Unified Communications (UC).

  Sangoma’s award-winning UC platforms, in addition to merging many different methods of communication into a single platform and interface, include advanced contact center functionality built-in and available to users for no additional cost. Plus, these UC contact center solutions offer businesses the advantage of using the software hosted in the Cloud (contact center as a service or CCaaS), making it that much easier to enable virtual contact center operation.
  

  Click here to schedule a personalized demo of Sangoma’s premier contact center and CCaaS solutions! A friendly Sangoma product specialist will be happy to help you determine your business needs and offer pressure-free solution advice.

  The post Essential Features for your Virtual Contact Center appeared first on Sangoma.

July 21, 2020

• Digium The Merging of Contact Center and Unified Communications, Part 1

  Once upon a time there was something called a “call center.” That’s because you would make a telephone call to it. It was a central place where agents were located that you would communicate with via a telephone call. That was the only real way to communicate with them. Over time, fax was added so it wasn’t just phone calls, and then emails were added next. Fast forward to today, and there aren’t really call centers anymore. There are contact centers, and you can communicate with them in different ways – websites, various social media platforms, apps designed to specifically interact with the company (that even proactively ‘push’ information to you), text, video, and, yes, still even phone calls and emails and fax.   

  This evolution towards a contact center was driven by many things – technological advances in networks, for example, that made this possible. But even beyond that, it was driven by people wanting to communicate in different ways – ways that were easier and more efficient for them. And it was also driven by companies wanting to reduce costs because if communication could become more structured towards self-help and less towards people and real time communications, costs would be reduced and customer satisfaction could also potentially go up. Put together, these combined to enable enhanced multi-modal communication to become reality in today’s world.  

  There are still changes occurring in the world of contact centers, especially as it relates to small and medium businesses. Many small businesses have done so already or are looking to update their existing phone system to a modern phone system that includes Unified Communications capabilities. These capabilities include instant messaging to colleagues, even on their mobile phones, having your smartphone also be an extension of your office business phone number (i.e. your smartphone would ring on a call to your office number), and email and fax integration.  

  During this Work From Home, or Remote Work period we are now in, companies with UC systems have been able to fare better. One important aspect of UC is the mobility angle – since the communication is on IP, it can be via LTE or WiFi, which means you can be connected remotely relatively easily. So you can work remote, or work from home, or even on a boat. Anyplace with an LTE or WiFi connection. And with an expected 628 million public WiFi hotspots by 2023 (up from 169 Million in 2018), this trend will continue for sure. Video conference calls with teammates and customers, phone numbers ringing to your laptop or smartphone, a single place to look for customer messages or emails, etc. enabled companies to have employees work remotely and seamlessly continue to drive the business forward.

  But getting back to the UC capabilities that are in the business phone system. This sounds familiar, right? Yes, this is multimodal communication as describe above, but in the business phone system.

  Next week, I will explore this topic in more detail.

   

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  The post The Merging of Contact Center and Unified Communications, Part 1 appeared first on Sangoma.

July 16, 2020

• FreeSWITCH What to expect from ClueCon Deconstructed

  Every year, the FreeSWITCH team hosts ClueCon, an awesome developers’ conference in Chicago. Things are looking a little bit different than usual, but 2020 will still have its own version of ClueCon online: ClueCon Deconstructed. It’s free to attend this three-day-long event, and many of the things that make ClueCon special will still happen in this new virtual format, which will be hosted in our very own virtual office space. Whether you’ve attended each year or this is the first time you’re hearing about it, we want to give you an idea of what to expect on August 4th-6th, because so much of what there is to love about ClueCon will still be happening, from insightful presentations and the Coder Games hack-a-thon, to Dangerous Demos and the Gigabit Reception. Not to mention we will still be offering amazing raffle prizes, like the custom engraved MacBook Pro!

  The conference will officially be taking place from Tuesday-Thursday, however, on Monday, August 3rd, we will be hosting a pre-conference coffee chat from 10am-12pm CST where the team will be hanging out and answering questions. If you want to meet the team or ask us anything, you should grab a cup of coffee and join us! 

  The conference will kick off on Tuesday with a day full of open source workshops you can attend for free. Pick one, a few, or all to attend: SignalWire, Janus, Kamailio, OpenSIPS, and FreeSWITCH. Each workshop will last for about an hour and will be led by industry experts. Of course, the day will include little breaks between each workshop, so if you do want to attend them all, you’ll have plenty of time to recharge. And something extra special will also be taking place overnight during our timezone – a FreeSWITCH workshop will be available at 5 am CST just for the convenience of our attendees on the other side of the world. We have both team members and attendees from all across the globe, and so we’re stepping outside of our timezone to make ClueCon Deconstructed accessible to everyone! You can check out the schedule here.

  Then on Wednesday, get ready to game – we’re hosting an online version of our Coder Games hack-a-thon! There are two challenges this year, one more suited to our attendees who want to code and build their way to amazing prizes (like an Oculus Quest and a Nintendo Switch) and one for our puzzle-solvers and riddle-lovers! Our Game Theory Challenge requires you to start working now, so if you’re interested in competing for these prizes, you can read more about the challenge here. At 10am CST on Wednesday, these games will be demo’d for the enjoyment of all attendees. Then at 11am, everyone will break up into teams to participate in the Get a Clue challenge – a virtual version of the classic Clue board game. In this version, Dangerous Demos have been hacked, and you’ll have to figure out which FreeSWITCH team member committed the crime, in what room, and with what weapon! Get more details about Get a Clue here. 

  ClueCon always has Dangerous Demos, and ClueCon Deconstructed is no exception. Dangerous Demos are a fast paced show of hacking excellence. Everybody loves to watch demos at tech conferences but few are brave enough to actually do them. Things can and do go wrong and who wants to risk it? On Thursday morning attendees can watch the most dangerous demos, where the danger is part of the fun!  If you’d like to participate, you can fill out a sign up form. Those who demo have the chance to win one of the highly sought-after Dangerous Demos 3D laser etched trophies. Awards will be offered in several categories, and anyone who can take home a trophy can rightly class themselves as a pioneer of open source and an Original Geek. Even if you don’t want to demo yourself, we need audience members to vote, so you can kick back, relax, and watch some demos crash and burn!

  The insightful presentations are one of the biggest parts of what make ClueCon so memorable, and we haven’t left those out, either. During the afternoon on Wednesday and Thursday, you can catch a dozen half-hour long speaking sessions from brilliant industry professionals. These speakers will also be around later to answer any questions, hang out and chat! You can read about the 2020 speakers here. From the comfort of your own home you’ll get to witness all kinds of conference-worthy presentations about telephony, WebRTC, VoIP, and more, with built-in breaks throughout the day.

  Exciting raffle prizes, including the custom engraved MacBook Pro, will be awarded throughout the week. That’s right – it’s free to attend, AND you’ll be entered to win all kinds of prizes and swag just for showing up. Then after a week full of presentations, demos, coder games, and raffles, we carved out time for networking and fun. The Gigabit Reception is a great way to meet your peers and get to know industry heads in a relaxed and fun atmosphere. On Thursday afternoon, grab a drink or a snack and join us for games, an underground guitar jam session and the highly anticipated ClueCon Karaoke, all in a virtual format! 

  If you haven’t already, you should register now! 

  The post What to expect from ClueCon Deconstructed appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

July 15, 2020

• FreeSWITCH What to expect from ClueCon Deconstructed

  Every year, the FreeSWITCH team hosts ClueCon, an awesome developers’ conference in Chicago. Things are looking a little bit different than usual, but 2020 will still have its own version of ClueCon online: ClueCon Deconstructed. It’s free to attend this three-day-long event, and many of the things that make ClueCon special will still happen in [...]

  The post What to expect from ClueCon Deconstructed appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

July 14, 2020

• Digium Why an SMB Needs a Unified Communications System to Grow

  As I’ve written about quite a few times, the drivers for buying a UC phone system that you might typically hear are:

  • Efficiency improvement
  • Productivity gains

  These are typical since, with UC, there can be other forms of communication beyond phone calls all tied into a single system. Therefore, there does not have to be context-switching to communicate. This saves time. For instance, instant messaging can happen during a conference call. Or you are connected to your smartphone outside of the actual business environment so you can “expand” your office hours. Or as I’ve written about recently you can work remote or WFH. Or because all the calls are on IP, the business can save mobile phone and PSTN trunk charges. Add this all up and the business obtains efficiency and productivity gains.

  Due to the inability of many businesses right now to actually see their customers face to face, phone calls are becoming more important than they have been in recent years. Some business can only be transacted on the phone or on the internet, and for a phone call, the physical office may not actually be even open.  

  Those businesses with Unified Communication features such having a business phone number ring right to a laptop or smartphone (so you don’t even have to be in the office and can be remote or at home to get an office phone call) and instant messaging so you can collaborate better with your colleagues (even when you are on the phone) have fared much better than those with a basic phone system.  

  But that’s probably even not enough. Some small businesses are now understanding that having a basic contact center would enable so much better customer service. These small business owners know that features such as music on hold, callback when available, call queues, call recording and routing rules (such as time of day routing or department routing) are also important. You can look bigger, you can get the call to the right person at the right time, and you can keep your customers happy.

  And that’s all part of the growing trend in Unified Communication systems – add basic call center functionality to the UC system.

  And Sangoma has all that, that’s why we are an excellent choice if you are in the market for a new UC phone system. We offer one easy to understand price, all the products you need to complete your system (Phones, Headsets, Desktop and Mobile collaboration client, Video collaboration, Gateways, SBC) are from us, and we include basic call center features. In one word, we offer VALUE.

  The post Why an SMB Needs a Unified Communications System to Grow appeared first on Sangoma.

July 09, 2020

• Digium Resellers: Building Your Customer Base

  For most small to medium- sized businesses (SMBs), the continuous search for new customers is essential to meet or exceed growth targets. As a reseller, the extent of available prospecting options for your business is often influenced by the size of the organization, and whether there are dedicated resources for new customer acquisition. Larger organizations typically have the human capital and the budget to invest in multiple avenues for finding new customers. Regardless of company size, one factor is particularly applicable to all organizations.

  It’s extremely important for any business owner to understand and properly manage customer acquisition costs. For example, it is less expensive to keep existing customers as a means to maintain current or incremental levels of revenue, but acquiring new customers is imperative if you want to achieve significant growth. When it comes to finding prospects (and customers) that are ready and willing to purchase, there are many options available, with varying impact on your customer acquisition cost.

  It’s often a no-brainer to start by focusing on retention. As a source of revenue, returning customers should be the least costly (and easiest) form of maintaining and possibly growing revenue. In SaaS models, retention is key, of course. But for any type of business, such as resellers who focus on managed services, the sales process for adding on additional products and services is often met with less resistance. The customer has already purchased at least once, and research proves their experience with a business will determine if they return.

  Great products and excellent customer service, during and after the sale, are paramount to the customer experience. But you still need new customer growth. Let’s take a look at some new customer acquisition strategies:

  The Power of Reputation: Word of Mouth & Referrals

  If you are doing a good job with retention efforts, then referrals from existing customers could be the least expensive option for new customer recruitment. Referrals require little effort if you have a strong history of quality product/service offerings, a solid reputation for solution implementation, and excellent customer service. Attracting customers, targeting business opportunities, and finding work or new business is one of the top challenges among U.S. small business owners, and for many, word of mouth referrals are often one of the best sources of revenue after returning customers.

  There are standalone solutions that help you develop, promote, and manage a more complex referral system- but small businesses looking for a simple route can promote referral opportunities on their website, in email campaigns, or by just picking the phone and making the ask. It’s worth noting that referral programs are usually more successful if your existing customer is rewarded with some incentive, such as a future discount or cash.

  Staying Visible: Social Media

  A more recent prospecting tool available to savvy resellers is the use of social media, sometimes referred to as social selling. If done correctly, it can have a huge effect on spreading the word about your business and in actual lead generation. With the rapid rise of business-specific social media activities and the increasing audience acceptance of the approach, use of social media is only expected to continue rising. Plus, there are pay-to-play options available, such as sponsoring a post to make it display in target audience feeds, placing low-cost ads, and more. Every platform is unique!

  In addition to (and sometimes within) the traditional social media sites, there are online communities and topic-specific groups (such as LinkedIn Groups) that provide incredible access to your target audiences. Participating in these social communities can be another valuable asset for reaching buyers. These also sometimes have pay-to-play options, but even if you choose not to put lead gen dollars to these paid options, it is still a good (no cost) avenue for finding and conversing with potential prospects and demonstrating your knowledge as an expert in your field.

  Getting Active in the Local Chamber of Commerce

  Another time-tested avenue for promoting your business is participating in or sponsoring local events. The first step is to join and become active in your local Chamber of Commerce. Many prospects will use the Chamber to network with other members for peer referrals in an effort to validate a business’ integrity. Many local chambers hold networking events, host committees you can volunteer on and have other events that provide great opportunities to meet and greet your future prospects. Chamber-related events will require a bit more time and effort, but the more involved a business is, the more fruitful the outcome can be with finding prospects.

  Taking Advantage of List Purchase Services

  If you have trouble building your own list of prospects, a proven method for finding potential prospects is to buy targeted lists that match your ideal customer profile. There are many agencies that provide such services, and the lists can usually be filtered and regionalized with great effect. There are several methods of marketing activities that can be implemented with these lists from email campaigns, cold calling, and traditional card or brochure mailers. Obviously, these prospects are very cold and may or may not be currently seeking the solution you offer. While the effectiveness of the activities vary, pre-purchased lists (price typically based on the number of contacts you buy) can provide a significant return on investment. Keep in mind: the quality of the vendor and their lists should be researched and validated.

  Networking at Trade Shows and Conferences

  Whether regional or national, trade shows can still be an effective method for evangelizing your products and services to a large audience. Participation can range from only having a booth for displaying products and services to participating in the additional sponsored events or speaking opportunities offered. Participating in trade shows can end up being one of the most expensive and time consuming activities, but it does allow you face-to-face interaction with potential prospects. Ensuring you have seasoned employees available for the event, especially with some shows being multi-day events, is imperative but may be a trade-off that isn’t worth the effort depending on your staffing level.

  Prospecting new customers can be done in several different ways, each of which involves a varied amount of time and money. If you have the available budget, you may also choose to hire third-party marketing firms to assist with prospecting activities, from campaign development to managing online pay-per-click programs (such as Google AdWords). The comfort level lies solely on business stakeholders and their willingness to be involved in prospecting.

  Curious about how Sangoma supports its partner network with marketing, leads, and deal registration? Learn more about the Sangoma Partner Program!

  The post Resellers: Building Your Customer Base appeared first on Sangoma.

July 07, 2020

• Digium Data Traffic Trends and the (WiFi) Impact on Enterprise Communications

  Around this time of the year, I usually read the Cisco Annual Internet Report to see if there is anything interesting relating to the business communications market.  And there are usually a few good nuggets. This year, one of the things that stood out the most is something that also stood out last year – that Public WiFi Hotpots are going to be almost everywhere. And that the average WiFi connection speed will triple to 91.6 Mpbs in 2023 as compared to 2018.

  All this will have a profound impact on your business, because it means you’ll have more people coming to our business, either via phone call, website, social media, or video via WiFi.  So you better be ready.

  And if the last few months taught us anything, it means you’ll have to adapt to mobility. But this not just adapt to it for a while, but to embrace it. So even when this pandemic is over, it means employees working anywhere, anytime, and customers and prospecting coming to you via all kinds of means from all kinds of places. And it likely means even more video.

  Been on too many video collaboration (Sangoma Meet) calls lately? Get ready for more. Been on video calls in a nice shirt and shorts? Get ready for more. Been on Sangoma Meet calls with 40 people? Get ready for more.

  Ultimately, it means you cannot ignore using a UC system. It means your business phone system better have a mobile / smartphone / tablet capable UC client that can handle voice, presence, collaboration and video.   

  As I wrote last year around this time… “make sure your business phone system supports mobility”.  Little did I know what that really meant.

  Sangoma, in case you didn’t know, supports mobility.

  The post Data Traffic Trends and the (WiFi) Impact on Enterprise Communications appeared first on Sangoma.

June 30, 2020

• Digium A Modern Approach to Wholesale SIP Trunking

  SIP Trunking is important for any enterprise these days – this is the connection into your building that carries phone calls to an on-premise UC platform, or is the underpinning of any cloud communications service.   It must be robust, be resilient, be able to offer a wide array of DIDs, and comply with local telephony laws such as location service.

  However, in today’s world, that is not enough, especially if you are a wholesale SIP trunk provider.  More and more, additional services are expected of the wholesale SIP trunking provider.  Services now expected include:

  • Fraud Prevention
  • Texting
  • Emergency Services 
  • Cloud-based Management Portal, so the client can perform self-service on common functions

  Frost and Sullivan’s whitepaper on this topic outlines what a modern SIP Trunking business needs to provide.

  The post A Modern Approach to Wholesale SIP Trunking appeared first on Sangoma.

• WebRTC Hacks Using getDisplayMedia for local recording with audio on Jitsi

  I wanted to add local recording to my own Jitsi Meet instance. The feature wasn’t built in the way I wanted, so I set out on a hack to build something simple. That lead me down the road to  discovering that: getDisplayMedia for screen capture has many quirks, mediaRecorder for media recording has some of its […]

  The post Using getDisplayMedia for local recording with audio on Jitsi appeared first on webrtcHacks.

June 25, 2020

• Digium Customize and Track Call Campaigns with Unified Communications

  With today’s technology and analytics tools, businesses have more visibility into lead sources than ever before – to the point that it can quickly become overwhelming. You can measure everything from email open rates and promo codes used, to YouTube views and filled-out forms. But what about phone calls?

  For industries outside of basic e-commerce, the vast majority of leads and sales come in via phone, so customizing and tracking their journey is vital. Implementing a Unified Communications (UC) solution is an easy, effective, and affordable way to do this.

  Here are some of the UC features that help the most with your call campaigns:

  • Intelligent call routing allows your employees to route calls to specific departments based on which campaign the customer is calling about. If you have separate numbers for each marketing campaign (for example, you have one for a digital billboard display and one for an email campaign), you can set up automatic routes to get customers where they need to be, without asking.
  • Interactive Voice Response (IVR) lets your business record and play back additional information to callers as they reach your system. You can customize the message for each phone number used. If a customer sees your billboard ad for a free lawn evaluation and calls the number listed, you can tailor the message to appeal to that specific promotion.
  • Caller ID control allows a business to customize the caller ID that the employees see, which lets them know which ad campaign likely triggered the call. For example, your employee will see something like 555-555-1212 billboard ad on their computer and phone when the incoming call is received. This enables the employee to answer the phone and be prepared to address the messaging in the ad.
  • Mobility allows your employees to receive campaign calls from their mobile device and still see the proper Caller ID information. This means your traveling sales team has the same control as your in office team.
  • CRM Integration makes it easy for employees not only to reference customer information when receiving calls but also to ensure that all details of a call are noted in customer records.

  In addition to the features UC facilitates for your call campaigns, it goes even further by measuring the results of your efforts:

  • Call Reports allow your business to run reports by incoming phone number so you can see exactly how many calls the custom call campaign generated, including which days and times were the most popular. This is valuable data for your next call campaign.
  • Queue Reports allow managers to understand the performance of employees. These reports give metrics such as customer wait times, talk times, answered and abandoned calls, and much more. These are valuable insights that can be used in determining employee scheduling and performance reviews, as they provide a birds-eye view of how the campaign is being handled on your end.
  • Call Logs allow you to track an individual call from beginning to end. Managers can see who talked to the caller, and if the caller was transferred or disconnected for any reason. These logs are especially valuable in customer complaint situations.
  • Scheduled Call Reports can be set up to be automatically sent to a manager’s inbox on the day, time, and frequency that they choose. If you’re out of town but want to take a look at how well your half-off sale is performing (which you promoted with a unique phone number), you can view your custom reports anytime, anywhere.

  Customers are increasingly using their smartphones for browsing websites, purchasing products and services, and calling companies directly. In fact, many mobile searchers call a business directly from search results, so tailoring the phone call experience for your customers is imperative. Unified Communications solutions have the features and tools your business needs for effective call campaigning and tracking.

  The post Customize and Track Call Campaigns with Unified Communications appeared first on Sangoma.

June 23, 2020

• FreeSWITCH From smoke signals to VoIP: Two thousand years of telecom

  The concept of video conferencing can be traced back to as early as 1870, when the idea of transmitting an image along with audio over a wire was born. It would take another 50 years before the first versions of this technology would be built, and another 50 after that to create products that would actually stick around the market. It’s pretty crazy to think about the earliest forms of teleconferencing existing 150 years ago, especially with how much transformation has happened for telecom in just the last decade or two. Teleconferencing is truly vital to the moment we currently live in to the average person, with so many of us working from home for the first time. With modern technology like computers, the internet, and smartphones really taking off within roughly the same time frame as teleconferencing, it’s pretty fun to look at what forms of communication came first, and what led to the tech that makes our lives so convenient today.

  Humans have always had means to communicate through distance. Even 2000 years ago, the simplest methods would eventually lead to what we would formally define as telecom: smoke signals, drums, beacons, and horns. These were obviously very limited in their messaging, but eventually, more specific forms of communications would grow from them. The 15th century brought the spread of the printing press, which was obviously revolutionary for widespread communication. But the true revolution of what was to come was happening at sea: maritime flag semaphore was developed for ships to communicate with one another. A special code involving the positions of two flags was created, with each position of the flags representing a letter or number, later inspiring the technology that would form the beginnings of telecommunications – the telegraph and morse code.

  By the 17th century the first experimental acoustic telephone was built. It was discovered then that sound could be transmitted over a wire attached to an earpiece or mouthpiece. Telegraphs were developed in the 18th century, inspired by the maritime semaphores and their flag codes. The first optical telegraphs were a system of pendulums set up in high towers to communicate visually. Messages could be passed from one tower to the next, making this the first telecommunications system to span across Europe. The electrical telegraph would come about 50 years later in the 19th century, and along with it, morse code. By sending electricity through a wire, specific messages could be sent by holding and releasing a button in certain intervals. In 1858, the telegraph went transatlantic, creating global telecom. For the first time, people could instantly communicate across the globe – though these first global systems weren’t very reliable, as they often went down entirely. The 1870s brought the first electric telephones, and when they arrived, so did that concept of transmitting an image along with audio over a wire.

  The technology of the 20th century truly changed everything. The radio was developed, telephones became capable of long-distance contact across the US, and in the 1920s, images could be transmitted, creating the television. The first experimental videophones were introduced in the 1930s in the US and in Europe. In 1965, AT&T set up trial calls with this technology, at the time called picturephones. The phones were set up in booths with black and white video screens, where users on the receiving end had to remain still if they wanted to be seen on the video call. The booths were only in a few cities across the US, required reservations ahead of time to use, and a 3-minute call cost $27 (or $255 today).

  The end of the millennium was crammed with new inventions, accelerating the capabilities of technology with each passing decade. When the first computer networks and mobile phones were developed in the 1970s, AT&T attempted to bring picturephones to peoples’ homes. This was extremely expensive for the consumer – about $950 for 30 minutes of call time, and this, too, ultimately flopped. $500 million was invested in this technology, and it was projected there would be 1 million users by 1980. The reality was about 500 subscribers – people just weren’t that into seeing each other while on the phone. But in the 1980’s, with the rise of the internet, mobile phone networks, instant messaging, and email, a commercial group video conferencing system was launched by Compression Labs. It was bulky and extremely expensive, but actually had some success in corporate use for international meetings.

  The first webcams were invented in universities in the 1990’s. The first free video conferencing application was launched, and another in-home videophone was introduced by AT&T once again. Each of these technologies improved rapidly with every passing year, with more competitors releasing new videoconferencing systems, chat messengers, and mobile phones.

  In the 2000s, all this technology continued to develop and improve, with video calling in HD becoming possible to the regular consumer, smartphones becoming widespread necessities, and the creation and growth of social networks. 2003 was a big year for the introduction of VoIP internet telephony, with phone calls now able to be transmitted over internet protocols. And now, in 2020, video conferencing technology is basically a household staple for everybody. But even with better technology than we’ve ever had available at our fingertips at every second of the day, and dozens of providers, no platform can deliver perfectly – video quality is usually what suffers in favor of maintaining audio quality. So as teleconferencing continues to evolve and improve over the next decade, the question is: who will do it best?

  The post From smoke signals to VoIP: Two thousand years of telecom appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

• Digium The Importance of Telecom Applications

  

  TADSummit Online Asia took place a month ago.  The ‘TAD’ in TADSummit means Telecom Application Development. Seems under exciting. So what is Alan doing? And why is Alan actually even bothering to devote all of his time and energy to this concept?

  Because telecom applications are truly at the heart of the growth (and one can argue the innovation, though there is plenty of innovation in the transport side of things as well) of the industry, and we all need to make sure innovation is not stifled or owned “by a few.” This has created Billions (yes Billions, if not Trillions) of dollars of revenue and wealth for startups (that are no longer startups now) that created useful, new, easy to use applications targeted to either subscribers or businesses. Everyday, we all use telecom applications that at one time were some cool innovation and foreign concepts to us. The rate of telecoms innovation has truly been amazing since the early 90’s. All driven by applications.

  These companies saw some kind of interesting concept that could be evinced through the telecom or enterprise networks. Applications we take for granted today, such as texting, video, SMS, unified communications, speech recognition, location services…. you name it, were created by some innovative companies that had to figure out how to get their vision realized using some kind of available building blocks, or what Alan calls the “tech stack”.

  The BIG guys really had (have) no interest in anything that’s different or not controlled by them. The more it stays the same, the better it is for them. No innovation, or controlled innovation (controlled by me), means no disruption. And the money keeps pouring in, to them. The big telecom guys would stifle the innovation by putting all kinds of roadblocks in place, using standards bodies to delay the inevitable. In the meantime, innovation continued and what was created outside their realm would become defacto standards. Another way to get to the same place, yet waaaaaaaaaay faster.

  This is what Alan is championing and why TADS is important. Let’s not lose this developer focus. You guys, the ecosystem, are much smarter than anyone else. We need this innovation. No one or two or three or four (you get my point) companies are smart enough to see all new emerging needs. An ecosystem, though, can. And that’s why we’ll continue to see new cool innovative applications emerge. All powered by some kind of base core elements.

  The ability to innovate using easy to use, cost effective building blocks is at the heart of these new innovative telecom applications. When you get down to it, I’ve devoted my telecom career to this. At Sangoma, we have all kinds of elements in the telecom stack (from open source toolkits, to CPaaS, to network integration). And that’s why Sangoma supports what Alan is doing with TADs.

  Keep innovating. The underlying building blocks will be there. You guys will figure out how to use them in ways never imagined.

  If you want either read a brief synopsis of my keynote, or watch it, please click the link here. There is a brief overview of our tech stack provided and you can listen to me explain it.

  The post The Importance of Telecom Applications appeared first on Sangoma.

June 18, 2020

• Digium Why Seasonal and Growing Businesses Value the Cloud

  All businesses value scalability, but for seasonal and growing businesses, the need for scalability is paramount. And that’s why these types of businesses value the Cloud. By transferring communications to the Cloud, businesses can scale quickly while driving greater operational efficiency.

  Seasonal Businesses:

  Scalability is an important need for some businesses because of the way their industry is set up or positioned in the marketplace. Seasonal businesses, such as florists, lawn care services, and tax preparation services, will have periods throughout the year where they need varying degrees of phone system support. After all, why would you want to pay for a service you only use part of the year? The flexibility of a cloud phone system helps solve this problem by allowing more lines to be easily added during peak season, and easily reduced during the off season. Seasonal scalability such as this facilitates the ability of businesses to better control their expenses, and ultimately improve their profit margin.

  Growth and Decline of Business:

  A phone system that is scalable may be essential to seasonal businesses, but any organization can benefit from the flexible nature of cloud phone systems. Whether dealing with growth or a decline in revenues, both can be equally unexpected and require an immediate response. Scalability allows a business to quickly adjust to fluctuating market conditions.

  If you deploy a hosted phone system and you have 100 employees who need phones, then you pay for 100 users. Should your employee count drop to 75, you only pay for 75. When your business needs to scale up, it’s simple to add users and change your billing accordingly.

  Plus, growing businesses value the fact that hosted phone systems represent an operational expense rather than a capital expense, meaning that hosted systems are deployed as a service with little upfront cost and no maintenance obligations. Using a cloud-based solution means you have flexibility and can free up your working capital through the immediate cost savings of a hosted PBX.

  Additional Features

  The need for flexibility when your business expands doesn’t just apply to the number of employees (or users) that you may be adding. Cloud-based phone systems also help minimize the headaches that can come with expansion or when adding multiple locations. Whether you have multiple buildings across a campus setting that fall under one internal calling network, or you have several office locations across a certain geographic area, a hosted PBX can provide an economical answer to your communications needs. Not only do you save money by not having multiple phone systems at each physical location, you also have the added convenience of allowing those offices in different locations to call desk-to-desk, as if they were in the same building.

  Choosing a cloud-based solution doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice the features and flexibility of a full-scale UC solution. And because award-winning platforms like Switchvox Cloud use the same source code as the on-premise alternative, you don’t have to sacrifice features when opting for the flexibility and cost savings of a hosted phone system.

  Download our free guide 10 Reasons Why Hosted is Risk-Free with Switchvox Cloud!

  The post Why Seasonal and Growing Businesses Value the Cloud appeared first on Sangoma.

June 16, 2020

• Digium The Emergence of the Business Communications System

  What comes after a Unified Communications system?  More unification of course!  We are entering another phase in the evolution of the business phone system, where it is becoming an overall business communications system.   And we’ll continue to see computing advances have a huge impact.

   

  

   

  Let’s explore this a bit.  From an architecture perspective, it’s not a big leap to continue an evolution towards adding more communications to the business communications system. Other outside networks, such as may be required for IoT interaction can be added to the mix. Other devices, that may have nothing to do with voice, such as building access control, cameras and sensors can be added.  And the rules system and message broker brains also can get updated so that “voice” becomes just another type of communication method, not the method it was originally designed for years ago.  As such, the Business Communications System is born.

  And with all of this data coming from all of the business interactions, patterns and learning can be had and put to use in a positive way.  The advances in compute power and the ability to analyze huge amounts of data swiftly and efficiently have given rise to elements of Artificial Intelligence entering the business phone system.  In other words, the “rules.” And thus the Message Broker can get smarter. So the advent of Artificial Intelligence functionality with the PBX/UC platform has already started to occur.

  The last mile to this Business Communications System will also likely be augmented. With 5G comes the ability to “network slice” or carve a portion of the network to be dedicated to an enterprise. In other words, a 5G wireless trunk.

   

  

   

  The PBX has already undergone incredible evolution in the past 25 years. With much more to come. The office environment has also evolved from a single brick and morter facility to be a virtual, accessible at all times, and from anywhere environment. The PBX/UC platform branching out to become a more complete business communications system for the Evolved Office is a natural evolution for the PBX, and Sangoma is leading the way.

  The post The Emergence of the Business Communications System appeared first on Sangoma.

June 11, 2020

• Digium Building the Reputation of your Business with Cloud

  Few things are more important to a SMB (small-medium business) than its reputation. Building rapport with your customers doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a relationship that builds over many years of dedicated service or quality products. One place where some businesses fall short is maintaining a basic, open communication channel with their customers. When customers call to see what your weekend hours are or if you have a certain item in stock, it should not turn into a long hold or a busy signal. A hosted phone system can ensure a “lack of communication” is never an issue. Here’s why:

  RCF (remote call forwarding) is a business revenue saver and ensures that your customers always reach someone. If you set up notifications and call forwarding rules the call will cascade to the device of your choice, making that dreaded voicemail box less visited. You can leave to run to the post office or go grab lunch and calls can be forwarded to your mobile phone. The customers will have no idea you aren’t in the office, keeping them happy and content while you answer their questions. Need to take a break? Simply change your status to “away” and you can set up a call rule that will forward those calls to another co-worker or even a call queue, so you can take a much needed break.

  Your business phone number is the face of your company. Think of all the commercials where people have made up jingles centering around their main phone number. Moving to a new hosted phone system doesn’t mean you should lose something that helps to identify your business. Keep your identity and port your number. Make sure to set up a number port with your current vendor before you cancel services and set up a paper trail with emails. Working hand-in-hand with your new provider will help ensure a smooth transition. 

  The Cloud is the way of the future, there is no denying that. Gartner predicts that by 2021, 90% of IT leaders will not purchase any new premise based UC infrastructure. Not only can hardware take up valuable space around the office or in server closets, but for many small businesses, having your IT person focusing on your phone system as well as day-to-day operations can be overwhelming and perhaps lead to burn-out. Not having a physical phone system in the office is ideal for businesses in areas where tornadoes, hurricanes, or other natural disasters are a threat. Everything is in the cloud, so less equipment to be damaged and replaced. With less equipment to worry about and maintain, you can focus on running your business and keeping your customers happy. Leave the phone system maintenance to your hosted phone service provider. 

  Switchvox Cloud is here for the long haul. We have all features included at one, low monthly rate. That’s your phone system and phone service rolled up into one bill. All you need is an internet connection, set up a few call rules, and you are ready to go. You can add extensions as needed, making Switchvox Cloud a flexible solution that is perfect for businesses that have busy and slow seasons. Updates come automatically, there is no bulky hardware in the server closet or around the office, and 24/7 support is there for you when you need it most.  Contact our sales team today and see how Switchvox Cloud can help your business bring in more revenue, scale to your intended growth, and secure your business’s reputation.

  The post Building the Reputation of your Business with Cloud appeared first on Sangoma.

June 09, 2020

• Digium The Evolution of the Business Phone System into a UC Platform

  Last week, I described the basic architecture of a PBX system.  But these systems have evolved into Unified Communication systems that handle more than voice – they handle messaging, texting, chat, video and others.   This is where most business phone systems are today.

  

  But how did they evolve so quickly?  The basic architecture stays the same, so if you have a good architecture upon which to build, features can be added quickly.  When doing an instant message for example, there still needs to be a database of users and rules that go with it, there needs to a message broker between the two people involved, and there needs to be trunks and an end user device.  The basic architecture is there – just the type of media involved changes.  The UC system simply had to handle different media beyond voice.  The convergence of voice with IT (VoIP) proved to be monumental since voice became just a type of media- just another type of data to be moved.  And once that happened, other media could be moved with the same constructs as voice.  Hence, UC implementations became de rigeur.

  Messaging via chat, or playback of a voice or video mail on your email are everyday examples of such communications in the office beyond a simple voice call.  Different devices could be enabled for different kinds of interaction beyond voice, adding text, chat, and video for example.   

  The advances in the networks and the ability for applications to utilize these advances in network technology also played a huge role in enabling the PBX to evolve to truly become “Unified Communications”.  Once such network was the emergence of 3G and 4G, which ushered in the world of mobile enterprise applications.  Your office becomes mobile, because you have office apps such as your office phone, your instant messaging system, etc. on your smartphone or your laptop or tablet.  Effectively, your offices move to wherever you are.  And many of us reading this blog have experienced that.

  But what is next?  Next week I’ll explore some ideas.

  The post The Evolution of the Business Phone System into a UC Platform appeared first on Sangoma.

June 04, 2020

• Digium Conference Calling – 4 Steps to Success

  Organizations use conference calling as a means to communicate with remote employees, partners, vendors and customers. It can also help cut down on travel expenses and even enable you to connect multiple office locations.

  As helpful as conference calling can be for a business, some people would describe the experience as boring and unproductive. Often the experience isn’t as good as it could be because people aren’t properly prepared. Here are some steps to take to ensure you have a productive conference call for everyone involved:

  Properly Prepare

   

  Unpreparedness is the main reason conference calling take longer than they need to. To avoid this, create an agenda for the meeting. The agenda should contain the following information:

   

  • Date & time of conference call, as well as dial-in number and access code (which should also be in the meeting invite)

  • Topic of discussion & goals of the conversation

  • Participants, job titles, and their role in the project or topic being discussed

  • Detailed list of items to be discussed

  • Attachments or links to documents relating to the discussion

   

  Note: Make sure the items on the agenda can be discussed in the amount of time allotted. Employees are busy and have other responsibilities throughout their day. Running overtime while conference calling can throw a kink in the entire work day.

  Know the Conference Calling Technology

   

  Nothing is more embarrassing than thinking you’re are on mute and saying things no one was intended to hear. Understanding the platform and technology you are using is an important step in conducting or participating in a conference call. Make sure your employees are trained on the conference calling platform your business uses, and prior to conducting your first conference call, run a test call and play around with all of the available features. It’s always helpful to have an employee who is technical and can help if an issue with the platform arises during the call. If you don’t have a tech-savy employee on the call, have a backup option for the meeting, or reschedule. (Even if you are familiar with the technology, make sure you pay attention to whether or not phones are muted, for example, to avoid awkward situations.)

  Note: For remote and mobile employees, make sure they can easily access the conference call-in number and access code from their smartphone. Some platforms are not mobile-friendly and these numbers are not easily accessible from the emails the platform sends out, so including the dial-in number and access code in the agenda is key.

  Keep it Productive

   

  Follow the agenda you created ahead of time, and steer the conversation back on track if it derails. Of course, if discussions of the weather or other topical issues come up, go ahead and share as a quick ice-breaker, but then get back on track and stay focused on your agenda. It’s helpful to have someone on your team keep track of action items discussed during the call, including who is responsible for specific action items, and when those items are due. It’s also helpful to use a call recording feature so that anything missed during the conversation can be referred back to or shared with those team members who were unable to join. Finally, it’s good practice to check to see if anyone has any questions about a line item before moving onto the next.

  Follow-Up

   

  Following the conference call, you or someone on your team should send out an email to all participants recapping the conversation and action items discussed. Employee to-do’s should be very clear and include due dates if possible. If you have the capability, send the recorded conference call to participants for reference.

  Conducting a productive conference call depends on how thoroughly you prepare ahead of time. A detailed agenda will not only keep your team on schedule but will also help achieve the goals of the conversation.

   

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  Have you tried Sangoma Meet?

  Sangoma Meet is an advanced video conferencing platform that seamlessly operates from a Firefox or Chrome browser. And right now, you can have access to this powerful tool capable of providing private, secure video calls for up to 50 participants – completely free.

   

  No registration required, try it today!

  The post Conference Calling – 4 Steps to Success appeared first on Sangoma.

June 02, 2020

• Digium The Changing Face of the Business Phone System

  The business phone system has evolved. If you didn’t know that before work from home, you know it now. If you have been on a Unified Communication system, you have been able to communicate in a variety of ways. And you found out while voice is an important element of the business phone system, voice is simply one of the ways you communicate with other people in a business environment today, and that is all supported within a UC business phone system. Voice is essential, but no longer unique. We communicate with other employees or customers via instant and group messaging, email, social media and the like.

  

  When viewing the architecture diagram of a basic PBX office phone system, one can see four important elements. There are interfaces that connect to the “outside world” networks via “trunks” that come into the building. In “the old days”, which is only a few years ago really, this was simply a PSTN trunk to the wired and wireless PSTN, internet or wireless networks. Today this also includes SIP trunks connected to these same networks.

  There are also interfaces that connect to whatever device one talks on. Again, in “the old days” that was simply a phone on your desk, or maybe a paging system, conference phone or intercom to the front door. Today, there are all kinds of softphones, or clients connected to your various mobile devices, including your watch.

  The business phone system also has a database of users (phone numbers, etc.) and rules on how to route calls. Finally, there is a message broker which manages the interaction between internal and external devices and follows the rules set out by the system itself and the administrator of the business phone system.

  Next week we’ll take a look at how the architecture has evolved to easily add Unified Communication features.

  The post The Changing Face of the Business Phone System appeared first on Sangoma.

May 28, 2020

• Digium 4 Not-So-Obvious Softphone Selling Points

  

  While there is a time and a place for the desk phone (and they aren’t going away any time soon), more and more companies are jumping on the softphone bandwagon. For those of you who aren’t familiar, a softphone is essentially a software version of a telephone that can be deployed on desktop computers or mobile devices. Calls are made via the Internet, using bandwidth (you may known this as Voice over IP, or VoIP), and many have similar functionality as their desk phone counterparts.

  Here are four reasons businesses of all sizes are adopting softphones into their tech stack:

  Brand Consistency

  Presenting a consistent brand message is central to maintaining professionalism and gaining customer trust. A softphone makes it possible for employees to provide their customers one phone number to reach them wherever they are located- in the office, at home, or on the road. From your customer’s perspective, they will feel like they’re calling your corporate office regardless of where you are located or which device you are using.

  Convenience & Privacy

  With softphones, every employee extension is tied to the company’s phone system, so customers don’t have (or need) access to their personal cell numbers; only the business’s caller ID information is shown. This is ideal for two specific situations. First, when an employee leaves a company, this privacy layer eliminates the possibility of the employee poaching customers and taking their business along with them. Second, it is for the safety of the employees that customers don’t have their personal mobile numbers, as after-hours calling abuse (especially from an angry customer) is not uncommon. Also, softphones provide additional features that are useful when customer interactions go south, such as call recording and voicemail to email. Call logs are also useful to show the time each employee spends on the phone with customers. If Steve spent 3 hours talking to a customer at 3AM, that may be worth having a conversation about.

  Visual Voicemail / Voicemail to Email

  Let’s face it- no one likes checking their voicemail. In fact, conglomerates Coca-Cola and JPMorgan both completely eliminated corporate voicemail due to lack of use by employees. While saving money obviously wasn’t a main motivator for Coca-Cola, the company estimated it would save about $100,000 a year by cutting the service.

  While some companies have no need for voicemail, others rely on it. Either way, companies should make it easier for employees to access and handle voicemails if they want the service they pay for to be utilized. Some softphone apps, like those offered by Sangoma, include a visual voicemail feature, which is very similar to the iPhone’s voicemail layout. If a customer details an issue they are having in the voicemail and the employee needs a manager to hear it, it can easily forward the voicemail as a .wav or mp3 file via email. If a generic voicemail is left on a receptionist voicemail, he or she can forward the voicemail by email to the appropriate department or person to handle. Important voicemails concerning personal information, issues, or anything else worth keeping, can be filed in a customer’s CRM profile for future reference.

  Cost

  As an extension to VoIP, softphones take advantage of its low-cost nature and eliminate the need to invest in desk phone hardware for every employee. Companies can save hundreds to thousands on communication expenses by offering their mobile employees a softphone pre-loaded with the same functionality their in-office coworkers have access to.

  Click here to learn more about Softphones!

  The post 4 Not-So-Obvious Softphone Selling Points appeared first on Sangoma.

May 26, 2020

• Digium The Tipping Point for Unified Communications in Business

  I was asked to contribute an article in FastMode about how we are responding, and helping our customers respond, to the pandemic. If you want to read the complete article, click here.

  My thesis has been that the companies that utilize Unified Communications systems as their basic phone system, with its ability to offer softphones with the same business number, conferencing, collaboration, presence, and mobile phones that also utilize your business phone number, are at the forefront for enabling this new remote work and work from home environment we’re all experiencing right now. They were prepared.   

  And businesses will either want to continue to be prepared for the next ‘work from home’ emergency, or they will see that this WFH thing wasn’t so bad, and they’ll be OK with enabling this in some form full time going forward. It’s just good business.

  This is why I see this whole pandemic as a tipping point for businesses and the use of Unified Communication systems. While UC systems were ‘nice’ before, they are now essential. And they’ll continue to be.

  But the part of UC that has really exploded has been video. Video helps enable a sense of community, camaraderie, and really just necessary human interaction that comes with chit-chat, just like at a water cooler, coffee station, or lunch room. I’m seeing our employees get on Sangoma Meet video calls a little early so they can just talk for 5 minutes. The need to be connected is more significant than ever now.  

  Given what is going on out there around the world, we’ve decided to make our Sangoma Meet™ video conferencing and collaboration service available for free. We’re simply asking for feedback during this time via filling out a form when the call is over.   

  Go to https://meet.sangoma.com to get started. It is a stand-alone service that can be used independently or with our award-winning UC solutions.

  The post The Tipping Point for Unified Communications in Business appeared first on Sangoma.

May 21, 2020

• FreeSWITCH How the pandemic is changing the future of events

  With the highly contagious coronavirus continuing to spread across the world, large events like conferences won’t be the same as we know them for a long while. It’s not difficult to imagine why. Hundreds of people together in close quarters, with not enough space to keep a safe 6 foot distance from one another – these conditions make social distancing impossible. Even if other businesses that are currently closed slowly open back up once the curve is flattened, large scale events probably can’t follow that pattern. Among other big gatherings like sporting events and concerts, it seems likely that conferences will not be returning until it is completely safe to do so.

  This isn’t stopping event planners, though. Many conferences are now being moved online, especially tech conferences frequented by professionals who aren’t shy about video-calling their way into networking opportunities. Online events aren’t new, but the phenomenon of large conferences being converted into remote gatherings within a short span of time is pretty specific to the moment we’re living in. For a lot of these events, it’s simply a process of offering recordings of the presentations they would’ve had in person, the breakout sessions and keynotes converted into webinars and some live streamed content. But what about more immersive experiences, conferences or trade shows where you might network, gather leads, exhibit? They aren’t being stopped, either. Some of the most interactive events, such as huge art galleries, are moving online for the duration of the pandemic, too.

  Though much of the in person contact will be missed, there are some pros to both hosting and attending an online event. They’re extremely accessible wherever you are, saving time, money and energy spent on traveling. Tickets are reduced price if not free. Even if there’s still a registration cost, you won’t have to pay for hotel rooms, airfare, or other transportation needs like car rentals or taxis. Virtual events are better for the environment – no stacks of paper flyers and name badges and piles of plastic swag. And they’re quite flexible for the audience since you could come and go as your schedule allows. If you want to check out an online event, you’d probably have an easier time getting approval to go than you would for a week-long conference.
  
  So when things go “back to normal,” will virtual conferences go back into hiding in the darkest corners of the internet, or will they stick around? With all the positive aspects of online events, perhaps they can exist alongside in person meetings in harmony. A lot will depend on the attitude at large when people can meet in person again. Will most of us be anxious to get together with others, tired of quarantine and ready to network? Or will we be cautious about gathering in large groups and slow to want to get back into the old way of doing things? 

  Pretty much all conferences of any industry are moving online for the first time right now, so event planners are having to find new ways of measuring success. This year is becoming one long trial run for any future virtual gatherings. And there is a new industry boom happening currently: the online event industry. Yes, there are platforms devoted entirely to hosting such things, and they existed before the pandemic erupted in early 2020. As one might expect, their numbers were relatively low. Now they can hardly keep up with increased demand in the tens of thousands on waitlists to use their products. When in person events become possible again, these platforms will still be around to offer their services, so if some conferences find success in the online format, there’s no reason to think they can’t continue virtually.

  With all that being said, in person events will not be gone forever. The value of face-to-face contact cannot be understated. The solid combination of body language, facial expressions, and verbal inflection creates such a strong style of communication that can’t be totally replicated virtually. Networking efforts are generally more successful when individuals can exchange looks and handshakes. There are simply more ways to interact with one another in person than online when maintaining those three facets of face-to-face contact. So while attendees are interacting via video chat in large groups, and perhaps individually via chat messaging at the same time, this can’t totally replicate what can be gained from meeting others at a traditional conference. For the duration of the current pandemic, however, the health and safety of everyone has to come first.

  If you’d like to experience an online event for yourself, consider joining the FreeSWITCH team at ClueCon Deconstructed, a conference by developers, for developers. This year, ClueCon will be held virtually on August 4-6. It’s free to attend, and we’re making it as interactive as possible – an online version of our Coder Games hack-a-thon, trivia, swag, raffles, networking rooms where you can hang out and chat, on top of a selection of awesome speakers. We’ll certainly be going back to the in person format as soon as we are able, so check out this virtual version of ClueCon while it’s still possible! Click here to register today!

  The post How the pandemic is changing the future of events appeared first on FreeSWITCH.

• Digium Sangoma and .e4: Long Live Open Source

  It’s been a little over two months since .e4 joined the Sangoma team. In that time, we’ve had an opportunity to adjust to multiple new realities, and we are finding our stride despite the ongoing craziness of the world. It has been an enjoyable onboarding experience. Having worked closely with the Sangoma and Digium teams for years, the .e4 crew has had fun getting up to speed on our latest innovations and sharing in the “I can’t believe we’re all on the same team” conversations. 

  The talent pool is deep here at Sangoma, and I’m excited to report that our Open Source projects (Asterisk and FreePBX) are flourishing. Having known some of the more visible players from community events like AstriCon, folks like Jared Smith and Matt Fredrickson- my team felt right at home, but still, I wasn’t sure what to expect knowing that some previous members of the FreePBX team had left. 

  Having said that, I’m pleased to report that, while separated by great distances, our development teams continue to collaborate closely and produce effective work. Both the Asterisk and FreePBX teams have redoubled their efforts to be actively engaged in our online forums and mailing lists. Both teams are focusing both upon improving innovation and improving process. For example, they are improving their respective test suites so that more bugs are caught during the development process. These efforts keep both projects relevant to our customers, to our resellers, and to those in the ecosystem that use and contribute back to our open source communities.

  While two months isn’t much time, and I am reminded daily that there’s much to learn when working at a bigger company like Sangoma. One thing is crystal clear: we have thriving FreePBX and Asterisk teams. Long live Open Source!

  The post Sangoma and .e4: Long Live Open Source appeared first on Sangoma.

May 19, 2020

• Digium Why are there 5G Routers and Gateways?

  First of all, the question is really why would anyone need a cellular router? They could be useful as a backup mechanism in case your landline internet goes down.

  That’s why I first thought of this blog. Everyone on the street was WFH, kids were “going to school” on the internet, and, poof, the internet goes down. Sheer panic, right? What does everyone do? I heard screaming for sure. And more. But soon everyone goes outside to see if anyone else is having the same problem, and soon, the whole street was outside (6 feet away from each other, of course)! Yes, we felt good it wasn’t just us, but it was good the internet came back on soon enough. Some people, though, just used their 4G/LTE phone as a hotspot and kept going…

  But there could be another use for a 5G router – there is WiFi, and the data needs to go out on a cellular network. This could be because some IoT data needs to be transmitted, or because it’s more secure going on a cellular network. There are numerous use cases where a cellular to Wi-Fi router/gateway could be useful.

  5G is coming, and just like Wi-Fi 6 (which I wrote about a month and a half ago), you’ll need devices and networks that support 5G to take advantage of it. So if you have 5G service in your area, it could be an option on how to get internet to your house. It could be the primary method, or maybe it’s a good backup method if you tend to have spotty landline service. And like I said above, it could work the other way around to get local Wi-Fi information back out.

  In this case, a 5G to Wi-Fi router might make sense as a last mile option.  

  The post Why are there 5G Routers and Gateways? appeared first on Sangoma.