If you don’t know already, your POTS (plain old telephone service) and coppers lines that plug into your phone system, fax machine, security system, fire alarm, etc., are in the process of being phased out. This process started back in 2014 and was finalized in 2015 by the FCC. The Big Carriers like AT&T and Verizon have likely notified you of this in the past in some way, shape, or form. No fear, they are obligated to give you at least some sort of notice (3-6 months) if they do turn off your service. So what’s the deal? The carriers are taking a “slow roll” approach to phasing out their copper lines. Instead of cutting everyone off immediately, over the next 5-10 years they will increase maintenance, surcharges and other fees to help pay for the upkeep of the lines that are either rotting in the ground or hanging on the telephone pole that have been beaten by the conditions for 60 + years.

Your carrier invoices will only continue to rise from here on out. We are seeing bills for a handful of POTS lines that normally are a few hundred to close to several thousand dollars, particularly when you include the usage on them. Our goal with clients (current and new) is to be proactive. It begins with where you are contractually and what is being used/what isn’t. We will quote alternatives that are more cost effective (perhaps peeling of a few POTS lines on your newly sourced fiber circuit through us, or combining with other services), or look at cloud based alternatives to completely eliminate any legacy and antiquated tech lines you still may be leveraging on the premise. Beyond saving money, eliminating your copper lines will help reduce “RoBo” and spam calls, increase redundancy via SIP failover and call forwarding, and enable you to consume better technology that will have a positive impact on your business.

Solution Alternatives

– Source POTS lines for alternative carrier. There are a few out there that can still deliver POTS lines at cost effective rates
– Sourcing a new ISP that can deliver a POTS line handoff from either their fiber or cable transport
– Deploy an ATA (analog telephone adapter) through a UCaaS or SIP provider

All of these solution alternatives can be sourced and contracted through your leading local technology partner, ATI.

Contact us here to learn more…

Voice

MiCloud Connect vs 8×8 vs RingCentral

By Jeff Becker on

November 6, 2019

- Voice

“In all the key areas analyzed, the Mitel MiCloud solution is comparable to or exceeds the offerings from 8×8 and RingCentral.” —Tolly Analysts

Tolly Enterprises compared Mitel MiCloud Connect to offerings from 8×8 and RingCentral. The report found that the Mitel solution was comparable to or exceeded its competitors.

“Cloud-computing opens up significant opportunities for delivering a feature-rich unified communications (UC) experience. With decades of experience in telephony, Mitel provides UC suitable for all business needs.” —Tolly Analysts

Download the full report today.

Voice

Key Questions To Ask When Evaluating Cloud Business Phone Providers

By Jeff Becker on

November 6, 2019

- Voice

Businesses today are increasingly turning to cloud business phone systems to meet their communications needs.

But how do you know which offering is right for you?

This guide outlines 12 categories – and questions within each – to help you evaluate cloud business phone providers and ensure you make an informed decision that will benefit your business.

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE HERE

Topics covered include:

Infrastructure
Reliability
Support
Compliance
Features
BYOD support
Scalability
Integration
Administration
Implementation

Voice

The Perfect Rollout of a New Cloud Phone System

By Jeff Becker on

October 30, 2019

- Voice

Has your company decided to make the switch to a business VoIP phone system? If so, you’re joining a wave of organizations doing so.

Research shows that most organizations investing in unified communications turn to the cloud for deployment. While Gartner estimates cloud telephony will realize a growth rate of nearly 16 percent CAGR between 2016 and 2021, on-premises solutions will decline by 9.5 percent. This shows a clear preference for cloud solutions.

The right business VoIP phone system, like MiCloud Connect , can transform your business – if you roll it out effectively. Following the proper procedure delivers a faster ROI and increases user adoption. Use these steps to ensure your cloud phone system rollout delivers benefits from day one.

Five Steps For A Successful Business VoIP Phone System Rollout

1. Assess Your Existing Phone System Workflows

Evaluate the system you’re replacing, including how calls are currently routed and how voicemails are handled. Identify which workflows should be maintained and which can be improved. Determine which features of your new system can add the most value to your workflow. It might be CRM integration, video and web conferencing or advanced call recording. Clearly identify the goals for your new system to ensure you take advantage of all it has to offer.

2. Ensure Your Network Is Ready To Deploy

Take a look at your broadband capacity (you may need to upgrade your internet connection), the number of mobile devices in use, remote employees, office locations and identify an ideal rollout timeline.

3. Build A Well-Rounded Team

Getting your team on board from the beginning makes for a faster implementation, since they can help identify any roadblocks you may encounter along the way. Key stakeholders include someone who’s tech-savvy, has deep knowledge of your existing systems and a firm understanding of what the new technology provides. Also, you’ll need a project manager to assist in keeping the overall implementation on schedule. To round out the team, add early adopters. These individuals will engage in user testing, provide valuable feedback and spread enthusiasm for the new system before it’s fully deployed.

4. Deploy In Phases

A phased rollout allows you to identify and correct any issues among a smaller group of users. Future phases should then be seamless, increasing success rates and user acceptance.

5. Provide Proper Training

Administrators need training on how to manage the new system, including adding and deleting users and setting call-routing features. Users also must be trained on tasks such as screen-sharing, CRM integration and personal settings. Empower users to help themselves from day one to increase adoption and simplify the rollout process.

Why The Right Vendor Is The Most Important Choice You’ll Make

When implementing a business VoIP phone system, choosing the right vendor is perhaps the most critical contributor to success. Not only do you need a company that provides reliable, adaptable technology, you need guidance and support throughout the rollout and adoption of the system.

Without this support, you risk making costly errors that delay implementation and create resistance among users. The right vendor delivers an innovative phone system, like MiCloud Connect , walks you through the entire rollout process and continues to provide support after implementation.

When Selecting A Vendor, Ask The Following Questions:

What is their success record of implementing business VoIP phone systems?
How experienced is the provider with companies of your size?
How easily does the system integrate with other applications?
What type of support does the vendor provide during implementation and beyond?
Does the support match the hours and location of your business? (If you have multiple locations, does the vendor provide the global support you require?)
Is the vendor future-ready? Are they poised to adopt new innovations and technology so your system is always operating at its best?

Selecting the right vendor and following the five steps outlined here will ensure a seamless transition to a business VoIP phone system. Achieve high user adoption, a faster return on your investment and an innovative communications solution that’s ready to meet your organization’s needs today – and well into the future.

Voice

A Gartner UCaaS Magic Quadrant Leader for 5 years running

By Jeff Becker on

August 6, 2019

- Voice

Voice

2019 Gartner UCaaS Magic Quadrant RingCentral

By Jeff Becker on

August 6, 2019

- Voice

Written by ATI partner RingCentral

This year, Gartner once again recognized RingCentral as a Leader in the Unified Communications as a Service Magic Quadrant. We’re positioned furthest to the right in the Leader quadrant. Our focus on innovation and unified approach to call, message, meet–on any device, anywhere attributes to our furthest to the right position for completeness of vision. The most significant change in our position over last year is a jump in our ability to execute. We attribute this to our expanded global footprint, the increased scale of our sales, services, and support teams; while also driving large enterprise adoption.

At RingCentral, our vision is to make it simple and effortless to communicate and collaborate from anywhere, on any device. Customers should expect that their interactions with a business are seamless across any communications channel. Ultimately, RingCentral empowers businesses to better serve customers, while improving business efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Our position as a Gartner UCaaS Magic Quadrant leader reinforces what we hear from our customers. For example:

“We saw a true partner in RingCentral, as their cloud and mobile-first approach aligns perfectly with our initiative to equip our workforce with a seamless communications and collaboration experience that inspires world-class customer service.”
– Greg Schiemann, VP of technical services, ARC Document Solutions

“We selected RingCentral for its unified, cloud-first collaborative communications and video conferencing platform that allows for easy integration with our productivity suite and our customer support system.”
– Edward Chung, CEO, TechnologyOne

There are many benefits of RingCentral, but here are some of them, to name a few:

Unified experience: Enables users to have multiple modes of communication, including voice, video, team messaging, online meetings, SMS, and fax, all from a single application.
Mobile first: Optimized for mobile, RingCentral is for today’s modern workforce who want to work from anywhere on any device.
Seamless collaboration: RingCentral’s team messaging capabilities provide users with a seamless way to collaborate on projects and connect in real time.
Video meetings: With RingCentral Meetings, users can access a single solution that includes team messaging and online video meetings.
Robust open platform: Our open platform is now used by over 23,000 developers and allows for easy integration and customizable workflows.
Enhanced customer engagement: With integrated contact center and our new Engage portfolio, we enable businesses with customer-first communications.

All of these features, combined in a single platform, are great for employee and customer communications. RingCentral is dependable with highly scalable, reliable, and secure communication that meets the demands of today’s modern global workforce.

For more information, download a complimentary copy of the 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for UCaaS Report here.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service, Worldwide, 30 July 2019, Daniel O’Connell, Megan Fernandez, Rafael Benitez, Christopher Trueman, Sebastian Hernandez

This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from RingCentral.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

UCaaS, Voice

RingCentral Ranked Highest for Growth & Innovation, 2019 Frost & Sullivan UCaaS Report

By Jeff Becker on

July 30, 2019

- UCaaS, Voice

Originally posted by ATI partner RingCentral

RingCentral, Inc. (NYSE: RNG), a leading provider of global enterprise cloud communications, collaboration, and contact center solutions, today announced it has ranked the highest for growth and innovation in the new 2019 Frost & Sullivan UCaaS Radar Report. Frost & Sullivan’s first North American hosted IP telephony and UCaaS Radar report delivers analysis of 30 providers across growth strategy, execution, and performance, as well as their ability to develop solutions that are globally applicable and aligned with mega trends and customers’ evolving needs. RingCentral received the highest combined growth and innovation score of all the providers.

“RingCentral has consistently been a leading player in the UCaaS industry and has yet again surpassed its competitors, with a strong focus on innovation, user experience, global capabilities, channel enablement, and technology partnerships,” said Elka Popova, global vice president for Connected Work, Frost & Sullivan. “RingCentral is the market share leader in North America in terms of both users and revenue and is likely to maintain its leadership position through relentless pursuit of growth and innovation.”

The 2019 Frost & Sullivan UCaaS Radar report highlights a number of key strengths for RingCentral, including:

Compelling mobile functionality that addresses the pain points of the increasingly mobile workforce
Global Office solution that caters to multinational businesses
Flexible cloud technology and a proprietary platform that enable rapid innovation and cost-effective scalability
An extensive and expanding feature set that addresses diverse and evolving user needs
A collaborative user experience, SMS, analytics tools, video and web conferencing, and webinar services—competitively packaged and priced—that set RingCentral solutions apart from most competitors
Geo-redundant data centers and strong track record of service reliability that ensure high service quality

“With today’s workforce increasingly mobile, enterprises are looking for effective ways to enhance communication and collaboration with their customers, partners, and employees,” said Riadh Dridi, chief marketing officer, RingCentral. “We’re honored to be ranked highest in this new report by Frost & Sullivan, and it validates our commitment to provide businesses with global, mobile, and secure communications and collaboration solutions that enhance business efficiency.”

esults are based on the 2019 Frost & Sullivan UCaaS Radar report. For more information, please view a complimentary copy of the report. Results are not an endorsement of RingCentral. Visit ww2.frost.com for more details.

LEARN MORE ABOUT RINGCENTRAL HERE

Voice

Listen, Learn & Win with RingCentral

By Jeff Becker on

February 28, 2019

- Voice

RingCentral, the industry-leading provider of cloud-based unified communications solutions, will discuss the latest trends in UC and show you how Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) can streamline your customer interactions.

Join us to learn how connecting your customers, partners, and teams — anywhere, on any device — can improve your customer experience and your bottom line.

Learn more about RingCentral here.

Voice

RingCentral 2018 UCaaS Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader

By Jeff Becker on

October 18, 2018

- Voice

2018 Gartner UCaaS Magic Quadrant: Positioned furthest to the right within the Leaders quadrant for completeness of vision and ability to execute

Article by ATI Partner David Sipes of RingCentral

We’re recognized once again as a Leader in the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) worldwide. This year we outpaced the market and are positioned furthest to the right within the Leaders quadrant for completeness of vision and ability to execute. See the full report for more details.

We believe this distinction highlights our laser focus on innovation and delivering a world-class unified communications solution. RingCentral empowers IT leaders with the ability to exceed the communications requirements of today’s rapidly evolving digital workforce. These new requirements are rapidly eroding the foothold of legacy communications solutions. According to Gartner, “By 2021, 90% of IT leaders will not purchase new premises-based UC infrastructure — up from 50% today — because future cloud UC offerings will be far ahead in terms of features, functions, portals, analytics and dashboards.”

Delivering on the Promise of Collaborative Communications

Today’s workers are overwhelmed with the multitude of communications apps that are meant to improve collaboration yet are hindering productivity. Based on a recent survey by CITE Research, workers waste up to 60 minutes a day simply navigating between these apps. Our approach, Collaborative Communications, empowers people to work the way they want by putting collaboration at the center and enabling seamless integrations with enterprise workflows. For RingCentral, this is about delivering a truly unified communications experience that combines messaging, calling, and meeting, and simplifies the way you communicate, share content, and manage projects. It’s also about an open platform that lets you integrate these Collaborative Communications capabilities with core business applications, giving you the ability to customize workflows and create seamless experiences for end users.

In 2018, we delivered on several key milestones in support of our Collaborative Communications vision. The RingCentral App is an all-in-one voice, team messaging, and video conferencing solution that transforms the way people communicate and collaborate. Collaborative Meetings is a high quality, best-in-class video conferencing and collaboration solution that allows customers to connect from anywhere, and at any time. Collaborative Contact Center puts collaboration at the center of the customer experience, empowering businesses to solve customer issues quickly, while increasing sales volume and maximizing agent performance.

Collaborative Communications also enables seamless business workflows across workplace apps. Today, RingCentral offers over 150 published integrations with popular business applications via the RingCentral app gallery, with over 14,000 developers creating custom apps.

Further Global Expansion

RingCentral continues to expand into new global markets, extending our capabilities to support customers wherever they may be. RingCentral Global Office is now available in 39 countries, includes international SMS, and offers language services extended to Japanese and Portuguese. In 2018, we expanded our global footprint in Asia Pacific with a new office in Australia. We added new leadership, channel partnerships, and local product offerings. The experience is fully localized, with customers benefiting from direct peering with tier one local operators, multi-language support, and regional billing.

Continued Mid-Market and Enterprise Growth

Our efforts are bearing fruit and reflected in our Q2 2018 earnings results, with total revenue growing 34% year-over-year. Our mid-market and enterprise customer segments continued to grow by 80% year-over-year and are now a $237 million business. Our channel business also grew 100% year-over-year to $139 million.

2018 so far has been a record year for RingCentral. We’ve delivered new innovations, expanded into new global markets, and seen significant growth and momentum in the mid-market and enterprise. And we’re only getting started.

I want to thank our global customers, partners, and employees for their support and commitment to RingCentral and look forward to more great things to come.

Disclaimer

*This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from RingCentral.

Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service, Worldwide; Daniel O’Connell, Megan Fernandez, Rafael Benitez, Bjarne Munch, Christopher Trueman, Mihai Nguyen; 10 October 2018

Article by ATI Partner David Sipes of RingCentral

Network Services, Voice

POTS End of Life

Voice

MiCloud Connect vs 8×8 vs RingCentral

Voice

Key Questions To Ask When Evaluating Cloud Business Phone Providers

Businesses today are increasingly turning to cloud business phone systems to meet their communications needs.

Topics covered include:

Voice

The Perfect Rollout of a New Cloud Phone System