Archive for March, 2013

(Photo by GONZALO BAEZA) With an estimated 45 percent of Americans now using smartphones (66 percent for those younger than 30 years old), it makes sense this trend bleeds into the enterprise space. This strategy isn’t as easy as telling employees to use their own phones, however. You need to know what phone number to put on your website. And what if you want more than one employee to be responsible for responding to that number? Or what about call recording, routing and other services you traditionally associate with landline service? In this article, I will analyze research from Software Advice contributor Kelly Lindner. She recently shared her insights on strategies for deploying smartphones for business, as well as pros and cons for transitioning to this business telephony model. To PBX, or Not to PBX? Companies with three or fewer employees can usually get by just using their smartphone network… read more →

Don’t Get Lost in the Cloud Understanding cloud computing and what it can do for your business is vital to the growth of your business now and in the future. While there are a variety of trends, companies and service models to choose from, without being adequately informed, you could easily choose components that aren’t right for your company. We’ll take a look at a number things to keep in mind when when choosing a set of cloud services. Macro Trends Driving the Cloud Everyone is mobile these days, conducting business from every corner of the globe at all hours of the day and night. Fueled by mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets with thousands of applications, business never stops. With all the new technology coming and going, cloud computing was inevitable as standard servers could no longer hold the amount of data traveling the globe. Server virtualization is… read more →

Unified communications within the context of cloud computing refers to the ability to host applications while allowing users to access those applications. These cloud solutions are not generally a single product at the present time; UC is instead a collection of separate components that provide a single user interface across different devices. The broadest definition of UC includes any form of communication that may be exchanged on a particular device such as fiber-optic communications, Voice over IP, private branch exchange systems and Internet fax. UC involves integrating these communication methods into a single communications network that may allow one-to-one communications or one-to-many communications. UC also allows you to transmit a communication on one medium and receive a response on another media. For example, you can leave a voicemail message with your computer and receive a response with a cell phone. Cloud Solutions Cloud computing uses computing resources as a service,… read more →

Forethought.net is the answer if you live in Denver and ask yourself – Is there an internet service provider in my area that offers colocation, electronic fax, dedicated broadband, VoIP, and business phone service? Costs There are many costs associated with any start-up. Some costs require money, other will take time or creativity in place of lacking funds. However, you must balance what your start-up has and what it needs. When it comes to voice and data services, it is often better to pay for quality services rather than patch together a creative solution. This is because voice and data problems will cost you to loose customers and income.Expandability The goal of any start-up is expansion. However, this expansion may be short lived or sporadic. Cloud services allow you to keep your website up when it’s trending, but you can also scale back your resources when you’re just trying to… read more →