8 Factors to Consider When Implementing a Cloud Phone System

WSI Comandix on December 15, 2021

In a previous post, we discussed why more organizations are moving their phone systems to the cloud and what to look for in a cloud phone system. More than cost savings, a cloud phone system offers more control and flexibility, simpler management, the ability to add or remove users and services as needed, access to advanced features and applications, and built-in redundancy and disaster recovery.

Despite the benefits, adopting a cloud phone system is not a risk-free proposition. Implementing and using a cloud service is relatively simple, but aligning a cloud phone system with business operations and goals to maximize ROI is a complex process that requires a well-defined plan.

Here are eight factors to consider when moving your phone system to the cloud.

  1. User Experience. What applications and features do users need to become more productive? What are their priorities? Do different groups of users need different tools and services? Engage employees throughout the process to ensure the solution you choose is a good fit.
  2. Long-Term, Strategic Planning. Most organizations use a cloud phone system with other applications and services from multiple vendors. In addition to an implementation plan, there needs to be a roadmap in place to ensure disparate platforms can be integrated and performance can be holistically managed.
  3. Technology Evaluation. It’s tempting to choose the cheapest solution or even the one that seems easiest to use. However, cloud phone solutions must be evaluated based on business and communications requirements. This will ensure the system you choose has your must-have features, as well as valuable features you may choose to add down the road.
  4. A Phased Migration. As we mentioned in the previous post, you don’t have to move everything to the cloud at once. Migrating to a cloud-based phone system in phases allows you to move small groups of users and/or services to the cloud and gradually increase as you work out the kinks with minimal disruption.
  5. Assessment and Testing. What is the current state of the user experience and performance? What will the minimum benchmark be after implementation of a cloud phone system? Will your IT environment be ready to support phone features in the cloud today and in the future? Assess and test before, during and after deployment as needs evolve.
  6. Performance and Quality Monitoring. Proactively troubleshooting and addressing issues will help you avoid disruption to business operations and the user experience. Data from a variety of sources will need to be collected and correlated to maintain high levels of performance and quality.
  7. Application Integration. Users must be able to access all applications in a cloud phone system through a single interface. Otherwise, you’re asking for inefficiency and management complexity that can negate some cloud benefits. Make sure the applications you choose can integrate with other platforms.
  8. Security, Compliance and Business Continuity. A cloud provider should be able to prove to you that your data and applications will be secure and minimum compliance requirements will be met. The provider should also have a documented business continuity plan in case of an emergency.

Do not underestimate the skills and resources required to migrate to the cloud and meet ROI and productivity expectations. In most cases, this is not a do-it-yourself project, and it’s never a learn-as-you-go project.

Eastern DataComm can provide the expert guidance you need to successfully implement cloud solutions. Let us help you assess your existing infrastructure, develop a migration plan, and evaluate solutions to take full advantage of the benefits and minimize risk.

7 Ways Unified Communications Benefits State and Local Government

WSI Comandix on November 15, 2021

Many government agencies at the state and local level still rely upon legacy phone systems or Centrex-type services leased from carriers. These older systems are difficult to manage, expensive to maintain, and lack many of the features of a modern communications platform. Designed when most workers sat at desks throughout the day, they are incapable of supporting today’s remote and mobile workers.

Unified Communications for Public Services

Legacy phone systems aren’t just frustrating for government employees — they make it difficult for agencies to meet the expectations of their constituents. As consumers we have grown accustomed to seamless communication via a variety of channels, including phone, email, text and online chat. We are used to having ready access to accurate, up-to-date information. We demand this level of service from businesses, and expect nothing less from government agencies.

An IP-based unified communications (UC) platform can help state and local governments enhance both their operations and the services they deliver. UC brings together voice, video and collaboration tools in a single interface, eliminating communications silos and enabling seamless transition from one channel to another. “Presence” lets users know whether someone is available and their preferred means of communication, eliminating phone tag. UC solutions can also be wirelessly integrated with other applications and data to streamline workflows and provide one-click access to powerful communications tools.

Unified Communications for Government: 7 Benefits

  1. UC makes it easier for constituents to reach the right person to answer their questions and solve their problems. UC supports personalized call handling and routing, as well as auto-attendant and contact center capabilities.
  2. IP communications creates a common platform across multiple sites and agencies. (ex: Borough Hall and the police department, DPW, town library and/or the fire department.) By enabling real-time collaboration, it helps boost productivity, speed response times and facilitate decision-making.
  3. Many government agencies are using telework programs to reduce costs, provide for continuity of operations, and give employees greater flexibility. A UC system can be extended to teleworkers so they remain connected and have access to the tools they need when working remotely.
  4. Many municipal administrators and other key personnel are frequently out of the office. The mobile device integration enabled by a modern UC platform gives them secure access to the communications environment — anytime, anywhere. With mobility, administrators can make and receive phone calls just as if they are at their desks.
  5. Because IP communications leverages the data network for voice calls, it is more cost-efficient and easier to manage than legacy platforms. Web-based administration tools simplify moves, adds and changes across multiple locations. Teams can access comprehensive features and functionality without draining vital resources. With a short amount of training, most anyone can easily access this information and make these changes – saving costs with a limited IT team that many municipalities have.
  6. Whether on-premises or in the cloud, today’s UC platforms have a fault-tolerant and redundant architecture that helps ensure continuous availability for disaster recovery.
  7. An IP communications system can also be integrated with physical security systems. UC becomes the communications platform for emergency notification systems. With the LENS solution, a municipality can notify everyone inside and outside the building as well as other sites that an emergency event has commenced. The UC platform enables the solution to call the local police, 911 and key administrators simultaneously as well.

The ShoreTel Unified Communications platform is a proven solution that connects people and information while reducing total cost of ownership. It is highly secure and reliable, with failover capabilities that are essential to government agencies for both day-to-day operations and during emergency situations.  You can ensure high quality services with enterprise-class availability to meet the demands of your employees and constituents.

At Eastern DataComm, we are proud of our history serving the communications needs of state and local governments.

Let us show you how we can enhance the quality of your communications infrastructure to help you increase efficiency and better serve your constituents.  Contact us today!

How Communication and Automation Improve School and Office Safety

WSI Comandix on October 5, 2021

school safety

Tragedies involving violence at our schools and places of work have made safety a top-of-mind issue across the country. Many states, counties and municipalities have passed or are considering legislation that mandates increased security measures and greater cooperation between schools, law enforcement and the community at large. Public- and private-sector organizations are dedicating budget dollars to security technologies and training programs designed to enhance school safety.

Traditionally, schools and larger office spaces have focused on perimeter security such as video surveillance and access controls to prevent intruders from entering their facilities. While these tools are beneficial, experts agree that crisis planning and staff training in lockdown procedures play a more critical role in safety. Lockdown drills are recommended best practices that enable schools and offices to test security protocols and give staff an opportunity to practice procedures. With proper training, human beings can assess situations, make quick decisions and communicate vital information that saves lives.

But the human element can also be a weak link in security. Training and drills can at best simulate an emergency. In an actual crisis it’s difficult to predict how human beings will react.

School Safety Case Study

Delaware Valley Regional High School District recognized this weakness and sought an automated emergency notification solution that could be activated from virtually anywhere on campus. The district asked Eastern DataComm to implement our Lockdown and Emergency Notification System (LENS), which promptly notifies teachers, students and staff of an emergency situation and to immediately initiate lockdown procedures.

Old and Outdated Paging System

Delaware Valley had a 30-year-old PBX and a poorly functioning PA system that had been extended over time. The project involved implementing a ShoreTel Unified Communications system, revamping the PA system and integrating both with the L.E.N.S. Entering a code on any ShoreTel phone triggers an automated system that calls 911, alerts administrative staff and causes a series of prerecorded announcements to be played over the PA system.

Adding Strobe Lights and Display Messages

Because audible announcements cannot always be heard, the system also activates strobe lights, and the district is planning to add digital signage that will display emergency messages. Wireless transmitters using the same FM bands as first responders extend the system to outdoor facilities, parking lots and other areas where wiring is cost-prohibitive.

Launch Emergency Procedures From a Mobile App

The emergency procedures can also be initiated via a mobile app installed on smartphones. This enables administrators to utilize the L.E.N.S. remotely, and allows teachers to summons help in the event of an emergency on a sports field or other outdoor location.

In adopting LENS by Eastern DataComm, Delaware Valley has been able to meet best practices set by the New Jersey State Police for rapid response in a crisis. The New Jersey School Security Task Force, among other authorities, have prioritized the implementation of emergency communications systems as a means of improving school safety. The automation enabled by the LENS speeds response times and reduces confusion, panic and misinformation by ensuring that information is disseminated swiftly and clearly.

No school or office wants to be the site of the next tragedy. Let us show you how the LENS can help you enhance safety through automated emergency response and notifications. Contact us today to discuss your emergency notification needs.

4 Reasons Why SIP Trunking is the Perfect Match for UC Solutions

WSI Comandix on June 27, 2016

SIP trunking comes with many benefits – reduced telecom costs, cloud functionality and ease of capacity expansion are just a few. When paired with other communications solutions such as unified communications, businesses are able to seamlessly integrate those benefits with UC functionality such as desktop sharing or instant messaging. By extending your onsite UC solution with SIP trunking, you’ll be able to improve employee productivity, reduce costs and harness the flexibility of the cloud.

What is SIP Trunking?

SIP Trunking is a way to deliver voice and media over the Internet. If your business phone system, or PBX, can connect to the Internet and use the SIP protocol to make calls over the Internet, then SIP trunking can be a means of delivering high quality, reliable digital voice services for your business without the cost of additional hardware.

There are many benefits associated with SIP Trunking, but here are our top four reasons why SIP trunking and UC are the perfect pair:

  1. Consistent Experience Across Offices

SIP trunking supports voice and media data so you can run your all communications efforts over the same network. By removing geographic barriers, you’ll be able to deliver a consistent experience across your different office locations and remote employees, and increase productivity by giving your employees access to the same systems and data.

  1. Improved Business Continuity

Carrier diversity and redundancy is a key benefit of SIP trunking. If an outage does occur, your business phone system will have access to multiple carriers through your SIP trunking provider’s network to ensure uptime. Top SIP trunking providers invest a great deal into their network to ensure automatic failovers that support disaster recovery needs. Plus, your vendor will manage all of the carrier relations and maintenance so you don’t have to.

  1. On-Demand Scalability

When your business grows or if you have seasonal fluctuations in call volume, you’ll likely need to add phone lines to support those changes. With SIP trunking, your telecom connectivity can quickly scale as you need it to. Call capacity can be increased on-demand to support unlimited concurrent calls, while ensuring you never pay for more than you need. Instead of forecasting advance installations and incurring the associated costs, all you’ll have to do is contact your provider to increase the number of trunks.

  1. Stepping Stone to Cloud

SIP trunking is a great alternative if you’re considering the cloud but aren’t quite ready to make the leap. By combining onsite UC solutions with SIP trunking, you’ll be able to maintain the control of your onsite solution while gaining cloud benefits such as flexibility to grow and simplified management.

Have you thought about pairing #SIPTrunking with your #onsite #UC solution?  If so, give us a call today!

When Disaster Strikes: Looking to the Cloud for Business Continuity

WSI Comandix on April 6, 2015

It’s a Monday afternoon. Calls are rolling in, there are countless voicemails to respond to, and business is humming along. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Paul the sales manager knocks on your door with a perplexed look on his face.

“Do you know what’s wrong with the phone system?” he asks. “There’s no dial tone, no access to voicemail, and no calls coming in.”

Ah, yes — the feared phone system failure. Whether caused by a clumsy utility worker, a big storm, or some other unpredictable problem, phone system issues can create enormous headaches. In fact, if your company hasn’t implemented any kind of disaster or redundancy plan, those failures significantly disrupt business continuity and productivity.

You can’t afford that kind of stagnation. So, you close your laptop, pull out your cell phone, and call your telecommunications provider. An hour later, you finally get someone on the line. Two hours later, you’ve diagnosed the problem. And, right around closing time, the phone system is finally working again. Problem is, you and your team have lost a day of productivity. And your customers aren’t happy.

A Simpler (and More Effective) Way to Manage Disaster Recovery

Until recently, the only way to ensure this scenario didn’t happen to you was to duplicate all of your systems and implement a complex disaster recovery plan. Both of those require significant investments in equipment and infrastructure, which is why many businesses have instead chosen to roll the dice and hope for the best.

Today, there’s another solution that is cheaper and much more efficient. Cloud-based phone systems have greatly advanced system recovery and business continuity in the face of an outage.

Because cloud systems are hosted virtually, there’s no need to worry about the types of disastrous scenarios that used to disrupt on-premise or landline phone services. If a phone line is cut, cloud-based systems are totally unaffected. If Internet service goes down, phone calls can be re-routed to backup cell phone numbers or other business offices.

Simply put, recovery and continuity is a non-issue.

3 Key Business Benefits of Switching to the Cloud

While that kind of peace of mind is pretty compelling on its own, there are a handful of ancillary benefits of the cloud to consider, as well. Here are three particularly important ones:

  1. Cloud-based phone systems are less expensive up-front than on-premise solutions — and that’s with built-in disaster recovery and redundancy planning.
  2. Unlike on-premise solutions, cloud-based phone systems are totally scalable. If you need to re-direct call flow from one site to another, it’s very easy to do without any disruption in call quality or service
  3. If a total outage strikes, wiping out your office’s power and Internet service, cloud-based phone systems allow employees to connect from anywhere — their home, a coffee shop, or wherever they can tap into power and a data connection.

With these benefits in mind, the question, then, is why you wouldn’t switch to the cloud.

Truthfully, there are still compelling arguments for on-premise phone systems, and it’s important to consider your goals before making any major change. But if connectivity, business continuity, system redundancy and reliability are important to your company, employees and customers, you’d be wise to take a closer look at the benefits of the cloud. If nothing else, it will help you better plan for network disruptions you can’t possibly anticipate. Contact us today for the best cloud solutions.

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