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 Marty Parker's Workspace



Getting to the Core of Unified Communications (Part 3)

By Jason Andersson May 18, 2012

In the Post-PC Era, advocated by many Unified Communication vendors, it seems that most services will be provided from some distant cloud, using features on devices employees bring to work managed by a service provider who splits bills between what is work and what is private. In this world, being a Value Added Reseller (VAR) or Systems Integrator (SI); it can feel as stuck between a rock and a hard place. Yes, I am exaggerating it a bit, but pushing what is happening to an extreme is a good way to identify what needs to be done, what competence is needed and who will be your competitors and partners for the future. However, there are opportunities; they lie in the land in between each point of integration, where standard clients meet business processes, where front-office meets back-office and where innovation meets legacy.

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Cisco Customer Collaboration - Lather, Rinse, Repeat

By Blair Pleasant May 17, 2012

As contact center customers look for solutions that are easy to deploy, manage, administer, and purchase – whether an on-premise or hosted solution – Cisco is refining some of its core products to meet these needs. At the same time, it’s offering solutions that are also easier for its partners to sell and manage. Cisco is working to make customer collaboration simpler for its customers and partners, which should ultimately make them all more successful.

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Related UC Vendors: Cisco

UC Summit 2012 Takeaways – It’s Only UC, But I Like It

By Jon Arnold May 16, 2012

This was my first UC Summit, but as you may know, I’ve been following this space for some time. So, what can I add that hasn’t already been said? My overall takeaway is that it’s time to rewrite the rules. More to the point, there are no rules, nobody’s really in charge, and nobody really knows the right answers. Could there ever be a more perfect storm of uncertainty and opportunity at the same time in this market?

 

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OAISYS AllWays Vision and Gateway to the Cloud Offering

By Paul Robinson May 16, 2012

Voice documentation brings telephone conversations into the same communications tracking process as already exists for email and other forms of documents. If done right it gives every employee in the workflow access to review, organize, comment and share information created directly from their telephone conversations. Businesses can gain a competitive advantage by becoming more responsive, being faster to market and delivering a greater level of customer service because of fewer errors and communications inaccuracies.

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Related UC Vendors: Interactive Intelligence

Enterasys Networks First Vendor to Guarantee BYOD Solution Deployment

By Paul Robinson May 14, 2012

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) to work is an undeniable trend affecting organizations of all sizes. Industry pundits anticipate 2 billion devices in use by 2015 with 75% of them used for both business and personal use. This news analysis focuses specifically on the Enterasys (a Siemens Enterprise Communications Company) Mobile IAM (Identity and Access Manager) press release.

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CEBP Series Part 7: Enhance Collaboration Effectiveness

By Marty Parker May 11, 2012

This is part seven in a review of the seven major applications for Communications Enabled Business Processes (CEBP) as introduced in “UCStrategies VAR-SI Series: Building Your UC Applications Practice.” Part seven will address the CEBP applications that will “Enhance Collaboration Effectiveness.”

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Mitel Releases AnyWare Cloud-Based Service

By Robbie Pleasant May 10, 2012

Mitel has recently introduced the AnyWare Infrastructure-as-a-Service, a new cloud-based service for deploying Unified Communications-as-a-Service. With the AnyWare IaaS, Mitel's Freedom Architecture is extended to let IT organizations host virtualized UCC software in a private datacenter.

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Related UC Vendors: Mitel

New Releases from ShoreTel

By Robbie Pleasant May 9, 2012

ShoreTel made a number of announcements at Interop Las Vegas, including new collaboration solutions, an enhanced online portal for cloud customers, and a new unified communications and infrastructure bundled offering.

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Related UC Vendors: ShoreTel

Huawei Enters Distribution Agreement With SYNNEX

By Robbie Pleasant May 9, 2012

SYNNEX Corporation has recently signed a deal with Huawei Technologies, wherein SYNNEX' CONVERGESolv Secure Networking division will work with resellers to bring Huawei's IP network infrastructure, unified communications & collaboration, and data center products to customers in the United States. With this, SYNNEX's networking division can work with its reseller community, providing new options for enterprises.

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Interactive Intelligence Provides Mobile Customer Service Solution

By Robbie Pleasant May 8, 2012

Interactive Intelligence has announced the release of a new software platform. This platform, Interaction Mobilizer, is designed to enable organizations to rapidly deploy customer service applications on several mobile operating systems, devices, and social media websites.

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Related UC Vendors: Interactive Intelligence

CEBP Series Part 6: Speed Information Delivery

By Marty Parker May 5, 2012

This is part six in a review of the seven major applications for Communications Enabled Business Processes (CEBP) as introduced in “UCStrategies VAR-SI Series: Building Your UC Applications Practice.” Part 6 will address the CEBP applications that will “Speed Information Delivery.”

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Plantronics Provides Contextual Intelligence for Business Applications

By Robbie Pleasant May 4, 2012

Plantronics has recently announced the Plantronics Developer Connection (PDC), which includes programming interfaces, technical resources, and forums through a software developer kit made for Windows environments, and serves as a community for developers to connect with Plantronics staff. The PDC also comes with an emulator to let developers test applications without a headset.

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Related UC Vendors: Plantronics

Avtex Acquires Reliant

By Robbie Pleasant May 3, 2012

Avtex, an integrated, interaction solutions provider, has recently announced its acquisition of Reliant CCS, a contact center solutions provider.

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UCStrategies Experts Discuss Impact of Free Cisco Jabber

By Phil Edholm May 3, 2012

The UCStrategies Experts discuss the announcement by Cisco making the Jabber client for IM free if you have Cisco Unified Communications Manager. The discussion is moderated by Phil Edholm. The podcast also includes Kevin Kieller, Don Van Doren, and Art Rosenberg.

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Related UC Vendors: Cisco

Assuming Your Way to Efficiency

By Kevin Kieller May 1, 2012

If you are in a position to recommend UC solutions, are you talking to your customers, understanding their business requirements, evaluating multiple options and then making a recommendation? Or, are you simply cramming some products into a brown paper bag, pushing it at the customer, smiling and saying “have a good day”?

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IVCi Introduces Video Collaboration Cloud (VCC)

By Paul Robinson May 1, 2012

Video collaboration has a lot to offer in the context of managing global supply chains and enabling the productivity growth of ever more mobile workforces. But differences in technology, networks, devices and applications must be overcome. IVCi, a global systems integrator and MSP of cloud-based video services, has come up with a novel way of bridging these islands. Their secret sauce for success is based on the Cloud Services Brokerage (CSB) model of integrating best of breed services for the management of the people, the processes, and the technology needed to make visual collaboration successful – from virtually any place and any device.

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ShoreTel Introduces New Sales Leaders

By Robbie Pleasant May 1, 2012

ShoreTel has recently announced newly appointed leaders for their sales organization. Joe Vitalone, Tim Gaines, and Mark Arman have been brought in to lead channel management, North America sales, and international sales & worldwide distribution, respectively.

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Related UC Vendors: ShoreTel

Getting the Right Players on the Field

By Orrin Broberg May 1, 2012

As I write this article the annual NFL draft has just ended. Like many teams, my beloved Vikings had a long list of priority positions to fill and we fans look optimistically to the future. Planning for success in our evolving UC business is a very similar process. The UC cloud is upon us like a new football season. How will we plan and prepare our organizations for success? We know that we need to grow professional services but by how much and with what players? Specifically, many SI managers are struggling to determine what their organizations need to look like to support their refined business models. The decisions they make today regarding technologies, vendors, and organization development will determine their level of success in the future. Wouldn’t be nice to have a clear-cut process like the NFL draft?

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Closing the Loop With UC

By Michael F. Finneran May 1, 2012

The lessons for SI’s are clear. If all you’re looking at is selling a couple of servers to activate the licensed capabilities the customer already has, you’re not cashing a big check on that UC sale. However, if you can get in on the real job, which is helping the client get the value out of what they already own, professional services is where your payoff is in UC.

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Business Opportunities in the UC Channel – Part 8

By Russell Bennett April 30, 2012

For an IP telephony or technology reseller, your key differentiator is in the business relationships that you already have: don’t yield that business to someone else. You can’t stop the UC wave, but you can ride it.

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