Category Archives: Blog

Creating an Authentic Customer Connection with RingCentral

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Creating an Authentic Customer Connection with RingCentral

How to connect with your consumers during a time when customers feel disconnected with your brand

Written by Kaitlin Thresher June 27, 2020

While face-to-face contact is vital in maintaining brand identity, this method becomes increasingly difficult with the presence of COVID-19. Maintaining a digital presence and engaging with your audience through online platforms is more important than ever. In fact, in the United States, Statista reported that there has been an increase of users spending time on the computer by 13%. These statistics demonstrate how important it is to create a strong brand presence online, as consumers are spending more time on the internet than before.

By creating a connection with your customers online and allowing them to give genuine feedback, you can demonstrate to new customers that you can be trusted on and offline. When creating an online presence for a brand, trust between a brand and its customers is the most valuable dimension. However, due to the ongoing pandemic, consumers are watching even closer to see how brands deal with their employees and their customers.

Key Facts to Consider:

Now is the time to invest in your online authenticity and reach out to consumers.

Here’s exactly how RingCentral is the tool that creates an authentic online communication platform for your small business.

1.      Get the Conversation Going with Messaging

Because consumers and brands are unable to have many face-to-face conversations, starting a conversation through messaging systems can be a reliable and effective method to connect with consumers. SMS and other messaging gives consumers updates on tracking and services, and it allows customers to respond and ask questions. Additionally, having this option directly on the website reiterates that the specific customer is important through a live chat function. This helps with overall customer engagement and increases trust in the brand by creating a space for users to feel unique and special to the company. This creates a platform that is easy for customers to correspond with, just with the use of their phone.

RingCentral allows your business to not only text your customers through SMS, but it now also has the capability to send messages over apps, like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and even directly through Google. Additionally, Ring Central’s live chat function integrates into your website, creating a seamless experience for existing and potential customers to get help. These tools demonstrate your commitment to customers, and it creates a flow of communication that is manageable for your small to medium business.

2.  Get Information Out through Email Integration

Email communication is essential for reaching out to consumers. It creates touchpoints that remind your customer of your presence, your services, and exactly how your business can change their lives. This communication strategy builds rapport with your customers, further developing that connection that is so important for success.

RingCentral offers customizable email marketing to your customers. Specifically, RingCentral creates easy-to-use email templates that are customizable for your branding. So, by sending your customers emails, you are not only hopefully retaining customers, but you are also building brand resonance by incorporating consistent branding. RingCentral also makes it easy to make the switch, as the system is easily incorporated into an array of email solutions, like Gmail and Microsoft Outlook. This makes it easy to switch to RingCentral, without the hassle of learning an entirely new system.

3.  Be Transparent- Reviews and Feedback

Reviews are essential in creating an honest and transparent environment with customers. While having negative reviews can feel detrimental, gaining positive reviews online can be the key to turning a sales lead into a customer. Further, part of having a business is learning from negative experiences, which is why following up on new reviews is so important.

Again, RingCentral is here to help! RingCentral will now find online reviews of your business. This software can even manage Google reviews. You are now able to have quick access to these and respond so that you can maintain your online reputation and further connect with your customers.

Why RingCentral?

This omni-digital communication approach can help your business achieve a positive customer engagement experience and build trust with your target audience. Click here to learn more about building your RingCentral plan through American Technology Cloud.

Revolutionize Digital Collaboration and Communication with Avaya IX™ Spaces

Revolutionize Digital Collaboration and Communication with Avaya IX™ Spaces

With Avaya IX™ Spaces, distance is not an issue.

Written by Luna Ruiz June 26, 2020

“Our best estimate is that 25-30% of the workforce will be working-from-home multiple days a week by the end of 2021.”

Katie Lister, President of Global Analytics Workspace

Avaya IX™ Spaces is a video conferencing and meeting app enhancing your connection and communication online.

The #WFH or #WorkFromHome trends are here to stay. Experts believe telecommuting or remote jobs are options that will persist for an extended period of time post-COVID19 pandemic.

Here  are  some  of  the  latest  Work-At-Home/Telecommuting/Mobile  Work/Remote  Work

 Statistics:

  • “62% of employees say they could work ” [2019 Citrix Poll]
  • “56% of the S. workforce holds a job that is compatible (at least partially) with remote work” [Global Analytics Workspace]
  • “Connectivity was cited as a key challenge by 58 percent of respondents who said the current quality of broadband negatively impacts their ability to reliably work from home.”  [Global Analytics Workspace]   
  • “Half of surveyed employed adults are currently working from home even though a  report indicates a third of the surveyed jobs have the capability to be done at home.” [Brookings]

Telecommuting has its upsides and downsides. The pros include reducing emissions partly attributed to less transportation, decreased office costs in certain areas, and greater schedule flexibility for employees. The downsides: disconnection between employees, reactive problem solving to facilitate communication, and increased cost for the employer to invest in cloud-based communication platforms.

Office productivity in the long run may seem uncertain. Avaya Spaces can help your business transition, so you never have to feel uncertain.

Here is what you can do with Avaya IX™ Spaces:

1. Create a Team Environment

Avaya Spaces combines autosaved online chat, folder sharing, video conferencing call, and private meeting rooms all one one dashboard. Avaya allows you and each employee to have their general dashboard and a team-specific dashboard. Hassle free: no need to worry about “saving” or “opening another internet tab” for links or information shared via chat mid-conference call.

You and your employers will get an  alert  whenever  there  is  an update on any of communication environments so that you can stay up to date with project developments and due dates. Never miss an alert again because you are getting information from different fronts.

2.  Cutting Edge: Be the leading innovator in your field

Avaya Spaces was engineered on the Avaya OneCloud CPaaS platform. Meaning, you can easily extend, customize, and scale your Avaya Space’s functionality to include things like AI, chatbots, IoT and more. You can then set up communications-enabled applications with SMS, MMS, voice, messaging, and digital channel capabilities with your Avaya Spaces.

3.  Work Hard but Smart: Improve Accessibility

Because Avaya IX™ Spaces is cloud based, your collaborative environment is available to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Avaya IX™ Spaces allows for an effortless integration of existing platforms like Salesforce, Office 365, G-Suite and Slack. Information can slip through the cracks when receiving deadlines, important notices, or schedule changes on different platforms….especially if you are working remotely. Set your employees up for success.

Avaya understands you have to prepare for the unexpected. Avaya IX™ Spaces has the platform capabilities to launch any HD video conferencing call on any device without having to undergo various identification or log in portals.

Watch a short video to learn more.

“When experience matters, trust Avaya.”

Visit American Technology Cloud, LLC to learn more and for more information on flexible pricing plans.

Cybersecurity with CyberOps

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Why it is time to re-imagine cybersecurity with CyberOps

What you need to know to better protect their information with CyberOps, a military grade cybersecurity platform, for small business in mind

Written by Luna B. Ruiz June 25, 2020

“There are only two types of companies: those that have been hacked, and those that will be”

Robert Muller, Former FBI Director

Not all cybersecurity platforms are created equal. With increasing risk of cybercrime, Investing in a robust cybersecurity platform is integral to the long-term competitiveness and survival model for a company. As a small business owner, you may feel like a small fish in a big pond because you may not have millions of customer records.

But that is a misguided idea that could cost your business. Stealing information from smaller businesses is considered “low hanging fruit” to hackers because they know smaller businesses may not have an adequate layer of cybersecurity. As companies transition to adapt their service-providing business model in a post-COVID market, it becomes even more important to protect information at the office and at home. The failure to invest in a powerful cybersecurity platform, like CyberOps, means your business risks data exposure, lost revenue, and strained trust of your clients.

Here are some of the facts:

  • According to Forbes, the average cost in 2019 for small businesses to recover from a ransomware attack was $84,000.
  • The annual CPO report on 2020 cybersecurity trends identifies a hacking attack occurs every 39 seconds.
  • A 2018 Cyber Readiness Report  published by Hiscox reveals that 73% of companies are “not ready” to respond to a cyber-attack.

Small business owners should not have to choose between quality of protection and affordability.

How CyberOps, a military grade cybersecurity platform, is the solution for you and your business:

1.  Bang for your Buck: Affordable and Effective

“The cyber security industry hasn’t addressed the small business market in a material way,” said Chase Norlin, CEO of Transmosis. “Small business are stuck in a world between weak consumer Antivirus solutions and the expensive enterprise software market. Sophisticated cyber security platforms have traditionally been out of reach for small businesses where many owners falsely believe they are safe from attack.”

It may be true that smaller businesses may not have the same budget allowance as larger companies, however, simple, yet effective, security measures can make a substantial difference. The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch identified CyberOps as a “Top Affordable A.I. Cyber Security Software for Small Businesses” for 2020. Intended to operate like a fully outsourced cyber security team, your business does not need to hire or purchase any additional resources. With small business owners in mind, CyberOps is a monthly subscription-based model with no set-up fees.

2.  Double the Security: The Power of Artificial Intelligence + 24/7 Monitoring

CyberOps is committed to protecting work and home offices. AI capabilities allow for CyberOps to detect and mitigate cyber threats before they become  disasters  for  a  company.  A  recently  published article determined that roughly 60% of small businesses go out of business six-months after a cyber attack. CyberOps adopts a two-pronged approach when it comes to your protection: autonomous breach detection software  and a 24/7 live Security Operations Center.

CyberOps’ proactive approach to monitoring your business cyber environment is powered through Cynet Sensor Fusion’s three step approach: Collect, Analyze, and Enforce. Incorporating artificial intelligence allows for CyberOps security services to be adaptive- learn about past threats to anticipate and detect the new ones. In the first step, Cynet gathers and organizes large amounts of data from disparate sources including information from user activity, process behavior and network traffic. Traditional antivirus utilizes static databases of threats. The problem: traditional antivirus cannot adapt and learn of new threats. Once all the information gathered, the alert engine then engages in a robust validation process to analyze and identify suspicious behavior prior to alerting you. In the third step, suspicious activity triggers the automated breach protection operation: additional monitor, prevent data breaches, detect origin of the hack, and respond within the system and to the business owner.

Additionally, live security analysts monitor your platform through the 24/7 live Security Operations Center. CyberOps also values customer relations cultivated in a small business setting. Unlike like many other cybersecurity platforms, you can directly interact with a security analyst with a concern or question.

Two Additional Cybersecurity Practices to Protect Your Business Today:

  1. Top-Down Approach: Build a “Cyber Secure” Culture

Everyone should know the risks. Do not allow a hack to be a technology issue versus an internal governance issue. Maximize your investment in an effective cybersecurity platform with a continuous investment in your employees. Promote cybersecurity awareness and best practices. It is easy to forget that some of the best lines of defense are already in place. As a business owner, continue to invest in your employees: your employees should be well trained in standard phishing attacks, strong password best practices, and encrypted services.

Here are additional resources for reading:

2.  Using a cloud-based collaboration environment

The ability to share files, meeting notes, engage in conference calls, and stay up to date with ongoing business projects is essential to maintain productivity while some employees may be working either in the office or at home. It is more important now than ever to stay connected…safely. Moving business capabilities form premised-based systems to the cloud is a recommended option for businesses of all sizes.

Suggestion: Modernize communication

 Avaya Spaces – More than 90% of the largest companies are Avaya users. Avaya has built a respectable reputation as a leading cloud and premise-based communication platform  with business partners of all sizes- ranging from local business to the world’s top 10 banks and top 10 airlines. Avaya Spaces allows for ad hoc or prescheduled meetings, a shared work environment to automatically save group chats and meeting notes, and seamless integration of preexisting platforms like Salesforce, Office 365, G-Suite and Slack. Try it free for 60-days.

Allow American Technology Cloud (ATC) to design a secured and efficient communications solution for your business.

 Learn more and for more information on flexible pricing plans.

Keeping Safety, a Priority in Customer Service

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How American Technology Solutions and Spinitar’s Welcome-Check™ can maintain health and safety standards during the pandemic.

Written by Kaitlin Thresher July 10th, 2020

Companies throughout the world are struggling to find a solution that will keep their employees and customers safe. As scientists and medical professionals attempt to find a vaccine, the coronavirus continues to spread, as cases surge across the United States. Even with cases continuing to spike, all 50 states have begun to reopen services to some extent, mostly at a very limited capacity. Thus, finding any solution in the meantime to limit the spread and indicate whether a customer or employee may carry the virus is essential.

Here are some key facts that affect business owners:

  • According to a study by the University of Massachusetts, 60% of essential workers feel unsafe at their workplace, 71% are unable to maintain social distancing
  • Even though over 100 potential vaccines are being tested, it can still take up to 18 months in order for the vaccine to be available to the general
  • The Washington Post reported that 58% of Americans felt uneasy about going back to work and bringing the coronavirus home to their families back in
  • A study by First Insight indicated that only 43% of consumers felt comfortable returning to local small On top of that only 33% said they would return to shopping malls.

Now more than ever, business owners and leaders should take charge of keeping the safety of their employees a top priority. As so many workers are feeling unsafe in the workplace, steps taken in order to provide security and ease-of-mind are essential in the safe return of employees and customers.

And while every one of your employees should feel comfortable in the workplace, it is just as important that you customers feel safe too. As the First Insight study revealed, over half of consumers do not feel ready or safe to return to local businesses or retail stores. This means a potential loss of over 50% of profit for small business owners. Thus, finding any solution that creates the feeling of security during these times can make or break a business that is already struggling due to the effects of COVID-19. Luckily, American Technology Solutions and Spinitar’s new product, Welcome-Check™, is now available to provide a safer option to embrace the new normal. Read below to learn more about exactly how Welcome-Check™ will enhance your safety efforts.

Real time thermal detection:

Welcome-Check™ is a device that takes the temperature of your guests, without hassle and without having to worry about your employee breaking social distancing guidelines to check temperatures. It works by using thermal imaging technology to get a precise temperature for each customer and staff member. By tracking the temperature of each guest, this will create additional safety measures that could mean life or death for your employees and other patrons.

By providing safety measures at the door, this will eliminate some of the apprehension that so many consumers are feeling when returning to large corporations and small businesses.  Additionally, the Welcome-Check™ device will demonstrate how important the safety of your staff is and will keep staff members informed and feeling appreciated.

Keeping a safe distance:

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) recommends maintaining a six-foot distance from others.  Welcome-Check™ makes it easy to adhere to these guidelines, as the thermal imaging process is completed from a safe distance. The scanning is completely hands-free. The product can be mounted on the wall, secured on a tabletop stand, or even mounted on a podium [see all three options below].

                                                                             

What does this mean for you? This means that your business is taking a step in the right direction to minimize the spread of COVID-19, while still allowing you to stay open. By using thermal imaging to detect ill customers or staff and maintaining a safe distance, the Welcome-Check™ software will allow your business to adjust to the new normal, while the world still awaits a vaccine.

System functionality and abilities:

The Welcome-Check™ system holds the ability to hold up to 30,000 images at a time through advanced facial recognition software. Through facial recognition, the system can track many people walking by simultaneously. This means that staff can easily identify who may be at risk for the coronavirus.

Additionally, the Welcome-Check™ system can help with tracking how many customers are entering and leaving your business through advanced analytics and data tracking. It can provide the total number of face scans, user scan information, visitor scan information, and it can hold information on blacklisted users.

By using the Welcome-Check™ system, business owners can begin to return to normal, make their customers feel safe, and show how much they value the health and safety of their employees. In order to learn more about how to bring a Welcome-Check™ system into your establishment, head to American Technology Solutions!

Additional Readings:

My Take on Premise vs. Cloud Unified Communications (UC) Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) – Myth vs. Reality – Post 7. – July 25, 2014

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On Final Analysis the “Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)” claims by Cloud UC Providers is based on incomplete fair and balanced information!
American Technology Solutions (ATS) counter to these claims by Cloud UC Providers offers some points to take into consideration when the time comes to perform a fair and balanced review of TCO – Premise vs. Cloud.

1. Upfront Costs;
a. Onsite Infrastructure – Are upgrades necessary for;
i. Communications Cabling?
ii. LAN Data Switches Power over Ethernet?
b. Hybrid Infrastructure offered by AVAYA offers more options so a company may consider Investment Protection vs. complete forklift replacement;
c. Browser based support by AVAYA offers BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) support for PC’s, Laptops, MAC, iPad, iPhone, Android. This works in both a VoIP and Hybrid environment with Digital Phones.;
d. AVAYA IP Office offers up to 2000 users at one site or 32 sites in a network. Growth beyond these capabilities may be addressed by using the AVAYA Aura platform and maintain significant investment protection and growth beyond 100’s of thousands of users.;
2. Ongoing Support;
a. Does the Cloud Provider include the costs of Move, Add and Change remote and onsite in the initial offer?;
b. Do they include Service Level Agreement (SLA) time intervals that will meet your business needs?;
c. What kind of remote support coupled with onsite support options do they offer (24X7X365)?;
d. What about the call accounting and real time statistical reports they offer, are they additional costs and if so how much?;
e. Do they really deliver the timely professional services they claim?
3. Faster Install Time;
a. Data Access Line, do you need to upgrade and or replace to meet the needs of VoIP?;
b. Do you need to replace the Router/Firewall to accommodate the necessary Quality of Service (QoS) metrics and Security measures?;
c. Is the current T1/PRI Service reliable and meeting your needs? Are you in the middle of a multi-year contract that would be costly to terminate? If so, then keep these services and consider changing to SIP when the contract is nearing end of life. To add SIP it is only a software addition.
4. Training Costs;
a. Training costs are in AVAYA’s favor;
i. Customer may be upgrading from AVAYA vintage to new AVAYA, gentle learning curve;
ii. Train the trainer concept for onsite subject matter experts;
iii. YouTube training videos, make these training video’s part of the new employee onboarding process;
iv. Phones and features are intuitive and easy to use;
v. Phones with buttons vs. forcing all users to control phone via the PC or MAC, not all users are accustom to controlling the phone this way and will possibly cause the loss of very experienced and successful employees;
vi. Onsite training is nowhere near the costs of the claims by the Cloud Providers;
vii. Make sure you compare apples to apples.
5. Premise Based Equipment vs. Cloud Based Equipment;
a. Router/Firewall, in some instances you may have to upgrade this to meet the needs of Cloud Providers internet access needs;
b. Both solutions require LAN & WAN equipment, but in many cases Cloud Providers require forklift upgrades;
c. Statements claimed by Cloud Providers regarding Premise Based provider onsite servers are overstated. New technology is designed with Energy Star parameters and are very efficient. Cost to run for the latest technology is significantly lower than being claimed.;
d. Many companies have installed their servers at offsite data centers. Adding the Premised Based voice servers is easy to do.
6. Full Time Equivalent Costs;
a. How does the Cloud Provider support the following service needs;
i. Onsite Data Communications Support;
ii. Onsite Move, Add and Change (MAC) Support;
iii. Remote or Software MAC Services and how quickly are they performed if provided by Cloud Provider Service Level Agreement (SLA’s);
iv. Custom Reports to meet end customers required SLA’s for their customers

In the final analysis, make sure that you reach out to both sides and ask the same questions. Share the current and future needs of your business. See to it that they each answer with empirical data, not assumptions and claims. Ask for references from each and contact those references. Have the references answer these three questions; 1) Did they deliver on the claims made in the sales process? 2) Did they track and measure any Return on Investment (ROI) claims? 3) Was the decision to move forward considered a good or bad one? Check to see if the information proposed and claimed is specific to your needs. It is not unusual to receive a proposal that is generic and not a custom representation of your current and future business needs. There is a significant amount information out there. Often each are written from a spin that supports the specific viewpoint that meets the needs of the company selling the solution. Good luck in filtering out the “Myth vs. Reality.”
This is the Final Post in a series of 7 Posts coming daily this July.

My Take on Premise vs. Cloud Unified Communications (UC) Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) – Myth vs. Reality – Post 6. – July 24, 2014

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Support Staff savings claimed by Cloud Based Providers is often overstated vs. the reality!!!
American Technology Solutions (ATS) has found this claim assumes that the customer IT staff is somehow displaced completely because the Cloud Based Solution Provider service takes care of all IT site support. That is not ATS understanding. Is the replacement of IT staff covered in the end user bundle fee from the Cloud Based Provider or are these services at additional costs? Make sure you understand and ask about this. Your company will still require IT support for the following;
• LAN and WAN equipment move, add, change and support services;
• The voice solution move, add and change service for onsite changes;
• Voice software only changes for move, add and change remote service
If the answers to some or all of these questions is yes, then what deliverable metrics, Service Level Agreement (SLA’s), does the provider commit to for these service needs; same day, next day, three days, 5 days, etc.? Often the SLA’s do not meet the need of a fast moving company that may need to add new employees quickly. If your needs are ad hoc and need to be done expeditiously, will the SLA’s from the Cloud Based Provider meet the needs of your business? ATS has enjoyed the great fortune of customers retreating from the Cloud Based Provider solution due to the ongoing service support not meeting the needs of their business or the costs were found to be prohibitive to meet those needs. This is another area in which checking with Vendor provided references is very important. Don’t short change your business by making a fast decision only to find later that a few phone calls with the questions that your business needs are asked and answered.
This is Post 6 in a series of 7 Posts coming daily this July.

My Take on Premise vs. Cloud Unified Communications (UC) Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) – Myth vs. Reality – Post 5. – July 23, 2014

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How much equipment do you really need onsite with Cloud Based vs. Premise Based???
American Technology Solutions (ATS) views this claim being unique to each situation, but here is ATS fair and balanced comparison. Comparing Apples to Apples; an all new VoIP solution by both Premise and Cloud based must have a router and PoE data switches. The only difference is typically a 1 or 2 Rack Mount Unit (RMU) Server in the equipment room of the customer. If the customer desires resiliency then you might have to double that. Therefore, these claims of significant power savings are likely overstated. An AVAYA IP Office single site with 2000 Users would require space for 4 RMU to house 4 Single RMU Servers and provide resiliency. Power consumption’s claims for tens of thousands of dollars in energy savings are not reality. The claim by Cloud Based routing calls to another location quickly in the event of a customer site disaster is interesting, does your company have another location sitting idle or would you have to setup temporary operations at a Disaster Recovery Site? The latter being the likely case both Premise and Cloud based solutions are in the same situation, but in the case of the Premise Based Solution rerouting of calls will be provided by the customers Service Provider to a Disaster Recovery site. In some cases these Service Providers offer Business Continuity Service Centers and therefore, in the event of a disaster you may be able to restore business operations in hours or a day. Disasters do happen and Business Continuity Plans should be considered for companies providing mission critical services. Although, there may be some cost savings in energy consumption, don’t plan on tens of thousands of dollars. Be very careful and look closely at the solution provided by both companies and use actual manufacturer specifications to acquire an accurate assessment of the power consumption for the premise based equipment necessary for each solution.
This is Post 5 in a series of 7 Posts coming daily this July.

My Take on Premise vs. Cloud Unified Communications (UC) Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) – Myth vs. Reality – Post 4. – July 22, 2014

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Premise based training costs may be significantly exaggerated by the Cloud Based Solution Providers…
American Technology Solutions (ATS) has found that AVAYA has the largest installed base of any premise based solutions, therefore, two factors to consider; Number 1, it is possible that the vintage system being displaced is an AVAYA legacy system. Therefore, the terminology, phones, features, and voicemail interface may be very similar or in some cases the same. AVAYA is often able to support the existing vintage phones on the new platform and therefore not only is training a user how to use the phone not a factor, but the costs associated with product and labor are eliminated. Number 2, AVAYA unlike many Cloud Based Solution competitors does not attempt to place minimal button phones in place of many button phones rich with the many features that users have grown accustom to using and therefore, require the user to access the features via the PC or MAC. This works fine for most of the younger generation, but in some instances it may be intimidating to the older more experienced veteran. With the AVAYA solution you can almost do everything directly from the phone with an easy to use interface as compared to the Cloud Based end user being forced to use the browser based portal. It is ATS belief that AVAYA offers a more flexible solution that is easily tailored to each unique user’s preferences vs. pigeon holing them into one interface. Another factor to consider is that due to AVAYA’s over 100 years in the business the likelihood of some or many of the users having already used an AVAYA system is a high probability; therefore, the learning curve for those individuals is minimal. AVAYA being an industry leader is blessed with not only AVAYA produced YouTube training videos, but AVAYA has over 2,000 business partners that some have produced their own YouTube videos. The access to this plethora of self-help training videos is a clear training advantage and provides low cost or even free access to train AVAYA end users.
This is Post 4 in a series of 6 Posts coming daily this July.

My Take on Premise vs. Cloud Unified Communications (UC) Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) – Myth vs. Reality – Post 3. – July 21, 2014

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An installation interval of faster to market is an interesting claim by the Cloud Based Solution Providers!!!
American Technology Solutions (ATS) finds that Cloud Based Solution Provider ride a pure data/internet access line. Most customers have internet access, but they have not been sized to provide the addition of the VoIP service requirements necessary for the Cloud Based Solution. Therefore, a change to this service is likely necessary. The interval for making changes to the internet access by a service provider is therefore a factor in the other direction. Adding to this could be costs for a Router/Firewall that will support VoIP and Quality of Service (QoS) features that may or may not be available on the current customer provided Router/Firewall. The claim that the Cloud Base Solution shortens the interval for the install is a false claim in ATS experience. In fact, a new premise based solution may re-use the existing T1/PRI’s of the current premise based solution and that would not be the case with the Cloud Based Solution provider. Therefore, reality is that in many and most instances Cloud Based Solution installation intervals are longer. If you couple this with an upgrade of the cabling and data communications infrastructure, the costs additions may be prohibitive and the timeline even greater.
This is Post 3 in a series of 7 Posts coming daily this July.