Cisco Spark & Cloud Telephony
Cisco has extended the features and functionality of its cloud-based team collaboration application, Cisco Spark, adding business telephony and video conferencing to the messaging and meeting capabilities already available. This latest development takes Spark to a whole new level, making…
Vertical Updates Wave IP, Adopts Cloud-first Strategy
Vertical Communications is in the midst of a transition focused on growing and enhancing its unified communications (UC) portfolio around the concept of streamlining business “workflows” and how people work today. It is solutions, not technology or infrastructure that will…
Avaya’s IP Office in the Cloud
Avaya is moving quickly in rolling out cloud services for the mid-market based on IP Office, now offering two options for its channel partners – (1) a partner-hosted, partner-branded cloud service available globally (Powered by Avaya IP Office) and (2)…
Despite the Cloud, Part II
Business communications manufacturers are putting a lot of R&D into building out their cloud unified communications (UC) offers. Their commitment to “cloud” is strong, and for good reason as we witness the continued migration from traditional on-premises telephony and UC…
Toshiba’s Dual Hybrid Cloud Approach
We’ve referenced before the many market studies that validate the shift toward hosted/cloud unified communications in general, but also highlight a growing preference for hybrid cloud-premises implementations that involve a combination of on-site equipment and hosted services. A 2015 IDG…
Watching 3 Cloud Trends in 2016
It’s not news anymore that adoption of hosted/cloud solutions for business telephony and unified communications is well underway as businesses, small to large, recognize the benefits in subscribing to unified communications “as-a-service” (UCaaS) versus purchasing and installing hardware and software…
Microsoft’s Skype for Business Cloud PBX
Microsoft has introduced a new premium Office 365 Enterprise Suite subscription plan called E5 that adds enterprise voice features to its hosted service, Office 365. Microsoft’s new E5 bundle makes it possible for businesses to use Office 365 as their…
NEC Advances, Rebrands UCaaS Offer
NEC advances and rebrands its unified communications as-a-service (UCaaS) offering as UNIVERGE BLUE Business Cloud Services. First launched in March 2013 as NEC UNIVERGE Cloud Services, the updated and rebranded UNIVERGE BLUE service is available directly from NEC and through…
Toshiba Updates IPedge with 1.7 Release
Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Telecommunication Systems Division introduces new software for its IPedge IP-based communications solution that targets organizations with as few as four users to as many as 1,000 users at a single location. The new Release 1.7…
ThinkingPhones Expands Services
ThinkingPhones, a Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) provider based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is expanding on multiple fronts. The company has grown to 720 employees due to both internal hiring and acquisitions (more on these below) and is gaining traction…
Revisiting the Hybrid Cloud
About a year ago, we wrote about the hybrid cloud opportunity for traditional business telephony vendors that have added hosted unified communications (UC) services to their portfolios of IP-PBX, contact center, messaging and other on-site telephony-related solutions. These vendors see…
Zultys Adds Features for Premises and Cloud
Unified Communications (UC) solution provider Zultys recently announced a new software version for its MX telephony and UC solution. Release 11.0 introduces a number of enhancements related to customer service, including a new Web chat capability and improved Salesforce integration,…
Tadiran UC&C on AWS, Opportunities All Around
Tadiran Telecom is broadening the deployment options for its Aeonix software-based Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) platform, announcing that Aeonix is available as a multi-instance cloud-based solution running on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Tadiran Telecom customers can now opt to…
Numonix RECITE 3.0, Beyond Voice
Numonix, a call recording and quality management software developer based in Boca Raton, Florida, releases a new version of its flagship RECITE recording solution. The latest RECITE version 3.0 introduces multi-media recording, specifically the monitoring and recording of chat, video…
Allworx Connect, a 3rd Generation
Allworx recently released its third generation of IP phone systems, the Connect series for small and mid-sized businesses. Connect systems incorporate a faster processor, and in combination with the company’s latest System Software 8.0, deliver functionality over and above earlier…
Cloud Contact Center: Watching the Shift
Acceptance and adoption of hosted/cloud solutions for business telephony and unified communications is well underway. This includes a shift toward cloud contact center services as businesses recognize the benefits in subscribing to a contact center solution “as-a-service” rather than purchasing…
Switchvox Drops Costs for Small Firms
Digium updates its Switchvox Cloud hosted unified communications (UC) service with a new, lower cost pricing option that will appeal to smaller businesses with low or unpredictable call volumes. Now, customers can opt for usage-based metered pricing that charges only…
ShoreTel Connects Premises and Cloud
ShoreTel has begun the phased rollout of its newly developed platform, ShoreTel Connect, which will function as a common platform for cloud, on-premises and hybrid deployments. ShoreTel describes the new solution as a “monumental” release that blends the best of…
3CX Finds its Hybrid Cloud
3CX announces a new version of its Microsoft Windows-based software PBX, 3CX Phone System for Windows. Version 14 includes a number of improvements for users and administrators, but primarily, the new release introduces a wholesale hosted/cloud offer for 3CX channel…