Telecom Reseller / Technology Reseller News

Don Witt of the Channel Daily News from Telecom Reseller discusses with Nitin Serro, CEO of Serro, how removing latency will be a key to providing quality of service in the future as billions of devices are added to the internet.

In the paper, “Crossing the Chasm to Zero Latency Computing with Serro Solutions“ it is noted, the trouble is that most telcos’ infrastructure, bandwidth and services are not – in their current state – up to the job. Indeed, the telecommunications industry is at a critical crossroads. Telocs will need to embrace modern technologies like network functions virtualization (NFV) controlled by software-defined networking (SDN) to be as or more nimble than competing cloud services providers.

In order to achieve a quality end user experience

Applications need to be decentralized

Must have a multi-dimensional cloud

Scalability

Serro designs, deploys, and operates the world’s largest and most complex technology environments. They specialize in NFV / SDN system design, workflow automation, and core code development. The global operational experience combined with their engineering heritage drives business outcomes that enable service automation and process efficiencies to power to power tomorrow’s software defined business.

Their mission is to:

Lead with Engineering Heritage

Design Future Scalable Infrastructures

Empower through our Global Partnership

In order to find out more, go to: https://www.serro.com/

by Gary Audin

The number of endpoints, like hard and softphones, as well as other devices (PBX, SBC, Gateway…) you have to manage keeps expanding. The endpoints are driven by software, software that is frequently updated and patched. Trying to verify that all the endpoints are installed and configured properly is a laborious task. How do you ensure that end user has not changed the endpoint without authorization or contacting IT? This is where automated testing saves time, labor, and reduces costs delivering an unbiased report of the endpoint installations.

Chakra Devalla, CEO of tekVizion www.tekvizion.com and Gary Audin recorded this podcast at ITEXPO so that you could learn about the issues, problems, and resolutions surrounding testing endpoints and generate revenue for this service as a MSP, VAR, or SI. Chakra covers testing and why and how to rethink testing. He explains process of automated testing. He finishes with a discussion of the business case for testing and the benefits of automating the testing process.

tekVizion www.tekvizion.com helps service providers, vendors and enterprise customers accelerate implementation, improve reliability and reduce the costs of deploying multi-vendor communication networks. tekVizion offers a range of services including interoperability testing, on-demand access to virtual lab environments, integration services, and custom application development. Founded in 2002, tekVizion hosts the first interoperability lab of its kind. The company’s extensive lab resources include over 250 network elements and a team of dedicated specialists, certifying over 400 applications per year.

by Gary Audin

You want to network with others who are service providers offering voice and UC services. You are a startup trying to avoid mistakes and efficiently manage your financial resources. By joining the Telco Service Providers Network (TSPN), you can speak and collaborate with your peers in other organizations.

The TSPN is focused on Telephony service providers, Telcos, CLECs, and VARs. The goals of the TSPN are:

To develop sales strategies

Take care of customers

Better operate business

Whether you offer hosted, cloud, rented, or on-premises services, sharing:

Questions

Ideas

Experiences

Case studies

the collaborations can offer solutions to your problems and recommendations for increasing revenue and customer loyalty.

You should listen to the podcast with Sheila Belzil, administrator of the TSPN and Gary Audin recorded at the ITEXPO conference. The TSPN is a free to join community on LinkedIn that you can join at linkedin.com/groups7067017.

TSPN was created to provide a neutral forum for discussion where interesting professionals will share ideas and solutions as well as stay informed on being what is being developed and what is emerging in the communications world.

by Gary Audin

Revenue is the goal. It should be increasing. You should be reducing your costs as well. Automation, efficient back office operations, and dealing with a provider that can deliver lower costs through price arbitrage all help reduce costs. What can you do to increase the revenue base?

Nick Medina, VP of Business Development for VoIP Innovations www.voipinnovations.com and Gary Audin discuss recommendations for improving revenue generation in this podcast recorded at the ITEXPO conference. Nick discusses five major points and delivers recommendations for improved revenue generation:

Increase marketing

Review and modify your pricing strategy

Expand your distribution channels

Develop more relationships

Diversify your offerings through learning from customer feedback

VoIP Innovations www.voipinnovations.com is a key player in the VoIP industry. The provisioning, support, and billing teams developed at VoIP Innovations bring over 20 years of telecommunications experience to the table. The key to their success is to use technology to provide choice, automation, and control for the customers. This is delivered through the BackOffice platform, Titanium III. VoIP Innovations provides Wholesale VoIP origination and termination services, as well as thousands of DIDs and E911 connections. They are committed to delivering the best quality of service and the lowest possible price and no one else in the industry does it better.

In a special podcast, we recorded last week, Morag Lucey, Avaya's Chief Marketing Officer, discusses Avaya's financial restructuring and this week's Avaya's ENGAGE.

Despite some of the inevitable chatter in the market, Lucey describes Avaya's Chapter 11 filing as voluntary and as part of a well-planned process, as evidenced by securing a large credit facility and a series of advertisements that has Avaya presenting itself as a strong, on-going entity.

In this podcast Lucey discusses the health of Avaya's basic business model, and points out that the company has embraced the "opex" model (revenue from the sale of services) while retaining a large on-prem product offering. We learn about customer and business partner feedback, and get a glimpse at this week's Avaya ENGAGE.

Visit www.avaya.com

ION appliances and software enable service providers, equipment manufacturers, government and military agencies, and corporations to remotely manage, monitor, and secure critical voice and data networks. ION, an Avaya DevConnect Partner, will be showcasing their SAL Gateway Appliance at Avaya ENGAGE. The Avaya SAL Edition is a security appliance with a full standalone SAL Gateway, and SLA Mon, pre-installed, which provides IP and secure dial-up connectivity to Avaya and heritage Nortel systems.

In this podcast ION's Henry Gold takes us through ION's offerings to the Avaya community and their importance to users and dealers. Even as the network as evolved, "...we still need to secure these interfaces", Gold says. The podcast discusses how ION has provided that secure continuity over time in an era of rapid change.

Learn more http://apitech.com/ion.

by Gary Audin

You installed the Session Border Controller (SBC) for security. The service provider installed one as well but for their protection. The SBC is universal converter matching your IP PBX to the SIP service provider you selected. It is likely that SBC has to perform translation between the on premises IP PBX and the SIP trunk.

Eric Bauer, VP Marketing & Business Development for AudioCodes www.audiocodes.com in North America and Gary Audin discuss in this podcast, the devices and tools AudioCodes has available for implementing voice service. Eric covers:

Interoperability issues and solutions

Skype4B support

Why an organization’s size matters

Why some organizations mistakenly do not install a SBC

SBC management

AudioCodes Ltd. www.audiocodes.com designs, manufactures and sells advanced Voice over IP and converged VoIP and Data networking products and applications to Service Providers and Enterprises. AudioCodes’ products are deployed globally in IP, Mobile, Cable, and Broadband Access networks, as well as small, medium, and large Enterprises. The company provides a diverse range of innovative, cost-effective products for converged VoIP and Data networks including Media Gateways, Enterprise Session Border Controllers (E-SBC), Residential Gateways, Multi-Service Business Routers, IP Phones, Mobile VoIP Clients, Media Servers and Value Added Applications.

IPFone is a full-service telecommunications provider. The company was founded 20 years ago as a firm offering telephony services. Since then they have evolved into a company offering advanced cloud communications services. In this podcast Damian Chmielewski, President/CEO of IPFone, discusses how the company has changed overtime and how today it is a leading provider of cloud communications offerings.  IPFone was among the first to deploy a VoIP platform with BroadSoft as the technology partner focusing on business customers. They have recently been recognized with multiple awards for product excellence by various industry associations. IPFone was a founding member of the Cloud Communications Alliance.

More at www.ipfone.com.

Don Witt of The Channel Daily News from Telecom Reseller speaks with Linda Rendleman, Vice President, Client and Mobile Solutions at Tech Data about her new role in helping Tech Data expand its presence in Client and Mobile solutions.

Tech Data is focused on 5 pillars of growth:

Cloud

Security

Mobile

IoT

Converged Infrastructure

Client and Mobile solutions will be focusing on the hottest vertical markets:

Health Care

Public Safety

Retail

Fleet Services

Tech Data is one of the world’s largest distributors of technology products, services, and solutions. Companies like HP, Apple, Cisco, Microsoft—and hundreds of others—depend on Tech Data to bring many of their products to market. Many of the hardware devices and software applications that you use in your daily life have passed through their logistics centers on their way to market.

42 years in IT distribution

$26.4 billion in sales for fiscal 2016

Publicly Traded (NasdaqGS: TECD)

Ranked No. 108 on the FORTUNE 500

105,000+ IT reseller customers

150,000+ IT products sold

100+ countries served

9,000 employees worldwide

Named One of FORTUNE's "World's Most Admired Companies"

To find out more about Tech Data, go to: http://www.techdata.com/

It is all about the experience.  Don Witt of The Channel Daily News from Telecom Reseller finds out from Tim Sullivan, VP of Sales at Ooma that they first started out 10 years ago delivering consumer home phone service – Ooma Telo. Four years ago, they started reaching out to the reseller channel to deliver their new small business solution – Ooma Office.  The product offering actually enhances most reseller portfolios with a low end product that is designed to be a “Do it Your-self” (DIY) phone system which tolerates analog handsets meeting the needs of many small businesses.

At the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Ooma introduced additional features to their Ooma Telo which were requested by several regional Managed Service Providers (MSPs).

These features include:

Flood/Moisture Sensor

Motion Sensors

Door/window opening sensors

With these additional features, the MSPs can lock in the consumer not only with the monthly phone service charge, but also with the monthly security feature charge. The security feature allows the user system to connect directly to 911 emergency services and provides the actual physical address of the emergency to the dispatch service. Now the MSPs can compete directly with Comcast and other national providers.

While also interfacing with Amazon’s Echo, Lifx Light Bulbs and other home devices, Ooma has positioned itself as one of the leading edge service providers in the country.

Since the beginning, Ooma has been committed to transforming the landscape of phone service. They took into account everything that was wrong with phone service today (too pricey, limited features, inflexible) and made it their mission to reinvent it. With both Ooma Telo and Ooma Office, a highly sophisticated computer, that when connected to Ooma’s cloud-based smart platform, delivers calling with extremely high quality, advanced features, and connected services that turn an ordinary phone to a smart phone for your home or business. You can see Ooma at ITExpo this week.

For more information, go to: http://www.ooma.com/