Telecom Reseller / Technology Reseller News

Sanjay Bhatia, Vice President of Solutions Marketing & Strategy discusses the success of Kandy over the first two years of Kandy implementation with Don Witt of The Channel Daily News from Telecom Reseller.  Sanjay is very enthusiastic about Kandy, which is GENBAND's Real Time communications platform as a service. Sanjay also reviews the following questions:

•    What exciting is happening on the Kandy front as it relates to the Enterprise market?

•    What are some of the interesting enterprise use cases that you are experiencing for Kandy?

•    How does Kandy differentiate itself from other platforms on the market?

•    I've heard you guys say a couple of times that with Kandy Communications Service Providers (CSPs) can BOLT ON, BUILD UPON and BRING TOGETHER. Can you please explain this?

•    What can we expect from Kandy in the coming year?

GENBAND’s Kandy communications Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) is a real time software development platform built from GENBAND’s core communications, presence, security and real time technologies. Kandy enables service providers, enterprises, software vendors, systems integrators, partners and developers to enrich their applications and services with real time contextual communications, providing a more engaging user experience. With Kandy, companies of all sizes and types can quickly embed real time communications capabilities into their existing applications and business processes.

What Kandy Offers

•    APIs and SDKs so you can add communications anywhere

•    Cloud Unified Communications to the largest service providers and enterprises around the globe

•    Light-weight apps or Kandy Wrappers that are pre-packaged, fully functional software applications that you can deliver standalone or insert into your website or application to embed real time communications capabilities

•    Consumer OTT apps for mobile devices

https://www.genband.com 

https://www.kandy.io

by Gary Audin

You sometimes have a poor VoIP call using Skype4B. There is no obvious failure. Most data network analysis tools look for failures and configuration issues but do not focus on call quality. You need a system that not only collects performance and operational data for the entire connection but also the history of that connection. There are some differences when analyzing Avaya or Cisco VoIP compared to Skype4B VoIP.

This and other points are presented in this podcast with Tim Titus, CTO and Founder of Path Solutions www.pathsolutions.com recorded at the Microsoft Ignite conference. What may be acceptable performance for a data connection can be a disaster for a voice or video connection? Ten percent (10%) packet loss for a 1 minute download means an extra 6 seconds of download time, not very noticeable. Ten percent (10%) packet loss for a voice call means a choppy impossible to understand conversation where the caller and called parties simply hang up.

At PathSolutions www.pathsolutions.com their mission is to deliver high performing networks at the lowest possible cost. Their VoIP and network performance management solutions install and deploy in less than twelve minutes, continuously monitor the performance of your entire network, tell you where, when, and why problems occur and even recommend fixes in plain-English. Their customers consistently say that they have found and fixed more network issues in the first days of deployment than they did the previous year. Their partners use Path Solutions to perform network assessments and troubleshooting on their customers’ networks and recommend it to their customers.

by Gary Audin

The open office is designed to facilitate fast, flexible collaboration. There will be times when you want quiet and privacy, a break from the surrounding noise to fully concentrate, communicate, and collaborate in mobile work environments or to relax while listening to music. Noise and distractions in open plan offices have negative effects on productivity and can increase stress. What you want is a work experience for office workers that helps them take control of their environment and create a disruption-free workspace.

Brian Brorsbol, Director of Product Management, CC&) at Sennheiser www.sennheiser.com and Gary Audin recorded this podcast at the Microsoft Ignite conference. Brian discusses the MB 660 headset that has a choice of ANC settings: either ANC fully on or Sennheiser’s innovative NoiseGard™ hybrid adaptive ANC. NoiseGard™ constantly monitors the background environment for ambient noises and adapts the level of noise reduction in the headset. This actively prevents the tiring sensation of being “stuck-in-a-barrel” - the unpleasant effect that standard ANC headsets can create. The headset has multiple listening modes for speech, music, and audio and video conferencing.

Sennheiser www.sennheiser.com introduces industry’s first wireless adaptive ANC headset for productive and comfortable open plan office work. The noise and buzz of modern open-plan offices can make it hard to stay focused on the task at hand. Sennheiser has created the MB 660 Series, designed specifically for knowledge workers in noisy open offices. The business-grade solution features adaptive ANC, a new dimension in active noise cancellation, UC certified communication abilities to ensure crystal clear speech during voice calls and Sennheiser’s superior audio quality for music and multimedia enjoyment.

by Gary Audin

You want to move the contact center to the cloud. You also want to use O365 or Skype4B. You not only need the cloud contact center service, but you need to use a migration path that is easy, low risk, and fast to deploy.

Jeremy Puent, Product Manager for Clarity Consulting www.claritycon.com and Gary Audin recorded this podcast at the Microsoft Ignite conference. They discuss the Cloud Connect Center for O365 http://connect.claritycon.com/. Jeremy discusses their new cloud-delivery model that enables clients to move their contact center to the cloud, regardless of whether they have Office 365 or Skype for Business (on-premises or fully hosted). This capability is provided in partnership with select cloud-hosting providers. Clients can migrate their contact center to Office 365 now, or choose to migrate later and have Clarity Connect seamlessly transition alongside them later.

Clarity Connect was developed as a clientless Web based solution exclusively for and is native to Skype for Business. Clarity Connect does not duplicate or complicate Skype for Business’ infrastructure or call control. It has full access to its unified communications and collaboration functionality. It retains Skype for Business’ voice quality and reliability. There is no need for additional on-premises infrastructure or additional software clients, reducing costs and improving efficiency.

Clarity, a Microsoft Gold partner and the developer for Clarity Connect, delivers premier products and solutions that leverage Lync and Skype for Business as a communication platform, which allow companies to significantly reduce costs and complexities within their IT environments.

by Gary Audin

Not every UC solution should be in the cloud. For branch offices and smaller businesses, the UC solution may have to be on premises to satisfy compliance and regulatory requirements. If you select to be on premises, then you should consider a WINDOW’s based system that can easily operate on your present infrastructure.

Kyle Asbury, Sales Manager for North America at 3CX www.3cx.com and Gary Audin recorded this podcast at the Microsoft Ignite conference. Kyle covers their software release V15, the latest in their yearly improvements. This software can also work on very small platforms supporting 32 calls. He discusses the other end of the business spectrum covering the release of their Enterprise edition which can be on premises or in the cloud.

3CX www.3cx.com is an open standard Unified Communications platform for Windows that works with standard SIP phones and replaces any proprietary PBX. 3CX Phone System is more manageable than standard PBX systems and delivers substantial cost savings while increasing productivity. Some of the world’s leading companies and organizations use the 3CX Phone System, including Boeing, the Caterham F1 Team, Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts, Harley Davidson, and MIT.

3CX was named a CRN Emerging Vendor in 2011 and 2012 and has been awarded CRN’s 5­Star Partner Program rating in 2013. 3CX has also been awarded Windows Server Certification and won the Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award, the Windows IT Pro 2008 Editor’s Best Award, and a Best Buy Award from Computer Shopper. 3CX has offices in the UK, the USA, Germany, France, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, South Africa, Cyprus, and Malta.

by Gary Audin

Don’t think of call recording as a side issue. You need it. You need it for agent training, compliance, and dispute resolution. Obtaining the right call recording package should not only include voice but also chat, IM, screen sharing, and video recording. There are many products on the market. If you are moving to Skype4B you can encounter some issues that can influence the success of Skype4B implementation. What about call recording with O365? Shouldn’t the call recording be encrypted?

Paul Friedman, VP of Global Sales and David Bleecker, Business Development at Numonix Interaction Recording www.NumonixRecording.com and Gary Audin recorded this podcast at the Microsoft Ignite conference. Paul and David discuss their approach, using RECITE, to call recording. They recommend a proactive approach to the contact center, help desk, human resources, or any other function that interacts with users and customers. They discuss the enterprise and service provider editions.

Numonix www.NumonixRecording.com is an innovator in interaction recording and quality management solutions. Numonix’s RECITE interaction recording solutions help organizations maintain a competitive edge, ensure regulatory compliance, resolve disputes, and enhance customer experience. RECITE captures all interactions, including voice, screen, video, and IM/Chat. Available in both enterprise and service provider editions, Numonix’s award-winning RECITE is deployed globally in contact center, customer service, financial, and public safety applications. Affordably priced, RECITE is scalable to accommodate organizations of any size and is available globally.

In July Konftel released a portable device, that Konftel says is, "perfect for Skype for Business conferences." Ego can run corded or on bluetooth, can deliver a conference call involving multiple people in a room or be used as a desktop device for calls and even for entertainment. In this podcast Torbjörn Karlsson walks us through Ego's ability to fit in both at the office and at home, and how it matches contemporary work needs in the many spaces people makes calls or need a speaker. Ego supports Skype for Business, Cisco Jabber, Avaya Communicator and other conferencing tools, supports HD calls via Bluetooth, offers simplified Bluetooth pairing and connection using NFC, Bluetooth A2DP for superior audio performance when playing music. Ego uses OmniSound® audio technology to improve on the quality of conference calls and it won an award for design.

Visit konftel.com

by Gary Audin

Skype4B does not do everything. There are gaps. Wouldn’t you want an appliance that is a turnkey solution for voice connections to the cloud? You need simplicity to accelerate implementation time and reduce risks.

Eric Bauer, VP Marketing & Business Development for AudioCodes www.audiocodes.com in North America and Gary Audin discuss the devices and tools AudioCodes has available for implementing voice in the cloud. Eric covers the Cloud Connector Edition http://www.audiocodes.com/solutions/microsoft/microsoft-cloud-connector-edition-cce turnkey solution. He goes on to present facts about the AudioCodes IP phones and conferencing devices.

AudioCodes’ CloudBond 365 is the next-generation solution in their One Voice for Skype for Business suite of products that integrates with Skype for Business deployments, supporting full capabilities and smooth migration of users from on premise Lync, Skype for Business Server or legacy PBX deployments to Microsoft’s Cloud PBX.

User Management Pack 365 www.audiocodes.com/products/user-management-pack-365 is the latest addition to the AudioCodes One Voice for Skype for Business portfolio, a unified solutions, products and services offering that is intended to simplify and accelerate voice-enablement of Skype for Business implementations.

AudioCodes User Management Pack 365 is an advanced software solution that enables consolidated, cost-effective user lifecycle and identity management across all Skype for Business deployments. The solution provides a powerful, yet simple web interface for centralized control of all common user management activities, including voice policy configuration and location (premises/cloud) determination. User Management Pack 365 enables system integrators, service providers, and IT professionals to build out an effective managed user environment.

AudioCodes Skype for Business Podcast Series

With days to go before this week’s Ignite, AudioCodes introduced the AudioCodes User Management Pack 365 to support organizations migrating to Skype for Business Cloud PBX. AudioCodes User Management Pack 365 is an advanced software solution that enables consolidated, cost-effective user lifecycle and identity management across all Skype for Business deployments. In this brief product podcast, Eric Bauer of AudioCodes discusses how Management Pack 365 is a powerful choice for end users looking at migration to Skype for Business.

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The Oracle implementation of WebRTC as described by Chris King, Senior Director – CSP Product Marketing to Don Witt of The Channel Daily News from Telecom Reseller, will help carriers enable their networks for WebRTC and help enterprise establish WebRTC to WebRTC communications.

While countless numbers have deployed, Chris talks about several examples.

Chat by itself is no longer acceptable for customer engagement from the browser.  Consumers are looking for:

•    Video

•    Shared Messaging

•    Chat

•    Texting

•    Communicate in a rich manner with the companies they are doing business

They provide a roaming service to clients going outside the normal territory.

Chris goes on to describe his favorite project which is the SIP application server.

Oracle Communications WebRTC Session Controller

Security

•    Choice of user authentication mechanism: web-based user authentication (OAuth) or traditional telco/enterprise authentication

•    Efficiently handle encryption keys and network authentication

Easy interoperability

•    Bridge WebRTC to existing networks—WebRTC to SIP/IMS signaling—and WebRTC media to existing VoIP system

•    Network-based encryption, codec transcoding, and multivendor interoperability

•    Provide automatic browser mediation, client authentication, and session and connection management with extensible JavaScript Client SDK

Assured reliability

•    Automatically reestablish dropped WebRTC sessions, including dropped network signal, browser reset, network handover, or user-initiated swap of devices

•    Distributed high-availability signaling and media architecture for carrier-grade scalability

•    Highly scalable, software-based SRTP termination

https://search.oracle.com/search/?start=1&search_p_main_operator=all&q=communications