Disaster Recovery for Communications
Many companies and organizations are realizing that data recovery in the event of a disaster, while important, is only part of the disaster recovery planning process.
Equally important is planning for voice. Especially when a disaster strikes, it is essential to be able to communicate with customers, suppliers, and of course staff...
The Business Case for Outsourcing
Today's fast-paced, networked economy has broadened the range of, and the need for, innovative business communications tools. For many businesses, however, the cost of upgrading their existing network infrastructure to add these tools is prohibitive. For this reason, organizations are outsourcing their communications and IT requirements, turning to managed service providers (MSPs) who already own the infrastructure and have the expertise to implement and offer managed services...
Permissions-Based Network Security
A permissions-based approach to network security takes a different view. It sees that networks are also made up of users – users who download programs they should not download, open email that contains worms and viruses, or hack servers to which they should not have access...
Converged systems have been available for only a few years but already account for a majority of all spending on business communications systems. Leading manufacturers have all but discontinued production of traditional systems...
To understand how PBXs work, it is helpful to remember how calls were made before modern switches came along. Switchboard operators set up call between two phones. A call completed when the operator established a continuous circuit from the calling party to the called party...
IP-PBXs are rapidly replacing traditional PBXs and key systems. There are a number of reasons for this trend, but our purpose here is to explain how IP-PBXs work...
This is a brief comparison of the costs of ownership of a traditional PBX solution to Appia’s managed services...
The Changing Landscape of Business Communications
As recently as the 1970s, business communications could be summed up in two words: Ma Bell, which supplied a single, network that connected us to the world.
Today, we communicate by email, instant messaging and audio/video conferencing. Many people work from offices, but many others work fromhome or on the road. Multiple networks have replaced the single network.Managing business communications is more complex, and the risk of technological obsolescence has increased significantly.
Observers agree that the future of business communications lies in packetbased
technology, which allows voice, data, and video to travel over a single
connection. This approach simplifies management and reduces costs and
provides a flexible platform that enables future communications needs to be
met quickly and with less expense.
As this trend (known as “convergence”) becomes more common, business
communications will be back where it began: With a single network handling
all forms of communication...
Five Questions to Ask Any Managed Services Provider
More and more organizations are choosing to outsource, and as a result, a number of companies have entered the MSP market. Some of them are well-qualified; others are simply trying to take advantage of a market opportunity. Here are five key questions you should ask before making your selection...
