BUSINESS PHONE NEWS

Hot Holiday Party Techno Chit-Chat: What to know in advance of your next business cocktail party...

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email

Business owners and managers are kind of funny when they get together for drinks during the holidays.

For whatever reason, after reviewing the big deals that were won or lost over the past year, people seem to want to talk about the latest ways they're rolling out and using all the coolest new office technologies to bring in much more business in the new year.

So that you're not left in the lurch when someone turns to you and asks, "So what new office technologies are you leveraging next year?", following are some recent office technology headlines that will help you carry your end of the "my smartphone's better" holiday party techno chit-chat.

 

Here comes the Windows Phone Hail Mary! by CNN Money  

If you're a business owner that is "all in" with Microsoft as your business productivity platform then read this article to learn that industry critics think Microsoft has finally rolled out a winner in the smartphone marketplace with the Windows Phone 8. Read this article for a big picture "office suite" understanding. Here's a couple YouTube videos to help: Windows Phone 8 Rant, Windows Phone vs. Android

 

Samsung Galaxy S III Dethrones iPhone as World's Top Seller by CNN Tech

Yes, this is the phone in those mocking TV ads about Apple groupies, obsessing over their impending purchase while a happy Galaxy S III owner saves a place in line ... for his parents. In the 2012 Q3, The Galaxy S III shipped 18 million units worldwide, compared with 16.2 million for the iPhone 4S.  For more info view the "Wirefly Smackdown" on Youtube.

 

Killing the Market for Stolen Cell Phones  by CNN

Recently several U.S. wireless carriers implemented the first part of a national strategy to deter cell phone theft: a joint "blacklist" database of identifying information about cell phones reported lost or stolen. As of now, cell phone dealers are supposed check this database before honoring requests to reactivate allegedly "locked-out" phones, in order to prevent people from using stolen phones.

 

Feast Your Way through Google Business Tips  by Google & Your Business Blog

Apparently your business can use Chrome, Gmail, Google+ and Google Calendar in a sophisticated business manner and this blog writer wants to show us all the tricks. More Google business tool tips.

 

Google's "Get Your Business Online" Free Websites for Businesses  by Google

Seriously, if your business is one of the 50% of US businesses without a website by now then there's something seriously wrong with you or your business (or both). Google is giving away business websites and showing you how to put them on the web with their GYBO initiative. Click here to do it now!

 

Google Cancels Christmas (and all of December) by CNN

Is Google in a hurry to get 2012 over with?  Probably not. But that didn't stop the snarky headlines after it was discovered that a buggy app in the new version of Google's mobile operating system omits the month of December.

How to Access Avaya, Adtran or Samsung Business Phone Solutions Through the Tech Vendor of Your Choice

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email

Can separate technology equipment vendors really work together successfully to provide business end users with critical productivity applications that require integrated telecommunications solutions?

Not usually (or not cheaply).

Over the past decade a serious problem has occurred to the "interconnect" businesses across the US that have always been available to help small businesses keep their PBX phones running. The problem is many of them have gone out of business and the ones that are left have little interest or time for multi-vendor integration projects that don't have very fat margins.

 

If Your Phone Guy Won't Sell You IT, Get Your IT Guy to Sell You Phones

Right after "We want it to cost less", the number two request of most business owners of any communication technology integration project is, "I want just one throat to choke!"  For many businesses, this second request is really the first such that they'd actually pay more for a solution if they can get a single vendor to "own" the whole solution.

Enter the ICP or "integrated communications provider".

ICP's can be phone guys that now help their customers with their IT networks or IT guys that now install phones. This ability to "single source" integrated communication solutions that mix phones, computers and smartphones makes business customers more competitive (and their ICP vendor more profitable).

 

How Hard is Selling & Installing Business Phone Systems?

Not that hard if it's done through NTS Direct.  Despite their name, NTS does not sell Avaya, Samsung or Adtran phone systems directly to business end-users, but they do help design, sell and support these business phone system installations through almost any sort of technology company that may have customers asking for single source solutions that will include one of these three phone systems.

As phone systems become just "one more application" on a businesses integrated voice and data network, business customers that like the Avaya, Adtran or Samsung phone system equipment solutions can stick with these phone systems AND get them installed and serviced through the tech vendor of their choice - through NTS Direct.

Click here to download a whitepaper interview with Scott Davis, President of NTS Direct and read how their Avaya, Samsung and Adtran affiliate program works to help business customers single source integrated communications solutions through the tech or IT vendor of their choice.

 

The Best of Both Worlds? Yes!

Multi-location businesses in the US have significant existing investments in Avaya, Adtran and Samsung business phone system equipment equipment. For one reason or another though many no longer have a relationship with the business phone system interconnect company that initially sold them their phone system.

Now, through NTS Direct, any business that has Avaya, Adtran or Samsung phone equipment (or wants it) can access it through the local tech or IT vendor of their choice so that the customer can have the "single source solution" that they want for their converged voice and data telecom solution.

If you don't yet have a preferred ICP or "integrated communications professional" to be your single source solution, click here to find a recommended Telecom Association solutions partner in your local metro area to help you. You can also contact me for a customized referral.

Which Smartphone Operating System Should Your Business Use in 2013?

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email 

With Microsoft's recent roll-out of both Windows 8 (the updated operating system for 80% the desktop computers in the world) and Windows Phone 8 (the updated operating system for Windows phones - used by only 2% of worldwide smartphone users), business owners and IT managers should ask themselves, "Is it a good idea to match the operating system software between my desktop computers and my smartphones?"

In a word, "Yes". But which one?

Click here to read a recent CNN article that provides a reasonably decent comparison of three different smartphone operating systems; Windows Phone 8, Android 4.2 and iPhone iOS 6.

 

Small Businesses with Android, Enterprise Businesses with Window Phone, ??? with iPhone?

In the realm of smartphone operating systems I'll be the first to admit that I don't know as much today as I will next year, but as a small business owner I do know that profit suffers when employees can't be as productive on their smartphones or tablets as they can be on their desktop computers.

7 Ways to Upgrade Your Business Internet Connection at the Best Price

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email 

 Remember about 15 years ago when the only way to upgrade a business internet connection was to switch out an original 9,600 baud dial-up modem for a 14,400 baud modem? That's right, a 50% speed improvement - and it was still only one-tenth of a modern internet T-1 with a speed of 1.4 megs.

While I say "modern", many businesses today that only have a T-1 as their internet connection feel like it's as slow as the old dial-up 14.4 modem.  

Why? Internet T-1s were great 10 years ago when internet traffic was mostly just test emails, spreadsheets and then a Word DOC with a photo now and then. Today businesses are passing huge media files, voice and even video over their internet connections and their little 1.4 meg T-1 which once seemed like an information super-highway is now an information bottle-neck.

What to do? Following are seven economical ways to upgrade your internet connection at a reasonable price.

 

Seven Cost Effective Internet Bandwidth Upgrades

The following are seven different types of business internet connections. You should add at least one of these to your existing connection so that your business has at least two or more separate internet connections. Once you have two or more internet connections in place, you can designate one as your premium "toll lane" that can only be used for high priority data traffic. The other connections should be designated as your "everything else lanes" for data traffic that can "get through when it gets through".

If you've got extra money to spend on IT consulting and fancy data load balancing routers you can actually sandwich your multiple data connections together with special routing tables to get the best of both worlds - separate connections and/or one really big connection. (See the list of recommended TA solution partner members and vendors at the end of this article for help aggregating multiple internet connections and carrier networks.)

Click here to download and print a copy of TA's 2012 Broadband Internet Connection Upgrade Buyer's Guide.

 

1. Ethernet - Also known as "fiber", "Fast E", "Metro E" or "Gig E", classic Ethernet is a service that is available to businesses in a "lit building" which means the commercial building literally touches the downtown fiber network of a commercial telecommunications company. Bandwidth connectivity costs via Ethernet fiber can be as low as $5 per meg. These giant pipes usually start at 100 megs and $2,000 per month for dedicated service. Very small businesses though can get terrific deals on smaller Ethernet pipes if their building owner has decided to "co-op" a large 100+ meg Ethernet connection into small 10 meg or smaller pipes.

2. Ethernet over Copper - Also known as "EoC", this type of business internet connection is today's number one small business choice for "integrated broadband" - a big pipe from the phone company that can provide multiple combinations of voice, internet and wide area data network connectivity. Click here to view different "pipe sizes" along with normal distance limits. EoC normally starts at 3.0 megs (double the bandwidth of a T-1) and goes up to 10.0 megs. EoC generally costs under $1,000 per month and is targeted to businesses in a normal city within 10,000 feet or so from a phone company "central office" but not on any "downtown fiber rings".

Did You Buy a Super Cheap Asterisk IP-PBX Business VoIP Phone System? Better watch your phone bill ...

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email 

In today's tough economy, business owners understandably want to conserve cash wherever possible so when they learn how they can save $10,000 or more on a new VoIP business phone system, many are seduced into giving it a try.

How can a working phone system be so cheap? Today's IP-PBX phone systems are really just PBX software that reside on any computer.  Click here to download free PBX software.  Click here for info on a cheap wall mounted device designed for the free PBX software.

Connect your "cheap PBX" into your network and then follow the setup software instructions and then all your employees can make calls using your phone system no matter where they are. All they need to do a plug any cheap IP phone into the Internet and they're making calls on your system (and your dime).

But who else can also make phone calls on your system that way? Click the video below for instructions on how to hack an Asterisk phone systems to make free calls.

 

 

How Do You Fight Phone Bill Fraud?

Please don't think that we've got anything against open-source phone systems. Any IP-PBX system is vulnerable to a hacking attack. The main challenge that business owners have with a "cheap phone system" is they do not come with easy to understand security features. There's no set-up step that says "click this box to prevent phone fraud".

The only defense against phone fraud is a good offense.  As a business owner you need to assume that there are people on the planet that will take advantage of you and your phone system if they can find out that you installed your own cheap solution (or had an "expert" do it for you).

With regards to buying a cheap PBX phone system from a phone vendor, do some research on the PBX software they are using. What are the security vulnerabilities of the software and is the phone vendor certified do secure the system?  Click here to read a news article about one phone vendor that had three of his Asterisk PBX customers suffer from fraud attacks.

Click here to download a PDF copy of our 2013 Phone Bill Fraud Prevention Checklist.

Our checklist is published for business owners and managers to help them understand what kind of phone bill fraud their business is exposed to as well as specific actions they can take so they can minimize their risk of loss.

If you need a referral to a TA partner or vendor that has been recently reviewed and recommended by their customers for expertise in this area, the checklist has a section that lists specific partners and vendors that you may wish to call on for consulting, solution design or a competitive quote.

TA members and vendors are invited submit content to be included in our buyers guides and checklists.

TA members and vendors that have been recently selected by and end-user and and positively reviewed by them for buyers guide or checklist expertise are eligible to be listed in the "Recommended TA Partners & Vendors" section of the buyers guide or checklist.

Before contacting us about getting listed, have your customers complete a TA review form regarding your specific category expertise as you will need to submit that to us before we will consider listing you.

Questions? Contact Dan Baldwin at 951-251-5155 or [email protected]. 

photo credit 12261715

Nationwide, Mid-Sized Businesses Look Past Owning Multiple PBXs in Favor of Hosted Unified Communications

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email

"The cloud is for telephones too!"

When I run into an IT professional at almost any business cocktail party we inevitably seem to fall into a conversation the nationwide cloud strategy they've designed and how they're virtualizing all their desktops or moving their business critical apps into their own private cloud.

At some point in the conversation I'll ask, "What about your phones?" and if they start telling me about all the problems they're having with all their PBX vendors I try to gently suggest,

"The cloud is for telephones too!"

I was reminded about this cocktail conversation this week when I received notice that Telesphere, one of the many telecommunication and broadband network service providers I represent recently hired two new mangers Josh Redick and Rob McCarthy out of New York City and San Francisco respectively.

I was glad to learn about this because it's these sorts of professionals that help telecom consultants like me explain to mid-sized businesses how "the cloud" can deliver all the same benefits to their unified communications or "UC" strategy as they're receiving by pushing their data applications into the cloud.

 

What Do These Industry Hires Signal About Changes in the Telecom Marketplace?

I've spoken with many of my peers over the past several months and we all seem to be thinking along the same lines when it comes to deciding which telecom carriers, equipment vendors or unified communications providers we're going to bring into one customer project or another.

Following are my thoughts. 

1. Telesphere should be considered for mid-market UC deals.

Over the past year, whenever I've spoken to mid-market and multi-location agent partner peers about which carriers they pitch in larger UC deals when they're up against PBX box vendors like Avaya or NEC, many like Smoothstone/West IP if it's a large "rip & replace" deal or Vocal IP if the deal requires a customized voice integration with existing systems and equipment.

Telesphere has always branded itself as a "unified communications" company just as Smoothstone always has but because Telesphere rolled itself out city-by-city (much in the same way Cbeyond did) many agents have always seen Telesphere as a regional powerhouse in especially in the Southwest and Mountain states.

Telesphere's biggest agent over the past 8 years, Concierge Communications, is also based in Arizona.  But just as Concierge is seen by many in the industry as an integrated solution provider that can service mid-sized, nationwide clients, so too is Telesphere beginning to be seen as a nationwide UC provider.

For the longest time the best mid-market and enterprise UC customers have been locked up by the PBX box vendors combined with AT&T, Verizon or Level3 networks.  As credible UC/cloud integrators like Concierge bring Telesphere into bigger deals, mid-market PBX VARs are seeing they will either need to bring the likes of Telesphere and other hosted UC providers into their proposals or find themselves competing against the likes of Clark Atwood.

 

2. Telesphere should be considered for nationwide Broadsoft deals.

I've spent quite some time over the past couple years trying to divine the differences among all the hosted VoIP and "unified communications" service providers in the marketplace. The best way I've found to separate one from another seems to be by these four categories: underlying platform, network coverage, integrated applications and pricing.

Regarding underlying platform, Telesphere is in the Broadsoft camp which means all their "communications magic" comes out of a proprietary Broadsoft platform. (Broadsoft also powers Vocal IP, MegaPath, Alteva, SimpleSignal and other providers wanting to claim credibility in mid-market deals.) In my humble opinion, Broadsoft has established itself as the "carrier grade" universal standard against which all others VoIP switch manufacturers are measured.

By contrast, Smoothstone/WestIP and Broadview Networks, two other well known solution providers are "non-Broadsoft".  The only real knock that I've heard repeated about non-Broadsoft switch technology is that "it doesn't scale past 10,000 seats" or "what happens if their programmers quit?"  The top argument for non-Broadsoft switches are the fact that the code is highly customizable for mid-market customers that need specialized code written to integrate critical business applications.

Without trying to end the "Broadsoft vs. non-Broadsoft" argument, suffice it to say that Telesphere is in the Broadsoft camp and many mid-market customers and their telephony consultants will only consider Broadsoft solutions.

The second major UC/hosted VoIP differentiation category is network coverage and in this category Telesphere appears to be as big as they come in the Broadsoft category meaning "nationwide for all practical purposes".

In the old TDM/Class 5 "hard switch" days, phone carriers bragged about all their 5ESS or DMS500 switches like Jay Leno brags about all his cars. In today's "soft switch" world where carrier switches are defined by software, measuring "who's the biggest" is a bit more difficult. I've been told that Broadsoft switches actually come in "pairs" such that one switch can cover two separate cities.

For regional businesses this only matters if you're considering doing business with a company that appears to have their switches in a distant land. For instance, TelePacific is a classic business phone company in California that totally dominates the California marketplace. When they roll out a hosted VoIP solution later this year they will put a serious hurt on non-California based hosted VoIP carriers trying to compete in California.

But as great as Telepacific is in California, few businesses in New York would think to ask TelePacific for a phone system quote (but they would ask for one from Broadview Networks, a classic business phone company based in New York that has since rolled out a nationwide hosted VoIP phone solution.)

But what's a true nationwide multi-location business to do for nationwide business phone service? If most of your locations are in New York you'd start with Broadview and if most of your locations are in California you'd start with TelePacific. But if your locations are evenly spread over the whole country you need to call on a unified communications provider that can do the whole country.  Telesphere is positioning itself for credible consideration in this category.

The other "nationwide voice carriers" are XO, PAETEC/Windstream, CenturyLink, Level3, AT&T and Verizon but they are not known for their expertise in integrating voice applications which is the foundation of "unified communications".  This is where the big PBX box vendors dominate. They tell customers, "Buy lots of our voice boxes and then put them on your nationwide data network and you're done." 

But what if a nationwide customer wants a single-vendor unified communications solution without having to buy dozens or hundreds of PBXs?"  That's when I bring in Telesphere and Telesphere's mid-market "hosted UC" competitors.

How does Telesphere fair on the third and fourth differentiators of integrated applications and price? I'm not totally sure yet, one peer I talked to really liked Telesphere's CRM (customer relationship management - e.g. Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics) and collaboration (chat, IM, conferencing) integrations but readily admitted he did not have a rich frame of reference with regard to Telesphere's competitors.

As Telesphere is Broadsoft based, it's reasonably safe to assume that their application integrations are bullet-proof (Broadsoft dosn't roll stuff out that doesn't work) and probably feel alot like what other Broadsoft based providers offer.

Regarding price, when carriers get into the mid-market they're going to price any deal based on both their hard and soft costs to get the deal. Broadsoft based providers are generally higher priced than non-Broadsoft providers due to the extra Broadsoft licensing they have to pay for. But since the dominant hosted UC player in the industry (Smoothstone/WestIP) is known for their high prices even though they're  non-Broadsoft based, I'd look to Telesphere to be trading some margin for market share especially as they try to pick up deals in New York City and the California Bay Area.

 

Should You Trade in Your PBXs Today for Hosted Unified Communications?

It depends. My last PBX consulting client was a CPA firm who really wanted to integrate their billing and CRM applications into their next phone system but when it was decision time they opted to stick with a new PBX even after I explained all the unified communications options. They decided to do without the integrated applications after adding up all the extra costs. 

But larger multi-location businesses have different cost models. I've talked to peers who've had mid-market customers who've spent $100,000 integrating complex applications into both hosted and PBX-based UC phone system solutions. They were abel to justify it because the $100,000 development cost was retired in less than two years by improved productivity of their employees.

Click here to download our 2013 "Should You Buy or Rent a Phone System?" Checklist.  It's specifically designed to help end-users sort our the pros and cons of hosted VoIP for their particular business.

The best way to know is to give us a call and let us screen your unified communications needs.

 

Ready for Usage-Based Broadband Billing? How Much Data Does Your Business Use Each Month?

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email 

Who remembers the early years of the Internet back in 1994 when we all paid $25 to America Online for just five total hours of surfing each month? Or how about in 1997 when AOL changed to unlimited pricing for just $10 a month but all their dial-up lines were suddenly busy 24/7?

Believe it or not, Internet access started out as a usage-based or metered service. And even though the Internet's been "all-you-can-eat" usage-wise for the better part of 15-years, it looks like a return to some sort of usage-based Internet pricing for both consumers and businesses alike is not too far off.

Both Verizon and AT&T are moving their smart phone customers to metered data models and residential cable companies are following suit according to this article.  

What's a small business owner to do?  

Create a network bandwidth management checklist for your business so you can learn what sort of data transmissions you're paying for, measure how much you're paying for and monitor the traffic to confirm that you're only paying for what you want to pay for.

 

How to Create a Network Bandwidth Management Checklist for Your Business

Do all the ways your employees use your businesses Internet connection suddenly make you feel like you're running a coffee shop with a free Internet "Hot Spot"?  Well if you feel that way you've got the right model in mind.

Effective "Network Bandwidth Management" for any business owner really requires no more expertise than what a coffee shop owner employs for a public Hot Spot when they exercise control over just three things:

1. Who's accessing the network,

2. What type of data are they uploading and downloading, and

3. How much are they uploading and downloading

So step one for creating a "network bandwidth management checklist" for your business can be as easy as treating your business like a coffee shop and instituting the same Internet access controls as a coffee shop.  If you're not sure where to start, click here for a simple, 3-step guide to protecting your business Internet as least as much as a coffee shop owner protects his or her public Hot Spot.

This simple, painless and practically free exercise will educate you about what you need to be looking at to protect your own business wide area network which is no doubt much more complex than a single-site coffee shop.

Many business owners rightfully think, "I don't need to worry about that as my IT director, IT department or IT contractor has got that 'covered'". Maybe yes -- maybe no!  To double-check just how well your business bandwidth is being managed, download and take the "Business Bandwidth Management Self-Analysis Survey" in our Bandwidth Management Buyers Guide.

Business owners should know the answers to these important bandwidth management issues. If you don't, let the survey be an opportunity to discuss with your IT resources where your current business bandwidth management policies are today -- and where they may need to be tomorrow.

If your IT consultant isn't managing your bandwidth then feel free to contact a local bandwidth management partner listed at www.BusinessPhoneNews.com. 

 

Download our Free 2013 Bandwidth Management Buyers Guide

Click here to download our free Bandwidth Management Buyer's Guide. Our guide is designed help you understand what questions to ask bandwidth management sales partners and vendors to ensure you're getting quoted the right design at the right price.

If you need a referral to a TA partner or vendor that has been recently recommended by their customers for bandwidth management expertise, the buyers guide lists specific partners and vendors that you may wish to call on for consulting, solution design or a competitive quote.

How to Inexpensively Increase Internet Bandwidth by Bonding Low Cost Coax Cable and DSL Circuits

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email  

Helping large multi-location business customers save money on their primary and/or backup data networks by cobbling together the lowest-cost Internet access provider in any particular region in the country is good business for Bandwave Systems.

For over a decade, Bandwave Systems has taken a solution that any IT systems manager might think "this should work" (bonding DSL, 4G/LTE and cable Internet together) and making it work the way it should by ironing out all the kinks. 

To learn how inexpensively increase Internet bandwidth bonding coax cable and or DSL circuits we recently interviewed Adil Zaidi, Operations Manager of Bandwave Systems.

Click here to download a PDF copy of the white paper created from this interview.

To listen to the interview, click here to download the MP3 recording.

You can also listen now with your computer speakers by clicking the player below and then follow along by reading the transcript below. 

 

Interview Audio

Click the player above to listen to the interview now.

 

Interview Transcript

Dan Baldwin:  Intro: Today I'm speaking with Adil Zaidi, Operations Manager of Bandwave Systems, a nationwide business broadband provider that integrates and aggregates all carriers and cable operators and technologies (DSL, T-1, Cable, Fiber Ethernet, Wireless) so that businesses with multiple locations are provided a complete nationwide network solution with just a single point of contact. Adil thanks for speaking with our audience today.

 

Question #1:  Adil, many telecom companies have long told business customers that low cost "best effort" bandwidth services like DSL or coax cable were "residential grade" products that where not comparable in quality to higher cost T-1 level solutions and above. What is Bandwidth System's experience with having your business customers successfully use DSL and cable for business solutions?

Well Dan, we’ve actually had a lot of success with our customers using dsl and cable for business solutions.  T1 technology is a high cost, low speed product.  We’re able to bring in a 10meg by 1meg next gen dsl or a 50meg by 10meg cable circuit for under 200 dollars per month.  We have metrics on both dsl and cable and we see two solid reliable products that have low latency and high bandwidth for the fraction of the cost of a T1 circuit.   

How to Use Cable Aggregation as an Alternative or a Replacement for Your MPLS Network

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email  

Can cable aggregated wide area data network ("WAN") really replace an MPLS network for a multi-location business? Yes...

For years the business phone companies have been telling business owners and IT directors that using any sort of cable Internet solution in a business environment is a bad idea because cable does not have any quality of service ("QoS") and is an inherently "shared" resource meaning a business would never get the data throughput they were promised.

Well that argument is certainly still being waived around by the telcos but after experiencing the successful use of cable Internet in their homes, few business owners or IT directors have a problem with the idea of taking a serious look at replacing their expensive MPLS data network with a professionally aggregated mix of coax cable providers.

But since all the cable companies have different service areas across the country, most businesses are hesitant to try an aggregated cable dat network solution because of the problem of having to do all the aggregation in-house and then keeping track of individual cable company invoices.

Fortunately there are cable aggregation companies available to businesses that want to try an aggregated cable solution to replace their expensive MPLS wide area network or "WAN". Of all the cable aggregation companies to choose from, few have the "one stop shop" success that has been found by Bandwave Systems out of Philadelphia. 

To learn just how a coax cable solution works when backing up or aggregating an MPLS network we recently interviewed Tom Azelby, Managing Director of Bandwave.

Click here to download a PDF copy of the white paper created from this interview.

To listen to the interview, click here to download the MP3 recording.

You can also listen now with your computer speakers by clicking the player below and then follow along by reading the transcript below. 

 

Interview Audio

Click the player above to listen to the interview now.

 

Interview Transcript

Dan Baldwin:  Today I'm speaking with Tom Azelby, the founder and managing partner of Bandwave Systems, a nationwide business broadband provider that integrates and aggregates all carriers and cable operators and technologies, DSL, T-1, cable, fiber, Ethernet, wireless and so on, so that businesses with multiple locations are provided a complete nationwide network solution with just a single point of contact. Tom, thanks for speaking with our audience today.

Tom Azelby:  Thanks for having me, Dan.

DB:  Tom, IT directors for multi-location businesses are looking for alternatives to the classic MPLS network because they need to save money, get more bandwidth for the money they're spending or other reasons.  When typing "MPLS Alternative" into their favorite search engine, IT directors are finding Bandwave Systems. 

Will an $8 "Dual Persona" App Enable Employees to Securely Use Their Personal Smartphones for Work?

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email  

I recently attended a seminar put on by Verizon titled "The State of Mobility" which was promoted as an opportunity to meet Verizon's enterprise mobility experts and hear them speak on the current and future state of mobility strategy as well as an overview of Verizon's "Enterprise Mobility as a Service" ("eMaaS") solution.

The two -hour session began with Ed Branham and Forrest Carr covering the difficult questions CIOs and IT managers were struggling with as they attempt to decide about incorporating MDM ("mobile device management") into their enterprise operations including:

1. Should we even allow BYOD ("bring your own device") where employees use their personal smartphones and tablets to access required corporate mobility applications?
2. How do we create a reasonable MDM/BYOD policy that properly balances application access and corporate control?
3. Which MDM software solution should we implement to control mobile devices and application access? 
4. How do we make sure our data stays secure?

The session was too short to detail many answers but as the CIOs and IT managers in the seminar audience were all within shouting distance of their Verizon account executive, one could assume that Verizon is ready to have their enterprise mobility account teams solve any mobility problem a customer could envision.

 

$8 Per Month Per Employee to Instantly Resolve all MDM/BYOD Issues for any Company?

The second half of the seminar delivered the easy answer for anyone looking for an off the shelf solution they could throw at their MDM/BYOD problems today as Steven Baker and Tom Thimot presented Verizon's "Enterprise Mobility as a Service" or "eMaaS" solution.

According to the presentation, Verizon's eMaaS solution starts with device and expense management with a web-based portal that allows enterprise businesses to track all their mobile endpoint devices and make sure they're not overpaying for minutes and bandwidth. The presentation claimed that the software was "vendor agnostic" and using all Verizon Wireless cell phones was not required.

The presenters freely admitted that plenty of competitors like BoxTone, AirWatch and MobileIron existed that do MDM/BYOD but then they segued into Verizon's incorporation of a "Dual Persona" mobility solution which would solve the CIO & IT manager's MDM/BYOD problems and forever eliminate the need for any employee to ever again carry two cell phones - one for business use and one for personal use.

 

What's Dual Persona and Will Employees Trust it on Their Personal Smartphones?

"Dual Persona" refers to a mobile device application that allows a single smartphone to primarily be a personal cell phone but when the dual persona app is activated it turns the phone into a corporate smartphone that is VPNed into all the corporate mobility apps that the employee needs to do his or her job and is "fire walled" safely from the personal apps and data on the same smartphone.

Click here or the video below to view a 3-minute demonstration of the Divide dual persona smartphone application by EnterProid that Verizon has co-oped into their eMaaS solution. Click here to view a 1-minute Divide corporate promo video.

 

Pretty cool, huh?  Who wouldn't want that on their phone? It's the MDM/BYOD answer, right?  With the right dual persona app, every corporation can have a pretty simple MDM/BYOD policy like:

1. To work here you must have (and pay for) your own smartphone.
2. You must download and install this dual persona app and then manage it properly.
3. Don't worry, we won't we won't keep track of how much time you spend fooling around with your personal app during work hours (even though we can)

Now I've not discussed with any CIOs or IT managers how much this dual persona app has solved all their MDM/BYOD problems - but for lack of having a cheaper place to start - Verizon's eMaaS seems like an inexpensive place to start. Verizon's retail price point for their whole eMaas solution which includes the Divide dual persona app is $8 per month per employee.

 

Will Verizon Win the MDM/BYOD War on Price and User Self-Management?

The presenters went out of their way to reinforce the fact that Verizon's solution price is per employee where as all their MDM/BYOD competitors charge per device. It was at this point that Steven Baker pulled out all four of his mobile devices (a Blackberry, an Android, an iPad and a laptop computer) and said Verizon's eMaaS solution covered all these devices for one low price.