CV_Spring_2021

CORE COMMUNICATIONS Last March, Bicom Systems, a telecommunications management software company with offices world - wide, had to pack up their things and head for home. Since 2003, the company has been unifying the best of open standards telephony and its own proprietary software to provide SMBs, enterprises, and governments world- wide with turnkey solutions that take into account the clients’ exact needs within a very cost-effective framework. Bicom Systems communica- tion solution is a software suite of six products that go from essentials such as PBXware, SERVERware and sipPROT to unified communications solutions for improving business communications including gloCOM, gloCOM GO and gloCOM Meeting. Their unique features set them with notable competitive advantage by providing all the pieces to enhance partner success and growth. After transitioning to work- from-home, the company stopped preaching how great their work-from- home solutions were and started using them. Operations now rely on Bicom System’s mobile and desktop unified communications applications, gloCOM and gloCOM GO. In April, the company acceler- ated development and made version 6.0 available free during COVID-19 with a new feature called gloCOM Meeting to enable video conferenc- ing. Bicom Systems also created a Work-From-Home landing page with tips on remaining productive, setting up a remote workforce, and selling during a pandemic. Today, the company is working to release SMS by the end of Q2 to create another communication channel while we navigate this new normal. Working from home is going to become more commonplace. With social distancing becoming “the new normal,” working from home will be encouraged more often.Technology is the future. With physical interactions becom- ing more limited, connecting with customers via social media and online technology will be a more effective communication method. Bicom executives believe the demand for unified communica - tions software will increase with companies transitioning to working from home more long-term. Already, COVID-19 has led to the rapid growth of conference calls and video meetings. Whereas 42 percent of global workstyles reported daily use of video pre-COVID, that number jumped to 63 percent during COVID, said the company. In turn, Bicom’s gloCOM users went up by 42 percent when the pandemic started hitting most countries, with more than 53,000 active users worldwide. Bicom’s video conferencing beta-free version, meanwhile, got an adoption rate of about 30 percent of its users. Of course, there is no one-size- fits-all VoIP solution for business. Today, providers must ensure their customers are equipped with the tools to be successful, whether working from home or in the office by offering different editions or customizable solutions to fit businesses’ needs. For traditional employees or those who prefer using their desk phones, it’s important to provide a proper telephony system that goes beyond calling. Bicom recommends service provider and partners look for additional features such as archiving storage, CRM integration, online self care portal, personalized dashboard, branding options, and UC integration. Get in touch with the Bicom Systems sales team by visiting www. bicomsystems.com or sending an email to sales@bicomsystems.com. Bicom Systems Stays Ahead of the COVID-19 Curve Granite Unveils TDM-to-Cloud Communications Suite Granite Telecommunications announced the availability of Granite Merged Voice, a commu- nications suite that includes Granite’s TDM and hosted voice services to help organizations as their needs change and grow along the path from POTS to cloud communications. “For years, Granite has been helping companies of all sizes and circumstances to save money on infrastructure, enhance features and offload manage- ment headaches with a range of managed voice services,” said Christopher Chapin, CTO at Granite. “Today, we’re bring- ing them all under the Granite Merged Voice umbrella. Whether you want to migrate from POTS to T1, from TDM to IP, from premis- es-based PBX to cloud PBX, or anything in between, Granite Merged Voice can help you take the next step.” Granite Merged Voice services encompass POTS, emulated POTS, SIP trunking, direct routing, hosted PBX, and UCaaS and CCaaS. Granite Merged Voice also can be purchased with Granite Guardian, a managed network solution that safeguards business connections and improves QoS for critical voice and video calling over data connections, said the company. “In addition to providing the flexibility to help companies get to the next step in their journey to IP, Granite Merged Voice services can scale with them as they grow,” said Chapin. “Our services are right-sized for both functionality and capacity. 54 CHANNEL V ISION | May 2021