ChannelVision Magazine

Core Communications New communications, however, are on the rise, including instant messag- ing or chat applications. Already, 34 percent of respondents said they used these tools at work, while about 10 percent say private group messaging or chat software is their main tool for co- worker communications. Not surprisingly, IM is particularly popular in the tech industry, where 71 percent of employees rely on the appli- cation, as well as in international com- panies, where it’s used by 62 percent of workers. Despite the buzz around Slack, Microsoft’s Skype still is the most popular IM software, used in 29 per- cent of companies, while Microsoft Lync is used by 19 percent of respon- dents. However, more than one in five respondents say they’re using Face- book Messenger to communicate with co-workers, suggesting the launch of Facebook at Work is a wise move. Voyant Launches Pay-as-You-Go SIP Trunking Voyant Communications unveiled what it describes as a fully self-service, pay-as-you-go SIP trunking offering that enables businesses access to its on-net phone number footprint and inbound and outbound voice services without contracts or term commitments. The company says businesses can utilize its simple APIs and intuitive admin portal to quickly build a SIP trunk, assign phone numbers and start placing calls in a matter of minutes. Currently, the Voyant Cloud originates and terminates more than 90 percent of calls on-net and supports more than 8,500 on-net rate centers in 49 states. Off-net reach is greater with access to more than 12,000 North American rate centers including Canada and Puerto Rico with international phone numbers available in 72 countries. BullsEye Upgrades Cloud- Based Faxing Solution Michigan-based BullsEye Telecom is delivering a new faxing solution to help companies increase their productivity and lower faxing costs while maintaining compliance. The service, called Secure Cloud Fax, allows companies to eliminate expensive fax equipment and take advan- tage of nearly unlimited scalability. With Secure Cloud Fax, faxes are trans- mitted by email for quick, reliable, private access and are managed in a digital environ- ment. It connects via a company’s existing email network, requires no software or hard- ware expenditures and has minimal impact on in-house IT resources, says BullsEye. Other key benefits include the elimination of common problems with traditional fax- ing, such as paper jams, toner replacement, busy signals and time spent waiting for faxes to be sent; the ability to send and receive faxes on any device at any time from any location; and the peace of mind knowing that faxes will be kept secure and in com- pliance with various regulations. Secure Cloud Fax is one of the newest additions to BullsEye’s growing suite of professional cloud solutions. Chat Apps Invade the Workplace E mail still sits at the center of office communications, with half of American workers surveyed by ReportLinker saying email is their primary means to communicate with co-workers. Source: ReporterLink Channel Vision | March - April, 2018 8 Hosted VoIP’s Conference Call In considering a hosted VoIP solution, a number of features are viewed as crucial to success for IT buyers, but apparently the ability to collaborate is key, as the various flavors of conferencing top the list of “most critical hosted VoIP features,” shows a survey from CenturyLink and Spiceworks IT Professio Data Protec IT Pros’ Most Critical Hosted VoIP Features Source: CenturyLink and Spiceworks 57% 55% 54% 52% 50% Audio conferencing Video conferencing Web conferencing IP desk phones IP telephony/ IP conference phones 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. % of respon B Not at al prepared 11%