Whether you are an old timer who (fondly or not so fondly)
remembers "Ma Bell" or a newcomer to IT on your way to greatness; we
combed the internet to find some old relics (we're talking about the
machines, now) that we thought you'd enjoy.
Back in the day, businesses often referred to themselves as a ROLM
shop or a Nortel shop. And, there were the Dimension folks too.
That's a Nortel Meridian switch off to the right; very popular in
the 1980s. In those days you needed plenty of room in the back of your
office to house one of these systems.
And there are still some out there chugging along. It goes without saying that this
was back when "clouds" were puffy and white and words like "wireless"
pertained primarily to transistor technology. A term like "VoIP" would
have had people shaking their heads.
Then there were those stylish front office consoles. Do any of these look familiar?
Now here's a questions for you. Does anyone out there remember
the days before the fax machine as we know it today? Did you "Quip"? To
send a single sheet via this early version of the fax machine would take
about 10 minutes. But, hey, it was the 80's man!
We did actually have "live chat". It was called Telex, and
it was the best way to avoid those outrageous overseas calls. Sort of a
cross between a teletype and a phone. Some are still used today. Really.
And,
yes, we finally got around to inventing a cell phone. What a blast to
be able to speak to your friends on your way to their house! But those
battery packs weighed a ton!
Then
came the oh-so-stylish Palm Pilot with its screen and lots of confusing
buttons; but it blew everything else out of the water.
And, as fate (and Steve Jobs) would have it, we finally got around
to the iPhone, BYOD, and all the other great things that have changed
our telecom world forever.
Don't remember any of this? Good. you have a long life ahead of you to rack up your own memories.
You'll no doubt be showing your kids and grandkids pictures of the
iPhone 6 and saying "Believe it or not, this was considered a major
innovation." And they will probably say "Wait a minute. You had to touch
a screen?"
Now that we've had our stroll down
memory lane, it might make sense to take stock of your own back room.
What needs updating? Replacing? Whether you need help integrating old
technology with new technology or are just eager to get control over the
ever-mounting costs of telecom, contact us and we'll be glad to put our seasoned team of experts on the job for you.
ABCN
has joined alliances with gcuc for an exciting conference May 3rd
through May 6th in LA. It's all about new ways of working that you don't
want to miss!
Want to dig a little deeper into the "dark ages" of telecom?
We found a great site that gives you a virtual tour of the early days of telecom. You can visit the site here. Enjoy!
About CDR-DATA
CDR-Data applications are supported by products that, collectively, provide you with all the resources needed to
effectively manage your communications and personnel expenses without having to add resources.
eCDR®:
All the reporting options and flexibility needed to effectively manage
and allocate telecommunications expense. Easy to use and customizable.
eBill-Back®:
Fast, accurate telecommunications billing system for business centers,
shared-tenant environments and any business requiring bill back of end
users.
We hear about Big Data all the time now;
transactional data, behavioral data, data from devices and
applications, and the list goes on. Not to mention all the
"intelligence" we can find out about consumers' buying habits; down to a
granularity that, frankly, take us places many of us would prefer not
to go.
But what about the data that is
sitting right in front of you? In your zeal to look at the big picture
are you ignoring all that "tiny" data that has been available to us all
along? And are you using it to your advantage?
Here four types of "tiny" data you should be taking a second look at:
Call data: If you are
collecting data from the various communications devices throughout your
office, when was the last time you took a good look at it? Call data
can tell you a lot about how your employees are using their phones
(landline an d mobile) and can help you spot areas where you can
consolidate, eliminate and streamline your communications systems.
Website statistics:
Are you really using all the data available through programs like
Google Analytics? For those who take the time to sift through it, there
are huge rewards. The data can tell a story about how visitors are
engaging with your site. And Google keeps adding things to make it
richer and even more meaningful. If you haven't tuned in to your
analytics recently, you might want to take a look around. A lot has
changed!
Business intelligence: These systems can help
you identify market trends and connect the dots between your company
and your competitors. By integrating this data with other systems, a
more robust picture of your organization will begin to emerge, which
wil l make it easier to spot areas where improvements can be made to
give you a competitive advantage.
Spreadsheet pivot tables:
Not as tricky as they appear, creating pivot tables to connect all that
data you have in those Excel spreadsheets can add an amazing level of
clarity. Think your marketing programs are working, but not positive?
What do the numbers say? Taking time on the front end to create pivot
tables will pay off in the form of more accurate intelligence to work
with. If you're interested, there's a cool little app called PivotPal. Check it out.
CDR Data has partnered with Chuck Borso of SDT, Inc.,
a company offering a robust platform to integrate traditional call data
and myriad types of business data, incorporating useful data-analytic
to ols needed in the new and exciting world of self-service business
intelligence (BI).
Armed
with a variety of features that have been available in Excel for over a
decade together with the Apogee BI Call Accounting suite, it will be
relatively easy to pinpoint hidden relationships and take a deeper look
at all the data that is sitting right in front of you.
You can acquire an entirely new
perspective by utilizing the graphical tools within Excel's powerful new
features - Power View, Power Map, and Power Pivots. Armed with new
visualization techniques, you can go a long way towards understanding
what is working and where you need to make changes. Apogee has been the
OEM backbone of many major call accounting systems for over thirty
years and, continually being on the technological forefront of
telemanagement software, has created a simple path for customers
desiring to model call data in novel, insightful ways.
Want to learn more? Contact us for more ideas on how to make all that tiny data work big time for your bottom line!
A recent article in the Los Angeles Times points to some pretty outlandish "wearable" stuff, but furniture? Really?
You can read the full article in the L.A. Times here.
About CDR-DATA
CDR-Data applications are supported by products that, collectively, provide you with all the resources needed to
effectively manage your communications and personnel expenses without having to add resources.
eCDR®:
All the reporting options and flexibility needed to effectively manage
and allocate telecommunications expense. Easy to use and customizable.
eBill-Back®:
Fast, accurate telecommunications billing system for business centers,
shared-tenant environments and any business requiring bill back of end
users.
Lose
weight...stop smoking...get in shape....The list goes on. Now that
we're well into the New Year, how many of your resolutions have you
already broken? I won't tell you how many I have.
With over thirty years in business under
my belt I have been in a position to hear a lot of resolutions, many of
them from fellow business owners. Some are specific to their companies,
but there are others that we can all relate to.
And, given the speed at which technology
and the workplace are changing we need to, as Steve Jobs so aptly put
it, "think different" to survive, let alone thrive.
Here are four resolutions that will breathe new life into your organization. Let me know what you would add!
Embrace the Future:
The old adage "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" has never been more
apropos than in today's age of mobile phones, social media and instant
access to just about anything. For those of you "of a certain age" who
may find yourself leery of exploring new technology and new management
styles, it may be time to re-calibrate your thinking. Encourage your
team to bring new ideas to the table; especially younger employees.
There is some real untapped pote ntial out there; time to tap into it.
Update and Automate:
Still hanging on to those old laptops? If it "ain't broke", don't fix
it. Instead, consider replacing it! Make a check list of all your
equipment, software, and other applications you have been using. Put
someone in charge of checking with suppliers and service providers as to
what it would take to upgrade. Once you start, it will get easier.
Build More Relationships:
When a business is young, its owners tend to do a lot of reaching out
to friends and colleagues for advice and referral business. Once they
have a few years (or decades!) under their belts, the tendency is to
become more self-contained and less inclined to go outside their four
walls to form new partnerships and alliances. Make this the year you and
your team rekindle old relationships and build new ones. Make it a goal
to add at least one new business relationship per quarter. It will not
only pump new life into your business, but add some new revenue streams as well.
Spend Less Time in the Office:
Speaking of those four walls, it's time to spend less time at your desk
and more time out talking with clients, colleagues and friends; or even
attending local business meetings and conferences. The best ideas don't
come from inside your business; they come from outside your business.
But you have to work at it. Start by booking a single client or
colleague visit, then another. Build a new habit of collecting fresh
input from outside your office. It's a healthy habit you can start
today.
So, along with
that cool looking Fitbit, the Nicorette gum and your newly minted gym
membership, get these resolutions going. Be sure to let us know how it goes. We'll do a follow up in our July newsletter!
"Technology is not only fueling major business transformation across
industries, it's also changing how technology enterprises sell their
products and services, operate and plan for future growth," says Paul
Sallomi, vice chairman and the Global Technology, Media &
Telecommunications Industry leader for Deloitte LLP.
than Josh Mayfield, the developer who created GWX Control Panel.
CDR-Data applications are supported by products that, collectively, provide you with all the resources needed to
effectively manage your communications and personnel expenses without having to add resources.
eCDR®:
All the reporting options and flexibility needed to effectively manage
and allocate telecommunications expense. Easy to use and customizable.
eBill-Back®:
Fast, accurate telecommunications billing system for business centers,
shared-tenant environments and any business requiring bill back of end
users.
When evaluating the network for your IP Telephony
deployment, you need to be aware of some of the differences between a
hosted PBX and an onsite-PBX.
In order to simplify this, we will break the network down into two
separate concepts: The Local, onsite network (or LAN), and the
wide-area, external network (or WAN, typically provided across the
Internet).
Hosted PBX
Hosted PBX
In the case of a hosted PBX, all of the PBX intelligence will be located offsite.
The only things located at the site will be the telephone sets, and the
network components required to connect those sets through the internet
to the hosted system.
Advantages of a Hosted PBX
No server onsite to maintain
Higher-quality server environment (redundant power, HVAC, internet, etc)
Software updates usually included
OPEX generally more popular with C-level execs
Onsite requirements can usually be handled by network team
Disadvantages of a Hosted PBX
Recurring costs – more expensive in the long term
Bandwidth requirements – desk-to-desk calls still have to pass through data center
On-site PBX
An on-site PBX provides all the services to the phone sets from the premises.
Sets do not even require internet access, as all their requirements
(provisioning files, time and date, firmware updates, security) can be
handled through the PBX system.
Advantages of an On-site PBX
Once it’s paid for, it only needs to be maintained
Physical control of hardware
Easier termination of legacy PSTN circuits
Typically lower long-term costs
Lower bandwidth requirements
Disadvantages of an On-site PBX
Requires available technical team to maintain system
Server environment may require construction and other costs
CAPEX not always an easy sell to C-level execs
Decision time: Hosted or On-site?
In both cases—Hosted or On-site—the underlying technologies are
essentially the same. We use the LAN to replace the traditional
telephone wiring, and the WAN to replace the traditional carrier circuit
(PRI, POTS lines, etc). For hosted, we additionally handle PBX
connections from the sets in the WAN as well.
If you have any questions about making sense of IP Telephony, please feel free to reach out and speak to us.
The next blog in this series will look at the onsite network
environment, and the considerations for a Converged versus Dedicated
LAN.
lp
you identify market trends and connect the dots between your company
and your competitors. By integrating this data with other systems, a
more robust picture of your organization will begin to emerge, which
wil l make it easier to spot areas where improvements can be made to
give you a competitive advantage. 
treams as well.
