NATD Conference
New members
NATD Charities
NATD in the news
Upfront
Avaya
Market
Mitel
Mobility infrastructure
NEC
Poll
VoIP

NATD Conference

NATD CONFERENCE SETS DUAL RECORDS

The North American Association of Telecommunications Dealers (NATD) marked its twentieth anniversary by setting new records for a conference and in new members. The NATD’s Annual Conference set a new attendance record with over 260 participants. The NATD’s meeting attracted dealers, distributors, resellers, manufacturers and software solution developers from throughout North America and Europe. The conference also set another record, electing twenty-three new members. Conference features included a salute to past NATD presidents, plus forward-looking presentations from Avaya and IDC on emerging trends in telecom. Attendees were treated to news on several fronts including key codes, migration issues and OEM policy changes. The NATD Charity Golf Tournament raised funds for the Gateway Area Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Former NATD President Alan Borck reflects on two decades of change in the NATD. The conference had record participation.

Avaya’s Paul Weismantel points to the future.

Patrick Sweeney and Herb Greenberg do a book signing for attendees. Sweeney and Greenberg delivered the keynote address on "Succeed on your own terms," a fascinating book on the path to greater success in life.




The NATD elected 23 companies into membership - a new record for a single conference.





John Negri takes the helm: Negri was elected NATD’s new president.

Record Sponsorship and Exhibitor Presence
The NATD event had sponsorship and exhibitor presence at new record levels. "We would like to thank the following exhibitors and sponsors for their contribution and participation," said the NATD’s Ruth Marion. "If you would like more information on exhibiting and sponsoring at IATD/NATD Conferences, please contact Ruth Marion at [email protected]."

Here were the exhibiting companies
Atras Network Communications
Catalyst Telecom
CTDI
Duvoice Corporation
GlobalTel IP
Hansen Software
Inn-Phone
Metropolis Technologies
Multi-Tech Systems
NTTN Trading Network
CompuTools USA
Panaseas International
Paracon
Plantronics
Refurb Supplies
ScanSource Security Distribution
T2 Supply
Takson Technology Ltd.
Telecom Reseller
Universal Air Filter Co.
Veramark

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New members

NATD ELECTS RECORD 23 NEW MEMBERS

The NATD elected a record twenty-three new members into the NATD at the just-completed annual conference at the Venetian in Las Vegas. A company can only be elevated to membership by being nominated by three current members or referred by three companies; then the applicant must be elected by the general membership. Details about these companies are now available at www.natd.com.

AB Resale USA  -  Tom Conroy, President
Alexander Netcom USA  -  Jonathan Hilditch, Sales Mgr.
AptoSolutions USA  -  Eric Russell, Sales
Clearcom USA  -  Hugh Vujnovich, President
CLG Financial USA  -  Edward Carpezzi, President
CompuTools USA, Inc. USA  -  John Cowles, President
CXtec USA  -  David Covert, Sr. Prod. Mgr.
Dynamic Communication Inc. USA  -  Norm Shatto, President
Florida Electronic Business Resource Co USA  -  Robert Williams, Director
Infinit Technology Solutions USA  -  Tony Cerrone, President
JBR Telecom, LLC USA  -  Kenneth Gorman, President
Eurotech Communication, Israel  -   Rom Shibi
Lafone Telecom Ltd. UK  -  Richard Howard, President
Morgen Industries Inc. USA  -  Stuart Morgen, President
Network Liquidators/1Nation Tech. USA  -  Barry Shevlin, President
Quagga USA  -  Scott Knorp, President
Relusent Communications, LLC USA  -   Ron Beckerleg, President
RQ Communications Inc. USA  -   Scott Quinn
Salestec GmbH & Co. KG GERMANY  -  Olaf Niggemann, President
Source Inc. USA  -  Karl Jackson, VP Sales
Telsets SPAIN  -  Adrian Morgan, President
Universal Air Filter Co. USA  -  Todd Deibel, President
WalkerCom, Inc. USA  -  Richard Gonzalez, President ^Back To Top

NATD Charities

NATD Charities help people who have touched members' lives

Instead of giving vanilla donations to large ubiquitous charities, the NATD’s tradition has been to select charities that have made a difference in the lives of individual members, and then to turn around and make donations, from the NATD, which can truly impact a given charity.

Family

Steve Smith, NATD’s Ethics Committee Chair introduces Denny McBroom, NATD Charity Chair.

"We are family," said Denny McBroom, NATD Charity Chair. "When you or your family face a crises, reach out to the NATD because we are there for each other." McBroom affirmed the group’s commitment to back charities that make a difference in the lives of members.


Cancer Services
This year’s conference saw a presentation from LINDA LUTZ of CANCER PATIENT SERVICES http://www.cancerpatientservices.org/.

Linda Lutz, Cancer Patient Services

Cancer Patient Services is a community-based non-profit agency whose mission is to improve the quality of life of cancer patients in Hancock County and their families. Cancer Patient Services provides an area full of home care supplies such as bandages, gauze, surgical gloves and cotton swabs. There are Depend undergarments and under-pads, as well as a large selection of nutritional supplements in a variety of flavors. The organization also offers financial and emotional help as well. This is charity, which makes a big impact for people fighting a tough disease. NATD was honored to help.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
MS is thought to be an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS consists of the brain, spinal cord and the optic nerves. Surrounding and protecting the nerve fibers of the CNS is a fatty tissue called myelin, which helps nerve fibers conduct electrical impulses. In MS, myelin is lost in multiple areas, leaving scar tissue called sclerosis. These damaged areas are also known as plaques or lesions. Sometimes the nerve fiber itself is damaged or broken. Myelin not only protects nerve fibers, but also makes their job possible. When myelin or the nerve fiber is destroyed or damaged, the ability of the nerves to conduct electrical impulses to and from the brain is disrupted, and this produces the various symptoms of MS.


Denny McBroom awards a donation to Nicole Rainy, Special Events, and Lani Fellows, Major Gift Planning, of the Nevada Division of the National MS Society.

Our chosen charities made brief presentations on the work that their respective organizations do and how the donations are significant.

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NATD in the news

Multi-Tech remote office IP telephony helps solve 911 calling problems
For a Small- to Medium-sized Business (SMB) wanting to use IP telephony at a remote office, a challenge is how to provide emergency phone (911) service for the remote office. Multi-Tech Systems has a solution that is low cost and requires no recurring expenses. By combining one of the company’s VoIP servers and a cellular gateway, a remote office can use IP phones for normal business communications and the cellular phone network for emergency calls. The way it works is that a two-port Multi-Tech Systems’ MultiVOIP Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Server is set up on the network at the remote office as a trunk to the IP PBX. A Multi-Tech Systems’ CallFinder GSM or CDMA cellular gateway is also connected to the MultiVOIP server and to a cellular service provider. If the provider uses GSM technology, the gateway can be equipped with a pre-paid SIM card so there are no recurring costs. Normal business communications are through the IP phones and, if the remote office IP phones make emergency calls, the IP PBX routes the calls back to the remote office via the MultiVOIP and CallFinder.
Visit www.multitech.com.


Veramark receives VeraSMART order from large Southwestern University
Veramark Technologies, Inc. announced receipt of a significant order from a large Southwestern University. The University will use VeraSMART to collect call records from 50,000 extensions on 15 Avaya PBX's residing at various campus locations, as well as the University’s Call Center and Administrative Offices. VeraSMART's robust call accounting application will process an estimated 25 million call records per month. The University will use the EZ-Share module to import Directory information from other third party systems, and export billing data to a General Ledger feed. VeraSMART was chosen for its robust functionality, flexibility, ease of use, and seamless integration of its modules.
Visit www.veramark.com.
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Upfront

Surging IP telephony adoption drives strong growth of enterprise call control software shipments
According to new research from industry analyst firm IntelliCom Analytics, North American shipments of Call Control software licenses - or "seats" - grew by 9.7% in 2006 over the previous year. This growth in license shipments for the software that enables the features and functionality of Enterprise Communication platforms was driven by broad-based adoption of IP Telephony at a time when traditional TDM systems are increasingly being phased out by vendors. During 2006, sales of Pure IP systems - those that are primarily equipped with IP endpoints - surged 54% year over year, while corresponding TDM system sales declined 30% over the same period. IntelliCom also found that three vendors, Nortel, Avaya and Cisco, accounted for more than half of total 2006 IPT and TDM shipments in North America.
Visit www.intellicom-analytics.com.
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Avaya

Avaya transforms customer service
Avaya introduces new Avaya Customer Interaction Suite capabilities that enable businesses to cost-effectively deliver superior customer service by putting the enterprise at the service of the customer. The new capabilities delivered by Avaya's highly scalable Customer Interaction Suite allow customers to be served by the most capable resources throughout the enterprise using new capabilities such as streaming video while providing a complete view of the customer experience. All enterprise resources from the contact center to sales offices to supply chain to billing to other support functions can be instantaneously engaged to serve customers cost-effectively, regardless of location. Avaya's new capabilities include the integration of live or streaming video, delivering a richer experience for those customers interacting through PCs or smart mobile devices. New analytics capabilities allow enterprises to manage and tailor the customer experience through the use of real-time monitoring and historical data analysis tools. End-to-end Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) support is at the core of the new capabilities of the Avaya Customer Interaction Suite.
Visit www.avaya.com.
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Market

In-Stat reports adoption of managed services among global enterprises set to increase
Managed Network Services (MNS) adoption will increase over the next two years among large, globally focused businesses, reports In-Stat. A survey by the high-tech market research firm of IT and network managers in companies of more than 1,000 employees shows that most globally focused firms currently perform network functions in-house. Out-tasking will soon gain acceptance, however, due to increased network complexity and convergence.  “In two years, nearly 40% of survey respondents in the areas of PBX/Phone System Management and Telecom Expense Management indicate that these functions will be out-tasked,” says Jeff Jernigan, In-Stat analyst. “Within two years, MNS adoption rates will roughly double for security, storage and hosting, with nearly one-third of respondents indicating these functions will be out-tasked.” Recent research by In-Stat found that 84% of global firms that are MNS adopters are more likely to buy additional services as future complexity increases.
Visit www.instat.com.
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Mitel

Mitel unveils latest enhancements to its Unified Communications portfolio
Mitel unveils the latest innovations in its portfolio of Unified Communications platforms, applications and devices at VoiceCon in Orlando. The portfolio now features embedded “presence-everywhere” capabilities that allow employees to be more effective in the way they communicate through their PCs, phones and mobile devices with colleagues in their organization, or as part of a federated group of external partners like suppliers or customers. Integrating rich telephony applications including Mitel Mobile Extension, Mitel Quick Conference and Mitel NuPoint Messenger IP with the Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005, the Mitel Live Business Gateway allows users to benefit from the presence information accessed through the Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 interface by providing access to key business resources in the moment that they are needed. The latest release of Live Business Gateway now provides support for centralized as well as distributed deployments, allowing organizations to concentrate key communications applications to provide greater survivability options and minimize costly server duplication.
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Mobility infrastructure

Foundry Networks announces global seminar series
Foundry Networks, Inc. announced it is offering an expanded series of free seminars in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific to demonstrate how organizations can build secure and reliable wired and wireless networks for the delivery of high-quality converged services throughout the enterprise. Foundry products incorporate the latest in switch design, advanced network processor technology, rich feature sets, network-wide security, scalable architectures, and award-winning customer support to deliver network solutions that are cost effective, secure and convergence-ready. The seminars draw upon Foundry's more than ten years of industry-proven experience delivering convergence-ready infrastructure solutions to the world's most demanding enterprise and service provider customers.
Visit www.foundrynet.com.

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NEC

NEC streamlines hospital communications with Intelligent Call Attendant
NEC Unified Solutions, Inc. (NEC) announced the release of its UNIVERGE Healthcare Attendant call management solution. Featuring advanced call-processing capabilities, enhanced directory functionality and improved connectivity to patient rooms and on-call staff, NEC's Healthcare Attendant enables organizations to quickly reach on-call physicians and caregivers and handle an increased volume of calls more efficiently while improving the overall patient care experience.  To assist hospital staff with handling a large volume of incoming calls, the VoIP-based Healthcare Attendant provides callers with a pre-determined menu of options allowing users to make selections based on employee extension, department, inquiry type or guest.  Designed to overcome the challenges of quickly reaching physicians and hospital staff, Healthcare Attendant can be programmed with on-call staff schedules using solution tabs provided by the application. Moreover, users can initiate contact directly by clicking an entry button, saving precious time in emergency situations.
Visit www.necunified.com.
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Poll

Deloitte poll shows many companies lack formal guidelines against pretexting in internal investigations
Despite recent legal actions against companies that engage in pretexting and other illegal techniques to investigate fraud, misconduct, or simply to obtain confidential competitor information, 42 percent of organizations responded that they currently do not have written guidelines against the use of such methods of investigation, according to an online poll conducted by Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP (Deloitte FAS). The online poll also revealed that among the more common types of investigations, fraud and human resource investigations appear to give rise to difficult legal or ethical questions about investigative techniques. Lower responses were registered for other types of investigations, such as for due diligence, trade secret and theft/embezzlement. The Federal Trade Commission defines pretexting as the practice of obtaining personal financial information under false pretenses. The practice of pretexting has become prevalent in recent years and state and federal regulators are aggressively pursing offenders.  Congress has also passed a law banning the pretexting of telephone companies.

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VoIP

CTI Group launches pioneering VoIP call recording innovations
CTI Group is excited to announce the expansion of their VoIP call recording portfolio to include SmartRecord Cards and Recording-enabled SIP Trunks. With the addition of these products, CTI Group broadens the reach of VoIP call recording and helps reduce the initial capital investment for the end user. The SmartRecord Cards are 800-number cards that allow the user to record calls on-demand from any location. The user simply enters the 800-number, enters the destination number and then retrieves the recorded conversation on-line through a user friendly, interactive on-line interface. The Recording-enabled SIP Trunks provide call recording service to professionals without the initial capital investment customary in previous call recording systems. The call recording feature is offered through the VoIP service and the end user is billed monthly for the service, rather than paying for the hardware that has previously been required for call recording. By lowering initial capital investment, service providers are able to reach a broader range of end users by providing more flexibility in call recording options.
Visit www.ctigroup.com.

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