Upcoming Meeting Notice


SAVE THE DATE:

2010 EUROPEAN CONFERENCE
JUNE 16-18, 2010
Hotel Concorde Montparnasse – Paris, France

MINNEAPOLIS REGIONAL MEETING AND RECEPTION
SEPTEMBER 23, 2010
Le Meridien Chambers Minneapolis Hotel, Rooftop Lounge – Minneapolis, MN

(Click here for more information.)

Aastra
Avaya
Call center
Hosted
MACs
Nortel
Speech
Trends
UC

Aastra

Aastra invites Norstar resellers to free webinar
Aastra USA is hosting a free webinar to introduce its AastraLink Pro IP-PBX for small businesses to potential resellers. In light of the recent announcement by Avaya to discontinue the Norstar product line sooner than expected, many resellers and their customers must find alternative solutions. The AastraLink Pro is a powerful, cost-effective, easy-to-use IP PBX geared specifically for small businesses, providing all the standard PBX/Key System features and functionality while leveraging a host of new IP-based services. Featuring an auto-attendant and individual voicemail boxes which automatically configure on initial startup, the AastraLink Pro manages and directs incoming calls to individuals or groups by extension dialing or name search. It also has the unique ability to allow the FXO ports to operate in a Shared Line Appearance (SLA), pooled or mixed line mode, allowing the user to take advantage of PBX functionality yet still operate in a mode similar to their old key system. The free webinar on June 23, 2010 at 2 PM EDT will provide information on the AastraLink Pro and the Aastra Reseller program. As a special incentive, attendees will be eligible for a one-time purchase of an AastraLink Pro demo kit for $999.99. To register for the webinar email [email protected] Subject: SMB Reseller Webinar.
Visit www.aastrausa.com.
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Avaya

Tech Data to distribute the entire Avaya enterprise communications solutions portfolio
Tech Data Corporation has finalized an expanded distribution agreement with Avaya. In addition to supporting products and services added to the Avaya portfolio following the acquisition of Nortel Enterprise Solutions, Tech Data offers IT resellers nationwide access to the full range of Avaya’s unified communications, contact center and data networking solutions for small to large businesses. Tech Data will help Avaya Connect Channel Partners profitably capitalize on the demand for a wide range of networking and communications solutions in the public and private sectors, including small businesses, large enterprises, government agencies, educational institutions and healthcare facilities. Tech Data has expanded its dedicated team of Avaya sales professionals and systems engineers to provide resellers with comprehensive pre- and post-sales support. Through its six U.S. logistics centers, Tech Data will provide Avaya partners with unmatched two-day ground shipping anywhere nationwide. Tech Data also is the only distributor with ISO 9001:2000 certified custom hardware configuration facilities on both the East and West Coasts.
Visit www.techdata.com.


Cross Telecom achieves Avaya's ACE Installation & Configuration Full Service accreditation
Cross Telecom, Inc. announced it has achieved Avaya Agile Communication Environment (ACE) Installation & Configuration Full Service accreditation. The Avaya Communication Environment (ACE) was recently announced as Avaya's go forward application development and delivery platform as part of Avaya's new Avaya/Nortel integrated roadmap. This means that Cross has demonstrated proficiency in the skills and qualifications needed for expert delivery of the full range of implementation, support and integration services to Avaya customers. Cross, through significant investment in world-class professional service resources and perfecting its service delivery best practices, has emerged as a true business-transforming communications technology integrator. As the only Avaya Business Partner to have Avaya's Integration Expert status, Cross has displayed its ability to support its customer at the highest level of service, all the way through the lifecycle including planning, design, implementation, optimization and post implementation support.
Visit www.crosstelecom.com or www.avaya.com.
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Call center

Ringio integrates rich calling service with Google Contacts, Gmail
Ringio, which launched in April with a cloud-based “Rich Calling” service that brings call center-style screen-pop and call routing functionality to small and medium-size businesses, announced the first of its CRM data integrations: Google Contacts. Ringio also announced its participation in the Google Apps Marketplace. With the launch of this powerful integration, any company using corporate Google Contacts or employees’ individual Gmail accounts can now use the information stored there to radically improve its phone-based customer interactions. “Using Google Contacts with Ringio’s Rich Calling application is the fastest and most affordable way for small businesses to set up a phone solution that rivals higher-end call center systems, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars and usually require professional services to implement,” said Ringio co-founder and chairman Michael Zirngibl.  Ringio Rich Calling functionality can be set up for an entire company in 10 minutes or less. The solution requires no changes to the company’s phone infrastructure and costs $25 per user per month.
Visit www.ringio.com.
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Hosted

Virtual PBX opens VoIP Peering service to all SIP phones
Virtual PBX announced it has expanded its Open VoIP Peering service to include support of any SIP-compliant phones. Users of any SIP-compliant softphone or desktop phone can now tap into the benefits of the Virtual PBX Open VoIP Peering service. This service allows small businesses to take advantage of the robustness and features of traditional hosted PBX services and leverage the cost-effectiveness of VoIP technology. This announcement allows customers more freedom to mix and match SIP-compliant phones with Virtual PBX’s hosted PBX services. Hosted IP-PBX services provide businesses with phone systems without the high costs of installing and maintaining PBX equipment. Typical prices range from $25 to $60 per user per month, averaging about $40 per user. Virtual PBX’s VoIP Peering product, the iVPBX plan, reduces that price to just $10 per user. The iVPBX product includes all standard Virtual PBX features, such as a virtual receptionist, ACD queuing, voicemail, conferencing and follow-me forwarding.
Visit www.virtualpbx.com.
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Moves, adds and changes

Polycom names Andrew Miller president and CEO
Polycom, Inc. announced its Board of Directors has named Andrew Miller president and chief executive officer. Mr. Miller succeeds Robert Hagerty; to facilitate a smooth transition, Mr. Hagerty will serve as an advisor to Mr. Miller and the Board.  Mr. Miller, who joined Polycom in 2009 as executive vice president of Global Field Operations, has been successfully leading the Company's strategic initiatives to transform Polycom's go-to-market, build core strategic and service provider alliances, and launch the Polycom Open Collaboration Network. "Andy Miller has been transformative in leading Polycom's shift to a more customer-centric execution model, which has already resulted in significant growth for the Company," said David DeWalt, Polycom chairman of the Board of Directors.  "Andy's industry track record, proven leadership and customer skills make him the ideal CEO to take Polycom to the next level.  I also want to thank Bob Hagerty for growing Polycom from $37M to $1.1B over his 13 year tenure and for recruiting Andy to the Company, enabling this seamless succession."
Visit www.polycom.com.
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Nortel

Nortel may raise as much as $1.1 billion from patents
Nortel Networks Corp. may get as much as $1.1 billion for technology patents that analysts say would benefit potential bidders including Research In Motion Ltd. The Toronto-based company has about 4,500 patents granted and more than 1,000 applications for designs pending, according to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office data, said Peter Conley of MDB Capital Group LLC, who estimated their value. They would be a “natural fit” for BlackBerry maker RIM, he said. Nortel’s patents would give buyers technology used in wireless networks that support data-hungry smartphones like Apple Inc.’s iPhone. A sale would add to the more than $2.8 billion Nortel has raised from selling assets in bankruptcy and be a boon to creditors, said Ehud Gelblum, a New York-based Morgan Stanley analyst. Nortel said this month it has started soliciting bids for the patents.
Visit www.nortel.com.
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Speech

Nuance and IBM team to advance next-generation natural language speech technology
Nuance Communications, Inc. and IBM announced that the companies recently entered into a five-year joint-research initiative designed to advance next-generation natural language speech technologies. Leveraging Nuance and IBM’s research and development expertise, the initiative is designed to expand the global use of speech technology and set new benchmarks in design, usability and technical excellence. IBM and Nuance have long focused on speech technology to create and facilitate more meaningful interactions between human and machine, and among people. Together, IBM and Nuance intend to further enhance these mass market speech interface solutions to increasingly resemble human-to-human interaction, whether in the car or home, on a mobile device, PC and telephone, or within settings such as customer service, healthcare and many others.
Visit www.nuance.com or www.ibm.com.
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Trends

Explosive market growth in the US for Mobile Internet Devices/ Tablets and 3DTVs
Demand for consumer electronic (CE) devices is soaring in the US – especially in key segments like 3DTVs and Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs)/Tablets. Year-over-year shipment growth for these two segments will be 142% and 231%, respectively, between 2010 and 2011, reports In-Stat. 3DTVs and MIDS/Tablets will also represent a bright spot for CE manufacturers and content providers because the installed base for these segments will continue to expand steadily.

Recent research by In-Stat found:
-The US installed base for smartphones to reach 198 million by 2013.
-Mobile PCs will continue to lead the computing category in units shipped through 2013.
-Despite many bright spots in the US CE market, maturing segments like portable media players (PMPs) and desktop PCs will show declining growth rates through 2013.
-By 2013, there will be 1.9 billion installed CE devices in the US.
Visit www.in-stat.com.
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UC

HP, Alcatel offer UC, collaboration services
HP and Alcatel-Lucent have signed a contract to deliver and market new unified communications and collaboration services to clients. The HP services and Alcatel-Lucent products for UC&C work across all types of media and locations. The offerings include migration from multivendor and legacy PBX to an IP voice integration layer that uses Alcatel-Lucent's open IP telephony architecture for UC&C. HP will use the Genesys Customer Interaction management platform, UC connect products and the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch Instant Communication Suite and IP telephony offering OmniPCX Enterprise. HP will use Alcatel-Lucent's Advanced Communication Server to provide an enhanced, open UC&C integration layer across industry domains, including healthcare, financial services, utilities and government. HP and Genesys will also provide intelligent workload distribution for automated workflow and workload within business processes. These offerings are built on HP's UC&C consulting services. They may be implemented on a customer's premises or via an outsourced operating model.
Visit www.hp.com or www.alcatel-lucent.com.
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