Alteva Blog

I’m often asked about whether I believe unified communications (UC) is a passing trend, or if it’s here to stay. UC consists of a variety of elements or components that we currently use in order to do our day-to-day jobs, but integrates these elements to provide more value and consistency, while adding functions such as presence, as well as a consistent user interface.

UC will be the way in which we communicate in the future, but it may not be called UC, and it may not be a “market” like the switching market or the messaging market (remember when computer telephony integration was the killer market?), but it will indeed be the future of enterprise and SMB (and even consumer) communications.

Eventually we’ll come up with a better name, and as my colleague Jim Burton points out, “In the long term, we will refer to all of this as simply communications. We will continue to describe each component as we do today: phone calls, IM, email, etc., but, as people become accustomed to what we are now calling unified communications, things will start to blend together just as handheld devices are starting to do.”

The expectation that UC is a single product is erroneous – UC is a solution made up of various products and capabilities that fall along what I call the “UC Continuum.” Applications like unified messaging and enterprise mobility are on the UC continuum, while call control and IP telephony are also included along the continuum, but are not the end all-be all of UC. The ultimate goal, or the top of the UC continuum, is “communications integrated to optimize business processes” – tightly integrating the UC components and capabilities with vertical and horizontal applications and specific business processes to help companies be more productive. But you can still have UC capabilities along the way to this ultimate goal.

Speaking with end users, it becomes clear that the concept of “unifying everything” is overwhelming, and out of reach for most enterprises today. Remember – you can start small and build up to UC, while leveraging the systems and technology you have in place today. And look for the pockets of users that can benefit the most from UC capabilities – roll out UC where it makes the most sense, and build on from there.

There’s one major caveat regarding the success of UC – UC will succeed if and only if customers implement it such a way as to transform the way in which they do business. Without making changes to the way in which you use communication technology, UC will flop. Organizations must carefully evaluate how they’ll be using UC and make sure that it’s used only where and how it makes sense.

Make no mistake, UC is here today.

Blair Pleasant
COMMfusion LLC & UCStrategies.com
www.ucstrategies.com

The emerging term “Cloud Computing” has been adopted by and become a popular buzz word in the technology world. However, there are still many people in the business world who are not clear as to what “The Cloud” really is and who are still asking: “What does it actually mean?”
Many companies first heard the term Cloud Computing associated with products such as the Salesforce.com CRM, and many small businesses have been using products hosted by their Service Providers for years. They have relied on the expertise in infrastructure, computing and security for the applications and services needed to run their business. Service providers have continued to expand on these “hosted in the cloud” services and added increased scalability and integration capabilities that have attracted Large Enterprise. Standards-based tools like HTML, XML, CCXML and VoiceXML have catapulted the ability to not only host applications on the Internet, but integrate them into a complete business communications process. The results are endless capabilities that are available anywhere, anytime.

There are some variations out there on how to define The Cloud. We at Alteva define Cloud Computing as the ability to access services and applications that are available anywhere in the world, via the Internet. These services/applications are available from highly redundant, highly scalable and highly protected infrastructures owned, maintained and managed by hosting companies like Alteva. Our Cloud Services are also open to allow for highly flexible development initiatives by customers, ensuring that Alteva’s cloud continues to enable our customers rather than limit them.

Software as a Service (SaaS) and Cloud Computing are very similar in that the services are available typically from very redundant, scalable, and protected systems, though I would consider cloud computing to be the next generation of SaaS. Cloud computing concepts integrate many different services and bring the functionality down to the desktop, thus truly unifying disparate business processes.

As the CTO for Alteva, I have been designing and implementing cloud-based communication technologies since 2001. Alteva’s ultimate goal has been to find ways to integrate everyday business processes into reliable, scalable and adaptable unified communication platforms. Cloud Computing was the answer to accomplishing this goal.

There are many benefits offered by cloud based products, but I like to focus on the integration, reliability, and accessibility of utilizing cloud based services.

Integration: The integration of core business communications and processes allow companies to go where they have never gone before. Many business processes were built on islands with no information sharing. Today, many systems such as voice, video, email, accounting and CRM are integrated and available anywhere, anytime.
Reliability:  The availability of products and services has always been a high priority for carriers and service providers. Customers need to have access to their information all of the time. High-availability is what carriers, like Alteva, strive to excel in. Alteva and our customers’ businesses depend on the ability to have reliable access to their information.
Accessibility: Since cloud based products are hosted on the Internet, they are designed to be easily accessible from any location. Information is key, and the ability to access and utilize it anywhere provides businesses with an edge. Most cloud based applications today are available from the office, home, while traveling, and even using a mobile phone.

People unfamiliar with Cloud Computing are often concerned about data security and service quality in regards to hosted services. Service providers have been architecting, securing and improving cloud-based products since the inception of the Internet. Ensuring that this data is secure is their number one mission. Businesses can concentrate on tasks associated with growing their company while security is left in the hands of the experts.

Customers expect 99.999% service availability. Alteva’s cloud-based Unified Communications products incorporate geographical redundancy, virtualization and backbone Internet access to achieve this service level.

One implication we’ve seen of the growing recent interest in The Cloud is the reinforcement that cloud-based products make sense. Years ago, you would have been considered bleeding-edge by subscribing to cloud-based products. Today, businesses of all industries and sizes are finally realizing the true benefits that many companies have been utilizing for years.

By Mark Marquez
Chief Information Officer
Alteva

In recent months, a number of  leading communications vendors have introduced new multimedia phones that integrate a telephone with video and/or Internet content and even access to popular social media applications. With so many of these new devices making a debut, it seems that the new media phone market is poised to take off. And, it’s not just the business communications market. Service providers, too, are rolling out media phones, but to the consumer market. The Verizon Hub, a new touch screen home phone, promises to replace traditional home phones with a “home communications system” that runs over broadband. Some analysts are predicting that the media phone market, for both businesses and consumers, will soar over the next few years; however, others (Microsoft among them) are touting the end of the desk telephone altogether, since soft phones and unified communications clients are already providing more advanced, multimedia functionality via an existing PC or even over a mobile device.

I see the possible benefits to the consumer market; however, in today’s business environment where every desk is equipped with a PC, the need for a media phone is less clear. As leading communications vendors are introducing these new media phones, they are simultaneously developing and marketing unified communications clients that encapsulate all communications – telephony, presence and contact management, Instant Messaging, e-mail and voice mail, video and much more, right from an existing desktop PC.

Sandra M. Gustavsen, Analyst
T3i Group LLC – TelecomTactics
www.telecomtactics.com

The other week, several of us on the Alteva team attended the Microsoft Hosting Summit in Bellevue Washington. We also premiered Alteva’s brand new trade show booth, where we provided demonstrations of Alteva’s voice-enabled Microsoft Exchange/Outlook and Office Communications Server (OCS) for other hosting companies in attendance. It’s one thing to read about or hear about voice integration with this product set, but to see it in real-time action is a different story.

Alteva booth at Microsoft Hosting Summit

The Hosting Summit was a great opportunity to meet with the Microsoft contacts we work with on a daily basis and to learn more about the direction in which the company is moving with its marketing and its development, particularly concerning the Microsoft Communication Services products that Alteva is now selling, integrated with our hosted VoIP service. We appreciated the multiple opportunities Microsoft provided throughout the Summit for hosters to ask questions and to provide feedback and suggestions.

It was also a great opportunity to engage with other Microsoft hosting companies from all across the world. Sponsors provided two great evening events where we were afforded ample opportunity to meet and talk with hosters from not just the U.S. but also England, Australia, Belgium and many other countries. Alteva is thrilled to be working with Microsoft and very excited to bring its new UC Complete solution to market.

by Louis Hayner, Chief Sales Officer
Alteva

First we heard that the VON Conference was cancelled. Then, we got notification that Supercomm is following in VON’s footsteps, “due to financial projections for the show this year.” We at Alteva don’t understand this. How can there be such a reduced amount of interest that these shows are being cancelled when it is a growing market that’s being fueled by amazing innovation?

In a recent report, VoIP was ranked as the top growing industry of the past decade. How could interest in this industry be dwindling when it is growing at an alarming rate?

It just doesn’t make sense. Sure, companies are probably being very cost conscious right now, and cutting their tradeshow budget, but it’s still important to attend these shows. It is at conferences such as these that we keep our finger on the pulse of the industry. So, is there an alternative that’s more affordable, but still enables us to keep abreast of new developments in our industry?

Maybe instead of live tradeshows, and the expensive travel costs that accompany them, the organizers and sponsors might explore the idea of virtual conferences instead.

Alteva firmly believes that the high tide raises all ships, so connecting with others in our industry, is extremely important to our success. We hope that this trend will not continue, and that if it looks like it will, that organizers will start to look at the alternatives.

By Louis Hayner
Chief Sales Officer
Alteva

The recent snow storms had me thinking of the good ol’ days. Remember when a snow day meant the world just stopped, no traffic, no school; businesses cannot open because employees can’t get there. The theory is we can make up for lost business in the days that follow. We all know that never quite happens. Lost revenue is lost revenue. Period.

In a global economy your customer is not necessarily having the same issues you are. They want answers now and deserve them. If a company cannot answer the call, your competition just may get the call instead.

Can you work from work from home and still be as effective as you would be if you were in the office? The answer in short is yes…if you are set up properly. You want to make sure you have at least the basics. Broadband internet is vital component. Now you need the services that can utilize that connection.

You begin to make the case how services like Alteva’s Unified Communications Platform became vitally important. Let me explain how. I recently was able to work from home due to yet another snow storm hitting the Philadelphia area. Alteva’s suite of cloud-based products help me be as productive as if I was at my desk. Aside from its flagship product, Hosted VoIP Services off of a Broadsoft platform, Alteva also offers a hosted Outlook, Microsoft’s OCS, and SharePoint, and lastly I use Salesforce.com as my CRM. Having all of the programs that Alteva runs on in the Cloud makes working remotely a cinch.

I was able to keep up on email. I had two impromptu video meetings with collaboration via OCS to discuss a proposal with my VP of Sales. I conducted several instant message sessions with telemarketing group and several others also not in the office. I was able to keep up on tasks and completed my call list out of SalesForce.com using click to dial. I posted several new marketing documents on SharePoint, and pulled some new collateral down to send to potential customers. In short it was a day at the office. Now if Alteva could just keep my dogs from barking no one would even know I was at home. (I’m sure our engineers will eventually develop a solution for that, too.)

I did make sure I left some time to go outside to hear the sound of silence that’s only found during a heavy snow storm that brings the Philadelphia metro region to a halt, but not Alteva or its customers.

Guy Yasika
Senior Account Manager

Recently, Alteva had an exciting day when the Mintz Production Group (MPG) visited to interview our Executive Team and some employees for our new Company Overview Video, that will be displayed on our website and used in presentations, and for other upcoming videos. It was a fun and productive day. Here’s some photos from the day. 

Behind the scenes with Alteva CEO William Bumbernick:
It was a bit cramped fitting the film crew into COO David Cuthbert’s office, but he did a great job:
Here’s a still from the raw footage of CSO Louis Hayner’ interview:
Read the rest of this entry »

The majority of business telephony systems introduced of late are designed for small or mid-sized businesses (SMBs) or branch offices of larger organizations that have fewer than 750 employees. A significant number of these SMB systems address very small businesses, those with under 100 employees. In addition, most of the new, small business telephony systems now come complete with pre-loaded business applications, eliminating the need for the separate software or hardware that is typical with traditional PBX systems. Top applications for SMBs are focused on business continuity with capabilities that facilitate collaboration and the ability to reach others quickly and efficiently. And, mobility options seem to be in the forefront. Just in the last few months, several manufacturers have introduced new mobile options, including Mitel, Samsung, Siemens, ShoreTel and Toshiba, to name a few. Siemens, for example, designed its HiPath OpenOffice specifically for SMBs with a built-in controller for integrated voice over wireless LAN connectivity, and it includes one-number service and mobile twinning as standard features. http://www.telecomtactics.com/news.htm
Sandra M. Gustavsen, Analyst
T3i Group LLC – TelecomTactics
www.telecomtactics.com

Alteva was recently asked by AcmePacket, the leader in session border control solutions, to demo a service provider to service provider peering connection for the AcmePacket 2009 Interconnect user conference held November 8-11 in Miami, Florida. The purpose of this demonstration was to showcase our implementation of an enhanced peering fabric between the top VoIP carriers in the Hosted Industry.

This enhanced peering fabric is significant because it allows calls between all providers to be direct, and bypass the traditional PSTN network. Direct IP to IP peering enables carriers to offer cost savings and provide High-definition audio and video calls to customers and some day the world. Alteva choose service provider SimpleSignal from Denver, Colorado to participate in the demonstration. We at Alteva believe that when we work together with our fellow service providers on projects like this, we are helping the industry as a whole, and that benefits us all.

Constant feedback from the conference participants proved that the demonstration was a success.

This encourages all of us at Alteva to continue to seek new ways to work with our industry peers going forward and in line with Alteva’s motto of “High tide raises all ships”.

Mark Marquez
VP of Technology

When I joined Alteva in 2006 as the Vice President of Operations, one of the most critical goals I set for myself was to launch and develop the most outstanding and effective Client Satisfaction Department possible. In order to fulfill its mission to be the Nation’s Number One Enterprise IP Telephony Company, the entire Alteva Team recognizes that it must have the most proactive customer service in the industry. In this effort, Alteva has developed a dedicated department that always keeps the customers’ needs in mind in every situation. The Client Satisfaction Specialist (CSS) Team works across all departments as needed to resolve issues or answer questions on behalf of clients. Alteva requires its CSS Team members to listen to customers, understand their business and provide dynamic customer service that fits their needs.

To ensure exceptional customer service, I implemented Alteva ‘s new Client Satisfaction Department in early 2009. The many layers of the Alteva servicing model and CSS Team include a New Hire Training Program, a Survey Program, an employee Customer Service Bonus Program and a Leadership Development Program.

The Alteva Customer Service Policy and Client Satisfaction Creed are communicated to every new hire and are strictly adhered to and monitored. Upon completion of initial implementation and upon resolution of open cases submitted to Customer Service, a Client Satisfaction Survey is emailed to the client. I will personally call every customer who checks the “request to be contacted by management” box within 24 hours of receiving the survey.

One of Alteva’s proudest accomplishments lies in the scores of these surveys; Alteva’s average score over the past 18 months is 4.56 out of 5, spanning 594 surveys. As an added incentive, each month, the Customer Service Agent with the highest survey score receives a cash bonus.

In our surveys, we welcome and value suggestions and input from our clients, and we take those to heart. We’ve received and implemented many helpful suggestions. When it is a good suggestion but not one that we can quickly respond to, we thank the customer for the suggestion and explain to them what our plans for continued improvement are.

The Leadership Program I’ve designed is intended to develop all Alteva employees to be helpful, respectful and courteous to everyone they work with including co-workers, clients, prospects and channel partners. It is our philosophy that if we can build leaders in every area of our company, the strength of Alteva’s team will directly result in reaching our corporate goals. Leadership is the cornerstone of our success.

In September 2009, I hired Alteva’s first Customer Care Specialist, Darcy Bjornsson. As a staunch advocate within Alteva to ensure that clients’ needs are met, the most imperative characteristic Alteva wants in successful candidates is exceptional people skills. Alteva’s Customer Care Specialists are trained to be relatable, able to build rapport with clients and capable of speaking in laymen’s terms. Darcy demonstrates a unique background combining sales experience with a Masters Degree in Education. She proactively assists the client by answering questions, keeping them informed of the status of technical assistance requests and training them on the use of their Alteva products. She is also tasked with identifying areas where Alteva can better service its clients. Adding Darcy to the team has been a great step in solidifying Alteva’s customer service goals.

The effectiveness of Alteva’s efforts is demonstrated in its retention rate of 98.46% over the past 12 months. Regardless of our retention rate or our average survey score, I am always seeking new ways to continually improve Alteva’s client satisfaction efforts. We do not pretend to be a perfect organization, but our clients can be confident that we will do everything we can, and use every tool available to ensure our clients’ satisfaction is as high as possible.

David Cuthbert
Vice President of Operations