Avaya’s Aura Conferencing 7.0 Software is set to Debut and Change Business Conferencing for the Better

Avaya’s Aura Conferencing 7.0 Software is plugged as the next big thing in conferencing software.  It is a multi-modal system and one that is going to be compatible with Apple iPads and MS Windows PCs.  In addition to the Aura Conferencing 7.0 system, the company will also debut the Avaya Flare Experience.

The conferencing software on its own will give users the chance to enjoy unified web and voice collaboration regardless of whether they use PCs, Macs, Smartphones or even tablet PCs.  The “open standards-based SIP architecture” (the new standard in business) allows multiple device transmission as well as enhanced security.

However, besides the standard features, the company is also debuting an effective interface design, known as the intuitive Avaya Flare Experience.  This interface will allow easy voice collaboration, consolidated directories and real time document sharing, along with instant messaging capabilities.  Other benefits of using the system include:

• Secure Collaboration (not just encryption but also corporate network deployment and the ability to block unauthorized access)
• Unified conferencing elements, meaning users can actually share applications at their own speeds.  This will allow demonstrations and presentations in real time.
• Record and playback abilities, slide shows and even white boarding.
• And 50% savings from usual conferencing expenses.

The system is said to have the capability of maximizing return on investment in a quick turnaround time—perhaps only half a year.  The ability to take video conferencing and all other PC operations “on the road” and from almost any location is certainly an attractive feature.
Collaboration is not dependent upon shares software—it works with any web browser, even a Smartphone web browser.  This includes PCs, laptops and iPads.  Bandwidth usage is also reduced, which is a major relief on resources, thanks to the design’s superior architecture and “built-in functionality.”

This is perhaps the most significant feature, as the inability to reduce networking resources and budget is what prevents many companies from embracing this technology in the first place.  The fact that video conferencing is now becoming affordable is a huge step in the right direction, and is sure to convince more companies to take their communications to the web.


For more information on this or any other Avaya product, please contact one of our skilled professionals at avaya.broadconnect.ca

How Cisco Connect Cloud Just Makes Things Easier

Cisco is one of the most innovative communications companies which has a name that most people recognize. In fact, most people out there probably have a Cisco router that they use at home to connect to the web. Linksys is one of their popular brands, but they do have other options. One of the devices other than Linksys that people – from IT pros to your neighbors – like about Cisco is that the devices are relatively easy to use. Millions of people are using a Cisco router for this reason. No one wants a hassle when dealing with a network! Cisco knows and understands this well, and that’s why the routers from the company are such a great option, just as the Linksys routers were. The new Cisco router, as well as some older models, will be able to make sure of the Cisco Connect Cloud.

Which Models Work with the Cisco Connect Cloud

Before getting into what the cloud can offer, it’s important to know which Cisco router will be able to use the service. Cisco is making more use of their name today, and relying on the Linksys brand less, but their routers are all still high quality. The new EA Cisco router line, including EA700, EA3500, and EA4500 will have access to Cisco Connect Cloud. Older models, such as the E1200 and the E2500 do not. The data speeds on the router are quite impressive, so you will not have to suffer a slower connection just so you could get access to their cloud.

What Does the Cloud Offer?

You can download an app for Android and iOS that will help you interact with your Cisco router through their cloud system. You can take care of everything that you need with your Cisco router right through the application on your phone or tablet. You can store your information, as well add and manage many different devices to your Cisco router. You will have more controls via the desktop interface than you can use with the Cloud Connect, but the mobile app is sufficient for just about everything that you could need. You will be able to reboot the router, control guest access, manage the parental controls, and manage the devices that are on the network already.

For those who want to have an easy way of controlling their Cisco router, the app and the cloud are great additions to the already stellar lineup from Cisco. It’s time that you connect your EA series Cisco router to the cloud and then download your app.

This is just one of the many ways that Cisco and BroadConnect Telecom can help your SMB with a total UC (Unified Communication) Solution. 

Is this really the next iPhone?

Over the past few days, the latest round of purported pictures of Apple's forthcoming iPhone 5 have hit the web. And I can't be the only potential customer who is deflated by what they see. In fact, I'll go far enough to say that, if the iPhone 5 looks like the pictures that have recently appeared, Apple may be screwed.

Why?

Because, the "iPhone 5" looks pretty much like the iPhone 4S. Which looked exactly like the iPhone 4, a phone that is now two years old.

In the meantime, Samsung and other manufacturers have come out with phones that make people's jaws drop, such as the Galaxy S3, which has a (relatively) humongous screen. Although the Apple faithful may start hyperventilating about things like the movement or elimination of a button, most phone buyers couldn't care less. Now that most phones do the same things and work pretty much the same way, the most obvious (and, arguably, important) difference between them is the screen.

In short, the Galaxy feels like a next-generation phone. The iPhone, meanwhile, looks small and old. And the pictures that purport to be of the iPhone 5 show a phone that is pretty much the same small, old phone.

(Yes, they've moved the camera an inch. And it's longer. And it has a metal back. Whoop-de-do.)

(And, yes, apparently the screen is a little taller. Somehow that isn't the same. Check out the size difference in the photo below between the current iPhone and the Galaxy: A bit taller won't cut it.)

To be sure, regardless of what the iPhone 5 ends up looking like, the Apple faithful will scarf up tens of millions of them. They'll line up around the block and sleep outside the stores. They'll rave about the amazing slickness and geniosity and sophistication of Apple, especially as compared to the plebeian "bigness" of Samsung (the Galaxy will no doubt be dismissed as the McMansion of phones).

But, secretly, a lot of those faithful will be disappointed.

And, more importantly, so will tens of millions of other customers and potential customers.

As they should be.

Because it will make it clear that one observation that many Apple skeptics make is dead-on correct--namely that each new generation of the iPhone offers less and less improvement over the prior generation, and, thus, gives customers less reason to upgrade. This, combined with carriers increasingly making moves to discourage customers from upgrading frequently (see AT&T's stealthy changes, which may have helped hurt Apple's iPhone sales in the June quarter), will stretch out the upgrade cycles. And that will mean fewer sales--and less growth--for Apple.

Which screen would you rather spend 18 hours a day using?

Apple's competitors, meanwhile, are on a tear.

In the past year, as Apple moved back its iPhone release schedule and then released a phone that seemed like only a modest refresh of the prior version, Apple's competitors have been gaining ground. Samsung sold 52 million smartphones in Q2, twice as many as Apple, and is now the clear worldwide smartphone leader. Samsung's Galaxy S3, which some reviewers say is better than the iPhone, has sold very well in its first couple of months on the market.

Despite the amazing success of the iPad (which will soon face serious, low-priced competition of its own), the iPhone is still by far and away Apple's most important product. The iPhone generates about half of Apple's revenue, and, likely, a lot more than half of Apple's profits.

If Apple's stock is to power its way to the the $1,000 that most analysts and investors now expect, the iPhone has to keep going gangbusters. And releasing a phone that looks pretty much like the same old iPhone--with a screen that now seems small--probably won't get the job done.

So here's hoping those pictures aren't actually of the iPhone 5.

(Source:  Business Insider )

(Shameless Self Promotion)

Polycom to face painful, but necessary shift into software

* Hardware-based videoconferencing seeing reduced demand

* Videoconferencing increasingly moving to cloud-based software

* Polycom facing budget cuts, competition, restructuring

July 26 (Reuters) - Polycom Inc (PLCM.O) was a big beneficiary of the 2008 recession, as its videoconferencing products helped companies cut back executive travel, but the advantage has proven short-lived as cheaper rivals muscle in on its business.

The company is working on new cloud-based software products but analysts warn of a rocky couple of years while it makes a transition from selling expensive hardware.

Polycom is caught between Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O), which dominates sophisticated virtual conference rooms linking offices around the world, and free videoconference software such as Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Skype and Apple Inc's APPL.O FaceTime.

Earnings are already being crunched . Polycom reported Tuesday a 77 percent drop in quarterly net income, as Europe's woes hit its business.

After two years when revenue growth topped 20 percent each, analysts see a 2.2 percent decline in sales this year, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The shares hit a three-year low of $7.45 on Wednesday, taking their decline to 78 percent from an 11-year high of $34.30 last year after the appointment of a new CEO. The stock edged up in morning trade on Thursday to $8.04.

"It's a tough time to be changing the company in this economy," said Ira Weinstein, an analyst at independent market research firm Wainhouse Research.

"I believe they will make the transition, but it will take time. It's not going to be as fast as (CEO Andy Miller) wants it to be."

The transition to a software-based model will pressure earnings over the next 12-18 months, Citi Investment Research wrote in a note on Wednesday.

High turnover of sales staff at the company's key North American market has added internal pressure to the big change job.

BIG CISCO

Polycom faces a leaner, more competitive Cisco, whose TelePresence has become the dominant choice in the corporate sector with double Polycom's market share.

"Cisco outnumbers them in every sales situation and has more brand recognition, so it's an unfair battle," said Weinstein. Graphic on Polycom vs Cisco.

Polycom said in an email to Reuters that it gained market share over Cisco in the first quarter of 2012, according to market research firms including IDC, but analysts don't see a major advance on the dominant player in tough times with so many internal changes.

"It's going to be very difficult to turn the company around with those headwinds hitting them all at once," Mizuho Securities USA analyst Joanna Makris said.

Polycom must embrace a cloud-based model to fend off the likes of Skype, she said.

"(Skype's) free. And in a bad macro, people like free," said Makris, who has a "neutral" rating on the Polycom stock.

Competition is also intensifying from smaller, privately held rivals like Vidyo, which recently received funding from Juniper Networks Inc (JNPR.N).

FIGHTBACK

Polycom is fighting back. The company, which still gets most of its revenue from hardware-based systems, is using a software solution to target smaller businesses, including videoconferencing apps for mobile devices.

It has made a slew of small purchases to boost its web presence, including ViVu, a maker of software to embed videoconferencing in websites and the videoconferencing business of Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N).

The software model has potential as companies can only afford a few expensive videoconferencing rooms but a software-based solution could be used to equip thousands of employees.

Videoconferencing companies, used to shipping hundreds of thousands of units for thousands of dollars, will have to get used to shipping tens of millions of units for much less each, Gartner analyst Scott Morrison said.

"That's not an easy transition to make for any organization and Polycom is not unique," he said.

As well, Polycom, as a standalone videoconferencing firm, will always be dependent for corporate sales on partners including it in their telecommunications offerings.

That introduces more risk, as Skype-owner Microsoft is a key user of Polycom products in its Lync corporate video, email and messaging product.

Polycom hasn't disclosed how much it gets from Microsoft but has acknowledged in its annual report the risk that its products could be replaced by Skype.

"If Microsoft integrates Skype into Lync then it is really game over for Polycom," Makris said.

The Mizuho analyst said in a post-earnings note that Polycom's outlook was disappointing and reflected a product and organizational changes that would take several quarters to execute.

Polycom said Tuesday it continued to restructure its North American business after appointing four new area vice presidents earlier this year.

It said David Ruggiero, its president for North America, would be leaving and it would reorganize its U.S. government sector units into a new "public sector" business. [ID:nL4E8IO328]

( Source: By Sayantani Ghosh http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/26/idINL4E8IN4R520120726 )