Business VoIP vs Cloud PBX

As different types of technology are constantly introduced to the market, it is easy to get confused about what solutions have certain capabilities and features. To help break it down, this article will detail the key differentiators between business VoIP and Cloud PBX.

Business VoIP utilizes voice over IP technologies that allow calls to be made over an IP network such as the Internet rather than a traditional PSTN. VoIP phone systems are typically used by small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) and offer users a cost-effective way to make and receive calls, while simultaneously gaining access to multiple features that seamlessly integrate with the company’s resources over the Internet.

Outdated phone systems required circuits to be switched by PBX equipment and phone lines to be connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). However with business VoIP, the system can quickly convert the signal digitally and sends it by voice data packets through an Internet Protocol (IP). In addition, VoIP can also utilize the PSTN which enables calls to be connected to l land lines, according to a recent piece.

VoIP technology is extremely important as it combines voice and data into one unified network. This helps to dramatically increase mobility, as the system can be accessed wherever an internet connection is available.

Some features typically associated with business VoIP are advanced call forwarding and electronic messaging, auto-attendant, three-way conferencing, Advanced Call Distribution (ACD), call routing and more.

On the other hand, Cloud PBX is a phone service that is connected via the internet, and the phone service provider is required to maintain and manage the overall cloud PBX system.

Cloud PBX boasts many capabilities that go above and beyond what a conventional telephone system can offer such as caller ID, voicemail and call routing.

A huge reason to implement a Cloud PBX solution in your business is the increased scalability it offers. “It is enough if you initially buy the base system and add extensions and features as your business grows. With normal telephone systems it is necessary to pay more or install additional wiring to add another phone line, but this is not the case with a Cloud PBX system,” the article revealed.

Cloud PBXs also enhance mobility, as they work no matter where you are and can call a mobile phone directly.

Moreover, there are several different types of Cloud PBX systems including Public Cloud PBX, Private Cloud PBX, and Hybrid Cloud PBX. Each of these Cloud PBX systems rely on business VoIP technology to work successfully.

Originally posted at: http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/business-voip/articles/249301-how-business-voip-cloud-pbx-differ.htm

Cloud Computing Revenues – 2016

The cloud computing market will represent $240 billion worth of revenue by 2016, up from $77 billion in 2011, according to Visiongain.

Visiongain believes that mobile cloud service revenues will reach $45 billion in 2016, with a compound annual growth rate of 55.18 percent from 2011.

At year end 2016, more than 50 percent of Global 1000 companies will have stored customer-sensitive data in the public cloud, Gartner researchers also believe.

Those forecasts are higher than some forecasts in early 2011. To forecast revenue, analysts start with the concept of average revenue per employee per month. Yankee Group calculates average revenue per employee for software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) as $4, $2 and $1, respectively.

For example, a typical enterprise will spend $4 per employee per month on SaaS. This is equivalent to $48 per year per employee, or what a small business or sole proprietor might pay for an online backup service such as Mozy or Carbonite and simple collaboration software like Evernote or Dropbox.

All of that adds up to annual revenue of about $23 billion by 2014, Yankee Group has estimated.

The Yankee Group global forecast for cloud computing revenue includes some key definitions.

Yankee Group defines midsize to large enterprises as 250 or more employees. The forecast also includes SMBs, which the firm defines as organizations with two to 249 employees. The forecast excludes consumer cloud services but does allow that small businesses will often adopt consumer cloud services for business use.

Yankee Group excludes sole proprietors from infrastructure as a service and platform as a service because analysts do not believe the typical small business has a need for those services.

The forecast likely understates demand in the small business segment to the extent that many small software firms will have high incentives to buy platform and infrastructure services “as a service.”

Those developments will affect many other industries and businesses. Separately, analysts at Gartner estimate that, by 2015, low-cost cloud services will cannibalize up to 15 percent of top outsourcing players’ revenue.

Gartner sees low-cost cloud services disrupting traditional IT in the same way that low-cost air carriers like Ryanair and Southwest disrupted the major commercial airlines.

Originally posted at: http://www.tmcnet.com/topics/articles/246856-how-big-will-cloud-computing-revenues-be-2016.htm

Mark Zuckerberg Vs. Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook has set its legal hounds on Mark Zuckerberg. The Facebook founder could be forgiven for having a slight identity crisis now that Facebook has been forced to send a cease and desist notice to Zuckerberg, asking him to delete his profile on the social network. Confused? Perhaps it’ll make more sense if I mention this: There’s more than one Mark Zuckerberg in the scenario.

The Zuckerberg who’s being threatened with legal action is an Israeli businessman formerly known as Rotem Guez, who changed his name to that of the more famous American businessman on December 7 in the latest in a series of strange Facebook-centric decisions. Not only has the newest Mark Zuckerberg already threatened to sue Facebook after the site shut down an earlier account he’d created under the name–way back in January this year, before he was “officially” Zuckerberg–but he’s also faced legal threats from Facebook for the creation of a company called “Like Store” that claimed to sell Facebook “Likes” for brand pages.

On his personal website, MarkZuckerbergofficial.com, Zuckerberg 2 has shared the most recent communique from Facebook’s legal team (they continue to refer to him as Rotem Guez), which states that the company is continuing to “gather evidence detailing additional illegal activities” that NewZuckerberg is participating in, adding that Facebook “takes the protection and proper working of its network very seriously and is committed to keeping Facebook a safe place for users to interact and share information” and requesting that he confirm in writing that he will no longer access Facebook, nor develop any business offering related to Facebook in order to avoid “whatever measures [Facebook] believes are necessary to enforce its rights, maintain the quality of its site, and protect its users’ privacy and information.”

Zuckerberg’s response? He’s attempting to create a viral campaign painting himself as a wronged party, of course, which doesn’t seem to be going so well judging by the comments on his site: “The ultimate troll,” writes one visitor, while another writes “God, what a coward.” Hey, at least he can claim to share Internet hate with the real Mark Zuckerberg.

Originally posted at: http://techland.time.com/2011/12/19/the-legal-case-youve-been-waiting-for-mark-zuckerberg-vs-mark-zuckerberg/#ixzz1h31Il0GF

Customer Service Technology Trends for 2012

Place your contact center at the heart of your corporate social networking. You should be monitoring relevant social media channels, using them as self-service knowledge bases and engaging customers in real time on key networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Your website needs to be optimized for mobile/smartphone access. Sabio notes that 46 percent of U.K. smartphone customers used their device to access the Internet over the last three months.

Consistent customer interactions across multiple channels. In 2012 consumers will expect their interactions to be handled consistently regardless of the channel they’re using, whether it’s mobile, a social interaction, traditional voice, webchat, e-mail or other emerging channels.

Have you got an App for that? Customers are now familiar with using apps as a service channel. These dedicated apps are increasingly giving customers a fast-track route into customer service centers, bypassing lengthy IVR processes and offering rapid escalation to webchat and voice interactions.

Tracking key service metrics through customer feedback. 2012 looks set to be the year when major organizations really start to embrace the link between offering a high quality customer experience, loyalty and longer-term financial success.

Capturing the true Voice of the Customer. Speech analytics technology has now reached a level of maturity and affordability where you can quickly determine exactly why customers are calling and highlight those calls that really shouldn’t be happening in the first place.

Helping your agents to make more of a difference. Deploying multi-channel agent desktops empowers agents, helps to deliver better quality of service to customers, and can unlock operational savings.

Video to become a mainstream customer service channel in 2012. The massive popularity of online video sites such as YouTube is driving the use of video content to support customer service operations.

Applying Cloud technology where it can deliver the best value. 2012 will see an increased emphasis on organizations identifying which customer service tools can benefit most from being implemented as cloud services.

Delivering real added value through Virtual Assistants. These avatar-style animated digital characters support customer service operations by interacting with web visitors.

Originally posted at: http://call-recording.tmcnet.com/topics/call-recording/articles/243005-ten-customer-service-technology-trends-2012.htm