One of our vendors offers a great conference calling service at 6.95 per month…. yes only 6.95 per month. It is very secure in that:
> you can see who is in the call at any time
> you can change the IP address when you wish…it is like locking the door to your office
Call us to arrange a free trial. 877 208 0021 or text 973 714 6192 email prs@auaus.net
It may seem silly to wonder how safe your backups are; backups are rarely thought of as being at risk. It stems back to a time when backups were on tape—a medium that would be tough for even skilled developers to hack. But today’s backups are stored (whether on-premises or in the cloud) on disk or, more specifically, as files in a file system. Depending on how accessible that file system is, your backups may be vulnerable.
In fact, they could be at risk for ransomware. If cybercriminals can encrypt your backup files, you’d pretty much have to pay the ransom, no matter how high
call or email for a no charge review 877 208 0021 prs@auaus.net
Learn why many organizations are leveraging forward-looking best practices from the experts at our vendors to help them transition to an ITaaS structure. This guide examines the critical business and technology practices enabling ITaaS, from using flexible IT partner resources, ITIL features, operations service practices, to funding infrastructure as a service. 877 208 0021 prs@auaus.net
www.acginfo.biz
What is the worst that can happen if you keep you premise based phone and IT system?
My company has been in the telecom business since in 1974. Premise based systems were the only show in town. You had all the equipment on-site and you had to set side real ester to for
these systems, and supply local power and surge protection
According to Frost and Sullivan 90% of all new telecom systems will be Cloud Based in 2020.
You can keep your current system however;
• Your vendor can enter bankruptcy or be purchased by a competitor that may or may not support future software upgrades.
• You can continue investing in parts and service contracts for system that will one day be obsolete.
• The next time you have a power surge, or a power failure and a component fail, you will be spending money essentially on a car with 250,000 miles on it.
• Avaya is bankrupt, Toshiba is gone, Shortel was purchased. Asatru was purchased, and phone systems were discontinued. Is NEC next?
• What system do you have? What is the future of your system?
With a Cloud based systems phones calls are free, you can have an upgrade every three years. There is no equipment onsite to deal with. Your cell phone can become an extension of your desk phone. Your tablet has access to all your files.
Telecom and IT Services
Is Shoretel going to be the right choice down the road
south africa tour of india 2019 tickets
For over 30 years we have provided advances telecom and IT solutions to business like yours. Now with the advent of the “CLOUD” we can provide these solutions with no CAPEX, and for the most part at lower monthly cost then you now have. Additionally, 95% of the time our fees are paid by our indirect channel partners, such as AT&T, Cisco, Verizon, Alteva, EvolveIP, and over 50 other Telecom, and IT partners. There is no fee to you.
At the very least we can consolidate your POTS lines to secure a discount and provide one bill for all your lines.
Contingency Auditing
Our contingency auditing services review telecom bills, utility bills, workers’ comp. and many other everyday bills you pay. We secure refunds and future savings in most of our bill reviews. If we find no refunds or errors, you will at a minimum know that your bills are correct, and we will not bill you. I would like to set up a brief meeting to discuss how we may help you, or sometime in the future. Give us a call to see if we can be of help.
877.208.0021
Not sure why but some VM users don’t record ;
1 a personal greeting
2 Providing a bypass digit
When I call a co. and ask for Pete and I get ext number 123… I am not sure if I have the correct V.M.. Also instead of a caller having to listen to you entire message, most systems have a bypass digit, mine is 1. that brings them to the record message spot ……… much more friendly to the caller. Try it
Unified communications, UC, “bridging the gap,” communications and collaboration, integrated communications … it’s being talked about everywhere – magazine articles, news snippets, tradeshows, software manufacturers and hardware manufacturers, among others. If you are in the phone, e-mail, chat, mobile or any other communications-related business, you’re being barraged by the term “unified communications.”
There is a wide disparity in perceptions in the marketplace as to what unified communications (UC) really is. The big picture is that UC is bringing in voice, video, workflow applications, social networking, etc. – all different forms of communications – to mediate one solution or interface. This is not an easy task, as it takes a lot of time, and companies need to chip away at each of these, working to get each one under their wings.
Unified communications will change the way you communicate, making you and your employees more productive and efficient in your day-to-day business activities. Easily start a video conference call with a co-worker and have a question asked and answered in seconds rather than minutes by not having to walk over to their desk or another floor, exchange the usual hellos and short talk and then get to the task at hand. By using these robust communications all of that fluff is no longer needed and it creates more efficiency in how people work. Get it done quickly and see the savings in quality of communications – things that would’ve been more difficult to explain over the phone are much easier to share face-to-face with video conferencing, sharing boards, etc. UC offers efficient use of employee time and less distractions outside of the traditional business requirements. It’s amazing how people don’t realize how inefficient they can be when they are relying on just voice alone.
SD-WAN vs. MPLS: The Pros and Cons of Both Technologies
The SD-WAN vs. MPLS Debate
Before software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) came along to provide the benefits of software-defined networking (SDN) to traditionally hardware-based networking, there was Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), a protocol for efficient network traffic flow between two or more locations. MPLS operates similarly to switches and routers, sitting between layers 2 and 3. (MPLS is sometimes considered layer 2.5.) It uses packet-forwarding technology and labels to make data forwarding decisions. The label is imposed between the layer 2 (data link) and layer 3 (network) headers.
Here are some of the pros and cons of each technology as we pit SD-WAN vs. MPLS in a battle of network traffic protocols.
MPLS Pros and Cons
When contemplating the “SD-WAN vs. MPLS” question, it is important to consider one of MPLS’s most important aspects: the reliable delivery of packets. MPLS generally offers excellent quality of service when it comes to avoiding packet loss and keeping a business’s most important traffic flowing. This reliability is especially essential to maintain the quality of real-time protocols, such as Voice of IP (VoIP).
MPLS reliability is possible because of the aforementioned label, which virtually isolates packets. MPLS providers can also assign a higher priority to certain network traffic. These benefits bring a sense of traffic predictability within the network. Network paths are predetermined, so packets travel only along the paths to which they’re directed.
One downside of MPLS is bandwidth cost. Today’s consumers are increasingly interested in bandwidth-hogging multimedia content such as videos and augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR), and the high per-megabit cost that MPLS demands can be out of reach. Finally, an MPLS network doesn’t offer built-in data protection, and if incorrectly implemented, it can open the network to vulnerabilities.
SD-WAN Pros and Cons
Continuing the SD-WAN vs. MPLS discussion, SD-WAN offers several benefits over traditional MPLS networks. The core value proposition of SD-WAN is that it promises to dramatically impact the entire enterprise networking ecosystem. With SD-WAN, geographic boundaries are erased, and key benefits such as visibility, scalability, performance, and control are enhanced.
Unlike MPLS, SD-WAN comes with no bandwidth penalties. Customers can upgrade easily by adding new links, with no changes necessary to the infrastructure or network. Perhaps the greatest selling point for SD-WAN is the ability to cost-effectively mix and match network links according to content type or priority. Both Internet broadband and 4G LTE are less expensive than MPLS, so customers can choose those links instead of the expensive MPLS network for certain types of lower-priority traffic.
Arguably the primary advantage of SD-WAN is security. Today’s companies prefer network architectures that integrate security, policy, and orchestration, and SD-WAN covers those bases by unifying secure connectivity. In the SD-WAN architecture, a company benefits from end-to-end encryption across the entire network, including the Internet. All devices and endpoints are completely authenticated, thanks to a scalable key-exchange functionality and software-defined security.
SD-WAN vs. MPLS: It’s Up to You
The benefits of SD-WAN are hard to deny, from cost to agility/flexibility to ease of use/deployment to increased security. Increasing numbers of CSPs are adopting SD-WAN for a variety of reasons. However, private-based networking such as MPLS will always be in demand, particularly in businesses or institutions that have specific connectivity requirements. When companies ask the question “SD-WAN vs. MPLS?” they need to weigh the pros and cons and ask themselves which needs are paramount in their environment.
Rail transport is many things. It’s the infrastructure that takes us to work, helps us meet up with friends, connects us to major cities and small hamlets, and it gets us home at the end of the day.
For all its triumphs and faults the mode of transport is more popular now than it has been for the last fifty years. Around 10 per cent of all UK journeys in 2016 happened over rail, with the British public travelling a collective 80 billion kilometers in a train that year.
For many people, spending more time on the train might seem like a nightmare. However, for some, the system of carriages, connectors, signals and steel is more than an A to B. For some, it’s a moving boardroom – providing a creative meeting space with an ever-changing view. Once the commuters have made their way to work, it becomes a very different experience.
For the last few years two entrepreneurs have been ditching the office and boarding a train, where they hold day-long mentoring and training sessions, whilst taking in the sights of the great British countryside.
Gareth Jones is the founder of Town Square Spaces, a company that offers space and support for people developing and growing businesses. Beyond that, the company’s aim is to get more people involved in the modern economy, through events, programmes and activities. Gareth also founded a startup centre called Welsh ICE and holds positions on the Strategic Group for Innovation on the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, Cardiff Start and Cardiff University’s Impact Accelerator.
Georgina Jones is a TEDx Speaker, Author and founder of Turn Lights On, a consultancy that engages businesses in the UK to create a working environment of connection, energy and inspiration, aiming to boost company culture and support leaders to inspire.
The idea for these training trips first began five years ago, when Gareth and Georgina were both due to participate in a Big Ideas Wales event (a Welsh Government service aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs) in North Wales. The journey from Cardiff to Colwyn Bay is a scenic four hours, with passengers able to take in the rolling fields and farmyards as well as criss-cross the English and Welsh border before finally landing in the seaside town.
In that time, Gareth and Georgina found that they got quite a lot of work done. There was something about the journey that inspired the pair and they found they had more time to reflect on the issues that they were finding difficult in their businesses. They decided to try it again, this time with an agenda.
India vs Australia Delhi Tickets
So far, they have travelled to Bath, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Shrewsbury, London, Carmerthen, Weston Super Mare and Bristol. Once there they stop for a spot of lunch and travel back again. The reason for the trips? Inspiration. The entrepreneurs use the travel time to discuss burgeoning issues within their businesses, with each participant bringing a select agenda of challenges or topics they wish to get through.
Why a train?
“There’s something about trains,” says Georgina Jones. “The changing scenery, constant movement toward a destination – it’s surprisingly different and engaging. Anyone who has worked in a business and had long or difficult board meetings will have periods where they find it tough to focus, but that’s not something I’ve ever experienced on our train sessions.
“Perhaps it’s the new perspectives around you. Sometimes when you are deeply embedded in your business, you can lose sight of the everyday life that goes on. On the train, you see all sorts of people and places, it helps you take a step back and see the wood for the trees a little. This means there’s less chance of getting stuck in a mindset or a rut and leads to a more present conversation where each party is fully engaged. I know it can sound a little quaint, but this really does lead to a higher quality chat and some of my most troublesome issues have been solved aboard a train carriage.”
This sense of focus is also something Gareth Jones feels sharing a journey on a train gives him: “It feels a lot like a board meeting, except there are only two of you. I’m a big advocate for companies getting a board as early as feasible, as it gives a certain level of accountability that helps drive businesses forward. These meetings act in the same way, in that you are working with someone who inspires you and therefore their support and opinion carries a lot of weight.
“The isolation of the train carriage is a good way to close yourself off from other issues and concerns. You can say ‘this is my priority today, I can’t be distracted by anything else’. As a result, you find that you address topics in much more detail – which helps scale and grow your business,” he says.
“There’s no other meeting you have to dash off to. You’re not thinking about that task you have to complete right after the meeting – you are on a train – there’s nowhere else to go, but to be present in the moment, and that leads to some real quality sessions.”
Be prepared
Before heading off for a day of travel and training, it’s important to set out what you want to achieve.
Gareth says that preparation is the key to getting the most out of the sessions: “First we decide on the location. There are so many fantastic places across the UK all within a few hours of each other. You could easily spend £150 to book a boardroom out for a day and be stuck in the same place with the same four walls. Instead of being sat in one spot all day, you can spend less money and see all these different places. For £30 each from Cardiff we can get a return to Weston-super-Mare, with two to three hours of uninterrupted discussion time.”
In that time, the pair go through their agenda with each person responsible for setting out the issues and challenges they would like to discuss.
Georgina says the timetable adds focus: “The train time is limited, and there is something motivating about that. There’s a freedom in the fact that for the next three to four hours you have nowhere else to be, but at the same time you know if you don’t get through your topics, time will run out and you won’t have made the most of it.”
India vs Australia Ranchi Tickets
The challenges
Though it would seem the captivity of the train and the interesting scenery tends to increase the focus and the quality of discussions, it’s still public transport. Privacy will always be a concern, so just what kind of challenges can be tackled aboard the entrepreneurial express?
Gareth said the sessions are a perfect opportunity to discuss all manner of business -related issues: “Anything from staffing issues, to resources can be discussed. Should I go for that project or not? Should I look to grow my team yet or is it too early? Anything that’s causing a lot of stress is up for debate. Being able to talk to someone who gets the context of running a business, but also understands your background, and why things are important to you is crucial.
Georgina said that the sessions can be surprisingly emotional: “It’s a great place to discuss the difficult decisions anyone who runs or manages a business will encounter. The fact that it happens face-to-face on a train; there is a sense of ‘it stays here’, and you can often work through some emotional problems.
“Entrepreneurs are some of the worst for actually talking about how they feel or how difficult they are finding things – these train sessions are a perfect place for those kinds of discussions. The feeling of being somewhere new on a journey – it feels somewhat like a business retreat, but it can be done in an afternoon.”
The mental health aspect of these discussions is an interesting one. The autonomy of running your own business can be freeing, but the stress, uncertainty and isolation can also be difficult to deal with. After all, who do you confide in? You can’t regale your clients with tales of how you spent your evening drafting invoices because you were doing actual work all day.
The sense of being overwhelmed is common, and it’s something Gareth feels these journeys help address: “Every entrepreneur I speak to, almost without fail, feels they have fallen into the trap of spending too much time working in the business rather than on it. There never seems like a good time or opportunity to break away and think strategically about where they are heading.
“These sessions are a great way to really work through the issues of your business and help plan how you can grow to a position where you are in control, being more reflective than reactionary.”
All aboard
So, who can this benefit the most? For Georgina, it’s all about the shake-up from the norm: “Anyone who is office-bound or works from home will get a lot out of being somewhere new. It breaks things up and can really help get those creative juices flowing – especially if you are someone who values adventure or fresh perspectives.
“I think it could benefit people of any business stage, but I would say choosing the partner is key. You should aim to be each other’s mentors, so make sure it is someone you trust and admire. It’s also important to see each other as equals – I don’t think a boss-employee relationship would work well for the kind of issues you want to tackle.”
For Gareth, it again comes down to trust: “Anyone looking for peer-to-peer support will benefit. Familiarity is useful, and the more sessions you have with someone, the more you will get to understand how to motivate and support each other. Working with someone you trust, who inspires you and importantly, understands the issues you are going through, will help you grow as a person and as an entrepreneur.
“There will be people who say ‘well, it’s alright for you but I couldn’t afford the time to do that,’ and my reaction is that it probably just isn’t a priority for them. For me, this is a crucial part of my planning process, I prioritise it.
“When it comes to picking the destination, pick somewhere you haven’t been before, or at least somewhere you don’t go often. Find a nice place to eat ahead of time and reward yourself with a special lunch when you get there. If you can, pick off-peak times so that you know you will get a table, then at the very least, you’ll have a place to rest your notes!”
Take a few minutes I know we are all busy but this can save you a lot of money and headaches.
This explains how we have helped Fortune 500’s and 10 person companies alike.
This is seemingly the easiest to unlock because it relates to quantifying your obvious costs. Work with a vendor to get a quote for all physical elements you need to operate your own data center. This can include servers, RAM, processors, disk, network switches, firewalls, cables, racks, etc.
If you add up the hardware costs and divide them by the period you plan to measure your TCO – let’s say five years – you have your cost. Some other things that are often overlooked and need to be considered in this vault are: capacity (both too much or too little), technology
exposure (such as cheap disk versus performance-grade), redundancy (do you have any?), and the proverbial crystal ball (did you predict the future properly?). All
of this is topped off by the fact that when you buy hardware, you’re already purchasing older technology. We call this a dead-money expense.
We are working on a plan to stop this stay tuned