2016 was a noteworthy year. A lot happened at Mitel, and the media took notice. So we’ve gathered many of the top stories covered by third parties into this one post so you can see the whole year at a glance. Peruse the headlines. Scan the intros. Click through to dig deep into the articles that matter most to you. For easier reading, we’ve divided the coverage up into several core areas: IT strategy and insights, innovative customers, products and partners, and financial news. Enjoy.

IT STRATEGY AND INSIGHT CEO Chat With Mitel's Rich McBee As anyone who knows me will tell you, I like to think I know a fair bit about this next-gen-comms malarkey, but there's nothing like an interview with one of the leading CEOs in the communications industry to make me realize how large the gaps in my knowledge base actually are. That was certainly the case with the following interview with Rich McBee, CEO at Mitel. I've known and written about Mitel as a provider of voice/PBX solution..

Since the inception of telephony, a single number has been attached to a single phone. Despite rapid advancements in mobile technology, Web RTC and a host of other communications services, this limitation has remained constant.
The one number / one phone paradigm has been like telephony’s version of the sound barrier—an impassible obstacle to advancing technology.
But much like the sound barrier, some enterprising pioneers have taken this challenge head on. And they’ve crashed through the barrier in a dramatic fashion.
The transformation of communications to all-IP technology has opened new doors and finally broken through the long-lived one-number, one-phone barrier. And T-Mobile has given us the clearest use case to date.

Watch T-Mobile’s video introducing DIGITS >
No longer is a single number tied to a single phone.
With T-Mobile’s new DIGITS offering, one number can exist on many devices (not just phones) and one device can hold many numbers. It’s much like the way you can..

An important decision that significantly impacts quality and user experience in cloud communications is how your business will connect communications to the cloud. Let’s explore different options for connecting to the cloud, including over‐the‐top (OTT), multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), and Wi-Fi.
Communications over the top (OTT) Over the top (OTT) telecommunications providers deliver voice and video services to customers over public Internet connections. OTT can be ideal for smaller organizations or connecting mobile and home‐based employees, and almost any organization will have some level of OTT service being used, for example, by a remote user working from home, in a hotel, or at a coffee shop.
The majority of small and growing businesses choose this delivery method due to the low cost of leveraging the pre‐existing public Internet connection.
OTT for a larger site needs to be evaluated to ensure it will deliver the quality expected.
However, OTT has its drawbacks in a s..

Wi-Fi calling is another term for voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi). Wi-Fi calling makes it possible for people to use the same mobile network services they’re used to – like voice and messaging services – over Wi-Fi networks.
Beyond the ability to make calls over a Wi-Fi network, people can use Wi-Fi calling to seamlessly transition from their mobile/cellular networks to home, office, or public Wi-Fi networks.
With VoWiFi, users get a seamless experience with the best coverage and connection. In addition to better mobile/cellular reception and in-building coverage, Wi-Fi calling may also be used to circumnavigate a mobile/cellular connection altogether—a potential game-changer for users, businesses and network providers alike.
Motivations behind Wi-Fi calling The reasons to deploy WiFi Calling vary by country and operator. The primary reason for mobile network operators (MNOs) to offer and deploy Wi-Fi calling is to address indoor mobile network coverage challenges. Due to signal strength..

1. How you can enable a mobile workforce with cloud communications We’re all busy today. But we’re not always productive. For example, we spend several hours every week checking emails, schedules, text messages, and voicemails in multiple applications and on multiple devices just to make sure we’re not missing something. But ironically, managing multiple collaboration tools on multiple devices is a sure way to miss something.
Cloud communications opens up and unifies collaboration so businesses begin thinking outside their inboxes.
It brings employees, customers, and partners into the conversation from wherever they are, on whatever device they’re on. And it lets them pick up the conversation quickly, by organizing everything into a single cloud‐based application where voicemails, videos, chats, and more can be stored and easily accessed whenever they’re needed.
The key to better collaboration is through your mobile phone. If you’re like most of us, it’s the first thing you check i..

At Mitel, we’re fortunate to work with an incredible partner community full of deep, diverse expertise. So, each month, we’re going to share some of that expertise by highlighting partner blog posts about the business communications topics relevant to modern IT pros.
Is Your Network Ready for Digital Transformation? By Electric Lightwave
The enterprise is on the precipice of disruptive change as corporate executives across all industries are making digital transformation a critical imperative. One major report identified the biggest disruptive technologies as: cloud, mobility and collaboration, data, digitalization, software defined apps/infrastructure and the Internet of Things. All of these technologies are network-centric, relying on connectivity and network infrastructure to enable them.
Read the post >
Next Gen WAN Services Empower Customers by Windstream
Mike Kozlowski, Windstream’s Vice President of Product Management, joins Michael Wood of VeloCloud to discuss SD WAN advan..

Mitel recently participated in 5G Asia, a future-focused event that explores the latest innovations in LTE and 5G. Below, Ian Pattison, International CTO of our Mobile Division, shares his thoughts on how VoLTE, Cloud and 5G are changing the game for mobile carriers.

Can you share some of the key learnings from the panel discussion you joined today? VoLTE is now a mature and proven technology, and there have been both successful and less than successful deployments. What we came across in the panel sessions was that the key to the successful deployments is the user experience. Giving users a vastly improved user experience in terms of voice codecs, but not removing any of the services that they’re used to, like ringback tones, prepay—these are the key things, as well as introducing new services based on VoLTE as a platform, such as VoWiFi.
What’s so special about VoLTE, and what does the future hold for Mitel? VoLTE is the catalyst to moving to an all IP, all IMS-based core network, ..

Looking at the core features of cloud communications The way that you communicate says a lot about your business and who you are as an individual. And yet many business communications systems are anything but personal. They’re one‐size‐fits‐all solutions that your business probably outgrew more than a decade ago.
Moving your communications to the cloud can help your business build your communications around the way you work, and not the other way around.
For example, cloud communications can:
Deliver the same phone features of a Fortune 500 company: Mobile‐friendly communications, broad selection of endpoints, automated callbacks, announced queue times, and more—at a cost that businesses of all sizes can afford Ensure a better customer experience: With intelligent call routing that sends customers to the right agent, with the right information, right away Provide deployment flexibility: Only pay for the features that you need, where they’re needed, and custom bundle features as y..

Despite the benefits, shifting customer service operations to a cloud-based model requires careful planning to ensure the move provides the agility needed to meet the customer service expectations of current and future customers. There are seven key points you should consider before you start your transition process.
1. Does the contact center software support multichannel communications? There is no sense in moving your contact center to the cloud if the software you are considering will not help you engage with your hyper-connected customers using the communications channels they prefer. Today, that means contact centers should support multichannel communications—not only voice, but chat, social media, email, and SMS. You may only need some of these channels today, but you will want to add new channels as your business grows.
2. Will you have access to the data that your agents need to deliver great customer service? Consult your IT department to make sure they’re willing and ready..

It’s that time of year. Budgets. Planning. Expanding. Hiring. Whether you’re looking to hire some new IT professionals or looking for a new IT job yourself, these resources from many of the authorities on IT salaries will give you a great foundation to start.
2017 Technology & IT Salary Guide from Robert Half It covers
Salary data for more than 75 IT jobs Current hiring trends The hottest technology jobs and specialty areas The skills now in demand Get the IT salary guide >
In this infographic, Robert Half tells us which IT jobs are the ones to watch in 2017:

Which technology specialties will see the highest salary growth in 2017?

In the last piece from Robert Half, they cover major trends affecting IT hiring and pay:

IT Salaries: Eight Cold Hard Facts by InformationWeek InformationWeek has broken down eight key trends from their 2017 compensation survey. Great for people who want some quick, broad insights.
Read the article >
The 10 U.S. Cities with the Highest IT Salari..