In this video blog, Mitel’s General Manager for Contact Center Brian Spencer breaks down IoT (Internet of Things) and M2M (machine to machine), and explains the impact these technologies have on your business. Using examples from the healthcare and service industries, Brian highlights how leveraging IoT and M2M can provide loyalty-building proactive and preventative services for a sustainable competitive advantage.

Video transcript: IoT. M2M. What do those acronyms mean? And do they have an impact on your business?
IoT is the Internet of Things. M2M: machine to machine communications. Now, you may think, “I don’t produce machines, what does that have to do with me?”, and you’ve seen the silly commercials years ago where the refrigerator was connected to the Internet and it was able to order milk when it ran out – “how does that impact my business? Is that even a real thing?”
The IoT and M2M – Internet of Things and machine to machine communications – they can have a valuable impact..

Technology helps us all adapt our lives, and businesses are no exception. But the way people use technology continues to shift at a quickening pace and consumer behaviors and expectations are bleeding into business environments, creating new requirements and new ways of doing business. To adapt, you have to understand the factors at play, which is why we’re going to look at several important office trends that are redefining the way people collaborate online.
1. Using more outsourced resources Freelancers and consultants fill a wide assortment of roles depending on a company’s size, priorities and policies. Whether enterprise or SMB, some companies use the expertise of outside resources to provide a necessary perspective, service, or advice to help business. Other companies use outsourced workers as a way to quickly scale up and down—improving their agility and flexibility.
In fact, according to the SMB Group in its 2016 communications survey, 28 percent of SMBs outsource IT manageme..

Last Week in Business Communications is a weekly post where we cover some of the notable articles and happenings in the business communication world from the week before. Check back each Monday for your news fix.
UAE firms look to light fidelity technology to enable IoT applications
On Computer WeeklyLED-based connectivity slated as key component of internet of things-related deployments. Read the article >
Devops and cloud: Great together, great apart
On Info WorldDevops and cloud computing go together like chocolate and peanut butter, but you can have one without the other. Read the article >
How video conferencing in the cloud can transform business collaboration
On Tech RadarAs confidence to deliver services and applications in the cloud gathers pace, video conferencing as a service (VCaaS) is starting to evolve. Read the article >

Join us for a webinar with Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres!
Hear how changing customer expectations, employee mobility and the rigors of hosting the 87th annual MLB All-Star Game inspired a major technology overhaul, including:
A move to the cloud Technology integrations in the contact center Unified communications and team collaboration applications
Step behind the scenes in this exclusive interview with Ray Chan, Director of Information Technology for the San Diego Padres.
What you’ll learn: How the Padres use mobile collaboration tools to keep an internal network of world travelers, scouts and road warriors connected anywhere in the world How the Padres call center was redesigned to deliver personalized customer experiences and ensure optimal productivity What key benefits of the cloud influenced the Padres to make the switch from their premises-based system Exclusive IT Insights from the San Diego Padres: Mobility, Contact Center and Cloud Tuesday, September 13, 20..

The role of information and communications technology (or ICT) in education is steadily growing. Devices like PCs and tablets, as well as their applications, are becoming more and more common in classrooms, bringing productivity enhancements to the way teachers teach and students learn and work. But behind the scenes, ICT also plays a crucial role for staff, like principals and administrators.
Education workers must have open, easy and frequent communication with each other, as well as a variety of stakeholders in the school community:
Parents District and schoolboard offices School neighbors Community leaders Business partners The larger the school or district, the louder this critical need for communications technologies is amplified. Let’s take a look at a real-life example to understand where ICT comes into play behind the scenes in education.
The subject: Raytown Quality Schools Raytown Quality Schools sits in a tier one suburb of the Kansas City metropolitan area in Missou..

A lot has been written about how Red Funnel Ferries upgraded from a voice-only Cisco system to a Mitel multi-media contact center.
However, before this could happen, a lot of work went on behind the scenes to ensure everybody understood exactly what Red Funnel wanted to achieve and that realistic expectations were set.
A large amount of the credit should go to Mitel partner Charterhouse Voice and Data, who were deeply involved in the discovery process to scope the shortfalls of the existing system and how the latest technology could deliver on the customer service vision that Red Funnel management are rightly so passionate about.
This might seem like a simple task. However, the reality is that the technology is just one part of the jigsaw puzzle. The business partner also needed to develop a thorough understanding of the company, its people and processes.
In the case of Red Funnel, this meant understanding how they worked over multiple locations, how calls and other media might nee..

Once the decision is made to move to an integrated digital framework, businesses can choose to invest in additional on-premises infrastructure or shift to cloud-based solutions.
For some businesses, it may make sense to continue to improve existing in-premises infrastructures. Typically, this is the right approach for businesses that are happy with the features and functionality of the voice communications system they have in place and the way it supports customer service and contact center activities.
These organizations are getting a high return on their investment, the recording capabilities the system offers are meeting expectations, and the agent dashboards and managerial controls are still contributing to the efficiency and effectiveness of the customer service process. Most importantly, employees are comfortable with the system and they find it easy to use.
Expanding on this existing infrastructure means adding digital capabilities to support today’s mobile consumer and scal..

In this video blog, Mitel’s General Manager for Contact Center Brian Spencer discusses how mobility and big data are influencing customer experience, and how to transform your traditional contact center into a customer experience center for a sustainable competitive advantage.

Video transcript: I’m Brian Spencer, the General Manager for Mitel’s contact center business, and I’d like to share with you our vision for the contact center as it evolves into the “customer experience center.”
Today’s consumers – they’re different. They’re not waiting until they get home to pick up the telephone and call into an organization to handle personal business. They’re working in real time. They want instant access to services – how they want it, when they want it. They’re typically going to start on a mobile device using a mobile app or a mobile website, some sort of digital tool. And, often, they’ll complete an end-to-end engagement and access the services they need autonomously, completely on thei..

In previous posts, we’ve discussed the many benefits of team collaboration. We’ve explored how team collaboration tools can increase productivity and remove unnecessary productivity roadblocks, and examined four ways to profit from your mobility strategy. We’ve also looked at how the San Diego Padres have used team collaboration tools to keep a massive network of world travelers and road warriors connected and productive.
The key takeaway is that team collaboration tools can transform the way your organization communicates and boost your bottom line. Team collaboration tools are ideal if you’d like to:
keep workers connected anywhere, any time, on any device build stronger bonds with more personal communications among employees, customers, partners and suppliers save money by reducing travel expenses and employee transit time decrease inbox clutter increase productivity, collaboration and innovation But if you’re starting to evaluate team collaboration tools for your own organiz..

A lot has changed in communications over the last 25 years. Imagine having to carry separate devices for the various functions your smartphone performs. You’d need to carry at minimum:
A camera and video camera A voice recorder A calculator A calendar A map A computer and, oh yes, A phone Now, think about a field service technician dispatched to a service call. If he’s carrying a mobile device connected to the all the same business resources he can access in the office, does it make sense for him to also carry, say, paper invoices? Service manuals? Even a laptop with different applications?
You’re beginning to understand why enterprises are demanding that their mobile app providers embed real-time collaboration into their niche mobile apps. Let’s look closer at the benefits to an organization:
Workload Management With better information about the status of various field members – location, expected time to completion of an assignment, hours until the end of their shifts, etc. ..