Ben Sayers, CEO of VoIP Supply, knows a thing or three about changing locations when a business outgrows its space.

That doesn’t mean that things always go as planned.

Coordinate Your Move with Telecommunications Providers

The National Federation of Independent Business asked for Ben’s advice on what to avoid during a business move.

VoIP Supply bought its first building and moved in during December 2010 to start the New Year in a new headquarters.  Ben tells the story:

If your business depends on phone and Internet service to operate smoothly, give your providers 6-8 weeks’ notice to ensure timely installation of services in your new location.

When Ben Sayers moved his telecommunications business VoIP Supply to the other side of Buffalo, N.Y., a setback in the closing date led to a 10-day delay in data connectivity after the move. “We essentially had to connect our new office to our old office through 3G, and all our connectivity had to go between the two buildings. It was very expensive,” he says.

If you’ve ever wondered how video conferencing plays a role in telemedicine and how telemedicine can play a role in healthcare IT strategies, specifically telemedicine kits for video conferencing, then this interview is for you.

Andria Baunee, VoIP Supply’s Video Conferencing Specialist, was interviewed by eHealth Radio to talk about:

• What is Telemedicine and, who is it for?
• What role could Telemedicine play in the raging healthcare debate here in the U.S.?
• What do healthcare companies think of Telemedicine and how would they be reimbursed for this new medical service?
• How will patients react to Telemedicine? Can they feel secure explaining their personal issues via video?
• What do patients, doctors, or insurance companies need, to get a video conferencing system up and running?

Listen to the interview here or click here for the article.

Via eHealth Radio

When Polycom made their major announcements after ringing the NASDAQ bell earlier this month much of the focus was on the video conference side of their business. One of the products that was mentioned in passing and featured on some of the slides was the new Polycom VVX 600. Not much was said about this new phone at that point but this week it got its turn in the limelight. 

What Is It?

The VVX 600 is the newest addition to the Polycom VVX series of the business media phones which already includes the VVX 1500 and VVX 500. The new VVX 600 bears a striking resemblance to the VVX 500 at first glance but with a bigger for form factor. While they do have their similarities when it comes to audio, video and sharing capabilities, there are three main differences between them.

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At some point very soon, we will all stop talking “Social Media”, and put the focus where it belongs – The Global Media Network that connects us all.

From Copyblogger, A History of Social Media [Infographic], shows a pictoral rundown of social sharing through the ages.

From the very first email sent in 1971 to the user friendly interfaces we enjoy today, this Copyblogger infograph shows that “there’s nothing new about social media” and that, “most social sharing still happens outside of social networks.”

See for yourself  with this timeline:

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Over the summer the Democratic presidential campaign contacted VoIP Supply for help with setting up their call centers.

We’re always honored to be trusted with a large job and it was a great opportunity to provide a phone system comprised of several hundred 8-port and 24-port FXS VoIP Gateways and some basic phones:

• Grandstream GXW4008 8-Port FXS VoIP Gateway
• Grandstream GXW4024 24-Port FXS VoIP Gateway
• AT&T/VTech 210 Trimline Phones

President Obama Likes VoIP Supply’s Phones and Gateways

VoIP Supply was confident that this phone system would work just fine for their application. What we didn’t expect was President Obama to try it out for himself.

But, here he is visiting a Virginia campaign office, surprising the workers with pizza, and jumping on the phones VoIP Supply provided.

Welcome to the world of VoIP, Mr. President.

(Picture courtesy of Dave Sloane)

Morgan Korn at Yahoo! Finance reports on an interesting telecommunications story with big implications, China’s Huawei, ZTE Threaten U.S. National Security Interests: House Intelligence Report.

A report generated by the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee after an 11-month long investigation warns that, in the name of privacy, intellectual property, and national security, U.S. companies should be wary of doing business with Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp.

Further, as two of the world largest producers of critical telephony equipment, the report states:

China has the means, opportunity and motive to use telecommunications companies for malicious purposes… Industry giants like Huawei and ZTE provide a wealth of opportunities for Chinese intelligence agencies to insert malicious hardware or software implants into critical telecommunications components and systems.

Via Yahoo! Finance

Today was a busy day for Polycom as they started the day by ringing the opening bell on the NASDAQ before unveiling their newest additions to their video conferencing selection. Part of  their new video conferencing product lineup announced the Polycom RealPresence Group

What Is It?

The Polycom RealPresence Group Series has been designed to complement and expand on the existing Polycom RealPresence HDX Series, with both series sharing common features as far as interoperability, scalability and video/audio performance. For all that they share there will be certain features that will be supported by the RealPresence Group but not the RealPresence HDX and vice versa.

Some of the features unique to the RealPresence Group include 1080p60fps for people and content, a new user interface and remote, and HDMI inputs/outputs. On the other hand some of the features that are currently unique to the HDX Series include ISDN/POTS connectivity, People on Connect, MS Lync 2010 Qualification and UC-APL certification for US FED.

Within the new RealPresence Group there are three new video conferencing solutions and a new camera.

Polycom RealPresence Group 300

The Polycom RealPresence Group 300 is designed for use in small conference rooms, huddle rooms and offices. The RealPresence Group 300 ships with your choice of either the Polycom EagleEye III or new EagleEye Acoustic camera, codec, new Polycom RealPresence Group Microphone Array, cables, and remote control.

• 1 camera input
• Wireless PPCIP content sharing
• 1 monitor (2nd via license key)
• No built-in multipoint
• Small, sleek design
• Polycom RealPresence Group 300 Datasheet

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