Nextiva CEO Awarded The 2018 Spirit of Enterprise by W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU

December 11, 2018 by Ying-Hui Chen

Last Friday, December 7th, Nextiva CEO, Tomas Gorny, received the 2018 Spirit of Enterprise Award presented annually by Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business to honor the entrepreneurial spirit and its impact on Arizona.

Gorny founded his first personal computer distribution company in Europe when he was only 16 and launched high-profile tech venture SiteLock in 2008. The love of computers ultimately led him to his move to the USA in 1996. Now, Nextiva has more than 1000 employees, most of which work in Arizona, and about 150,000 corporate customers.

“The one thing that keeps me going is never losing the entrepreneurial vibe of a small company, even while it is still scaling up. Nextiva will continue to be successful by sticking to its cultural DNA – being nimble, frugal and fast” – said Tomas Gorny, CEO of Nextiva

Congratulations Nextiva! We’re excited to hear this great news and are honored to partner with a business that’s constantly driving change!

VTech VSP600: How to Make a New Call While on Hold

December 10, 2018 by Ying-Hui Chen

Your phone is ringing and it might be a very important call that you don’t want to miss. What if you are on a call with someone else? What can be done other than cutting off the current call and pick up the other one?

If you are using VTech’s VSP600 IP phones, it’s not a problem at all! Today we are going to learn how to place a call on hold, switch calls, or even make a new call while on hold. Let’s get to it!

How to Place a Call on Hold and Resume on The VSP600

First of all, how do you place a call on hold on the VSP600? The VSP600 handset actually does the job for you.

The VSP600 Handset puts calls on hold automatically when you answer another call, transfer a call, or create a conference. But if you simply just want to put a call on hold for any reason, you can do this manually by pressing “HOLD”. (Note that you can’t put an internal call on hold.) When you are ready to take off the hold, just press “RESUME” from your On Hold screen.

How to Make a New Call While On Hold

When you have a call on hold, press the “MENU” key
With New Call highlighted, press “ENTER”
Enter the number you want to dial

If you need to switch between two active calls, simply press “NEXT” on your screen.

Very easy, right? If you have more questions about how to use the VSP600 handsets, check out the user manual here or submit a ticket here for our tech support!

Yamaha Won Two End-of-Year Awards from SCN Magazine and SVC

December 7, 2018 by Ying-Hui Chen

Yamaha is excited to announce that they have won two major, end-of-year awards: Product of the Year for the YVC-200 by SCN Magazine and 2018 Innovative Product for the CS-700 by SVC. These awards recognize top innovations and best-in-class conferencing solutions. Let’s take a closer look at each product:

The YVC-200 Portable Speakerphone

The YVC-200 is a small-sized, portable speakerphone perfect for smaller spaces or a spot in a road warrior’s travel bag. Multiple connection options (USB, Bluetooth and NFC) make it simple to create a meeting space anywhere for your mobile, tablet or PC conference calls. The YVC-200 also features a headphone plug for private listening and contains a rechargeable battery that allows complete portability for up to 10 hours! Learn more here.

The CS700 Video Sound Bar

The CS-700 is an all-in-one audio-video conferencing solution with exceptional audio performance and IT remote management capabilities. It is very easy to set up and deploy in large numbers. The CS-700 features a 120-degree ultra-wide angle camera and beamforming microphone array, giving you natural conversations and clarity and intelligibility for all! Learn more here.

Fanvil SIP Phones and Security Devices are Now Certified with Metaswitch!

December 6, 2018 by Ying-Hui Chen

Fanvil is excited to announce that their full series of SIP phones and security devices are now certified on Metaswitch Platform!

The certified products include Fanvil office phones, hotel phones, SIP intercoms, SIP door phones, and more devices.

What Does This Certification Mean?

Being certified with Metaswitch, Fanvil SIP endpoints are completely compatible with Metaswitch platform. Together, they are able to bring more reliable innovative and cost-effective solutions to customers.

To learn more about how Fanvil phones work with the Metaswitch server, please click here to see the configuration guide.

We are very thrilled to hear this new partnership between Fanvil and Metaswitch! We look forward to seeing how our customers benefit from it.

Logitech Decided Against the $2.2 Billion Plantronics Acquisition

December 5, 2018 by Ying-Hui Chen

Logitech International S.A., a Swiss provider of personal computer and mobile peripherals, stated that they had decided against the original attempt of acquiring Plantronics for a reported $2.2 billion.

The $2.2 billion Plantronics buyout was the company’s largest acquisition attempt in the company’s history and it’s unclear why the negotiations between Logitech and Plantronics fell through. It’s believed that there are strong synergies for the two companies to unite. Plantronics and Logitech both deliver a wide range of accessories for electronics such as smartphones, computers, game consoles, and other devices. However, it’s uncertain whether either company would revisit the negotiations at a later date.

Learn more about Logitech and Plantronics here.

Star2Star Earned the 2018 Excellence Award!

by Ying-Hui Chen

November 28, 2018 – Star2Star Communications, a leading VoIP service provider for voice, video, fax, instant messaging and presence management, announced that TMC has named their Full Spectrum system as a recipient of the 2018 INTERNET TELEPHONY Excellence Award presented by INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine.

The Full Spectrum solution is designed to deliver exceptional VoIP services and end-to-end Unified Communications features. This solution delivers multiple deployment options, built-in business continuity and an advanced suite of features. Businesses are able to choose the best system to fit and customize for their unique needs.

“Here at Star2Star, we prioritize the quality and reliability in our systems over all else. This is why we are able to guarantee 99.999% uptime and provide the industry’s most flexible communications system,” said Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer at Star2Star.

Congratulations Star2Star! We are honored to partner with an innovative service provider that demonstrates outstanding quality solutions for our customers!

New Microsoft Teams (Skype for Business) Updates: Improved Manageability and Automation

December 4, 2018 by Ying-Hui Chen

Microsoft has been improving and adding more features to support users as they collaborate within Teams. Recently, Microsoft announced two new improved features: Microsoft Teams Admin Roles and Lifecycle Automation. Let’s check out what these are all about:

New Microsoft Teams (Skype for Business) Administrator Roles

Microsoft Teams Admin Roles are designed to support team members performing different roles and require different types of information and tools. Four new Team admin roles have been added, including:

Teams Service Administrator: Have access to all the controls available in the Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business admin center and their corresponding PowerShell equivalents.
Teams Communication Administrator: Manage meetings and calling functionality in Microsoft Teams.
Teams Communications Support Engineering: Have access to advanced call analytics tools.
Teams Communications Support Specialist: Have access to basic call analytics tools.

PowerShell cmdlets are available for all the roles and most of these can be found in the Skype for Business PowerShell module and some of them control share settings that are also used by Skype for Business.

How To Assign Microsoft Teams Roles

Users can be assigned any of these Teams admin roles through the Azure Admin Portal. Not sure what admin roles are available? Click here to see all roles.

Simply find the user profile in the Azure Active Directory
Click on “Directory Role” from the left navigation.
Next, click “Add Role” and select the Teams admin role you want to assign.

New Microsoft (Skype for Business) Teams Lifecycle Automation

Another cool feature that’s been added to the Teams is the automation. This new function helps users streamline the process of creating and customizing teams, saving them more time while enabling a familiar experience. With the new Microsoft Graph APIs, you can now automate:

Provisioning of large groups of Teams
Creating teams and channels
Deployment of apps in team and channels

Want to learn more? Click here to check out more details.

Join VoIP Supply and Sangoma Technology at an E-Cycling Event!

December 3, 2018 by Ying-Hui Chen

VoIP Supply and Sangoma Technologies are partnering with Entercom Communications and Sunking for an e-cycling event on Saturday, December 15th from 9 am to 12 pm at Eastern Hills Mall! With the environment in mind, the companies are partnering together to offer the WNY community a day to recycle their electronics.

We are also working together to provide your business with a free consultation and the opportunity to reclaim a portion of your original investment! Before you scrap, see if you can reclaim a portion of your original investment with VoIP Supply’s Reclaim program!

“How our company impacts the environment has always been something VoIP Supply is conscious of. We are hoping this local event will not only help drive that important message to other businesses but get them to also adopt programs like this.” – Paula Griffo, CFO and President of VoIP Supply.

If we are unable to buy back your phone(s), VoIP Supply and Sangoma will still offer you a free consultation and help you outfit your office with a brand new phone system! If we can’t buy them back and your business still wants to upgrade, then stop by and see us at the e-scrap event.

*Certain models of phone are in higher demand and there is no guarantee we will be able to buy back your old phones.

How to Pair Polycom VoxBox Speakerphone with Multiple Bluetooth Devices

by Ying-Hui Chen

Are you a busy multi-tasker just like many other Polycom VoxBox users? If yes, then you will love Polycom’s VoxBox conferencing speakerphone!

The VoxBox allows you to pair with up to 10 devices and connect with up to 2 devices at the same time, making it a perfect conferencing speakerphone for huddle spaces and anywhere you travel. Today we are going to show you how to pair your VoxBox with multiple Bluetooth devices. Let’s get to it!

How to Pair My Bluetooth Devices with the VoxBox Speakerphone

The pairing process is fairly simple, just following the steps:

Turn on your VoxBox
Press and hold the Bluetooth button until the status indicator flashes blue. Now you are in the “Pairing Mode”.
On the device you want to pair with, select “Polycom VoxBox” from your Bluetooth pairing list.
Repeat the same process for other devices you’d like to pair with

You are all set! Note that, although you can pair with up to 10 devices, the speakerphone can only transmit audio for one device at a time. If you want to switch to a certain device, just make sure you disconnect the VoxBox from other devices under Bluetooth settings.

Have you tried Polycom’s VoxBox? What was your experience? Share with us! If you’re interested in learning more about the Polycom VoxBox, visit our product page here!

How to Secure your Grandstream GXP21XX Series (Webinar Recap)

November 30, 2018 by Ying-Hui Chen

VoIP Security is one of the hottest topics in the VoIP world! Especially with more and more cyber attacks happening almost every second around the world, it’s extremely important to know how to protect your communication system. Let’s recap quickly what we have covered in the Grandstream GXP2100 Series Security webinar this week! Download our webinar slides here to learn more.

What did we touch on during the Grandstream GXP2100 Series Security Webinar?

Grandstream GXP2100 Series product portfolio – high end, mid-range, and basic
System Security – signed firmware image
Network Security – media access control & Secure remote connection
Data Protection – secure web access, secure provisioning, secure access to the directory
Security VoIP Services – encrypted signaling & media, ghost calls protection, dial plan manipulation
Device Control – keypad menu control, peripheral control

Grandstream GXP2100 Series Security Q&A Session

Question 1: Firmware is constantly coming out. What is the firmware that is suggested to get all of these security settings capable?

Answer: The live demo today in the webinar is the beta version. But everything you see in the demo is available on the official firmware version. The latest firmware version has them all.

Question 2: I did an update to a site with 107 GXP21XX phones and when it asked for password change, I changed it but then it locked me out of the phone. It would ask for a password change every time and I couldn’t get around it.

Answer: This is not related to phone bugs, it can be related to your browser. Sometimes you changed the password and the browser still has the old information. I suggest you clear the browser cache or try using a different web browser.

For more information, visit Grandstream’s product page or contact Tom Uhteg at 1-716-531-4265 or at [email protected]