What is Unified Communications?

What is Unified Communications?

A unified communications solution provides a range of tools to facilitate effective communications between your team and an incredible user experience for your customers. Some of the benefits you should expect to receive from any unified communications offering include:

Instant Messaging

Providing real-time text between users on the same local area network, on different sites, or between office-based staff and mobile workers who access the application via a smartphone or tablet.

Presence Information

Presence represents the availability and willingness of a person to communicate. Think of it as the list of friends you have in your instant messenger. When they are online (meaning they are available and willing to communicate), your instant messenger gives you an indication to that effect and vice versa if they’re busy.

Calendar Integration / User status

This application changes a user’s voice-mail greeting dependent on the entry in Outlook calendar.

Click to Dial and Screen Popping

Advanced dialing features allow users to perform fast and efficient dialling directly from a CRM application, a word document or a web page which will improve efficiency and save time by reducing the chance of mis-dialling colleagues, contacts or any general telephone number displayed on the PC screen.

Screen popping provides a discreet preview window of the inbound call and displays all applications in which the number is found, this allows the call to be answered appropriately and saves time on locating the necessary caller’s page.

Unified Messaging

This integrates different electronic messaging and communications media (e-mail, SMS, fax, voicemail, video messaging, etc.) technologies into a single interface, accessible from a variety of different devices. It simplifies the user’s experience with only one place to check for messages.

FMC (fixed/mobile convergence)

Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) is a technological convergence of wired and wireless services, which allows seamless communications using smart devices in Wi-Fi (WLAN) environments or over 3G. FMC remarkably reduces communication costs, as a smart device can be used as an extension by connecting to the wireless network onsite, or on public WiFi networks / 3/4/5G by interoperating with the PBX.

With our unified communications offering from Wildix you’ll be able to tick all these boxes and then some. Have a look around the Wildix pages of our website to find out more or, if you’d prefer to speak to someone in person then get in touch via our contacts page and one of our team will be more than happy to guide you through what you can expect from the bespoke solution we can put together for you.

Case Study: Robinson Optometrists VoIP Solution

Robinson Optometrists are based in Whitley Bay and provide clinical excellence in eye care for all of their clients. They invest heavily in state-of-the-art instrumentation for their practice and ensure the most up-to-date staff education and development is always the case. They provide an exceptional personal service to their customers by looking after the individual and their needs. The practice provides value for money and choice to clients in a relaxed and friendly environment. Until engaging Arrow Comms, Robinsons were reluctant to opt for a VoIP system.

The challenge for Robinson Optometrists

Robinson Optometrists contacted Arrow Comms Ltd following their receipt of a letter from British Telecom informing them of the impending shut down of ISDN in their area. They have to date, been highly reluctant to move to a VoIP system, having experienced an appalling level of service when this was attempted three years ago.

During their previous foray into the world of VoIP, all the right promises were made at the front end of the project. Namely, replacement desktop sets for all their aging BT supplied “Versatility” sets, provide SIP trunks enabling concurrent calls and facilitate a seamless transition to the new world of cloud-based telephony.

Following the uptake of the proposition, a new system was installed only for the practice to find echoes on the line, calls dropping out frequently, and a generally poor customer experience. 

Arrow Comms Solution

As a Gold Wildix Partner, Arrow Comms Ltd knew they had the right product for Robinson Optometrists requirements. A site survey was carried out to identify any potential pitfalls and to get out ahead of them before the deployment was initiated. As a proof of concept, a test site was deployed to the premises for the staff to use at their leisure and to feedback opinions and concerns.

Following the successful use of the test equipment, a complete detailed proposal was put together for the company and discussed at length with the management of Robinson Optometrists. Arrow Comms supplied a bespoke solution tailored to the needs of the business after a thorough consultive process with the client. This solution included securing the required licenses, equipment and keeping costs under control.

Today, Robinson Optometrists are making full use of Wildix workforce telephones. Wildix collaboration provides both an extra level of functionality for their staff and a failsafe communication channel in the unlikely event of any system’s failure. Staff can simply log into their office telephone through their mobile devices using the collaboration app.

Problematic VOIP experiences became a thing of the past.

Robinson Optometrists now have a complete VoIP telephony system deployed to their premises without disrupting their working practices. Their existing business telephone number has been ported over to the new lines to continue that familiarity for existing clients. No failings have been found with the new system to correspond with their previous unfortunate experience in the world of cloud-based telephony, and costs are down when compared to our previous designs.

All of the above has led to a customer testimonial from Nigel Robinson, the business owner:

“We reluctantly changed to a VOIP system, having had a problematic experience three years ago from another provider. No such trouble this time. Information gathering and customer service from Andi were excellent. Expertise in the fitting process from Stephen could not be faulted.

We look forward to a long and happy relationship with Arrow Comms.”

A VoIP Phone System that’s streets ahead of the competition

With so many options available, choosing a VOIP phone system provider can be a challenging task.
At arrowcomms, we are passionate about going the extra mile to make our customers happy. Packed with nifty features, our VOIP phone system remains one of the best in the industry.

For starters, our VOIP phone system works out of the box – literally. Just a click to start your browser and your phone system with all the features is there. No firewall configurations or engineer site visit.
Mobile Apps, Desktop Apps, Browser-based, choose what is convenient for you.

Serving mission-critical operations, our VOIP Phone System offers unmatched reliability and our customers can enjoy ‘5 years warranty & ’24×7 support’.

One of the unique aspects of our VOIP Phone system is its scalability in every way. This allows the customer to reduce upfront costs and start saving from the start.

When it comes to security, Arrowcomms VOIP phone system is secure-by-design as it has been created with a ‘native encryption system’. This means it does not need an additional SBC OR VPN.

What more, Arrowcomm’s VOIP Phone system runs in ‘AWS Cloud’ to ensure top performance and high availability.

Also, Our VOIP Phone system has built-in integration with all major technologies such as Citrix, salesforce, Ms Teams and several others.

At arrow comms, our award-winning UK team has been deploying VOIP phone systems across the northeast and the UK since 2017.
Working with a diverse customer base, our customers include NHS, Local Councils, Hospitality, Schools and many others.

VOIP Phone system is the future of telephony and it is ideal for business of any size.

“On behalf of the Team at the Lodge, I would like to say a huge thank you to Simon and his Team for all their hard work during the installation of our new phone system. There was little or no disruption to staff, Simon and his team were respectful of the needs of the workers and the young people at all times. We were kept informed at every stage of the process, our ‘old’ building presented many problems but was treated ‘sympathetically’ which was very important to us.

Thank you again for all your help”

Barnardo’s

If you would like to know more about how a VOIP phone system can help your business, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can find what you need by visiting us online at www.arrowcommsltd.co.uk or you can call us on 0808 1614 3040 today. Our friendly team is on hand to show you how simple improving your business comms can be.

Changing the World With UCaaS – Unified Communications As a Service

At Arrow Comms Ltd, we offer a range of business telephony products that are changing the face of how companies communicate. Our Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) products allow you to break free from being tied to the office for voice calls or other communications functionality.

With a VoIP Phone System, UK Businesses Get a Range of Benefits

At Arrow Comms Ltd, we possess a wealth of experience in providing the best business telephony solutions to companies across the UK from our base in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. One such solution is VoIP technology that offers not only additional functionality but also a cost-saving over traditional systems.

By installing a VoIP phone system, businesses across the UK save money every time a call is made, as you only ever pay for the internet connection. This one small difference can add up to a fortune over the years, meaning that the cost of installation is made back in just a month or two.

Not only that but with a VoIP phone system, companies in the UK get to enjoy a range of no-cost services that also usually add to your telephony costs, such as call forwarding, caller ID, blocking, remote management, voicemail and automatic call distribution. It is something that can take your communications to the next level and all without any additional investment.

When it comes to VOIP phone systems, Wildix UK offers an unrivalled set of products and technologies.

Arrow Comms is a Wildix Gold Partner and an award-winning VOIP phone system provider.

The Full Range of Business Telephony Systems

So, if you would like to know more about this or any of the services we offer, such as SIP, data cabling & fibre, wireless or hosted telephony, simply visit us online at www.arrowcommsltd.co.uk.

Alternatively, should you need any advice or guidance on the products we offer, please feel free to call us today on 0808 164 3040 and our friendly advisors will be more than happy to help you find the ideal solution for your needs?

Wildix WebRTC Solutions Give Value-Adding Services to Channel Partners

During the last decade, a wide variety of cloud solutions have been created by numerous different providers, bringing multiple solutions to the market. If we look at the UCaaS sector, many of these suppliers have chosen the over-the-top (OTT) model, following other cloud solutions’ sales approach and thereby forcing channel partners to evolve their business model past license reselling. That fact is a clear risk to channel business because price is key to the model and, consequently, margins for channel partners decrease. But it can be worse than this: OTT suppliers can handle end-users directly.

In the end, OTT companies are working to change the value chain. So what’s the new role of channel partners?

For Wildix, the answer is clear: to add value.

Wildix thinks what’s changing isn’t the value chain, but the value added within the chain. So, channel partners are key for our product strategy. We think to implement WebRTC technologies, end-users need a customized solution which must be provided by UCaaS specialists, i.e., channel partners.

Wildix’s go-to-market strategy invests in channel partners by providing powerful tools to help them evolve their business model, all while taking into account their expertise and the ways in which they can move ahead using next-generation value-adding services.

Looking at the previous diagram, we can see how different channels have previously worked in the UCaaS market, as well as their approach to using current cloud architecture-based platforms. Wildix’s WebRTC solutions provide an evolved go-to-market strategy for channel partners, allowing them to develop a new class of services based on cloud or multicloud architectures and thereby increase their level of business by retaining current customers or expanding into new markets.

What kind of WebRTC services can the channel provide easily and quickly?

We divide these WebRTC services into two types:

a) Horizontals: These are purely technological and are applicable to all industries. These services can be “industrialized” and consequently duplicated (which results in relatively low operational costs for the channel), regardless of the kind of customer or industry involved. However, in some cases the services can be seen as basic, and the client may require a more customized fit. So, for these services, channel partners can personalize their WebRTC tools to comply with individual requirements.

b) Verticals: After customizing the desired type of service, we can address customers who need services to be further adapted to their sector. This forms the second step of the “industrialization” of services.

In this document, we will talk about some of the horizontal value-added services that channel partners can provide:

Identity Authentication

A company can implement a WebRTC-based identity validation service to let customers open accounts. The user can start a session with the company from their device to create an account. Sessions can then be recorded for regulatory compliance fines (which is important for the financial sector or services provided by public entities). Here there would be multiple value-added services for the channel partner to include, since they must integrate various technologies that guarantee authentication with the adapted platform.

Conference and Collaboration

This includes sharing links with external parties. The services for the channel here are self-evident — namely, integrating connections with both the different devices and hardware in general: cameras, screens, conference telephone systems, displays, SIP devices, etc. Furthermore, Wildix has specific hardware for this purpose. If a project can be integrated from scratch, we can provide another type of native integration.

Finally, this type of service can also be offered by the channel under the managed service model. Here, channels can offer their customers the option to use Wildix in a pay-per-use mode for licenses while the channel offers their own current services (e.g., renting hardware, with or without Wildix) and tailored services that the client needs delivered via the tools within Wildix CDR.

Customer Support

In addition to using Kite as a “click-to-call” tool from Wildix, channel partners can offer new services. For instance, partners can use their customers’ website to build value-added services such as maintenance support, programs for VIP users, hospitality resources, emergency contacts and other differentiating functions. On the other hand, a key point in this category is integration with CRMs, which provide a better service for the end-user’s customers. (Other posts on the Wildix blog discuss this in more detail). Even if channel partners do not fully understand CRMs, the programs can still be integrated with Wildix tools to let customers connect with such software.

In summary, we have two simple services for customer support: Kite and CRM integrations. In addition, partners can offer customized statistics via CDR.

Perimeter and Video Security Systems

Basically, this refers to integrations with access control systems such as Mobotix or 2N (among others) in order to allow mobile devices or Wildix phones to monitor or even interact with those systems. The services available for channel partners in this category do not need any explanation. The clear point here is to give System Integrators who have expertise in deploying security systems the opportunity to integrate WebRTC capabilities — including video and its related maintenance — then customize the functions according to the end-user’s requirements during the life cycle of the service.

Internet of Things (IoT)

This field deserves its own separate chapter, but it seems clear that the services that the channel can offer over it are extensive (as we have already seen from experience).

Emergency Services

Emergency calls can be received on a device (including mobile ones) generated by its control center, allowing for various types of notices such as text, voice, video, recordings, and so forth. These communications would be supported by staff in schools, corporate emergencies response teams, hospitals, travel agencies, roadside assistance, etc. The value-added services generated by the integrator are, in this case, too obvious to mention.

Integration with Third-Party Applications and Devices

Many channel partners have developed applications for specific purposes. Now they can incorporate WebRTC capabilities into such applications (e.g., management consoles) by integrating devices with functionalities seen in smart decoders, smart TVs, intercoms, car screens, and other non-IoT devices fit for an enterprise environment.

Integration with Contact Centers

Regardless of the type of contact center that we integrate using Wildix’s CDR tools, we can obtain multiple types of statistics. It is not necessary to be a specialist over the contact center of any particular manufacturer to do so. In simple terms, by using Wildix’s tools we can obtain statistics on calls (including video, voice, fax, recordings and collaboration), SIP trunk usage, call tree optimization to define appropriate strategies, priority settings, dynamic definitions concerning agent groups, BLF definitions, service quality management, priority settings, wait times, and more. (Another post on the Wildix blog explains this in further detail).

In summary, we have offered ideas about numerous cross-industry value-added services. Now channel partners can evolve their current business into a model that uses Wildix WebRTC solutions 
 and even create new ones!

As we said previously, Wildix thinks what’s changing isn’t the value chain, but the value added within the chain!

Transcribing Your Call Recordings: Turn Audio into Text with These Free Tools!

Sometimes, it’s not enough just to take notes during a call. Maybe you’re conducting an interview, or maybe you’re listening to highly specific project planning. Suffice to say there are cases where you want to know the exact words said over the phone.

Obviously, the easy solution is call recording. In Wildix’s Collaboration, this feature is available with the push of a button.

A tutorial on Collaboration’s record feature

To make the most of that recording, though, you’ll want to turn it into a written transcript. In written form, you’ll have easy access to all of the call’s info at a glance.

And with these tools, you can make your transcript quickly, effectively and absolutely free.

YouTube

Turns out, the world’s biggest video platform isn’t only good for taking breaks at your desk; it can also help you handle call transcription.

The first step to easy transcription

YouTube features an automatic captioning tool, which transcribes speech from a video after you upload it. Conveniently, you won’t have to watch the full video to offload its text, as the tool also creates a document containing its full transcription.

Access the transcript here

However, this transcript won’t have any punctuation, and it’s likely to have some inaccurate wording. So it may be wise to revisit it and fix any mistakes.

That said, the process will save you time in creating a text version of your call.

oTranscribe

If having to alter a pre-generated transcript sounds obnoxious, another option is to type one out yourself.

Enter oTranscribe. This tool makes manual transcription easier by giving you a textbox and a media player in the same window.

Plus, you can use keyboard shortcuts to pause, rewind or change the recording’s playback speed without interrupting your typing.

The program works entirely in your browser, with no downloads or sign-ins necessary. And not only does it autosave your work — it also lets you download your finished transcription as a .txt document, or send it to your Google Drive account.

Google Docs Voice Typing

Speaking of Google Drive, Google Docs has a built-in (if less-than-conventional) transcription option: its Voice Typing tool.

To use it, open a new document, then select “Voice Typing” from the “Tools” tab.

Next, hit the microphone button that comes up.

When you hit “play” on your call recording, the tool will recognize the resulting conversation as speech and type it out automatically.

As with YouTube, this method comes with caveats. You still won’t get any punctuation, and if the recording has background noise or subpar mic quality, it will affect the accuracy of the transcript. Naturally, you’ll also have to replay the entire call to transcribe it in full.

Still, if you have time to listen to your recording again, and to touch up any imperfections, this makes for a relatively hassle-free method.