Communications & Collaboration Articles

The invention of the telephone allowed businesses to communicate unlike ever before, and many companies adopted the telephone quickly. In fact, most of the early phones were connected only to businesses; individuals could subscribe to the switchboard for a monthly fee. 

With VoIP, users can make calls over the Internet instead of using traditional phone lines. This makes it possible to take advantage of services, features and benefits unparalleled by traditional phones.

Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He had two brothers, but both passed away from tuberculosis by the time Bell was 20 years old. When he was born, his given name was just Alexander Bell. Both of his brothers had middle names, and Alexander pleaded with his father for a middle name as well. When Bell was 11 years old, his father allowed him to take the middle name of Graham, which was the last name of a family friend. 

Avaya announced the end of support for the CS1000M platform, a solution that was widely used in the public sector. What are your options if you're looking for a replacement, alternative or support for the CS1000M?  Mitel offers plenty of great options for the Public Sector including full platforms, cloud, and a suite of products that integrates with your current system. The best replacement for the CS1000M is MiVoice Business.

Discover the best replacements and alternatives to Toshiba VIPedge Hosted VoIP service and Toshiba IPedge telephone systems. You’ve got options.

Discover the best replacements and alternatives to Panasonic Business PBX Telephony Systems. You've got options.

Many languages can be difficult to learn, and may be even more confusing when regional accents enter the mix. There is one language, however, that requires no sound at all, and because of that fact, it is a tremendously versatile and accessible method of communication. American Sign Language (ASL) is one of the best resources available for those afflicted with deafness and those with whom they communicate. 

Finding the right combination of features and capabilities to meet your business needs requires a basic understanding of the technical and functional differences between both types of systems. 

A cloud phone system provides the reliability,  scalability, mobility and customer engagement your business can count on. 

Around the world, approximately three million people engage in amateur radio operation. With this technology, they can reach other amateur radio operators within their neighborhood or even across the globe! While the basic technology was developed around the latter part of the 1800s, amateur radio as an emergency communications method only started in the early 1900s. 

Telecommuting is a process in which a person works for a company from their home. In most cases, the company provides a computer, extra phone line, and Internet connection to the employee at the employee's house. The company is also expected to provide other materials, such as office supplies and any mailing supplies the employee may need. 

You need adaptable communications that leverages existing devices. Mitel’s bring your own device (BYOD) solutions are the common-sense way to move your business forward, strategically and effectively.

Working from home has become a core part of business practices. Watch Brent Leary, Laurie McCabe, and Mona Abou-Sayed discuss how the more permanent shift of remote work has impacted SMBs..

Businesses are searching for ways to adapt to a new operating normal. Brent Leary, Laurie McCabe, and Mona Abou-Sayed discuss the four phases of managing  through a crisis: reaction, mitigation, reassurance, recovery.

Company culture and an emphasis on humanizing work can positively impact employees as they take on more frequent video collaboration as part of the new normal. Brent Leary, Laurie McCabe, and Mona Abou-Sayed discuss. 

Brent Leary, Laurie McCabe, and Mona Abou-Sayed discuss how enterprise-grade communications solutions take away the aspects of disjointed remote working technology, and how they can help create a collaboration strategy for businesses in the new normal.

Brent Leary, Laurie McCabe, and Mona Abou-Sayed review how business can prepare for business in a post-pandemic world, and they discuss their outlooks for what may become of businesses in the future. 

Your contact center is the front door to your brand. How does your customer experience measure up?

Increase your customer experience by providing multiple media types. Learn more about this tip from Kimberly Roper.

Most call center agents have different ways of multitasking. Patrick McDowell gives tips on how you can customize to their different abilities.

It’s time to eliminate repetitive calls from customers by creating self-help portals.

Listen to these tips on how you can optimize the efficiency of your customers experience.

Hear how to create customer journey maps and enhanced customer experiences with these tips.

Improve your customers experience by providing continuity across multiple channels. Learn how Mitel can help.

Hear Valerie Habraken give tips on how you can provide a personalized customer experience with Mitel’s MiContact Center.

Enhance your customer experience by getting feedback directly from customers.

In business, we are not only judged by our appearance, but also by our ability to communicate. Whether it is in person, over the phone, or through written letters, emails, and memos, the way in which we express ourselves says a lot. Drafting a business letter can be particularly difficult for many people. 

Technology has given us lots of new ways to reach each other, as well as new ways we can rub people the wrong way. Make a great impression with these tips. 

There are more opportunities than ever for individuals with disabilities to start their own businesses. Those who are deaf, blind, paralyzed or dealing with intellectual disabilities can reach out to government programs, support nonprofits and organizations, scholarship and grant foundations and more. 

In today’s digital age, the definition of customer experience has changed. Expectations of what it should be are higher than they have ever been. Consumers are no longer content with the nine-to-five regiment. They expect to connect any time, day or night. They expect the freedom to choose which channels to interact through. They expect to receive instant answers through seamless digital interactions. And with a cloud-based contact center, they will. 

In the mobile cloud era, work is something you do, not somewhere you go. With cloud-based communications, you get the freedom to get more done in more places, to connect offices together seamlessly and enjoy powerful communications and collaboration tools on any device. 

The terms “contact center” and “call center” are often used interchangeably, but are they really the same thing? Not exactly – and it’s important to know the difference. Why? Because success today boils down to one thing: customer experience (CX). Learn more about how contact centers compare to call centers and the ways you can create the best CX possible – today and well into the future.

Looking to get more out of your customer touch points? Watch these videos to discover hacks and strategies to deliver a winning customer experience. 

Voice over Long-Term Evolution, also known as VoLTE or 4G LTE, is the newest evolution in IP telephony and it is changing the way people communicate. But what is the difference between VoIP and VoLTE? For one, they both let users make calls over the Internet, but there are also numerous other differences, outlined in this article.

Elisha Gray was an American electrical engineer who was also a highly successful inventor. Despite his successes, Gray's legacy is plagued by controversy and disappointment concerning one of his most groundbreaking inventions. 

Does your company have an emergency remote work plan prepared? We review the importance of having this in place during uncertain times, as well as a few best practices for preparation and smooth business operations.

Mitel MiCollab combines collaboration, mobility, and messaging into a single solution that empowers people to collaborate more easily and effectively, no matter where they are, how they work and what device they use. 

Explore these resources to discover more about encrypted communications methods & devices during World War II. 

In the office, at home, or on the go, Mitel enterprise mobility solutions help workers in organizations of all kinds to be innovative and productive. 

For many people, reading through a large chunk of text can create confusion and boredom. This is because people typically retain information better and quicker when it is visual rather than textual. 

Cold calling, however, is a legitimate marketing and advertising tactic, when used responsibly and legally. Its effectiveness proves that long-lasting business relationships can be established with just a simple phone conversation. 

Before investing in and switching to a VoIP system, companies should fully understand what it is and how it can benefit their business. 

Soon, the days of the landline might be a thing of the past. Now, in this ever-changing world of technology, some young people know no other way of making a phone call than by using their cell phone. This raises the question: How in the world did we get to this point from the earliest days of the telephone? 

The Federal Communications Commission was established on June 19, 1934, to replace the outdated Federal Radio Commission. In its history, the FCC has been involved in some very controversial decisions. 

We can convey important information quickly and efficiently, and now, with cell phones and smartphones, we can send important data, capture memories, and explore the Internet, all from our mobile phone. The history of the telephone is an amazing timeline of experimentation and discovery. 

After the introduction of the European semaphore lines in 1792, the world’s desire to further its ability to communicate from a distance only grew. People wanted a way to send and receive news from remote locations so that they could better understand what was happening in the world around them – not just what was going on in their immediate town or city. 

We can convey important information quickly and efficiently, and now, with cell phones and smartphones, we can send important data, capture memories, and explore the Internet, all from our mobile phone. The history of the telephone is an amazing timeline of experimentation and discovery. 

The telephone is one invention that changed the world and opened a wide world of communication. Many businesses benefited from the additional communication options that became available after the invention of the telephone. 

Learn why cloud phone systems are perfect solutions for small business communications. Discover the benefits of a PBX system, including low costs & flexibility. 

An easy way to visualize how a PBX broadly operates is to imagine an old-fashioned telephone operator exchange. In these systems, a human would physically connect phone plugs across a panel to connect one caller with another. PBX technology performs this once-manual exchange task automatically and instantly

Whereas traditional phone lines had limited the number of parties that could effectively be involved in a business call or discussion, conference calling has broken down that barrier and allows for more communal discussions. 

There are several solutions that work groups can employ to make collaboration easier, many of which are based on the latest technology that is available to everyone. Some solutions are simply a matter of a team learning how to work together and get the most out of each meeting, and all solutions involve improving communication. 

A successful employment candidate will treat the phone interview very s eriously and take the necessary steps to be completely prepared. 

As more companies turn to remote work, these meetings have become essential to keep businesses moving forward. But like with many productivity tools, there are areas where we can improve virtual meetings to make work more efficient and inclusive.

Virtual meetings have become the new normal. Keep your team engaged with these 6 virtual meeting tips to ensure the most success.

Whether you're looking to get the best price on a car or simply want to barter, the following advice can give you the upper hand whenever you want to make a deal over the phone. 

In order for your business plan to be useful, it needs to cover the primary subjects involved with growing and running a business. 

Take your business further, faster with hybrid cloud communications. By bridging your on-premises infrastructure to the rapidly developing cloud, your business will benefit from more complete, nuanced control of your communications platform. Mitel offers a wide array of hybrid cloud solutions to fit the unique needs of your business.

The way a person communicates in business can lose or seal a deal, influence others to increase their work performance, and ensure that your message is delivered effectively and that your intended audience comprehends your intent. 

Mitel's call center and contact center solutions have the flexibility to grow and expand with your business demands with real-time reporting and analytics. 

A collection of industry leaders' thoughts, interviews, podcasts, live streams, and webinars on Mitel and industry-related topics like remote working and customer experience. 

Artificial intelligence is rapidly being adopted by businesses everywhere. Using this powerful technology should revolutionize the way you do business, not create disconnect between machines and people. By integrating Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) solutions with communications and collaboration software, it doesn’t have to. Improve communication across devices, platforms and people and work smarter, not harder.

Society's introduction to the cell phone, and the journey that it has taken from a thing of fantasy to a very real and important part of life, is an interesting one. The best way to fully appreciate it is to learn about the people, events, and changes that made it what it is today. 

Has your business phone system kept pace with the times? More importantly, is it capable of helping you to meet tomorrow's challenges? This guide helps you to better understand how an updated phone system can help you reduce costs, improve the user experience and grow with your business.

Today, telephones are still changing and giving people new ways to communicate and entertain themselves. Now that they can connect to the Internet, phones are also becoming a useful learning tool for children and adults. 

Cables have been used to communicate between the U.S. and Europe for more than a century. The original transatlantic cable was a relatively simple telegraph cable, but laying it across the ocean floor was an immense undertaking. 

Managing newly remote workers during COVID-19 can be a drastic change from the norm. While there will be some challenges, there are solutions to help effectively manage workers while the team works from home.

Read reviews and testimonials from happy Mitel cloud VoIP customers and how our solutions have helped their businesses across industries. 

CEO Rich McBee talks about what the company is doing to be more customer-focused and help companies navigate difficult technology transitions.

What is a cloud-based phone system and why would you want one? Will switching to a cloud based solution save you money? Why should you trust Mitel? The answer to those questions and others can be found in our Mitel Sky frequently asked questions (FAQs). 

Mitel has identified a security certificate requirement for MiVoice Business software including Release 5.0 through to Release 9.0 SP2. Mitel and our partners are committed to servicing affected systems to ensure consistency of communications.

Multi-line business phone systems are ideal for smaller businesses, as opposed to PBX systems that cater to larger firms. 

Multichannel contact centers give customers the flexibility to choose the method of contact that makes the most sense for them at any given time, and requires your organization to provide the same prompt, informed customer experience across all channels. With the right tools, you can make sure your business is prepared to meet these evolving demands. 

By eliminating guesswork and automatically connecting agents with customers, outbound dialing solutions can maximize agent productivity and deliver the information required for a successful interaction. 

In 2020 working from home has now become a reality for the global workforce. We review the 3 top challenges and how to overcome them.

Whether it's hardware in a server room or a virtual machine in the cloud, you can find a call control platform at the heart of every communication system. The right solution not only offers the best features for your size and type of business, but one that's ready to scale with your needs.

Traditional phone systems sometimes referred to as TDM (Time Division Multiplexers) or PBX (Private Branch Exchanges), have come a long way. They have morphed into a digital delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions known as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) networks. 

As important as the phone is, it is just as important that businesses know the difference between what is good and what is bad phone etiquette. 

Prior to buying a cellphone for minors in the family, parents will want to understand what the negative aspects are and should discuss them with their kids. In addition to the risks to children, there are a number of safety concerns that adults should heed for themselves. 

In business, as in nature, no two clouds are identical. Fortunately, there’s a whole continuum of deployment options available to fit your goals and your budget, whether you’re looking to move your applications into the public cloud, build your own private cloud or create a hybrid between the two. With flexibility like that, it’s no wonder so many businesses are migrating to cloud communications. 

Before 2020, remote working was a growing trend in the US business community. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a prevalent way of life. Find out what the remote workforce is and what you need to get started.

A collection of the wisdom we've collected on remote working and working from home.

On-premises systems may be the gold standard of business communications, but they’re expensive to purchase, operate and maintain. With hosted PBX services in the cloud, you can get the same real-time voice and collaboration experience and better PBX features while saving time and money. And that’s an easy call to make. 

What Makes Mitel Business Phone Service Unique Mitel is a leading provider of cloud, onsite and hybrid business telephone and unified communications (UC) solutions. Our award-winning, brilliantly simple communications solutions for small and mid-market companies consistently outperform the competition in customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, value, and lowest total cost of ownership.

There is a lot to learn about the way we communicate, how our minds process information, and ultimately better understand what makes us all so special.  

SIP is a protocol that tells the end points and the intermediate systems how to set up a virtual session between two or multiple end points. It enables the creation and deployment of feature-rich services that go far beyond simple IP telephony phone calls, including multimedia/video, instant messaging, web integration, and more. SIP is just a way for your communication systems to talk to each other and relay voice, video, IM and other data over an IP based network. 

 

Find out the current status of the Shoretel 14.2 / Mitel 14.2 phone system and unified communications platform, and check out the best alternatives and replacements for this system. 

A collection of resources on VoIP and speech in tech. 

SIP trunking is a way to deliver telecommunication voice and media services over the Internet. If you currently have a VoIP phone system or PBX (Private Branch Exchange) that supports SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), then SIP trunking can be a means of delivering high quality, reliable digital voice services for your business without the cost of additional hardware or the need to switch phone systems. 

Deliver personalized customer experiences with a cloud-native contact center solution for small businesses that combines enterprise-class modern cloud call center architecture with a consumer-like experience. 

Ready for an easy-to-use hosted cloud collaboration tool for small business (SMB), including instant messaging, group chat, conferencing, screen sharing, file sharing, task management and more? You're in luck.

As you think about how you can change the world with you new great idea, take a look at the resources below to help get you there. 

Smart workspaces are the future of business. They’ll help you improve productivity and consistently meet the demands of today’s business environment by creating modern and connected ecosystems that are accessible from anywhere.

Cloud technology is becoming the way of the future for the corporate world. With the cloud, you can have an entire computer network without having to invest in servers, cabling, or an army of IT support technicians. 

Take the guesswork out of working together. With a great team collaboration tool, you can stop wasting time switching between tools and searching for answers—bringing everything into one intuitive experience so you can focus on getting stuff done. 

Although there was some controversy in the wake of its passing, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 marked the beginning of a new era for telephone, broadcasting, and Internet services. 

The tele in telecommunications is about voice or personal, person to person communications and the technologies that underlaid that. It started out with telephony and also some things around the edge of it like paging. It is fundamentally about people communicating.

These telephone etiquette tips will help you always convey a professional image when speaking to a customer. 

Follow the unified communications from its earliest predecessors, like the telegraph, through major milestones, like PBX, IVR, VoIP, SIP and AI, to the present day.

Your all-in-one cloud communications, collaboration and contact center service.

Transform the way you manage your business with MiCloud Connect.

MiCloud Connect + Teamwork: A Powerful Collaboration

Created with a mobile-first mindset, MiCloud Connect delivers advanced collaboration tools for employees.

Intuitive user experiences and flexible service plans with Google Cloud's proven reliability.

Two decades ago, the concept of “mobile workforce management” hadn’t yet been invented; today, however, both the size and definition of “the remote workforce” have expanded to impressive proportions. Motivating, managing and engaging this workforce is the key to productivity and employee satisfaction.

Transitioning back to on-site work during COVID-19 times can be challenging. Check out our tips to make the switch a little easier. 

Check out this collection of articles on trends in communications and collaboration across industries, technologies and strategies. 

When voice and collaboration tools are integrated into a system that allows easy flow of communication among devices, it’s called unified communications and collaboration, or UCC. Just as a line is the shortest distance between two points, unified communications allow businesses to make the fastest possible decisions and transactions. UCC allows users to communicate in whatever manner best suits their needs or situation. And the individual tools are interconnected so that access is streamlined and efficient.

The core concepts behind the cloud are shared services, infrastructure, and resources, all of which are centrally managed by a single company. 

Sophisticated PBX virtual auto attendants deliver economy, efficiency and professionalism. 

Meeting virtually? Considering it? Find out how the best companies do it in this guide, with benefits, top features, tips, use cases and more.

A fully virtual system grants all of the features of a fully-featured PBX, for example, but without any onsite components other than the user handset devices. 

VoIP phones can be delivered via a cloud solution that is managed by a third-party host, or via an onsite solution managed by a dedicated IT resource. 

If you're in the market for a new business VoIP phone system, then you're probably wondering how much you should budget for it. Estimate costs, learn what should be included in a quote, compare prices and get your own quote for a new VoIP phone system.

When speed and information can be the difference between the success and failure, how do you stay competitive? The answer is simple. Check out MiCloud Connect.

Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) is a communications technology in which voice calls, as well as video and data, are transmitted over the internet, instead of the publicly switched telephone network (PSTN). Instead of your old copper phone network, VoIP runs on your broadband connection. There’s no on-site equipment or infrastructure to maintain. You can be up and running quickly, able to focus more resources on running your business instead of managing your phone system.

Never miss an opportunity to advance. Having a call recording solution allows your company to unlock the full potential of each and every customer, client, colleague or supplier communication. With business call recording you can quickly capture, archive, organize, playback and share voice conversations, enabling you to gain valuable insight into every important interaction.

Mitel's VoIP phone systems and technology helps teachers and students at schools and universities communicate effectively in today's global environment. 

Since online security threats evolve so quickly, there are dozens of different schools of thought on how best to use encryption to enhance network security -- not just for governments, but for businesses and end users, too. 

In January 2014, Aastra officially merged with Mitel. As part of the merger, some of Aastra’s products were renamed, some were replaced and some were even discontinued. We created this page to help you find out what happened to Aastra’s most popular products after the Mitel merger, and where possible, direct you to their new names or their replacements. 

After Mitel’s acquisition of Corvisa, find out what happened to Corvisa’s most popular products and, where possible, get directed you to their new names or their replacements.

We created this page to help you find out what happened to some of Mitel’s more popular products, and where possible, direct you to their new names or their best replacements. 

After Mitel’s acquisition of  Oaisys, find out what happened to  Oaisys' most popular products and, where possible, get directed you to their new names or their replacements. 

After Mitel’s acquisition of Shoretel, find out what happened to Shoretel’s most popular products and, where possible, get directed you to their new names or their replacements. 

A cloud-based solution provides a service by leveraging the power of the cloud and cloud-based infrastructure to meet business needs, often with greater operational efficiency and cost effectiveness

Learn about hosted PBX phone systems and how they can save money, time, and headaches. Discover how cloud PBX systems compare to on-premises. 

Hybrid work environments are becoming more prominent as we get closer to a post-COVID-19 world. Learn the meaning of a hybrid workplace and how this setup can be conducive to effective teamwork and productivity.

Telecommunications is a rapidly growing sector that has escalated growth with each decade. With an exciting history that begins with smoke signals, ventures into the world of reflective light, then electrical messages, a kaleidoscope of exciting inventions and patent-thievery accusations, light-transmitting voices, and voice of internet protocol (VoIP), we haven't seen the end yet.

Unified communication as a service (UCaaS) helps businesses communicate more efficiently by bringing all their communication channels together into one streamlined, cloud-based system. 

Voice as a service (VaaS) is a part of unified communications as a service. VaaS is a growing offering as a voice over internet telephone solution.

Writing a request for proposal (RFP) for a new telephone system is a big job, requiring a lot of information and no costly omissions. 

Here is a basic primer to give you a better understand of PBX systems. 

Choose from three deployment options to fit your need.

Our workforce management and recording management solutions help you accurately plan, forecast and schedule agents to increase operational efficiency.