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. 

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology refers to a series of transmission capabilities that make communication over the Internet a possibility. VoIP, colloquially known as Internet telephony, converts voice vibrations to compressed digital signals that translate to Internet Protocol (IP) packets. In essence, VoIP allows computer users and businesses to make telephone calls from a desktop computer equipped with a VoIP phone.

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. 

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. 

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

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

IoT is a growing environment of connected devices, sensors and endpoints. Each endpoint is network-enabled and transmits information to machines or people; the transmitted information can tie into a unified communications (UC) system to route messages to specific people based on analytics. IoT can also connect with contact center applications that enable customer service teams to be proactive and predictive.

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). 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Private branch exchange is a phone system that allows you to connect all of the phones in a building. Users of the system can dial internally or externally using shared phone lines. In the original case, the PBX was not a thing but a switchboard operator. The PBX automated all of that work that a switchboard operator would do. It would allow you to dial internally or externally with the PBX in place.

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. 

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. 

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. 

 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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

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

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.