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What happens when a leading managed-cloud provider of unified communications (UC) – ConnectSolutions -- teams up with Mitel, delivering the best path to cloud communications? Customers succeed with cloud solutions that optimize communications and collaboration.
In fact, in helping many small businesses, larger enterprises and government organizations migrate business communications to the cloud, ConnectSolutions has a front-row view on industry trends and best practices for cloud communications. We recently spoke with Kelli Law, VP of Business Development at ConnectSolutions for his perspective on industry trends in cloud communications.
Q: As a leading managed cloud provider for business communications, you've been close to customers migrating to cloud solutions. What are the biggest challenges customers are facing today?
We are seeing the perfect storm of increased network capacity, overburdened IT resources, and an increasingly mobile workforce drive the demand for cloud-based communication solutions. Just as organizations are moving complex CRM and ERP systems to the cloud, real-time communication and collaboration systems are a perfect candidate for migration to the cloud. Organizations have demanded a move to the cloud to be seamless and without sacrificing functionality, control, and reliability. This is where ConnectSolutions really shines.
We have been transitioning many organization’s unified communication (UC) to the cloud, delivering more than 6 billion minutes of usage across our platform. We take the guess work out of the migration plan, and deliver the functionality the customer needs to continue running their business and make their people far more efficient in communicating with their colleagues, customers, and partners. Our partnership with Mitel allows us to provide advance call center and call routing capabilities native to Microsoft Lync and the cloud to ensure organizations operate efficiently.
Q: In fact, you have a solution called CoSo TeamUP designed for Microsoft Lync customers. Are you seeing more demand for Lync solutions?
We have seen a rapid acceptance of Lync in the marketplace, not only as a communication solution, but also as an alternative to all the disparate systems and services in use today. Customers are quickly recognizing that they can replace contracts with vendors such as Avaya, Webex, GotoMeeting, Cisco, etc. with one powerful solution in Lync.
Q: I noticed Mitel wasn’t on that list. How are ConnectSolutions and Mitel working to help our joint customers succeed with Microsoft?
One of the key differentiators ConnectSolutions brings to our joint customers is the ability to replace their communications infrastructure with one cloud-based UC solution. Mitel’s call routing and call center capabilities are a key component to this solution. When you can combine ConnectSolutions’ technology and experience in moving enterprise UC to the cloud with Mitel’s native Lync solutions, the result is a unified, cloud-based solution to eliminate the traditional challenges of on-premise, unified communication infrastructure.
Q: Most business communications providers say they have solutions that work with Microsoft. Are there any advantages of working with Mitel to offer a seamless solution with Microsoft? What does Mitel offer that others don't?
Whether we add technology of our own, or from trusted partners to our UC solutions, we demand that they work natively with Lync and offer a superior user experience that avoids becoming cumbersome or inefficient through use of different clients or user interfaces. Mitel’s native Lync solution works within the Lync framework, and allows us to maintain the integrity of the solution we are providing to our customers. It also allows the users to continue using the Lync client in the same intuitive manner that they are accustomed to. From a solutions provider perspective, Mitel allows us to provide this technology as a service in a scalable way, whether that is through a multi-tenant cloud offering, a private cloud solution, or even in a managed cloud-premise hybrid delivery.
Mitel will be demonstrating MiContact Center for Lync, Lync-optimized phones and its portfolio of other solutions that help customers leverage their Microsoft infrastructure and maximize Lync at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Washington D.C. from July 13 to 17, 2014. Check us out at booth 329.
For more information on ConnectSolutions, go to http://www.connectsolutions.com/products-solutions/try-teamup/
For more information on MiContact Center for Lync, go to http://www.mitel.com/products/enterprise-solutions/lync
