Meeting the Network Demands of the Fortune 50
For over 20 years, AccessLine Communications has been meeting the exacting communications quality standards of Fortune 50 companies like IBM, Hewlett Packard, Standard Register, Federal Express, Sun/Oracle, and Internap. Now, AccessLine offers this proven network performance to your customers.

A Purpose Built Network
Most hosted communications companies build their network by cobbling together off-the-shelf components. Not AccessLine. We built our network and service platform from the ground up to be a purpose-built voice communications network for businesses. Our network architects and engineers have designed, built, tested, and deployed the entire network from the edge to the core. All features from voicemail to call forwarding to conference calling have been designed and built by AccessLine.

AccessLine’s Any-Cast Architecture
This proprietary design ensures complete fault tolerance exceeding the capabilities of even our most advanced competitors. Any-Cast IP addressing insures your calls take the shortest path to reach our network. Imagine a freeway with 20 on ramps and no matter which one you took, you would always be headed in the right direction. More access points and a secure open registration allows your service to be more available and the highest quality.

Fail Over Routing
Fail Over Routing is an important business continuity feature of the AccessLine network. Fail Over Routing provides advanced, instant redundancy by automatically redirecting all inbound calls to an alternate phone number in the event the primary termination location is detected to no longer be available.

“AccessLine is UNIQUE
in requiring customers to run a network quality test. Other SIP providers…turn their SIP trunks up on any network without review. We need to make sure the customer’s network is ready to support VoIP traffic…the AccessLine process and tools ensure that.”  -Vincent Finaldi

Support is the Heart of AccessLine
Since their Network has unique and proprietary advantages, it’s only logical that they support it themselves, right here in the United States. Their customer and network support staff deliver first-class customer service from their headquarters in Bellevue, Washington. AccessLine has a support staff that has direct communication lines to the engineers who designed and built their nationwide network and services, which means that if any issues arise they will be escalated faster and resolved faster.

AccessLine, Where You Are
A La Carte Enhanced Features
• Findme/Followme Number. Use any phone as if calling right from your VoIP Phone.
• Simultaneous Ring: Ring several devices at the same time
• Call Forwarding: Always, Busy, No Answer
• Personal Conference Number: Always on, up to 100 participants
• Voicemail to Email; All voicemails are sent to your email inbox
• Fax to Email; Retrieve faxes anywhere from your Outlook Inbox
• Automated Attendant; Hunt Groups, Music on Hold, OnLine Call Management & More.

When you call AccessLine Customer Support you will find that your call is answered quickly, your question or issue is addressed by a knowledgeable, professional staff member committed to resolution.

By working with the top-grade carrier partners, AccessLine has built one of the largest local area footprints in the US, covering more than 90% of US Businesses.

Overview
SMC Networks is a leading provider of affordable, easy-to-use, high-performance networking solutions for the consumer, small- and medium-sized businesses, and enterprise markets. With a global presence that supports customers throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia-Pacific, SMC leverages its heritage of over 35 years to deliver to market a level of quality, reliability and technological advancement that has established it as one of the premier network companies in the industry.

Since 2003, SMC has maintained a Green portfolio of networking products demonstrating its commitment to the environment at a very early stage. In 2008, Instat confirmed SMC’s commitment to go beyond cursory attempts at power management when it stated that SMC was one of the top five most energy efficient in the 24/48 port managed switch category. SMC’s Green Policy is a key component of the company’s core strength that can be leveraged by its install base.

Vision
SMC aims to provide the best range of innovative wireless and wired solutions for the interface among office, computing, electronic and telecommunication equipment and the Internet.

History
Founded in 1971, with worldwide headquarters in Irvine, California, SMC Networks maintains its global presence by supporting customers from regional offices throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Japan.

In 1997, SMC became a subsidiary of Accton Technology Corporation, (TAIEX: 2345), a global outsourcing partner for networking and communications solutions. Leveraging SMC’s design, engineering and marketing strengths with Accton’s expertise in optimizing silicon designs and streamlining manufacturing has since added to the company’s success.

Customer Satisfaction
Designed always with ease of use, efficiency and overall value in mind-value at purchase, and value in operation on the network-SMC Networks’ products are sold through a network of highly-qualified resellers, integrators, ISPs and retailers, and further supported by SMC’s easily-accessible technical resources. The company backs-up the quality and ease-of-use that’s built into its products with a customer satisfaction guarantee, an industry-leading warranty program and expert technical support. SMC provides toll-free access to live technical support worldwide (24/7 in U.S. and Canada) in ten languages to supplement its comprehensive on-line knowledge base and responsive email support. And, its cross-ship product replacement service gets customers back on-line faster when problems arise.

Technical Support
24 hours a day, 7 days a week (U.S.A./Canada)
800-SMC-4-YOU
E-mail: techsupport@smc.com
Web: http://www.smc.com

Corporate Headquarters
800-SMC-4-YOU
marketing@smc.com
sales@smc.com

Confidentiality:
Do you ever stand at the window of the pharmacy, or, at the front reception desk of your doctor’s office, how about at your bank teller’s window dealing with a personal or confidential issue?  When standing there, did you ever wonder about who could hear your conversation?  What information or details may be revealed no matter how quietly you try to speak ?  If you are a provider, how do you think your clients feel inside your office?  Safe and comfortable ?  Or, exposed and on display ?

Keeping conversations private is a big concern for many businesses and service providers.  To combat this, architects have built in quiet areas for work spaces.  However, these designed “Quiet Space” offices only exacerbate the issue of trying to have a private conversation.  If it is too quiet the sound of the conversation carries across the distance of workspaces.

There is a simple and affordable solution for banks, pharmacies, doctor/dentist offices, loan companies, counselors, attorney offices, real estate offices, etc., to remove the potential for overheard conversations.  Implementing a speech privacy system will fill in the sound spectrum in these areas with a barely perceptible low-level background noise.  This will serve to render conversations unintelligible in the area covered. The masking sound the emitters of a privacy system produce won’t cancel those intruding voices, but will cover them up.

Creating a comfortable space for clients and customers to feel safe is essential for repeat business.  Speech privacy is a simple solution that works toward that goal.

Productivity:
Other benefits to speech privacy systems include producing better productivity.  When you think about the entire workforce of the US, a majority of them work in open office environments or large spaces with lots of desks and cubicles.  Most of those are employed at what’s called information workers, dealing with informational tasks, inputting and retrieving data.

Dictionary.com defines productivity as: the quality, state, or fact of being able to generate, create, enhance, or bring forth goods and services.  The more focus directly on the task, generally, the faster that task is performed and the more an employee gets done, the more productive he/she becomes.

Worker distractions are a major cause of productive downtime.  General office noise, a conversation a few cubicles down, or that phone ringing on someone else’s desk are examples of things that can cause a distraction.  Studies have shown that “conversational distractions” are the biggest cause of lost productivity because they increase worker errors and worker stress levels, and consequently decrease worker focus.  Many modern offices are designed to eliminate much of that noise by creating a “quiet workplace”, but actually effectively completing the reverse due to any and every noise (the proverbial pin drop) being heard anywhere in the room, thus creating the distraction the quiet space sought to avoid.

The best and only way to achieve the balance between too loud and too quiet is by creating and increasing background noise.  This sound covers other noises with different frequencies produced by ceiling mounted emitters that are evenly spaced creating a balanced spatial uniformity.  Using a product like Voice Arrest from Speech Privacy Systems is a very affordable and easy application to achieve confidentiality and productivity goals while eliminating conversational distractions.  Installation is easy with no downtime and very non-intrusive installation methods.

Other institutions who should consider this technology are;  schools, libraries, government buildings, call centers, executive offices, financial institutions or anywhere focus is threatened or confidentiality is key.

For additional information on Speech Privacy Systems go to: www.speechprivacysystems.com or contact ECS today.

(Article by Charles Bressler – ECS Account Manager)

Mobile Twinning on the Avaya IP Office provides the ability to use a mobile telephone as an extension of your office phone. This allows your staff to offer a one number approach while also controlling their accessibility, enabling them be more mobile whether in or out of the office. When a call has been twinned to your cell phone and you reach your office, you may switch the call over to your extension by pressing the Twinning Button.        

Mobile Twinning on the Avaya IP Office can be used for mobiles or any other external number (eg: home phone/home-workers), and requires no additional IP Office Hardware.

In practical terms, the ‘one number’ approach adopted and promoted within Avaya IP Office means that companies don’t become dependant on the mobile numbers of their employees. For example, if a salesman leaves his/her position, the company will not lose business contacts because the call still goes to the company phone number rather than the employee’s mobile number.

Twinning allows a primary extension and a secondary number (internal extension or external telephone number) to operate together as a single telephone, where staff have a desk with a fixed phone but also have a Mobile/Cell phone. When a call is presented to the primary phone the secondary will ring. If the primary telephone does not ring, for example in Do Not Disturb, the secondary phone will not ring. Staff/Users may be allowed to enter a twinned number, or may just be able to activate/deactivate the twinning function depending on administrative settings.

Mobile Twinning on the Avaya IP Office requires either SIP Trunks or PRI Trunks. A twinned call will use 2 channels of SIP Trunks or PRI Trunks in order to work.

IP Office platforms supported
• IP500
• IP500 V2
• IP Office for Linux

IP Office Server Edition
• Centralized Licensing
• Centralized Management
• Simplified Installation & Deployment

New Hardware Components
• IP Office Server Edition – Primary/Secondary Servers
o HP DL 360 G7
o HP DL120 G7
• IP Office Server Edition – Expansion Server
o HP DL120 G7

IP Office Licensing Changes
• New Licensees for Server Edition
• Remote worker seats included with Essential edition is increased from 2 seats to 4.
• User Profiles licenses (TeleWorker, Office Worker, Mobile User, Power User) running  on a pre 8.0 Essential Edition will be valid if the system is upgraded to 8.1 with an upgrade license or if the system is upgraded during the entitlement period without an upgrade license. Only IP Office 500v2  system have entitlement period.
• Behavior not changing but listed for completeness:
o New systems started at the new R8.1 will require Preferred Edition license in order for the User Profile licenses to be valid
• The automatic trial licenses available during the entitlement period with release 8.0.16 and associated alarms will be removed and not available

End-point additions
• Flare Communicator for Windows
• Flare Communicator for iPad

IP Office Enhancements
• SIP Trunks
• one-X ® Mobile Preferred for IP Office enhancements
• Web Manager Enhancement supporting Upgrade, Back-up & restore
• Changeable RTP ports
• VoiceMail Pro Password length configuration
• Security Documentation
• Avaya Audio Branding change
• one-X ® Portal for IP Office websockets
• Debug enhancement – Logger stamp support
• SSL/VPN Remote Access

Application: VoiceMail Pro “Standalone”

Min PC Resources:
256MB RAM (or higher) Hard Disk Free Space = 2GB+ (or higher)
Intel Pentium:
Any – 1.4GHz clock speed (or higher)
Intel Celeron:
Any – 1.7GHz clock speed (or higher)
AMD:
Any – 1.4GHz clock speed (or higher)

*To avoid replacing the server when adding new applications we recommend that a Pentium 4 2.8GHz (or equivalent) is used when possible.

Windows OS support for IP Office Preferred Edition (Voicemail PRO) Release 8.0/R8.1                                                                                                                 

The following information is a summary of the operating systems on which the IP Office application “Preferred Edition” (Voicemail PRO) Release 8.0 has been tested and is supported on.

(While the applications may function on other operating systems, they have not been tested by Avaya and are not supported by Avaya)

Windows Servers:
2003 – 32bit
2008/2008R2 – 32bit or 64bit

Virtual Server Support:
For IP Office Release 8.0, “Preferred Edition” (Voicemail PRO) is supported while running on the following virtual servers:
• VMWare.
• Microsoft Virtual Server.
• Microsoft Server Hyper-V.

Most thieves are opportunistic.  They will try to find the path of least resistance for robbery or property damage.  Having a surveillance system can deter an offender by giving him/her something real to think about.  However, a determined crook will take a chance and work around any security system, so a surveillance system is not generally considered a crime prevention tool, rather a deterrent tool.  More on prevention in a moment.

Video Surveillance does work well as a deterrent.  There have been tons of studies on the effectiveness of security cameras.  Most prove surveillance cameras are an excellent deterrent.  A study of convenience stores monitored 83 locations for a year without surveillance cameras in place.  They monitored the same stores for a year after the installation of camera systems and found a 53% drop in theft rate.  That’s an impressive drop in loss.  Again, it won’t curb the appetite of every criminal or vandal out there.  Some just don’t care, or are just too stupid to worry about being on video.  In other words, cameras won’t take the place of a good door lock or a monitored alarm system, unless you have a human monitoring every camera all the time.

Most experts agree there are two directions to think about when considering a surveillance system.  The first is the deterrent factor.  Well placed cameras that let potential thieves know they are being watched, or, at least, recorded.  The second factor is to assist in investigation after an incident occurs.  Handing over video or stills of an alleged criminal will aid in their capture and arrest.  And, it’s not just theft that should be recorded.  In today’s litigious society having a video record of accidents, injuries, assaults, etc. can be a huge advantage.  We’ve seen recently how quickly law enforcement was able to identify the suspects in the Boston bombing by using a camera on an area store’s view.

Back to surveillance cameras as prevention;  Cameras by nature are just stupid eyes, watching everything, but not able to act on their own.  With today’s IP and software based cameras there are many functions that cameras can now perform on their own.  Through software a camera can actually alert someone or multiple people on motion or changes in environment, such as the light changes with an open door or broken window.  And, that motion setting can actually be bracketed to just small areas in the camera view, so it won’t alert if someone walks around most of the space, but will if they enter a designated space such as a cabinet where the safe if located.  An owner or manager can watch live streaming video from their desktop or laptop from anywhere in the world.  There are apps that work great with smart phones and tablets that allow that owner or manager to be mobile as well.  And, they can pan, tilt and zoom into areas to get a better view very easily with  IP cameras.  This allows the manager or owner to be at the workplace anytime from anywhere and to be able to act quickly to stop the undesired activity.

Mostly, like any application, before installation a proper design needs to be established to capture the best ROI.  Camera placement is key, as is having the correct camera and lenses.  Low light, back light, changing light and quality are all factors, as much as what the camera actually sees.  Also, the best use of the technology needs to be deployed, as in: when to record, when to notify, how to integrate with alarms, etc.  Also very important, the content needs to be seen and it has to be known that it can and will be seen.

Proven ROI against loss is huge for an owner.  Surveillance cameras can also help a business owner by:

1. 1) Protecting against fraudulent slips and falls or bogus worker injury claims
3. 2) Eliminate or discourage “Shrinkage” or employee theft
5. 3) Improve employee productivity
7. 4) Could lower business insurance cost in conjunction with alarms and security
8.     (need to check with your agent)

(Article by Charles Bressler – ECS Account Manager)

Internet Telephony magazine has named Avaya IP Office Release 8.1 its 2012 Unified Communications (UC) Product of the Year. The quality of the solution, as well its excellence in addressing the real needs of small-to-midsize businesses, are two of the many contributing factors that made Avaya IP Office deserving of this award.

Designed to enhance workforce flexibility, this best-in-class solution offers a wide range of benefits and capabilities including:

Scale: Supports up to 1,200 users per service with centralized licensing and management.

Video Collaboration: Enables rich, fully interactive, multi-party video conferencing for users inside and outside the corporate network.

Mobility: Extends service to personal devices. Make calls, check voice mail, send instant messages and see presence status from an Apple iPad or Windows device.

Microsoft Lync Integration: Click to call contacts, switch from IM to a call, and access the corporate directory without costly voice licenses, complex administration, or server modifications.

Simplified Networking: Avaya ERS 3500 series switches deliver one-minute plug-and-play set up with Avaya IP phones.

IP500 Overview:
Avaya IP Office 500 is a highly modular unified communications platform designed to meet the requirements of small and medium enterprises. The award-winning IP Office 500 gives growing companies a complete solution for telephony, messaging, networking, conferencing, customer management, and unified communications. With just a single model that scales from 5 users at a single site to 1,000 users across up to 32 sites, IP Office provides an unprecedented set of leading-edge communications capabilities to help your employees work smarter and serve your customers more effectively.

To learn more about IP Office visit:
www.avaya.com/sme
www.youtube.com/user/Avaya
www.GoECS.com

An Authorized Agent is your “UNBIASED” & “OBJECTIVE” Single Point of Contact for Carrier/Telco Related Services.

Here are a few reasons to use An Authorized Agent to order your Telephone Lines/Dial-Tone, Internet Access, Private Networking; ie; MPLS, Point to Point T1, etc.

An Authorized Agentacts as your advocate:
Carrier Direct Sales Reps don’t always act in “your” best interests. They are compensated by the amount you spend and continue to spend with their company. Authorized Agents evaluate services from multiple carriers and look for ways to save you money.

An Authorized Agent has experience with multiple providers:
Maybe there’s a carrier that’s offering attractive pricing, but you’re unsure about their service. Most likely an agent will already have experience with the lesser known carrier, already has clients using their service, and will be able to provide recommendations.
An Authorized Agent will provide you with independent information:
A carrier direct rep is not going to point out any shortcomings in their services/offering or how another carrier may be a better value for a particular service. Authorized Agents represent multiple carriers/providers and are more likely to disclose information in an unbiased & objective manner. An Authorized Agent will match the appropriate services and carrier/service provider for your needs.

With An Authorized Agent, you get more but you don’t pay more:
You’re going to pay the same monthly rate whether you order your services through a biased single-option direct carrier representative, or by placing your order through an unbiased & objective authorized agent.  Typically, working with an authorized agent, you will be working with someone who has a lot more experience with both carrier services and hardware.

An Authorized Agent can save you time and free up your staff:
Instead of having your staff members meet with multiple reps from multiple carriers/service providers, have your staff work with one unbiased & objective authorized agent that represents multiple providers. An Authorized Agent can identify your existing services, perform audits, analyze the data, and provide informed, unbiased recommendations. Authorized Agents know what questions to ask and what to look for.

SIP Trunking (dial-tone) spells the beginning of the end for PRI.  PRI represents the traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) while SIP represents Voice over IP.  SIP is the future, PRI is the past. Major providers like CenturyLink (Qwest), AT&T, Integra, Verizon, XO, etc. are providing SIP services now.  Business owners should wade through the two technologies to understand where telecom is headed.

PRI:
PRI is a digital circuit providing 23 channels or voice paths and one channel for signaling. Signaling provides Caller ID information and other data that helps the circuit perform.  PRI is a direct connection to the PSTN, so the call quality is excellent.  PRI allows for the use of DID’s. DID’s are phone numbers.  A PRI with DID’s allows a business to have more phone numbers than phone lines, offering greater number flexibility.  Typically, a PRI is “oversubscribed” which meansthere are more users than call channels.  That’s possible because in most businesses, not everyone is on the phone at the same time.

With PRI, your voice communication is completely separate from your internet or data traffic.  A new loop, from one of the incumbent phone companies, is required for each individual voice and data circuit and a separate run of cable is necessary for a business’s voice and data networks. With a PRI, the location dictates what area code and prefixes can be used. PRI’s don’t make an efficient use of a company’s resources.  Unused channels sit dormant.

SIP:
SIP trunks are call paths that can be ordered in any increment.  SIP is Voice over IP, so your voice calls are transmitted across the internet.  The call quality depends on the network it is being transmitted on. SIP provides for a more efficient use of resources because the voice communication rides over a business’s data network.  There is only one network to manage, one set of cables required, if the SIP trunks aren’t in use, the bandwidth is freed up for data and a business isn’t required to order call paths in increments of 23.  SIP trunks can be aggregated at the company’s host location and trunks can be shared companywide, so economies of scale can be realized.

SIP allows for even more phone number flexibility and functionality.  You can incorporate traditional DID’s and out of area DID’s, so you can make any number ring at any location, nationwide. Unlike PRI, additional SIP trunks can be implemented in days, not the weeks.

PRI or SIP might seem complicated but they don’t need to be.  PRI provides voice communication over the phone network.  SIP provides voice communication over the internet.  SIP is more versatile, scalable & makes better use of a company’s resources.  PRI will be phased out over time.