What’s In Your Phone Bill?
Teledata Select is an expert in reviewing business telecom expenses with an eye for finding inefficiencies, errors and opportunities for cost savings. We have reviewed countless bills over the years and thought it was time to shed some light on all of taxes and fees...
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Time To Review Your Telecom Provider?
7 It may be past time to update the old adage that the only constant in IT is change. It now seems that the only constant in IT is faster and faster change. It can be a struggle to make sure that your technology is supporting your business and not a burden to it. If...
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Customer Service Stories
When I talk to people about their home internet service, It isn’t often that the response doesn’t start with a sigh and an eye roll. I then get a humorous story, albeit tinged with a bit of frustration, about how the service tech always shows up at the very last...
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VPN for Everyone
Greetings from the Blackbeard Coffee Shop in Greenville NC. I am back on the road for a few months now that the holidays are behind us and the cold Ohio Winter has settled in. While I was home for the holidays, my brother said that he had noticed that my Mom’s bank...
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A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place
This month’s Tech Tip comes to us from Jed Fearon, Solution Advisor at ProviDyn. Whenever I drive by The Container Store, I am vividly reminded of my desire to have everything in its proper place. In these times of perpetual cyber warfare, this mindset (or slight case...
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Your Business and Shiny Things
I used to work with a team supporting an international, high volume gaming platform. Our prime objective was to not let the service go down, at any and all cost. We were always in search of that next tool or technique that would meet that goal. The challenge was that...
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New Telecom for the New Year?
At the risk of sounding cliché, where did 2018 go? I can't believe that it has been a year since I was sitting at my desk reviewing 2017 and putting together my business plan for 2018. I really recommend carving out time as soon as possible to figure out where your...
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SD-WAN for an “Always” On Internet Connection
We have all been there, you swipe your credit card to complete a purchase and you wait and wait for the approval to come back. The cashier usually just shrugs and says that the systems have been slow all day. These delays are usually caused by heavy traffic. The kind...
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Can Faster Internet Be Cheaper?
Recently I received a call from the owner of a CPA firm that was looking for faster internet options They had Comcast Coax Business internet with a speed of 50X10 (50meg down and 10 Meg up). However, this customer wanted a faster upload speed to support their efforts...
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The 2018 Tech Gift Guide
The holidays are upon us already, time for our annual tech gift guide. The pressure is mounting to get that perfect gift that is useful, shows you care and more importantly won’t end up regifted or worse, sitting in a box in the corner of the garage awaiting a future...
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Our first look at the new Echo Show from Amazon
Recently, I had the good fortune to win a new Echo Show at one of our supplier events. Amazon integrated its cloud-based voice connectivity, aka Alexa, with the added feature of a hands-free, on-demand video interface. I was eager to get it home and set up. Luckily, a...
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Are You Ready For IPv6
In an earlier blog about 5G, John mentioned that its implementation and widespread adoption would connect more and more "things" to the internet resulting in a whole lot more IP's being needed. I thought I should follow up on a little information on IPv6 and how to...
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5G will be a huge boost for faster internet
What is 5G? 5G is simply the next numbered generation following 4G, which replaced the previous wireless communication technologies. Much like the generations before it, 5G aims to make mobile communication faster and more reliable as more and more devices go online....
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Factors to Consider When Choosing a Telecom Broker
Businesses have more options than ever when it comes to choosing a Telecom Broker. Here are some things to consider when making a decision that can achieve optimal performance and best value for your situation. Experience: How many years of experience does your...
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Telecom Considerations Before Moving Your Business
Moving your business to a new location (or opening a new location) can be an exciting experience. Before you make that final commitment, it is important to consider how your telecom services may be impacted. Many leases are signed without realizing the effects this...
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Securing Your Home Wireless Network
Many folks spend more and more time working from home which can be a great time saver. My wife has worked out of our home for many years and finds she is more productive avoiding the time and stress of driving to the office. The downside of working from home is that...
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Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season
June 1st is here. The official start of Hurricane Season. We have already had a taste of what is to come with tropical storm Alberto. Alberto has left a trail of flood damage across the Eastern United States. The disaster recovery efforts are just starting. Are you...
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Business Phone Solutions? VoIP Is The Future.
It was not that long ago that many of us did not know what VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) was all about. Most business phone systems were hidden away in the phone room, a back hall closet or the copier room. The phone system worked but we had to relearn it each...
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Poking Around Your Telecom Closet
If you have started to rethink your company’s telecom solution, you probably already know that there are a lot of telecom solutions to consider. All claiming to offer better, more reliable service at a lower cost than what you have now. But what do you really need and...
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This is Channel Partner’s Week in Las Vegas
It has already been a year since we were last in Las Vegas for the Channel Partner Conference and Expo. It is always a great opportunity to meet with service providers, manufacturers and resellers. We get to stay up to date on what’s new and what’s coming in the...
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Questions To Ask When Reviewing A Cloud Based Contact Center Solution
In a previous blog article, we stated that it might be a good time to consider moving your Contact Center to the Cloud. This post is going a step further and provide you with a few questions to ask prospective contact center cloud suppliers. Unified Platform Does...
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Reasons To Consider A Cloud Based Contact Center
Does your company make outbound calls to customers or receive inbound calls? How do you manage your sales force, provide customer service, or offer help desk support? Do you employ home based call center agents. Do you currently have an onsite phone system (more...
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Cost Containment Can Lower Your Telecom Expenses
For too long, we have watched companies scale back critical segments of their businesses. From employee head counts and marketing budgets to mission critical customer service functions, all have been impacted. However, as the economy continues to improve, we are...
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Bill Consolidation Makes It Look Easy
As explained in a previous blog, there are a lot of benefits to using an Aggregator. A benefit worth delving deeper into is Telecom Bill Consolidation. Instead of receiving a bill for each service you have contracted, consolidation combines them into one bill...
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Is 2018 your year to use a Telecom Broker?
From faster bandwidth to more useful technology, there are many sources for the telecom services your company needs to succeed. One of them is via a Telecom Aggregator; Granite, Birch and Fusion are some of the names of companies that lease bandwidth. They then bundle...
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Understanding your IT Infrastructure Options
Following up on the previous blog where we explained what you should know about the costs and capabilities of your IT Systems. This post is a discussion on what you can do with that information. There are options available to a business owner today that can lower the...
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New Year Resolutions for your Customer Service?
The New Year Celebrations have come and gone and the holiday decorations stored away for another year, it’s time to get on with business in 2018. Now is as good a time as any to sit down with your employees and staff to refocus their efforts to match up with your...
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The Benefits of a Telecom Aggregator
The telecom industry changes rapidly, in both the technology available and the costs to get and use it. It is hard for a small business to stay competitive if it is not keeping up with the technology available to it. That is where a Telecom Aggregator comes in....
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What are SD-WAN Benefits
The number of implementations of SD-WAN is growing by leaps and bounds. According to Gartner, spending on SD-WAN products will rise from the $129 million spent in 2016 to $1.24 billion in 2020. It is really only recently that it has crossed over into a widely accepted...
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Looking back on Technology
While walking the aisles of Best Buy the other day, I got to thinking about how far technology has come in my life time. It is said that the cell phone in your pocket has 1000’s of times more computing power than the computer that got the Apollo 11 to the moon and...
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Some Gift Ideas for 2017
Now that I have recovered from the big turkey dinner, I am down to the big job of finding the right gift for each person on my list. Instead of battling the throngs of holiday shoppers, I spent Friday going through the sales fliers and researching what electronics are...
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An overview of DSL, Cable and Fiber
There are others, but the most common internet service options available to the average consumer today are cable, DSL and fiber optic. While it’s true that each is capable of providing you with high-speed capabilities, these services are very distinct. Understanding...
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Flying Without Instruments? A Guest Blog
No business should operate without routine IT system “Check Ups.” This is highly advisable since so many companies are getting mixed results from their Managed Services Providers (“MSP’s”) - and don’t even know it. Over 80% of the clients ProviDyn added in the past...
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How Do Your Customers Relate To Your Auto Attendant?
It is said that you never get a second chance at a first impression. When your customers call your business, what is their first impression? How many buttons do they need to press to answer the question they are asking? Do they get lost in the key pad maze of voice...
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Is Your Current Telecom Solution Meeting Your Needs
Your company’s telecom solution is an important tool in providing the quality, value and support that customers expect when doing business with you. Is your current service up to this challenge? Here are some points to consider when you start to hear complaints about...
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Cisco’s Broadsoft Acquistion. Good for the customers?
Internet Hardware manufacturer Cisco just announced that they are buying BroadSoft, the technology innovator in cloud PBX, hosted VoIP, unified communications, and contact center solutions for businesses and service providers across 80 countries. The deal, worth $1.9...
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Getting To Simple, Aggregating your Telecom Service.
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with the owners of companies with multiple locations. They were looking for a way to consolidate all of their telecom bills into one easy to manage invoice. By the end of the discussion, I realized that they were really looking...
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In Case Of Disaster, Who Answers The Phone?
With all the interruptions being caused by the recent hurricanes, we wanted to cover a telecom solution that can support your business during and after an event that affects your site(s). The solution could be Hosted VoIP PBX. Hosted VoIP PBX is a software based...
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We are at the Channel Partners Evolution Conference
Hello from the Great State of Texas, Austin in particular. We are here for the 2017 Channel Partners Evolution Conference. The theme this year is about how solution providers must evolve to meet the changing needs of the end customers. There will be presentations of...
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Saving Money Using Telecom Expense Management
The goal of Telecom Expense Management’s (TEM) is to ensure that you are getting the best value for your telecom solution and your billing is accurate. A good TEM starts by building an accurate real time IT inventory, gathering all of your telecom bills and looking...
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Hurricane Preparedness – Ideas for You
We are based out of Atlanta Ga and watching the tracking maps and predictions for Hurricane Irma closely. We are hoping that Irma loses strength by the time it gets here. Even if it does, there will probably still be a lot of rain with whatever we get. Atlanta doesn’t...
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Getting to Know The Birch Fusion Merger
NEW YORK, NY -- August 28, 2017 -- Fusion (NASDAQ: FSNN), a leading cloud services provider, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Cloud and Business Services customers, operations and infrastructure of privately-held Birch...
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9 Top Reasons To Use A Telecom Broker
A Telecom Broker is a person that acts as an agent to a Business, Non-Profit or Government Entity that is looking to change, upgrade or streamline their telecommunications service(s). The following nine items describe what a Telecom Broker can do for you. Multiple...
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Thinking About Going To VoIP? Here Are Some Considerations
More and more business are moving their telephone service over to the internet. Before you make the decision to switch your service, I wanted you to have a basic understanding on what information you should have to make the right decision. Features – The best way to...
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Jargon Busting…What is a demarcation point?
In telephony terms, the demarcation point is where the public telecom services (telephone, cable, fiber, etc) connects with the customer's on-premise wiring. In most situations, it is the dividing line which determines who is responsible for installation and...
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Managing your Telecom changes
The decision to switch your Telecom Provider or modify your existing telecom solution is a big one. It will impact your employees and your customers, not to mention your business. Your Telecom Consultant should insure that your install results in a positive impact....
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Getting to Know Your Telecom Bill
Teledata Select is expert in reviewing business telecom expenses with an eye for finding inefficiencies, errors and opportunities for cost savings. After all these years of reviewing phone bills, we still shake our head in bemusement at the myriad of fees, taxes and...
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SLA’s and You
Recently, I have heard from several customers asking about the SLA’s (Service Level Agreement) available with Business Class Coax Internet services. I thought that if a few people were asking, many more are probably at least wondering. This week’s post is an overview...
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Georgia Relay – Supporting Communication for the Communication Impaired
Teledata Select is spreading the word about the Georgia Replay Project. Georgia Relay is a FREE public service provided by the State of Georgia to make communicating by telephone easy, accessible and reliable for everyone, including people who are deaf, hard of...
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Are You Being Crammed?
The FCC defines Cramming as “the illegal act of placing unauthorized charges on your wireline, wireless, or bundled services telephone bill. The FCC has estimated that cramming has harmed tens of millions of American households”. In the just the years of 2014 and...
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