It is no secret that the way we communicate is changing – especially in the workplace. 20 years ago, internal processes within a business were focused on communicating knowledge and plans to employees to ensure everyone is on the same page. This model was based on a few key stakeholders making decisions and relaying those decisions to employees through internal communication programs such as email or print newsletters, memos or staff meetings. Businesses did not have tools to allow them to maximize their time and employee contributions by collaborating efficiently and productively. Traditionally, the only communication options most businesses had were phone calls and in-person meetings, the first of which creates a strange dynamic that ignores non-verbal communications, the latter of which limits efficiency and productivity at the expense of a meeting.

Over the last couple of months we have indirectly covered many different facets of Grandstream’s solutions that make them ideal for service providers. Our large portfolio of award-winning IP phones offer the ideal model and price point for every type of user. We have also highlighted the many ways our solutions can be integrated with each other to allow them all to add more value and functionality at no extra cost. For this blog post, we are going to dig a little deeper into the many features, programs and initiatives that Grandstream offers that allow us to partner with service providers across the world and empower them to succeed.

You’re working on a report, suddenly half way through your data input, the screen freezes and with it the ability to save or retrieve your work. You sit there, frantically watching your unsaved work disappear, and just like that, Microsoft sends off an error message that your “program ended unexpectedly”. You can say that again. Too often we’ve all experienced this. Fortunately, companies like Microsoft have developed a series of recovery options that help ease program interruptions and the loss of unsaved data. Just like this scenario, system failures anywhere are inevitable and that’s why developing a backup and failover solution is critical to any business.

This year Grandstream is celebrating our 15^th anniversary. In 2002 our founders set out to build what ended up being some of the first SIP devices anywhere in the world. They were looking to take advantage of what was at the time a new technology fad known as “Voice over internet protocol.” In 2003, the first official Grandstream products hit the market: the BT100, a simple IP phone, and the HT286, a 1-line Analog Telephone Adapter.

Over the last few years, we’ve compiled a variety of case studies examining successful deployments from around the world. These case studies feature diverse verticals that use Grandstream products to build powerful UC solutions. Let’s consider the different ways Grandstream products were deployed and how they customized our solutions to fit their business size and needs.

This article was originally published in Comms Business Magazine - the UK's leading magazine for the ICT channel. Click here to view the article on their website.

Every business is always looking for ways to make their company more productive while increasing their bottom line. Most of the changes a business will consider usually come down to increasing resources at the expense of increased costs, or decreasing costs at the expense of lowering resources. There is one, easy and often overlooked change that a business can make to increase resources, productivity and bottom-line revenue while actually lowering costs. Changing your communications platform to a modern, digital communications platform is that change.

The success of technology is based on constant advancement. Right now, the industry is looking toward the future in anticipation of what the “newfound” cloud will bring. IP Telephony is no different as more and more communications move to the cloud. This leads many to question, is hardware going to stick around? The on premise IP-PBX isn’t going the way of the tin can, and Grandstream proves that—the arrival of the cloud doesn’t cancel out the benefits of hardware-based solutions. But I suppose for some, the question remains how does the on premise IP PBX innovate with us? The answer to that is through customization, security, and flexibility.

We have been talking about integration on our blog quite a bit recently. It has become one of the most popular buzzwords in communications as open-source technology continues its takeover of the industry. Integration is not just something that manufacturers should be talking about but something that end-users should pay close attention to when designing, deploying or expanding their solutions.

Since their launch in June of 2013, the UCM series has become one of the most popular on-premise IP PBXs in the world. It offers small to medium sized businesses an almost unprecedented unified communications manager (hence the UCM acronym) that gives them access to enterprise-grade voice, video, data and mobility features in an easy-to-setup, easy-to-manage fashion with no licensing or recurring fees.

I thought now would be a good time to talk about setting up the perfect IP solution using Grandstream products. This is a great time to upgrade your business communication hub as the new year is approaching and so are new business strategies! Start off 2017 with a powerful and productive IP network and give your communications a boost.