Mitel MiCloud Edge Uses VeloCloud for SDN Support

 By Casey Houser

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Contributing Writer

Enterprise communications company Mitel (News - Alert) has announced the release of its newest software, MiCloud Edge, which takes advantage of the VeloCloud software-defined networking (SDN) architecture to give companies an easy way to handle their company networks.

VeloCloud hosts its own cloud-based infrastructure that can handle public and private clouds and quick, reliable data transfer for voice and video. Its expertise in the SDN market makes it a strong pick for Mitel, which suggested in its announcement that MiCloud could best the cost of a traditional wide area network (WAN) by a factor of three. MiCloud Edge acts as the customer-facing part of a combined service that offers simple setup of new network nodes and easy maintenance of existing workloads.

Jon Brinton, the executive vice president of the Mitel cloud division, commented on the importance of reliability for companies that make use of a WAN.

“Even with the highest performing communications and collaboration tools, businesses require a reliable and consistent network powering them,” Brinton said. “MiCloud Edge simply and cost-effectively transforms network reliability, delivering professional-grade cloud communications and ensuring business-critical applications are always prioritized.”

The promise of so-called “next generation networking,” made possible through software’s control of networking paths, has taken its hits early in the game. Like all new ideas in information technology, SDN has seen its share of trepidation from businesses, even to the point of carrying the moniker “Still Done Nothing.” The slow start for SDN, however, has helped some early adopters see improved flexibility and consistency in their networks.

That success, despite contrary appearances, is exactly the path VeloCloud has tried to pave in its own implementation of software. Now MiCloud Edge is bringing the new form of networking even further into the public eye by placing a prominent application in front of a prominent networking vendor. It is clear that Mitel believes that MiCloud Edge can automatically route voice and video in the best possible way for clients. Mitel has also said it expects the use of SDN here to lower costs for clients by minimizing the need for expensive hardware and populous IT staffs.

MiCloud Edge is now available in North America. Assuming it catches fire – just as the SDN market as a whole appears poised to do – sales could spread even further to the rest of the global Mitel base of more than 100 countries.

Mitel and VMware

Voice and data applications can now be implemented and managed on the same virtualized servers.

What used to be two separate endeavors – requiring distinct infrastructure and different skill sets – is now one unified strategy. Simplifying deployment, maintenance, upgrades, scalability, usability... everything.

“It was a big deal for us, the Mitel and VMware partnership...Their solution is stable, tested...and actually works.” --Amit Mantri, Director of Network Operations, Intrasphere Technologies, Inc.

The promise of “simply communicating” starts with a simple premise: Voice is just another app.

Mitel’s strategic partnership with VMware is the catalyst for transformation.

Together, Mitel and VMware cracked the code on how to add real-time voice applications to virtualized servers without experiencing latency issues that affect call quality.

Virtual Desktop Solutions

Our relationship with VMware continues to transform unified communications. For example, Mitel introduced a series of Virtual Desktop UCC solutions, which essentially integrates the office phone into the portable desktop.

Integrated Business Collaboration Applications

Mitel and VMware Zimbra have recently announced the integration of click-to-call, visual voicemail, and call logs with the Zimbra 8 web client.

More than 2,000 Mitel clients of all sizes have already deployed virtualized voice and are reaping the tremendous value of the Mitel–VMware partnership. This is where the industry is heading. See you in the data center.

QUALITY MAKES THE CASE FOR THE MITEL HOSTED SOLUTION

If you think your company is a good candidate for Voice over IP, an increasingly popular and effective way to save money on your telephony costs, you are probably already familiar with the concept. The benefits of pushing all of your voice, video and teleconferencing through the Internet include cost savings due to falling broadband pricing, ease of access and the ability to operate through an encrypted VPN connection for better security and control.

A hosted phone system takes the premise based equipment out of your computer room, equipment closet, or in the case of smaller organizations, basement, damp storage room or other unsuitable environment, and places it in a data center. In fact it places it in multiple data centers strategically designed to provide redundancy and eliminate failure. The connection between the phone on your desk and the "system" now goes through your broadband connection to the data center, in fact it goes through any Internet connection. Your telephone has an IP address just like your laptop, cellphone or tablet which incidentally are all components on the system, this means that you can unplug the phone from your desk and take it with you anywhere that you can connect to the Internet and plug it in and it operates the same as if it were on your desk.

So now a little about "WHY MITEL":

Mitel powers 2 billion connections every day, Mitel currently supports upwards of 1.6 million subscribers, almost a quarter of all global cloud users and nearly twice the number of their nearest competitor.

With a Mitel hosted solution you are dealing with one provider from end to end. Mitel manufactures the telephones and has 40 years of experience doing so. Mitel manufactures the system that resides in the data centers, Mitel wrote the software, owns and operates multiple data centers strategically located across the country and controls research and development. With other hosted solutions you will find a telephone manufactured by one company connected to a system that was manufactured by another company running software by yet a third party and support contracted out to a data center. That scenario can lead to an awful lot of finger pointing in the event of a problem or service interruption.

Now lets examine the benefits of a hosted solution versus premised based equipment from a service point of view; with premise based equipment the responsibility for maintenance usually falls to your already overworked IT department. The cost of this service must be covered by your organization with a service agreement or risky "time and material" based repairs. When your system is hosted there are technicians in the data center around the clock monitoring, repairing and upgrading the system as necessary.

Also remember that with a premise based system you must purchase "room for expansion" that you will not use for some period of time and when you do use it that will mean it's time for another expansion. With a hosted system you use only what you need and pay for only what you use and that is always the best way to go!

Contact us for more information.....................

The Cloud Mystery Cleared Up

What does "in the cloud" mean?

Are my pictures, files and data somehow stored in midair?

The "cloud" is simply internet connectivity to a data center where your pictures, files and data (or in our case your telephone system) are stored on computer servers in multiple data centers around the country surrounded by technicians 24/7. In the cloud makes many people nervous because they do not understand how much more secure this is than storing your data on your own computer wherever it is located.

From webopedia.com:

Cloud computing is a type of computing that relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personaldevices to handle applications. Cloud computing is comparable togrid computing, a type of computing where unused processing cycles of all computers in a network are harnesses to solve problems too intensive for any stand-alone machine.

Internet-Based Computing

In cloud computing, the word cloud (also phrased as "the cloud") is used as a metaphor for "the Internet," so the phrase cloud computing means "a type of Internet-based computing," where different services — such as servers, storage and applications — are delivered to an organization's computers and devices through the Internet.

GOOD NEWS ! YOU HAVE BEEN PAROLED !

Does working in the office feel like you are under "house arrest"?

With a Mitel Hosted telephone system through Quality Communications, feel free to leave the office on an appointment, lunch date or social engagement and never miss a beat. You can keep up with phone calls, voicemails and even e-mails when leaving the confines of your office. Your cell phone is part of the system!

When traveling you are in great shape with your hosted telephone. Internet Protocol allows you to take your office telephone to any hotel with an internet connection. Simply plug it in and every feature you have in the office you have on the road. If you frequently spend time away from the office at a vacation home or other set location, you can have a hosted telephone in place all the time as long as you have an internet connection.

Let's not forget, your cell is also part of the system, when traveling you will make calls over the internet as if you are in the office without being charged expensive wireless rates. That means that if you travel we can save you on your cell bill while you continue to use your cell phone to place and receive calls.

We can ring your hosted and cell phones individually or simultaneously on incoming calls to either number, both internal and external calls, with complete flexibility.

Let us come in and discuss this exciting, money saving technology with you ASAP. 

Click on our contact page and arrange an appointment today.

More awards for Mitel's Hosted Solution:

Mitel® (Nasdaq:MITL) (TSX:MNW), a global leader in real-time business, cloud and mobile communications, announced today that TMC, a global, integrated media company, has presented Mitel with a 2016 Communications Solutions Products of the Year Award recognizing MiCloud Office as one of the best solutions brought to market in the past 12 months. 

A mobile-first, cloud-enabled and millennial-focused solution, MiCloud Office gives small and midsize businesses access to advanced, real-time communications capabilities once only available to much larger enterprises. Mitel also offers multiple deployment options to provide customers with their best path to the cloud. MiCloud Office includes MiTeam, Mitel’s award-winning team and social collaboration tool that functions like a personal communications dashboard, giving employees, partners and customers one place to connect. 

“Congratulations to Mitel for being honored with a Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award,” said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. “MiCloud Office is truly an innovative product and is among the best solutions brought to market in the past twelve months that facilitates business-transforming voice, data and video communications. I look forward to continued excellence from Mitel in 2017 and beyond.”

Mitel® (Nasdaq:MITL) (TSX:MNW), a global leader in real-time business, cloud and mobile communications, announced today that Internet Telephony Magazine has presented the company with a 2016 TMC Labs Innovation Award for MiTeam, the team and social collaboration tool that supports how teams work and interact in the mobile-first workplace. 

Today’s teamwork environments are littered with communications across disparate applications, including email, chats, texts, phone calls and videoconferences. MiTeam simplifies and centralizes conversations, content collaboration and project management by providing a persistent workspace where groups can connect and collaborate. 

A single window pane, accessible from any device, lets users initiate instant chat sessions or video meetings, share screens, annotate documents and more. MiTeam integrates with more than 50 SaaS platforms and can also extend past the company walls to include mobile employees, partners and customers. The solution is available across Mitel’s cloud and premises-based offerings.

“What we like about this solution is how well it provides numerous tools to an enterprise, allowing it to have the best of Slack, GoToMeeting, and other solutions but in a single application,” TMCNet editors concluded in their announcement of the winners. “Moreover, we love the focus on mobile-first as it applies to the millennial, mobile-first generation, and MiTeam could even be used as an enticement to attract the best talent to an organization.”

Have your office phones ever been down?

Never again with a Mitel hosted solution through Quality Communications!

A traditional premise based system may seem like a cost effective way to keep control of your phone system. In truth it is riskier, probably more expensive and keeps you from taking advantage of  features that make your company and employees more productive, accessible and effective.

Ever Miss A Phone Call Because Your Phone Lines / Carrier Services Were Out?

When your phone lines or Internet service are down you miss calls and are unable to connect to the outside world which for most businesses today is as good as being out of business. Now there’s a solution! With Mitel hosted VoIP from Quality Communications there are no more phone lines to rely on, If your Internet service is down, calls are still answered by your personal Automated Attendant recording and/or automatically routed to your cell phone or any other phone in the world.

Built-in Disaster Recovery

In the event your office experiences a disaster and has to be vacated, take your phones with you.  Simply plug your Mitel VoIP phones in anywhere that has Internet service and it’s just like you’re back in the office again.  You can have phones at multiple locations such as remote offices, home offices, hotel rooms, etc. 

Get New Business Phones and Save Money Too!

Get rid of your expensive phone lines and start saving money today.  Keep your phone numbers, switch to Mitel hosted VoIP and get new VoIP phones.  One low monthly payment covers it all including local calls, long distance calls to the US and Canada, free on-site installation and training, free software upgrades, and more….It’s that simple. 

Service Is Provided 24/7

A staff of technicians will be monitoring, servicing and upgrading your system at multiple data centers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week providing you with the most reliable service possible. If a data center goes down, your service continues seamlessly from one of Mitel’s multiple redundant data centers.