The Rush to Managed Services
Telephony Online, February 9, 2009
Managed services was already a bona fide trend before the economy went south, given the growing complexity and fast pace of technological change, but the stumbling worldwide economy is increasing the interest in this area. It makes less and less sense for businesses to be managing their own IT resources when many of those resources can be network-based and delivered more efficiently. The credit crunch only increased the pressure to keep capital expenses low, and businesses that want to stay competitive can hardly afford to ignore the productivity advantages that Web-based services and network-based collaboration can offer.
As Henry Dewing, analyst for Forrester Research, pointed out in a report last November, the scary economic environment is coming at a time when the IT industry is on the cusp of a 10-year investment cycle.
“History has proven that the IT industry generally operates in 10-year alternating cycles of innovation and growth followed by cycles of refinement and digestion,” Dewing said in his report. “Forrester sees late 2009 to 2017 as an innovation and growth cycle, where business will rapidly invest in new and innovative technologies. This increased investment and innovation will prompt buyers to consider managed options — giving them more nimbleness and breadth to try a variety of solutions.”
By turning to managed services, businesses can limit their capital investments and yet increase the flexibility of their IT infrastructure, Dewing said.
LightEdge Launches Hosted Unified Communications Service featuring integrated Office Communications Server 2007 and Hosted PBX
First service provider to fully integrate BroadSoft’s hosted business voice with Microsoft’s communications and collaboration software.
DES MOINES, Iowa, REDMOND, Wash., and GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Feb. 10, 2009 — LightEdge Solutions Inc., the leading hosted services partner dedicated to the communications and IT needs for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), Microsoft Corp. and BroadSoft Inc. today announced the general availability of Hosted Unified Communications, a new service based on BroadSoft’s BroadWorks® Voice-over-IP (VoIP) application platform and Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration. The solution provides one platform for voice, e-mail, instant messaging and calendaring, allowing a user to work anywhere and collaborate in real time. Hosted Unified Communications is part of the LightEdge Connected Office suite of products, and helps SMBs more easily and cost-effectively obtain unified communications (UC) as a hosted service. LightEdge Connected Office suite includes Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 for hosted e-mail, BroadSoft BroadWorks Hosted PBX VoIP, Office Communications Server 2007 for instant messaging and presence, Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. The solution can be purchased incrementally or as an entire integrated bundle to support a business’ e-mail, calendaring, conferencing, voice and collaboration needs.
“Our goal is to offer SMBs a better and more cost-effective way to provide communications and IT systems to their employees,” said Jeff Springborn, president and COO of LightEdge. “Hosted Unified Communications helps us reinforce this aim, by providing an attractive alternative to purchasing, implementing and maintaining business communications systems in-house.”
Jim Masterson appointed to Board of Directors for Technology Association of Iowa
Jim Masterson is returning to the Board of Directors of the Technology Association of Iowa after a brief absence to work closely with LightEdge's new owner, Anschutz Investment Company. Jim is anxious to begin working with the group again to promote technology in Iowa to businesses, consumers and our state and local government officials.
 Managed Backup Platform Upgrade
LightEdge is currently upgrading the Managed Backup service to a new platform through our partnership with EMC. This new platform, based on the Avamar software package, replaces the platform that was put in place nearly three years ago and will allow our Systems Engineering and Operations (SEO) team a more scalable and efficient environment for the backup and replication of customer data.
If your company currently has dedicated or collocated servers in one of LightEdge's data centers, take the opportunity to contact your Account Executive to discuss our new Managed Backup storage and replication options that will be available soon on the new platform.
Wall Street Journal - Battle Stations
Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2008
The secret to running a successful information-technology department is knowing how your company makes money, not running counter to the corporate culture and never falling in love with technology.
That's according to Peter Whatnell, chief information officer at Sunoco Inc. Mr. Whatnell has been in charge of technology for the oil company since 2001. He also was recently elected president of the Society for Information Management, a professional organization for technology executives.
Seven steps to securing funding of your disaster recovery plan
SearchCIO, December 17, 2008
In a disaster recovery (DR) report issued earlier this year, Forrester Research Inc. recommended the following seven steps for securing new, additional or ongoing funding of your disaster recovery plans:
Frost and Sullivan Report on Web Conferencing
"Online collaboration technology is becoming fundamentally critical to SMBs," writes Frost & Sullivan principal analyst Roopam Jain. "It offers a huge upfront advantage that organizations seek in harsh economic times." A Frost & Sullivan report found that in 2007, the global web conferencing market reached $993.2 million, growing 27 percent over the previous year. The report forecasts this market to reach $2.5 billion in 2011.
How to Ensure IT Resiliency During an Economic Downturn:
The Top 10 Questions Your Company Needs to Ask Itself
Disaster Resource Guide
During this period of economic uncertainty, many organizations are looking at ways to reduce costs, while continuing stability and growth. Information technology expenditures are not exempt from this and are typically the first area to be scrutinized. Consequently, costs to maintain critical information availability programs, including business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR), are being identified for possible cuts.
Hosted Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007
 Hosted Office Communications Server 2007 streamlines communications by enabling you to easily communicate in real-time, with colleagues through a variety of methods from a single intuitive interface. With enterprise-class Instant Messaging (IM), rich presence awareness, PC to PC voice capabilities, integration with a full hosted PBX voice platform and multi-party audio and video conferencing, you can connect and collaborate from any location with Internet connectivity.
 Productivity
Business is easier with the right tools and the ability to collaborate with other members of the team. Hosted OCS is the universal communication tool that bridges instant messaging, e-mail, voice, video and web conferencing to provide a dynamic forum for discussion, sharing and making decisions in real-time - regardless of location.
Simplicity
The user interface is extremely intuitive with color-coded presence indicators, simple icons and drag and drop functionality. Users can quickly add and categorize users within their contact list and begin an IM session by double-clicking a name in their contact list.
Seamless Options
Hosted OCS has the flexibility to enable your staff to communicate on their own terms. Users can begin a conversation with Instant Messaging and then seamlessly transition to voice, video or screen sharing as the conversation progresses. Mobile users can take advantage of Communicator Web Access and Communicator Mobile to remain connected to their contacts regardless of where their work may take them.
Standard Version Includes:
- Secure "real-time" corporate Instant Messaging
- Dynamic Presence Indicators let you know when colleagues are free
- Seamlessly switch from one communication to another
- PC-to-PC voice and video
- Rich text formatting supports "cut and paste" functions from many Microsoft applications
- Integration with other Microsoft applications
- File Transfer
- Mobility options
Premium Version Includes
- Full LightEdge Hosted PBX Integration
- Click to dial from Hosted OCS
- Presence Indication when on a Hosted PBX call
- Live Meeting web conferencing
>>Learn about Hosted Office Communications Server 2007
Contact LightEdge for more information and a proposal for your business needs.
877-771-3343
SIP Trunking - Saving Money with IP Voice
Analysts say that 2009 will be the year of SIP trunking. The industry is seeing a major uptake in the deployment of SIP trunking, which is being driven by its inherent cost savings and increasing support by major IP PBX vendors. As IP PBXs are beginning to climb in popularity and businesses are looking for additional ways to reduce the costs of providing voice services to their staff, LightEdge is proud to announce that SIP Trunking is now available through our Advanced Voice Services VoIP platform.
Infotech predicts that IP PBXs will constitute 90% of voice PBX instals by 2010, dramatically increasing the need for SIP trunking.
Reducing Costs
SIP Trunking is a way for businesses to exchange voice traffic between and IP PBX and the LightEdge VoIP platform over a dynamic IP connection (usually a T1 line) rather than a channelized PRI through a telecom provider. A SIP Trunk is able to reduce voice costs by utilizing IP connectivity, lower cost equipment and streamlining services to a single provider for Internet, Local and Long Distance phone service.
Additional Features
In addition to lowering costs, a SIP Trunk can also provide additional features such as Simultaneous Ring, Sequential Ring and Remote Office that may not be available through your IP PBX. These additional features will ensure that your employees can remain responsive and connected whether they are in the office or traveling.
If you have an IP PBX system in place or are looking to implement one, please contact your LightEdge Account Executive to learn more about SIP Trunking and how you can cut costs while actually improving your level of service.
Call 877.771.3343 or info@lightedge.com to learn more
Upgrade to Hosted Exchange 2007
Many businesses running Exchange 2003 or other legacy versions have put off upgrading because of the increased complexity and additional servers necessary to meet the roles of Exchange 2007. LightEdge and Microsoft are making it easier than ever to get on the latest platform and begin taking advantage of the new features.
Hosted Environment
Utilizing a hosted environment takes all the complexity and upfront costs out of the picture. In most cases your company can be up on the new platform within a day. Upgrades and platform maintenance is included in your low monthly fee.
Free Outlook 2007 or Entourage
Exchange is designed to work with Outlook and Entourage. With your service you have access to a free download for all the Hosted Exchange users in your company as well as Outlook Web Access (OWA) for when you are away from your regular computer.
Credit against Software Assurance
If you think that you are locked into staying in a premise based environment because you have paid for a Software Assurance plan, get ready for a surprise. You are eligible for a monthly credit on Hosted Exchange services. Learn more by talking with your LightEdge Account Executive or visiting Microsoft Calculator.
>>Learn about Hosted Exchange
Contact LightEdge for more information and a proposal for your business needs.
877-771-3343
Polycom SoundPoint® IP 650 Voice-over-IP Handset
Revolutionary High Definition Voice Quality
 The SoundPoint IP 650 is the first IP phone to use Polycom’s revolutionary HD Voice technology to bring
life-like richness and clarity to voice communications. Polycom HD Voice incorporates wideband audio for
over twice the voice clarity, Polycom's patented Acoustic Clarity Technology 2, as well as best-in-class system
design to deliver unprecedented voice quality.
- Twice the clarity of ordinary phone calls for life-like, vibrant conversations
- More natural conversations that significantly boost recognition and enhance productivity
- Hear every word without repeating
- Enable remote collaboration with vibrant, life-like voice quality
Enhanced Call Handling Capabilities
The SoundPoint IP 650 accommodates 6 lines in standalone mode, and 12 lines as an attendant console,
when equipped with SoundPoint IP Expansion Modules. The phone supports shared call/bridged line
appearance2, an essential feature for effective phone interaction between executives and their assistants.
The phone's busy lamp field (BLF)2 functionality enables phone attendants to monitor the on-hook / off-hook
status of key contacts, and dispatch incoming calls for those contacts more efficiently.
Expandability
When equipped with up to three Expansion Modules, the SoundPoint IP 650 delivers the advanced call
handling capabilities and enhanced user interface of a high-performance attendant console. Designed to
improve productivity of telephone attendants, the SoundPoint IP attendant console allows effective and
efficient management and monitoring of up to 24 simultaneous calls on up to 12 lines.
Intuitive User Interface
The SoundPoint IP 650 delivers all of its capabilities through an intuitive user interface, featuring a
backlit 320x160 graphical grayscale LCD display, easy-to-navigate menu, and a combination of 26
dedicated hard keys and 4 context-sensitive soft keys for easy access to essential telephony features.
Features and Benefits:
- Six lines (standalone) / 12 lines (with the SoundPoint IP Expansion Module)
- Polycom HD Voice technology, including support of G.722 wideband codec, Acoustic Clarity Technology 2, and systems design optimized for Polycom HD Voice technology
- Advanced functionality, including shared lines, busy lamp field, presence, and XHTML applications
- Support of up to three SoundPoint IP Expansion Modules
- Backlit 320 x 160-pixel grayscale graphical LCD
- Integrated IEEE 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) support
- USB port for future applications
 Hosted Microsoft SharePoint
Hosted SharePoint allows you to quickly create rich document and information sharing portals for your business without the need for any outside programming.
- Document Management
Secure central repository for all share documents in the office with functionality for check-in, check-out, version history and alerts when items are modified.
- Corporate Intranet
Complete with
announcements, Blog, discussion groups and RSS feeds.
- Project Management
Run your department more effectively with a shared hub of information including assigned tasks and status reporting.
Call 877.771.3343 or info@lightedge.com to learn more
 Hosted Microsoft Live Meeting
Microsoft Office Live Meeting is a hosted web conferencing service that connects audiences for online meetings, training sessions, software demonstrations and remote collaborative initiatives. With meeting attendees participating from their PCs, you can deliver a presentation, kick off a project, brainstorm ideas, edit files, collaborate on whiteboards, and negotiate deals at a fraction of the cost and without the hassle of travel.
- More Collaboration. Less Travel
Get more done with fewer face-to-face meetings by limiting your need for travel.
- Engage your Audience
Deliver multi-media presentations including presentation slides, live and recorded video, application sharing and audience feedback tools.
- Easy for any Meeting Size
Whether you are collaborating with a colleague in another city or presenting a business model shift to the entire company, Live Meeting is easy to simple to use.
Call 877.771.3343 or info@lightedge.com to learn more |
