This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Bala Rajakkannu, Director Customer Service, at IQGeo
There’s a unique opportunity awaiting broadband operators today with the expectation that full fiber internet performance should be available to everyone, regardless if they live in a city, town, or rural community. … [visit site to read more]
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You may have noticed the modern trend of companies opting for a cloud PBX solution more often than the older, on-premise method for their communication needs.
And, while there is a lot of merit to upgrading to the cloud, on-premise PBX servers still have an edge over them in certain aspects, ones that may mean more for your clients than the alternative option.
While we here at Bicom Systems offer both cloud and on-site variants, it is still important to present on-premise as an option when selling PBX software and to know exactly what the option offers.
With the rise of subscription models in almost every industry, it just feels nice to have one’s name on the stuff they use.
Sure, it is usually the pricier option, but it feels more satisfying than having to rely on a third party provider to stay afloat and provide quality support for their services.
This way, the hardware remains and can be repurposed for future use, or in case of a provider swap.
Plus, depending on how the client structures their server maintenance, it can even end up being the cheaper option in the long run.
Following up on the earlier benefit, the sense of control one gets when everything is done in-house makes the whole experience less stressful as clients can get immediate updates on potential issues.
They can then apply solutions to these issues quicker as well if they have a team dedicated to it, be it for data security, maintenance or whatever else they may need.
The ability to create custom solutions can make an already great product feel even better and it is one of the main reasons why on-premise PBX is still popular.
Another good benefit of an on-premise PBX solution is that there is a lot less distance between the server’s location and the business office, meaning a lot less latency will be present during operation.
And, even if the connection should break at any point due to a fault in the system, IP telephony will still continue to function in-house.
While we have touched upon this idea already earlier, it is important to note that some packages that service providers offer may not cover all of the needs that a client requires or some features may simply be redundant for their business.
Thus, the ability to craft their own solutions for particular issues while opting for a cheaper package ends up being the more ideal option, even if it is an on-premise option instead of a hosted one.
Finding the right balance of cost and capability of a PBX system can be the difficult part, especially considering how it all hinges on the needs of the client which can get quite varied at times.
On one hand, newer businesses will prefer the cloud-hosted option because it is cheaper, scalable, flexibly, and ultimately easier to sell for those reasons alone.
On the other hand, an on-premise PBX solution offers stability and control, as well as the option for the client to form their own solutions regarding security, and server stability.
Both have their pros and cons which can make the choice between them quite difficult, but it does not have to be.
Though, why present your clients with separate options when you can offer it all under one, Bicom Systems’ very own unified communications solution – PBXware.
If you want to learn more, we have PBXware decoded for you.
It is offered both as an on-premise and a UCaaS solution specifically created with businesses in mind, allowing you to meet and even exceed your clients’ expectations.
On top of the standard benefits of their chosen PBX system deployment option, it also seamlessly integrates into any existing business communications infrastructure, making the switch an overall smoother experience with minimal downtime.
If you want to get a bit more acquainted with our own on-premise PBX solution, feel free to Contact Us at any time. Our team is at your disposal for any questions that you may have.
Polish telecoms regulator, the Office of Electronic Communications (Urzad Komunikacji Elektronicznej, UKE), has announced this week that it has received opening bids from all four of the nation’s mobile operators, who are seemingly hungry to get their hands on the long-awaited 5G spectrum in the 3.5GHz band.
Poland is one of just two countries in the EU (the other being the Netherlands) not to have made spectrum in the highly sought after 3.5GHz band available to operators, though this was not by design; plans to auction this spectrum band were first announced back in 2020 but, like so many spectrum auctions at the time, the process was delayed significantly by outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Further delays were later caused by the uncertainty around the Polish government’s amendments to the Act on the National Cybersecurity System, which could potentially limit the operators’ choice of 5G vendors.
Today, these amendment discussions are still ongoing, but the UKE has decided to push forward with the auction process anyway, arguing that Poland is at risk of falling far behind its neighbours in terms of 5G capabilities.
The regulator launched an initial public consultation in December 2022, followed by a second in April this year. As a result, the amount of spectrum being made available for each licence was increased from 80MHz to 100MHz, while the reserve price per block remained unchanged at PLN450 million (roughly $108 million).
Now, the auction is finally taking place, with the process expected to conclude in the next few weeks.
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Also in the news:
Charlie Ergen’s Dish and Echostar set to merge
TDS considers ‘strategic alternatives’ for UScellular
Rakuten Mobile CEO Tareq Amin makes unexpected exit
Several interesting upgrades and deployments of regional interest: … [visit site to read more]
In this new series of features, Developing Telecoms will explore the under-reported issue of electronic waste. We will explore possible solutions for addressing the issue as well as examining a case study with a leading Asian operator, but to begin, this article aims to examine the scale of the issue affecting operators in developing markets.
The telecom industry – almost by its nature – is driven by the pursuit of the new, and this is perhaps best exemplified in consumer terms by our obsession with the latest device. While it can be argued that device innovation has plateaued in recent years, we inherently understand that devices are constantly becoming obsolete and replaced with newer, more advanced models. What we don’t consider as much is what happens to those older devices.
As a concept, we are all aware of e-waste on some level – but we shun the responsibility for addressing it and relegate it to the background of our consciousness. We understand that electronics aren’t easy to make or recycle, that they contain rare materials, and that they don’t all get refurbished or passed on to developing markets that will appreciate older handsets – but given that the market around them is based on the desire for the novel, we aren’t encouraged to consider this problem.
However, e-waste is not conveniently disappearing – on the contrary, the scale of the problem has escalated to the point that addressing it is becoming a matter of urgency, particularly in emerging markets where a lack of adequate recycling capabilities collides with restrictions on device imports and exports, stalling meaningful action on the issue.
“It is a huge problem, and it’s getting worse” says Jan Stryjak, an Associate Director at Counterpoint Research who leads research on sustainability. Stryjak explains that in 2022, around 5.3 billion phones were thrown away – a number made even more shocking by the statistic that this accounted for just 10% of global e-waste that year. He notes that very few devices are recycled – around 18% – and highlights that this is because recycling is neither easy nor cheap.
Developed economies have for some time been encouraging consumers to recycle devices and be more environmentally conscious, with companies springing up to address the issue – but this is not the case in emerging markets, says Stryjak. “It’s a particularly bad problem in Africa – pretty much all phones that are thrown away just go straight into landfill because no one’s collecting them. I don’t think it’s quite a matter of people not caring, it’s just we only really recycle if it’s straightforward. If your phone’s at the end of its life, you probably either leave it in a drawer somewhere or throw it away.”
Stryjak notes that even in markets like the UK, where the recycling infrastructure is fairly good, consumers don’t have much incentive to recycle beyond a sense of environmental duty – for example, there is little resale value for any device older than six months – and in most African markets the capability simply isn’t there to recycle, so devices are thrown into landfill.
One measure implemented to address this is ‘e-waste compensation’, which – for every new device sold – seeks to remove one device from circulation and recycle it. Companies such as Netherlands-headquartered Closing the Loop typically reclaim these devices from markets in Africa and other emerging regions, where there is little recycling infrastructure. Through their networks, the firms ship the devices back to Europe or other locations where they can be recycled. However, there are a lot of roadblocks to this seemingly simple premise – the most significant being that devices containing batteries cannot be exported for safety reasons, so all batteries must be removed locally. In many emerging markets, the expertise for this is lacking, and Stryjak notes that this is another issue – the collection is informal. Rather than companies organising safe device collection, people are opportunistically salvaging what they can from landfill sites – and this can be quite dangerous, particularly since many of those handling the e-waste don’t know whether they are being exposed to hazardous materials.
Given that the EU is trying to promote e-waste compensation, it is taking steps to improve and streamline the process – but nonetheless, the severity of e-waste’s impact on emerging markets combined with the difficulties of addressing the problem raise the question: just how quickly and realistically can this issue be tackled?
“That’s the million dollar question”, agrees Stryjak. “It’s the whole idea of the circular economy – it’s got to be at all levels at all stages of it. You can’t just say you’ll deal with e-waste at the end – there are 4 billion phones being sold every year.”
The circular economy is a concept that we’ve touched on in previous articles at Developing Telecoms – such as this feature about India’s rising market for refurbished devices – but refurb is just one part of the overall picture. In a linear economy, phones are made with entirely new materials – in the worst case scenario, with completely virgin materials, with no effort to make them durable or economical. There are other factors that could reduce this lastability further – if the device is easily damaged, or if the OEM decides not to offer continued software updates, this cuts short the device’s lifespan. Newer devices are seldom repairable – it’s effectively impossible even to replace a battery – so once they break, in the worst case scenario they go to landfill.
“The idea of the circular economy is to try and stop as many phones going to landfill at the very end as possible”, explains Stryjak. “From a design and production point of view, you’ve increasingly got manufacturers using more recycled materials in their smartphones, whether it’s recycled plastics, recycled glass, even reclaimed rare earth materials [although] that’s much harder.” The metals involved in device production, such as cobalt and lithium, are a particular sticking point as mining them is incredibly bad for the environment.
“From a usage point of view, you want batteries to last longer…because one of the main reasons why people change their phones is because the battery doesn’t hold its charge…there’s a lot of research going into battery technology”, notes Stryjak. This is also happening on the software side; for Android devices, the push is towards a minimum of five years of software updates. This has previously not been regulated, allowing the OEM to make its own decisions, but increasingly manufacturers recognise that reliability is positive for their brand – Stryjak notes that Android is trying to catch up to Apple in this regard.
Finally, reparability is finally becoming more prevalent. Larger players are promoting relationships with device repairers, while smaller companies are releasing kits that allow users to make simple fixes at home to discourage them from discarding phones due to a minor, fixable issue. If the issue cannot be repaired by a layperson, then the device can have its components replaced and enter the refurb market, but if nothing works and the device is truly at the end of its life, then it can still be recycled rather than ending up as e-waste. “Whether it’s the gold, zinc, tin, cobalt, or lithium, the idea is to try and reclaim as much of that as possible – then that in turn feeds it back to the beginning, into the production”, explains Stryjak, as an encapsulation of the circular economy for devices.
Promoting the circular economy is a good start, but if the blight of e-waste is to be alleviated, bigger changes will be required in terms of policy – both from regulatory bodies and the manufacturers themselves. In the next instalment of this series, we will examine how shifting attitudes towards sustainability are leading to changes at policy level.
Mobile operator Airtel Africa has announced that its Ugandan subsidiary, Airtel Uganda, will soon be floated on Ugandan Securities Exchange (USE) exchange.
The firm plans to sell a 20% stake – roughly 8 billion shares – as part of its initial public offering (IPO).
“The offer is expected to result in meaningful local ownership of Airtel Uganda Ltd, with preference to be given to Ugandan investors, and to contribute to the development of the capital markets in Uganda,” said Airtel Africa.
If the move gets approval from the Capital Markets Authority of Uganda, the shares will be offered to investors both via traditional channels and through the Airtel Money platform, with the aim of increasing retail participation.
The firm have chosen Absa Bank Uganda as its lead transaction advisor for the process, which it hopes will be completed by the end of the year.
In 2019 the Ugandan government mandated that all telecom companies operating in the country must list at least 20% of their shares on the USE within two years of the issuing of a license, with the aim of to increasing local ownership and boost the national economy.
The government claimed that the move would ensure that the capital would therefore be kept within the country and not be taken back to each telco’s country of origin.
Airtel Uganda were expected to list on the USE by December last year, but the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) allowed the company to delay the listing, as they cited they were not ready due to unfavourable economic conditions.
Uganda is not alone in its thinking, with other African countries such as Malawi, Ghana, Tanzania, and Nigeria taking similar action.
How is the African telecommunications market evolving in 2023? Join the operators in discussion at this year’s Total Telecom Congress live from Amsterdam.
Also in the news:
Airtel launches first 5G fixed wireless access service in India
Airtel Business passes 20 million IoT connections
Airtel Rwanda launches its own 4G network
In this day and age, communication is one of the core building blocks of a successful business, which is why it is important to ensure that this building block remains flexible and easy to use.
It is no longer desirable nor efficient to only have a single method of communication.
Businesses need to diversify their options to keep up with the constantly shifting field of company communication.
That is why top businesses have decided to upgrade to a solution that brings many forms of communication together, a UCaaS solution, better known as unified communications as a service.
However, it is not enough to simply tack extra forms of communication on; a business needs a central system to manage it all and have it intertwined to create a truly unified form of communication.
Seeing as quality communication is an important part of business infrastructure, it is no wonder that the market is absolutely flooded with options. This can make it hard to figure out which one best suits your client’s needs.
For that reason, it is important to know what you are selling to them and why that should matter to them.
Competition is tough after all, and you will need every edge you can get to push ahead of them.
The first thing you need to know is what exactly UCaaS is.
It stands for unified communications as a service, one that is cloud-based and supports a wide range of communication options between company employees.
The basic means of communication that are covered are:
All of it is managed by a centralized platform, a platform that also tracks the current status of the client’s employees, allowing operators to better manage their workload.
Another strong point for UCaaS services is the fact that company employees can stay in touch with the main offices and other team members no matter where they are due to the ability to manage different means of communication over one platform.
Also, this opens up the possibility of a much larger candidate pool during the hiring process, resulting in higher quality employees overall.
Not only that, but remote work is slowly becoming a staple of modern business, giving workers the option to work from home or when they are out of town.
Thus, when giving them access to the same functionalities as they would have had in the office, they work under a lot less stress simply because they are given more freedom in creating a more comfortable work dynamic.
With all that in mind, companies with strong remote work or hybrid policies are likely the best candidates for a UCaaS solution.
Price is one of the touchier subjects when negotiating a deal, but, in this case, UCaaS solutions have a massive edge over alternatives that rely on on-site installation.
If you choose a UCaaS solution, a client does not need to pay any extra fees to purchase the necessary hardware to house such a system and instead relays the costs to the designated UCaaS provider.
All they need to worry about is having a decent internet connection to properly connect to the cloud and access all of the system’s features.
This also applies to any security measures. The client need not worry about it as the UCaaS provider is the one responsible for safeguarding their data.
Implementation costs are further reduced both upfront and later down the line should the client choose to scale their business up.
This is due to how easy it is to set initial and additional accounts up over the cloud compared to the older method of having to install extra hardware telephony lines to connect new users to the network.
Finally, existing systems can be hard to replace. They often require a lot of pre-planning and restructuring before implementation.
However, a good UCaaS system should be able to integrate itself seamlessly into existing communication infrastructure within the company with little to no fuss.
The less adjustment or replacement needed, the better the system is overall as it means less downtime and overall service disruption.
There is a bit of a learning curve to get adjusted to a new system, but that comes naturally with any change within the company, though said learning curve tends to be rather short.
The simple answer is one that was already mentioned above: the cloud.
Having access to the internet with certain safeguards rather than being constrained to a closed system allows a UCaaS platform the added flexibility which allows it to perform all of these tasks efficiently.
With internet access, any VoIP telephony routing becomes an absolute breeze.
While there are many solid candidates, our own UCaaS platform, PBXware, is one of the best options on the current market.
It manages all of the features that any high caliber UCaaS platform can perform, but is also made with small and medium businesses in mind, as well as their respective employees.
It trims out all unnecessary data to prevent information bloat and instead presents it in an easy-to-read and intuitive manner.
Also, PBXware is offered in a number of different editions where this data is further customized to fit specific business needs depending on edition choice.
On top of that, we have made sure that integration with almost any system is made easy as PBXware pairs itself well with most of the popular CRMs and IP phone brands.
This leads to minimal downtime, allowing clients to continue providing their services to their end users within minutes.
Of course, there is the added benefit for UCaaS providers where you can either opt for our branded option, or go for the white label package where we provide you with the solution with your name plastered all over it.
Just as communication is the cornerstone of any business, so too is PBXware the cornerstone of a truly unified Bicom Systems communications solution.
Paired together with Bicom Systems’ other products, PBXware gains enhanced communication functionality from gloCOM, SIP attack protection from sipPROT, and server safety measures and data protection with SERVERware.
As you can see, UCaaS is definitely making strides in helping modernize business communication worldwide.
While there are some aspects of UCaaS services that are not as good as an on-site alternative, namely personal security parameters, the overall benefits outweigh most detriments.
That said, it all depends from one business to another.
Regardless, we believe that PBXware is one of the best UCaaS solutions on the market that ticks every box.
Of course, for businesses that prefer a UC on-premise solution, Bicom Systems has offers that can cover that just as well.
If you would like to see that for yourself, feel free to Contact Us or Request a Demo of the product. Until then!
Bicom Systems is known for providing businesses with Unified Communications solutions which give their existing infrastructure powerful upgrades and this one is no exception.
Presenting gloCOM, a Unified Communications app for both desktop, web and mobile that streamlines company communication and workflow all throughout.
A flexible communication tool that helps make the workplace more efficient without adding more stress into the mix.
You may ask yourself what makes it so special? What makes it stand out in a sea of competition?
Today you will find out why.
While gloCOM is an extension of PBXware, it is still a key part of the mechanism that is our unified communications solution that is equal parts flexible and functional.
Each part supports the platform as a whole in its own way.
PBXware provides the foundation, SERVERware supports the servers that the platform is housed on, sipPROT helps keep your client’s data secure and encrypted, and gloCOM helps improve the communications within their companies.
Even the different versions of gloCOM are interconnected.
A member of your client’s team can start a call on the desktop or web, park it, and then continue it over gloCOM GO on the phone if necessary, allowing the option of work flexibility that is quite sought after in a healthy business environment.
gloCOM houses all of the features you would expect from a UC solution from messaging, conference calls and file transfer options, but it also contains a suite of useful tools that help it seamlessly integrate itself into your work environment.
An application that offers sending faxes, sending SMS and MMS messages to phones, the ability to call IP phones or swap from one device to another with ease, holding meetings, and much more.
Sounds too good to be true, does it not?
Well, we have made it a reality with gloCOM, gloCOM Web, gloCOM GO and gloCOM Meeting, all of which are designed to natively run on our other premier product, our turnkey VoIP telephony platform, PBXware.
What makes our Unified Communications solution strong and desirable is not just its intuitive design and short learning curve, but its ability to integrate itself with existing business software.
A lot of businesses have existing software which can be difficult to move on from, which is why we have made gloCOM able to seamlessly integrate itself with most of the popular CRMs.
This helps minimize workplace disruption and allows its users to not have to re-familiarize themselves with new software from scratch.
Aside from working better as a whole, gloCOM’s features vary depending on which of our 4 carefully tailored editions you decide to opt for.
Choose between Business, Office, Agent or Supervisor editions and find the one that best suits your company’s interests.
By far our most feature-rich edition. It is no wonder that it is one of our most popular ones for that reason alone as we have made sure that every single feature has a purpose in the workplace, and why say no to a good thing?
gloCOM Business edition exists to make the workplace more flexible and less stressful, allowing users to not have to remain glued to their desks to do their jobs.
This is possible thanks to Call Parking and the ability to swap the call from the desktop to an IP phone or even their own mobile phones to continue it.
However, users are not limited to just taking calls, they can make calls to any number, not just colleagues under the gloCOM app.
And that is not all, said calls can easily be switched over to conference calls which is especially useful for call centers or impromptu meetings between departments.
Finally, for those who still utilize fax machines, do not worry as gloCOM Business edition can even send out documents directly to fax machines or receive them itself.
gloCOM Office Edition is more aimed toward small and medium-sized businesses, providing them with a top tier corporate class telephony system at competitive prices, allowing them to focus a bit more of their budget toward their growth.
It is a feature-lite version of the Business Edition, but still contains the core functionalities that help business communication thrive like group chats, call conferencing and deskphone integration.
Agent and Supervisor Editions are made to go hand in hand and are the go-to options for call and contact centers.
Each of them is specialized toward their namesake user with an optimized UI showing the necessary stats and data for each one.
In the case of gloCOM Agent Edition, that focuses on agent flexibility, showing the call queue and the status of each call as well as the statuses of fellow agents.
The special feature about this one is dynamic call queuing, allowing the agent to put themselves into a queue to be put through to a waiting caller to assist them rather than having to click on an individual call on the list.
This level of flexibility allows agents to gauge how busy the day is and to plan their work ahead of time, reducing workplace stress by a large margin.
Following up after the Agent Edition, the Supervisor variant was made to help supervisors optimally monitor agent status and workload and to assign further callers and other work where needed.
Agent tracking functions in real time, allowing supervisors to track their productivity, activity time as well as current status.
They can even monitor ongoing calls between agent and caller in case further assistance is required on a specific matter.
Of course, they do not have to look at each individual agent like a hawk, they can customize alerts to warn them if an agent has taken on too much work, if the call queue has become too big or anything else the supervisor deems necessary to monitor.
All of the data is streamlined into an easy-to-understand set of tabs with clear representation, allowing supervisors to make on-the-fly decisions with more confidence.
gloCOM GO users do not need to be stuck in their offices to do their jobs, all thanks to gloCOM GO. All they will need is an IP phone and the gloCOM GO app installed.
It is that simple.
The mobile app has all of the core features of the desktop version of gloCOM, keeping work efficiency at an all time high.
Users can utilize these features to customize their availability if they are out of country or would otherwise be indisposed, offering a certain degree of flexibility in their daily workload.
Conference calls and multi-person chats are not the only ways of group interaction as gloCOM Meeting introduces the video element to this voIP telephony unified communications solution.
gloCOM Meeting works together as an extension of gloCOM itself, allowing users to access their existing contacts and schedule a meeting with ease.
Also, said meetings can be scheduled ahead of time and organizers can even appoint co-organizers to help moderate the meeting or even run it themselves in case the organizer is unable to make it themselves.
The app provides access to all of the essential features one would expect a video communications app to provide like audio and video conferencing as well as a built-in chat and screen sharing option.
We have even included a raise hand feature which helps bring some extra order to meetings by letting people with questions or input queue up and take the spotlight in an orderly manner.
The added beauty lies in its personal touch that allows users to express their feelings about a big company achievement without disrupting the meeting through in-meeting reactions.
Do not worry, we here at Bicom Systems thought ahead and have made it possible for business partners and other guests to freely join meetings without the need to download anything.
All that is needed is to create a public meeting and to send them the link for said meeting.
Once they click on it, they will be able to join through the browser at their leisure and have the same options that every other participant has.
Another strong point of gloCOM is that it is visually customizable too, should you opt into it.
We offer 3 different variants depending on your needs, be it the default gloCOM package, a white label option in Communicator, or Communicator Branding where another company’s logo, visuals and even a homepage are inserted.
The latter of the 3 is most popular among UC & UCaaS providers, and for good reason as businesses like leaving a good impression on their future clients while putting their names out there.
We here at Bicom Systems pride ourselves at making our products available to everyone.
That is why one of our main goals is to make said products compatible with some of the most popular operating systems on the market.
To that end, gloCOM is available on the desktop for Microsoft Windows, MAC OS, and Linux operating systems, or on mobile phones for Android and the Apple iOS as gloCOM GO.
If you ever have any issues with our software, do not hesitate to give us a call regardless of time of day.
We have our highly skilled support teams available round the clock to assist you no matter the issue and we pride ourselves on our service.
Our goal as a company is to make a Unified Communications solution that works for almost any business, one that is easy to integrate into any existing system and that is easy to pick up.
We want to create a platform that provides users with every feature they need to do their jobs efficiently.
We seek to reduce needless app bloat that makes training new employees a hassle and to just wrap it all into one neat and easy to pick up package.
If this has caught your interest or if you have any further questions, feel free to Contact Us or Request a Demo to try all of these features out first hand.
Three data center items and one marketplace milestone: … [visit site to read more]
