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This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Greg Elliott, VP of 1623 Farnam

Over the past couple of years, discussions around how 5G networks will influence entertainment, and specifically the music industry, largely centered around the ins and outs of virtual events. This was for good reason: crowd limit mandates and quarantine restrictions made live concerts disappear. Instead, artists performed streaming shows and festivals through online platforms. In regard to testing the limits of 5G networks … [visit site to read more]

IFC — a member of the World Bank Group and the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets – has announced that it is expanding its relationship with West Indian Ocean Cable Company Holding (WIOCC Group), a leading digital connectivity and infrastructure provider in Africa, with a $30 million equity investment.

The new investment will support WIOCC Group’s continued rollout of terrestrial fibre optic networks, investment in new subsea cables, and the launch of world-class, open-access core and edge data centre infrastructure across the continent.

WIOCC offers connectivity services through its extensive open-access, carrier-neutral digital infrastructure to cloud operators, content providers, broadband and mobile operators and ISPs across Africa. It is also a strategic investor in hyperscale terrestrial networks, and in multiple subsea cables including 2Africa, EASSy, Equiano and WACS as well as establishing a rapidly growing data centre footprint in Africa,

IFC’s equity investment builds on its previous financing to WIOCC Group, in the form of a $20 million loan issued in 2020 via IFC’s fast-track Covid-19 financing facility, which was set up to help sustain economies and preserve jobs during the pandemic crisis.

In the past fiscal year, ending in June 2022, IFC invested $1.3 billion in digital infrastructure, with over half of those investments taking place in Africa’s telecommunications, media and technology sectors. 

IFC’s digital infrastructure strategy in Africa is aimed at enabling reliable and affordable connectivity. This includes investing in the growth of independent tower operators, data centres and broadband, as well as supporting mobile operators, with an emphasis on supporting expanded connectivity in fragile and conflict situations (FCS) and low-Income International Development Association countries (LIC-IDA).

Online forums have been bringing industries together for decades. They are a great way to foster a sense of community and encourage peer-to-peer interactions. Overall, they improve the engagement of similar players in the industry. 

The Bicom Systems Partner Forum launched early in the year of 2021. The forum is exclusive to resellers, distributors, and partners of Bicom Systems. We found many users who think alike and ask similar questions, so we created a safe space for all. 

There are many benefits to forums and reasons why people use them. When your immediate network of friends and family can not help you, forums are a great way to connect you to strangers who understand what we’re talking about, how you feel and what you need.

The similarity between members is what makes forums so successful. We like ‘people like us’. Moms want to talk to other moms. Food bloggers with chefs. Fitness groups who share a passion for healthy living. People like to share a connection, a sense of trust and understanding.

Don’t believe us? Take a look at a few threads we gathered to showcase as examples. 

EXAMPLE # 1 – Billing Biz

Partner #1 asks:
“What are other partners using to bill for Toll-Free and International usage from PBXware CDRs?”

The partner was looking for recommendations for external billing solutions compatible with the Bicom Systems software suite. Responses from other resellers and distributors came flooding in!

Response #1:
“Hi Partner, we offer a fully featured billing platform for Telco CDR Rating and UCaaS Billing. It is a very flexible and easy-to-implement platform. Please feel free to email me; we would be happy to help!”

Response #2:
“Hey, Partner! We recommend this billing system, and I built a macro in Excel to tear down the CDR report from the Bicom Systems platform, and it sorts out only the billable minutes! Our billing structure is set up and most of our customers are set to unlimited usage, so, there is not a huge file to parse. That being said, I imagine you could work with them to build something that fits your needs using the Bicom Systems API.”

Response #3: “We use a Bicom Systems partner, Bandwidth!” 

And just like that, the partner has many options and recommendations to sort through. Forums like this are extremely helpful because companies have different needs and desires. But at the same time, people share their personal experiences so users can trust their endorsements.

EXAMPLE #2 Old Age Hardware

Premium Partner Asks:
“I wonder if anyone ran into a situation where you had an implementation of a nursing home or a hotel, and they wanted to keep their old wireline infrastructure for the Rooms. What solutions do you propose for this?”

Response #1:
“Hi, Partner! Hopefully, I understand you correctly. We had a client with many analog lines/wires and phones that they needed to keep but wanted to move to VoIP/PBXware. We ended up going with the rack-mountable 48-port Grandstream GXW4248.

The 48 port unit comes with two 50-pin Telco connectors, which the customer already had in place, so these replaced what was already there nicely. If needed, we could have broken these connectors into individual wires and spliced them using a punch-down block or individual button splices. The smaller units appear to have analog jacks, which is also an option.

The GUI of this device is super intuitive and easy to use. Each analog wire pair has a section in the interface to add your SIP Username, SIP Password, and Server Address credentials. You are basically done/registered unless you want a more detailed configuration (various timers, auto-hot-dial, etc.).”

Response #2:
“The Grandstream ATA is the way to go! I have 300 patient rooms run remotely from MT PBXware. Those ATAs are always in my toolbox. You can’t beat ‘em.”

Response #3:
“We have also used the same Grandstream solution in some large Adult Living Facilities. As others said, they are a reliable and solid solution.”

As we see above, not only do we have a strong recommendation, but other partners also backed it! This example perfectly showcases the benefits of an online community such as a forum. 

Are you a Bicom Systems partner and NOT part of the forum? Connect with our Business Success team here, and they can get you started. Are you interested in becoming a Bicom Systems partner? Contact our Sales team for a free demo! 

Let’s Connect.
📞 +1 (647) 313 1515
📧 sales@bicomsystems.com
💻 www.bicomsystems.com/contact-us   

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
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Two data center expansions, a subsea upgrade, and a couple new PoPs: … [visit site to read more]