My New E-Guide: 3 Hot Buttons for Hosted UC

I've been doing some work recently with ShoreTel, a UC player I've been closely following for years. They've carved out a solid niche mainly with SMBs and the mid-market, but like everyone else, have lots of competitors, both for hosted and premise-based offerings.

In June, I did a well-attended webinar with them on the topic of "3 hot buttons for UC". The focus was on three trends currently driving this space, namely security, application integration and scalability.

This was based on some broader research of mine which I have distilled into an e-guide. It's great format to get a quick but effective update on current topics - not a full-length report, but more narrative than the slides from my webinar. If this hasn't crossed your radar yet, the guide has been published, and can be downloaded from the Resource Center of ShoreTel's website. Here's the link, and if you have any problems getting it, please let me know. Otherwise, I would love to hear your thoughts, and so too, would ShoreTel.

Three VoIP Use Cases - My TechTarget Series Continues

Last week, I posted about the start of a three-part series on VoIP for TechTarget's SearchUnifiedCommunications portal.

That post has picked up a lot of traction, and the second post is running now. It's titled "Three Use Cases That Highlight the Benefits of VoIP". I hope you enjoy it, and any comments or sharing will be greatly appreciated.

A third post is coming soon, and together, these posts will be added to some other posts for a buyer's guide, so stay tuned for the finished product. As soon as that's all done, we're moving on to do the same for UC, so watch for updates on that shortly.

July Writing Roundup

Whew, July was a busy month, and a number of things I'd been working on for a while all came together around the same time for being published or posted. More of the same coming for August - custom projects can take a long time, especially with Tier 1 clients, but I'll share things as they become public.

Here's what I'd like to share from last month that you might still want to read or share with others. My profile has been growing a lot lately, so a lot of people aren't familiar yet with what I do or the various places my writing is published.

Key Benefits of Hosted VoIP for SMBs - Toolbox.com, July 1

The State of UC - Experts Weigh In - GetVoIP.com, via my blog, July 7

Hosted VoIP Landscape - CLECs - Pros and Cons - Toolbox.com, July 7

Is UCaaS a Blip or a Trend? - UCStrategies podcast - very popular - check it out if you missed it, July 10

Cisco Canada - Pan Am Games Update - my blog, July 10

Key Buying Considerations for Hosted VoIP - IP Phones - Toolbox.com, July 17

Hosted VoIP - Are You Buying Telephony or a Communications Solution? - Toolbox.com, July 20

Should SMBs Buy From Incumbents? - Internet Telephony magazine, July 23

New Research - What SMBs Think About UC - UCStrategies, July 24

New Accolade for my Blog - 2015 Top Tech Blog Awards - my blog, July 29

Analyzing VoIP basics reveals telephony's evolution - TechTarget SearchUnifiedCommunications, July 29

UCS Podcast: What Is/Should be Kaput or End-of-Life?

We had some fun on this week's UCStrategies podcast, talking about things we think should be goners or are walking dead, but just don't know it yet.

Of course, everyone has their pet peeves, and the one that resonated for me was Kevin Kieller's comment about privacy. Yeah, that's a big one, and we're giving it up, one tweet at a time - as long as we can have fun in the moment, really, what else is more important in life? Party on....

I'm even bleaker, but you'll have to get to the 28:19 mark for my thoughts. Lots of good ideas otherwise - some very technical and some just everyday practical. Unless I missed something, I don't think anyone said that UC itself is kaput, and there are certainly times when I think that's the case.

Let's stay upbeat and get you over to our portal. The podcast was moderated by the always-you're-wrong-unless-I-tell-you-otherwise Dave Michels, and it's now posted there for downloading.

Sneak peek - I'll be moderating next weeks's podcast - that will be a first for me as a UC Expert. I recently posted about some new research that had some noteworthy findings about how SMBs view UC. It's not a topic we hear enough about, so we'll all get to explore things further then. Watch for it here and on the UCStrategies site towards the end of next week.

Analyzing VoIP Basics - New Post, New Series

I've been contributing to TechTarget in various forms for many years, and am currrently working with them on a VoIP series, which will be followed by a UC series.

Ultimately, these series are being produced to help IT make better buying decisions around communications technologies, and my posts provide independent analysis that will be complemented by other forms of content from other contributors.

My first post for the VoIP series was published yesterday on their SearchUnifiedCommunications portal. It's titled "Analyzing VoIP basics reveals telephony's evolution", and it's getting good traction already. I hope you give it a read, and even better if care to share it - and, as always, comments are welcome.

New Accolade for my Blog - 2015 Top Tech Blog Awards

From time to time, we all get recognition, and in the morass of anonymity known as the Internet, it's always good to have validation that someone is actually paying attention. Most of us don't blog to make money - I write, therefore I blog. Well, not as much as I used to, and now it's just one of many platforms I use to share my views on the markets I follow.

Vendors and operators aren't the first things that come to mind as award-givers, but like everyone else, they have to rely on independent sources for what's happening out there. Broadview Networks falls into that category, and they've been doing this for a few years now. Being in the hosted communications space, I'm glad to be on their radar.

This week, they announced their 2015 "Top Tech Blog" awards, and am happy to say I'm on the list. I don't know all the blogs in this group, but I'll definitely need to check them out to broaden my own horizons - and would encourage you to do the same. I made their 2013 list as well, so it's good to be back.

How is Microsoft Doing in UC These Days?

In the UC space - UC&C as well for that matter - the world largely revolves around two vendors - Microsoft and Cisco. They're hardly the only games in town, but nobody can match their footprint and market power. Despite Microsoft's size, the jury is constantly out for being leaders or laggards, and I don't think we'll ever have a clear answer.

Whether you think Skype for Business is the right name, they're sticking with it, and the latest development is their plan to add PSTN connectivity to Office 365. You might say it's too little too late for that, but you might also say that it doesn't matter as much now with so many other options for voice.

These are the state-of-flux scenarios that keep us busy at UCStrategies, and that was the focus of our latest podcast. Lots of commentary from all over the spectrum, and this is a great way to get up to speed on where Microsoft is sitting in the eyes of analysts and consultants. The podcast was hosted by Marty Parker, and my comments turn up at the 34:31 mark - here's the link.

Also, a warm welcome to Simon Dudley as part of our UC Expert ranks. We worked well together when he was at Lifesize, and we look forward to his UCStrategies contributions, which actually begin with this podcast.