Trade Show Tour 2019

Posted on 17. December 2018. by Laura Kyle

What a year 2018 has been! We had a blast attending all the Trade Shows, Conferences and Webinars this past year. Meeting new customers, interacting with industry leaders and speaking on topics that we are passionate about is what keeps bringing us back.

Next year we will be attending some of our favorite shows that we have been going to for years plus a few new shows! We are excited to see familiar friends and meet new faces.

If you are interested to know where we will be in 2019, keep reading!

ITEXPO
January 30th to February 1st
We are starting the new year off right and heading to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for ITEXPO! You can find Bicom Systems at booth #911.
Register for ITEXPO here.

Capacity Caribbean
February 11th to February 13th
We are heading to San Juan, Puerto Rico to attend Capacity Caribbean. This will be our first year attending a Capacity event and we can not wait! Register for Capacity Caribbean here.

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FISPALIVE
February 20th to February 22nd
Shortly after Capacity Caribbean, we are heading to Nashville, Tennessee to attend FISPALIVE. We’ve been to FISPA events in the past and are very excited to have a booth at their event again this year. If you are in the area, come stop by but don’t forget to register here.

IT Partners 2019
March 13th to March 14th
Two days of intensive business in the community of French Channel IT decision makers?! Sign us up! This is the first time Bicom Systems will be attending a French IT trade show and did we mention it was being held in Paris, France? Register for IT Partners today.

Enterprise Connect
March 18th to March 21st
Bicom Systems is going to stay connected by going to the Enterprise Connect 2019 trade show in Orlando, Florida. This is another new opportunity for Bicom Systems to connect with buyers and sellers in the telecommunications industry. Advanced rate ends January 11th, 2019, register for Enterprise Connect today!

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WISPAMERICA
March 19th to March 21st
I know what you are thinking. WISPAMERICA is the same time as Enterprise Connect. Not to worry, Bicom Systems has both covered. We will be in Cincinnati, Ohio for WISPAMERICA’s 7th year running. Are you registered for this 3-day event? Do it here.

AstriCon
Bicom Systems has been a part of AstriCon in some way or another every year since it began. The date for this year’s conference has not been released yet, but we will update this post once it is. Check back in the new year for more information on AstriCon or visit their website.

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WISPAPALOOZA
October 7th to October 11th
Another trade show that Bicom Systems is not a rookie at is WISPAPALOOZA! Last year we held our very own user group meeting and it was a huge success. We were nominated for ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ and participated in many informational sessions. We are looking forward to heading back to Las Vegas, Nevada for another round of WISPAPALOOZA. Check back to their website in the new year to register.

ISP Summit
November 4th to November 6th
Although we have served customers and partners in Canada for years, Bicom Systems recently opened their first Canada office. We are thrilled to attend the 2019 Canadian ISP Summit this coming year in Toronto, Ontario. Visit their website to see registration details once they come available.

BTA
We recently experienced the BTA’s ‘Capture the Magic’ conference and it was such a success that we are going again! This trade show was a great way to end the year and we are looking forward to attending Capture the Magic 2019 back in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you want to learn more about the BTA events in 2019, check their website.

Do you want Bicom Systems to come to your trade show? Send us an email at marketing@bicomsystems.com. Don’t forget to keep checking back to this post as we update the event details.

See you in the new year!

Opus Codec. VoIP’s New Best Friend.

Posted on 14. December 2018. by Laura Kyle

Opus Codec.

No, it’s not a spell like hocus pocus. It is actually something you use everyday! To best explain it in layman’s terms, let’s start with some definitions.

Codec: a device or computer program used to encode or decode a digital data stream or signal. (digital signal / language)
Audio Codec: also known as a ‘sound codec’ is a codec that encodes or decodes audio.
Opus: an audio coding format

Now that we have the definitions, lets tie them together in an example.

When you go on YouTube and watch a video, Codec is working behind the scenes. If you do not have a strong internet connection, YouTube is going to deliver your video in the best possible quality. The graphic display resolution will depend on what your internet connection can handle. However, the quality of the audio will not be affected. Even though you have a low quality resolution video, you will still have good quality audio. The worse the internet connection, the smaller the codec needed.

YouTube engages with your internet capabilities and chooses the best resolution for you. Audio quality is a little bit different. Desk phones communicate with different codecs and Opus is an audio codec for phones. Opus Codec is capable of handling a wide range of audio applications like VoIP and video conferencing.

Another example to explain how Opus Codec works:

Say you are in a hotel. Often, the wifi in a hotel is slow, unstable or has a weak signal because so many consumers are sharing it. You are grasping for a good connection to make a phone call through your VoIP phone or UC application. Opus Codec is able to optimize the audio codec with the given bandwidth to provide the best call experience possible with the resources you have.

Sometimes audio on a mobile device is good and then bad and then the call drops. Opus is smart and does what YouTube does and adjusts the audio quality instead of dropping the call. It automatically adjusts based on the network, service range and other factors affecting the connection.

Another example would be talking on Bluetooth in a car. If you are driving at a fast speed, if it is raining or windy outside, or if there are other outside noises affecting your ability to hear, your Bluetooth will adjust the audio for you. Opus will help when you’re driving and will shift from one tower to another to ensure the best quality of your network connection. It will change minute by minute, without you knowing, and will adapt to give you the best possible quality for your current situation. Unfortunately, it can’t help with back seat drivers.

Opus Codec is very smart and adaptive to what your internet’s capabilities are. It gives you the best possible outcome for what you are capable of. This automatic adjustment is something that often goes unnoticed or taken for granted.

Although the concept is relatively new for the telecommunication industry, Opus Codec is a feature found in Bicom Systems PBXware and gloCOM version 5.2. Bicom Systems seeks to provide the best products for our customers. Poor audio quality is not considered ‘the best’.

To learn more about PBXware and gloCOM visit our website or contacts our sales team at sales@bicomsystems.com.

BTA ‘Capture the Magic’ Conference Recap

Posted on 12. December 2018. by Laura Kyle

This past week the Business Technology Association (BTA) held the ‘Capture the Magic’ conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was a two-day event with many educational sessions, networking opportunities, and informative speakers. Bicom Systems, a member of the BTA, attended this conference as a vendor.

The BTA was founded in 1926 for the purpose of serving office technology dealerships, resellers, manufacturers, distributors and service companies. The main members of the BTA are office technology dealerships. The copier business industry is starting to diminish. The world is going paperless and many new companies are jumping on board with the digital trend. Many speakers stressed how the industry is declining and how they should get into the VoIP and IT service industry. They are similar industries and we thought it would be a good opportunity for Bicom Systems to attend this conference.

So off we sent one of our account managers, Eric Johnson, to Las Vegas and here is what he had to say!

Q: What did Bicom Systems do at the conference?
A: Everyone and everything was in the same room. This was really convenient because you didn’t miss out on anything. I got to participate in all the educational sessions, network, speak to potential customers and listen to all keynote speakers.

Q: Did we have a booth?
A: Yes. We had a table set up and my most common question from the attendees was “what do you do?”

Q: You mentioned earlier that you got to participate in the educational sessions. What was that like?
A: They were great! All the speakers were really interesting and extremely informative. My favorite was Sally Brause, a director of human resources consulting with a company called ‘GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp.’ She spoke about the challenges to change and how businesses and people are reluctant to change. Harry Hecht, a business coach, industry adviser and consultant, also gave a speech which was very engaging. He gave some social media tips and insights on how to engage customers using social media platforms.

Q: What kind of people attend this conference? Companies? Techies?
A: A lot of business owners. Companies in the copier business who sell copy machines, faxes, scanners etc., Email marketing companies and IT organizations. Also, business owners who are looking for more revenue. Persons who are looking to add more to their offering to increase revenue.

Q: What was your main takeaway?
A: That since the world is going paperless that companies in the copier business need to consider other revenue sources. I learned that a lot of people don’t realize the easiest way to add to that revenue stream is to add telephone services. Everyone and business needs/uses a phone. It is an extremely competitive industry and with the right provider, is easy to enter.

Q: If other businesses and customers were to ask if BTA was worth attending, what would your advice be?
A: Yes! It was super beneficial to attend the ‘Capture the Magic’ conference this year. The speakers were great, the educational sessions were really informative and I learned a lot. The way businesses and consumers communicate all connect. VoIP and IT Services all flow into the fax, copier and scanner industry. The network opportunities at this conference were terrific. In my opinion, it was a home run shot.

If you want to learn more about the ‘Capture the Magic’ conference visit the BTA’s website or send Eric an email at eric@bicomsystems.com.

10 Things You Can’t Miss out on With gloCOM 5.2

Posted on 10. December 2018. by Laura Kyle

We’re back with another update! With constantly changing technology,our developers are always innovating. As soon as we release one version, we already have new ideas for the next.

Bicom Systems strives to give our customers the best versions of Unified Communications. Our newest version, gloCOM 5.2, will increase efficiency, productivity and support collaboration like never before. Here are 10 new things gloCOM can offer you and your customers.

1. Communicator Branding (BRM – Bicom Release Manager)
Your company information. Your logo. Bicom Systems offers white label products to resellers who want to rebrand our products. This way your customers won’t get confused when they see another companies information plastered on their applications. This branding feature also benefits resellers so their customers won’t go directly to the manufacturer for their telecommunication needs, ensuring the customer remains with you.

2. New languages for GUI
Two new languages were added to this upgrade. gloCOM 5.2 is now offered in English, Italian and French. This update gives reseller’s a competitive edge in the market by offering their products in different languages.

3. Caller ID when Faxing
With gloCOM 5.2, users can now choose what caller IDs to send a Fax as. When you add a new contact you input their; name, phone number(s), email addresses and if applicable, their fax number. Now all the user has to do is right-click on the contact and they have the option to send them a fax straight from gloCOM.

4. Block Caller ID Notification
This new feature gives the user two options. They can either hide their Caller ID permanently or hide their Caller ID for the next call they make. An icon will appear during your call letting you know if your Caller ID is hidden.

5. Agents Pause Reason Codes
You can now see why and when an agent pauses their calls and what their current status is (ex: on a call, busy, paused, offline etc). When you hover over an agents name with your mouse, a tool-tip will appear with the agents status and why (ex: Paused: Smoke Break). Not only can supervisors see this information but other agents can too! This becomes handy in case they need to transfer a call to another agent or if they need to discuss a matter.

6. Filter Queue Call Tab
This new feature is especially useful for clients with multiple locations and queues per location. The supervisor can choose to only see the calls for a specific location. This makes it easier to navigate and organize through wait times, service levels, amount of calls answered/unanswered, etc.

7. Default Ringtones
Before gloCOM 5.2 it was hard to distinguish whether it was an internal or external call because it was the same ringtone. Now, you can set different ringtones for internal calls (within the organization) and external calls (outside of your organization).

8. Add Users to Existing Chat
This new feature on the update makes collaboration even easier. You can instantly start a group chat by dragging a new user(s) into an existing chat. It saves users time and increases productivity.

9. Module Icons can be Personalized
The icons for the modules inside gloCOM can be personalized. The telephone icon must stay there but the following three icons can be chosen by the end user. The user can arrange the icons as desired to boost accessibility by simply dragging dropping.

10. Show/Hide Numbers Next to Contact Name
Having the ability to see the contacts name and number(s) can be very convenient or take up a lot of space. It is fast and convenient that you do not have to click on the contact and go into their profile to see their information. This is helpful when you are quickly looking for a phone number to give out or access yourself. But with all this information when you have a lot of contacts, it can look messy and cluttered. This new feature gives you the option to show or hide these numbers.

To read all of the new features added to gloCOM 5.2 read over the official release notes here. If you want to upgrade your gloCOM to the latest version, visit our website or contact your account manager.

How One Service Provider is Saving Time and Reaching More Customers with Bicom Systems Cloud & UC Solutions

Posted on 7. December 2018. by Laura Kyle

Robin Damen, the founder of Virtual Computing, has a similar story that we all have heard before. Robin founded Virtual Computing, an ICT service provider company for small to medium-sized businesses, back in 2006. The timing of his company launch aligned perfectly with the growth in the tech and communications industry. Virtual Computing soon had to partner with support and resources outside of their company. Robin found his relationship with 3CX, a PBX vendor, to be great at first. But, that soon took a turn once he found out that “3CX was not cooperating with customers anymore”. After realizing the other negative aspects with his vendor, he knew he had to seek out new options.

Bicom Systems came as a recommendation to Robin by one of his existing customers. After having a testing phase with PBXware, Virtual Computing signed on with Bicom Systems. Robin loved the user-friendly system, the simplicity of the format and the scalability that PBXware Multi-Tenant offered him and his company.

Learn how Robin plans to stay ahead of trends in 2019, saves time, meets his budget, boosts customer loyalty and so much more here.