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Unified communications solutions help promote usefulness of teleworking

Many of us can recollect the saying, “you should not take things for granted, because you never know when a situation will arise where that certain thing will be of use.” I am sure I have learned this lesson once or twice during my lifetime, however one scenario in particular not only relates to my personal life, but has also carried into my professional life as well. A quick anecdote will help you, the readers, understand how a brilliant telephony technology, known as the Mitel Teleworker Solution, for me, will never be taken for granted.

It was a typical Sunday evening - my fiancé and I were enjoying our quiet house after a weekend of festivities with our close friends. All of a sudden, I could hear a constant dripping noise from the heater vent, and, to our dismay, we noticed a puddle forming. We wondered what could cause this puddle, then it clicked as we walked out to our garage and noticed 30 gallons of water flushed into our garage. Our water heater had completely burst! What where we going to do? It was past operations hours on a Sunday - there would be no way anyone could help us solve our situation before Monday.

After a quick call to our home insurance emergency line, we learned the inevitable: one of us had to take a day off work to get a new water heater. But wait - I had a solution that would give me the best outcome. Due to the Mitel Teleworker Solution, I was able to work from home and get our new water heater installed. Most importantly, I did not have to miss a full day of work.

In part, the “teleworker solution,” for me, was simply being able to solve a household emergency; but the teleworker solution is not new to the telephony industry.

According to Toni Kistner, blogger forNetwork World Fusion, the term “telework” was formed by Jack Nilles, known as “The Father of Telecommuting” in the early 1970s, but teleworking did not become well known for its features and benefits until the late 1990’s, when the telephony industry began to notice the positive impact of the teleworker solution.

The benefits of teleworking, described in Mitel‘s Flexible Telework (Cultural Change Afoot in the Workplace whitepaper, fall into three well-known categories: “employee, company and societal benefits. Employee-related benefits are direct in terms of providing work life flexibility, reduced personal costs (fuel, work, and clothing) and zero commute times.”

On a company benefits level, researchers have found that companies are able to reduce their real estate cost by decreasing their overall office space requirements, productivity of an individual employee increases, and in some cases, teleworking can be used as a disaster/recovery plan in case of emergency or health related concerns.

Lastly, societal benefits of teleworking can be addressed by reducing the carbon dioxide emissions and traffic congestion. Even one of the leading teleworking solution manufacturers, Mitel, reports that nearly 40 percent of [their] North American employees telework, with each mile not traveled between home and work saving, on average, 1.1 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere has been decreased by their business model of using the telework solution.

Further, according to, Employees Frustrated with Long Commutes, “26 percent considered changing jobs to improve their commutes. Almost a quarter of respondents said they are late to work at least three times a month due to traffic.” With this technology, it is almost impractical to not have the teleworking option available for the people. Hopefully society will begin to see the value of teleworking, and be able to deploy this solution throughout the nation’s workforce.

So, whether you find yourself in an emergency household situation like me, or are fed up with gas prices, the daily commute, or feel like you could be more productive working out of the office, then this blog has made its impact. Encourage change within your office; the solution is out there for your taking. Like I said before, “you never know when a situation will arise where that certain thing will be of use.”

Our lifeblood - Part II

In our last blog post, we mentioned that we would be taking a step back from discussing the technological aspects of the telecommunications industry and take a look at the Maverick Networks interior in a two-part blog series. This is the second part of our series about our “lifeblood.”

Part II – Operations:

So you’ve met our sales representatives and telecommunications consultants and decided that Maverick Networks is a good fit for your company’s telecom solution. You’ve signed the papers, agreed to the payments or leasing option, and then what?

Then, our Operations team steps in to help install and implement your shiny, new hardware, software, cable, etc. at your company facilities.

The term “operations” is a broad term, and we use it for our tech team here at Maverick Networks for that very reason. Our Operations team members never carry out just one type of technical task – they are required to know all the ins and outs of our company, our products, as well as the needs of our customers and clients and the layout of their facilities.

According to Matt Kaufman, a convergence field technician here at Maverick, “from the end of the sales process to the inception of the system, the entire process is in the hands of one or more of the members of our operations teams, from project planning, to parts orders and small changes in the scope of work.”

If a customer or client encounters a technical issue and needs to open a service ticket, our operations team is there to help. If a customer or client has a question about their purchased product and service, the operations team is standing by to answer any question they can. If a customer or client would like to make a change on their system, or are experiencing issues, they can call in to our service line (866-482-3200) or submit an email to our service mailbox.

“We have remote access to most of our customers’ sites, so small programming changes are able to be done remotely from our office, while large moves, new phone installs, or major PBX changes may need to be made on-site, in which case we would dispatch a technician to take care of the issue,” Kaufman said. But carrying out all of these tasks isn’t an easy thing to do.

“With the amount of service calls and new installations on our plate, we have to make sure that we make the most of our time,” he said. “Without proper time management we would never be able to get all the work we need to get done, finished.”

Our Operations team is always busy with new business coming in and maintaining quality service guarantees for existing guarantees, so here at Maverick Networks, we can’t help but think of them as our backbone. From new installations to adds, moves and changes (here referred to as AMCs), Operations tackles it all with efficiency, professionalism, and superb quality and customer service.

Our lifeblood - Part I

For this blog post, we’re going to take a step back from discussing all the technological wonders of the telecom industry, and focus on a couple different aspects of our business. As part of a two-part series, we’d like to delve a little deeper into two aspects of our company that truly make us a complete, successful communications business – our hard-working sales team, and our extremely knowledgeable and attentive operations team, without whom, we’d be useless. But, lucky for us, we have some of the most talented professionals in their field.

Part I – Sales:

A general practice for salespeople is to “knock” on every door in sight in hopes that they’ll get a response for someone in need of what they have to offer. Most of the time, this just comes off as annoying or impersonal to the person answering these “knocks”, or the decision maker that the sales person may get referred to.

At Maverick Networks, we don’t like to practice our sales process this way. Being a business ourselves, we get plenty of salespeople trying to sell their product(s) to us, and most of the time they won’t get to a decision maker, so we know all too well the importance of a good sales plan.

We like to go against the grain when it comes to sales. Of course, we have multiple products and services we would like to sell, but we’re not selling them simply to make money. We sell them to help other businesses. When our customers and clients succeed, we succeed.

Yes, our Business Development Specialists or Communications Consultants may call or e-mail your company to inquire about your phone system, but our intention is to find out whether or not you are happy with the service you’ve been given by your phone provider and dial tone/network providers. If you’re not happy, we know that we have the right products, services, and purchasing plans to ensure a positive telecommunications experience for you and your company.

We kind of like to think of ourselves as “telecom doctors,” really.  When you invite us to your offices for an initial meeting or product demo, we want to hear from you, first. We want to know the aches and pains that your old system has given you, or what you like about your system and has helped your business’s efficiency that you would like to keep. We listen to your requests regarding budget, and we look at your monthly telecom costs.

Then, we can “diagnose” your problems, and inform you about all of the options we see that would best fit your company, not what would best help our sales. More often than not, we find multiple avenues to save your company money compared to what you’ve spent previous to our meeting. Like doctors, we want to fix your problems, and continue to have regular checkups and open communication for the best possible health of your company’s telecommunications.

As Aaron Lee, our CEO, likes to say, “Diagnosis without prognosis is malpractice,” and we strive to work under this mindset every day.

Want to meet our sales team or discuss how we can improve the health of your company's telecommunications? Contact us! 

Have you heard about our Compass Solution?

Purchasing a new phone package can get pretty pricey, especially if you’re working for a small to medium-sized business. Of course, when shopping for the right phones, service and dial tone providers, you’ll want to consider the overall total cost of ownership (TCO) to ensure that you’re getting the best bang for your buck. But, even if you do walk away with a really great price on the total package, it can be hard to find the financial resources right upfront for all of the services your company needs.

At Maverick Networks, Inc., we understand all too well. In fact, we fall under the SMB category, as well. That’s why we’ve partnered with Great America Leasing to provide our customers and clients with the best services and products they can get without having to empty out their pockets.

The Compass Solution

Purchasing a new phone package can get pretty pricey, especially if you’re working for a small to medium-sized business. Of course, when shopping for the right phones, service and dial tone providers, you’ll want to consider the overall total cost of ownership (TCO) to ensure that you’re getting the best bang for your buck. But, even if you do walk away with a really great price on the total package, it can be hard to find the financial resources right upfront for all of the services your company needs.

At Maverick Networks, Inc., we understand all too well. In fact, we fall under the SMB category, as well. That’s why we’ve partnered with Great America Leasing to provide our customers and clients with the best services and products they can get without having to empty out their pockets.

LBS - it's no B.S.

Do you ever have those paranoid thoughts that our technology is getting so advanced that it may actually take over the world one day (kind of like in that movie, I, Robot with Will Smith...)?

Will Smith talks to robots.

Well, don't worry, you're not paranoid. It's already beginning to happen.

Just kidding. It's not. If you're feeling that paranoid, you might want to consider taking up meditation or yoga. But, we can't blame you for being in awe at how far our society has come with technology in recent years, and how much further we can potentially go.

In the telecommunications world, so much progress has been made in the growth of technology uses that it's hard not to let our jaws drop just a bit (see Geeking out over VoIP-enabled toys and Virtualizing for the future). One such advancement really isn't all that new, but it is something that people might not normally think about because it's been incorporated in their day-to-day lives so much within the last 10 years.

Location-based service (LBS) has played a major role in helping technology help to make our lives easier. Generally, it requires global positioning system (GPS) technology to track where a device is and where it travels to. In fact, if you're an owner of a smart phone or tablet, you encounter LBS daily and probably don't even realize it.

When you update your Facebook status from your DROID RAZR, LBS is registering your exact location, even if you don't "check in" anywhere. When you do a Google search on your brand new iPad for the closest Greek restaurant to your office, LBS is using your GPS location to help narrow your search results.

Mitel, a global provider of business communications and collaboration software services, has a mobility application called Unified Communicator Advanced (UCA). With this application, LBS is used to help determine your availability based on your location via GPS and your Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection.

For example, Tiffany, one of our communications consultants, uses the Mitel UCA application on her personal cell phone to twin her desk phone number. That way, she can make and receive calls from her cell phone under the guise of her desk phone number while she's out in the field. But, say she goes home instead of heading back to the office after being out on a client site visit all day. While her UCA status is set to mobile over her phone's own internet connection, the moment she comes in to her personal Wi-Fi zone at her house, her UCA status will change to whatever she had previously programmed it to change to (for this purpose, let's say she programmed is to change to "Gone for the Day" when she's at home). So, if she's ready to end her work day and her phone is already set to "Gone for the Day," any calls coming in to her number will be automatically directed to her voicemail.

ShoreTel, another leading provider of unified communications solutions and IP business phone systems, has a similar product that allows for its users with mobility enabled on their mobile devices. With the ShoreWare Mobile Call Manager, LBS is enabled by a waypoint, or:

"a data point that associates an action with a specific location. When your device receives a GPS signal in the location specified by the waypoint, while Mobile Call Manager is in the foreground application, the action defined by the waypoint is performed." 

DrVoIP, a VoIP blog, highlights these capabilities:

"With the ShoreTel Version 9 the GPS in my phone can use my current location to set my call handling mode and effectively change my external assignment. So when I am in the office, all the calls to my extension ring in at my desk. If I go out for lunch the GPS notes my location as 'not in the office' [and] changes my external assignment and my calls start ringing in on my cell. When I finally get home from a long day at the beach, the GPS notes that I am home and assigns my extension to my home phone."

So while our technology might not be taking over the world any time soon, with the ability for a tablet or phone to detect its owner's location and adjust their mobility statuses for their work phone, perhaps we should start calling smart phones intelligent phones, instead. We think it has a bit of a ring to it!

Is your jaw dropping (even just a little bit) at this LBS business? Talk to us! We partner with both Mitel and ShoreTel, and can tell you which phone system will best fit your company's needs. Visit our website - www.mavericknetworks.net - or send us an e-mail to info@mavericknetworks.net!

Customer Profile: Fast moving company needed a solution... Fast!

Zettaset, provider of a Hadoop-based data platform for storing and analyzing large data sets, had a lot going on.

They were moving to a new office, hiring people at a quickening pace, and about to launch their first public marketing campaign.

“We realized that the phone was going to start ringing, but we didn’t have a plan for dealing with that,” said Tim Reilly, Zettaset Controller.

“I was familiar with Maverick Networks, and knew they had done a great job for some colleagues of mine. We didn’t have time or the ‘bandwidth’ to go through a lengthy process and review a lot of options, so I just called on Maverick to step in and take care of it,” he said.

Enter Maverick Networks.

“Zettaset needed us to move fast, but we also knew it was critical to do a thorough evaluation of their needs,” explained Aaron Lee, Maverick Networks CEO. The Maverick team has done this numerous times, so they quickly sized up Zettaset’s situation and recommended a solution that would make both fiscal and operational sense.

“Given their plans to tie a couple of U.S. offices together, expected growth in the European market, and desired features, the Small Enterprise Package from ShoreTel was a good fit,” Lee said.

In addition to the Small Enterprise Package, Maverick Networks offered Zettaset the Compass Solution payment program, greatly impressing Reilly.

“As the VP of Finance and Operations, I am especially impressed by the Compass Solution Maverick put together. Instead of buying the system as a capital expensive, we pay a single, low monthly payment to cover use, upgrades and maintenance of the system. This was the right move for our young company,” Reilly said.

Within a matter of two weeks, Maverick Networks coordinated installation of cabling, provisioning of Internet connectivity, installation and configuration of the equipment, and use training.

“It was miraculous,” Reilly said. “I couldn’t believe that in the midst of everything going on, we were up and running on our new system with time to spare before our public launch at a big trade show. Maverick Networks made it smooth, and the ShoreTel system was so easy to use, our team was immediately comfortable and productive. Managing the system is just as easy – because as a company that’s investing in engineering and our product, we are keeping administrative costs as lean as possible. In other words, I have to manage our infrastructure myself.”