VoIP vs UCaaS: Which one is best for your business?

For over 20 years, small to medium-sized businesses have embraced VoIP to replace outdated phone systems and as technology has improved, VoIP has evolved into a next-generation technology that provides seamless integration between internet and voice.

Developed in the 1970s, VoIP technology began to be widely used in the 1990s, leading to the development and practical application of UCaaS for next-generation voice, video, and more.      

Vision Net provides VoIP, UCaaS, and Microsoft Teams Integrated services and since no two businesses have the same needs, we design robust and secure systems and work with our clients to find the right technology solution.

Many organizations have strategic reasons for unifying their business communication with a cloud-based solution and will see the best ROI with Vision Net’s UCaaS. However, other businesses have unique needs that are best met by Vision Net’s VoIP.

As a business telecommunications company in Montana for over 28 years, Vision Net understands the needs of small and medium sized businesses throughout the region. We work with our clients to find the best solution for their needs and within their budget, and we’re here to help you determine the best solution for your business.

Vision Net’s VoIP is implemented on-site through your broadband connection, rather than outdated telephone cables. VoIP services can be managed in-house or delivered as a cloud-based service; Vision Net’s agility allows businesses to determine their best management method.

5 Reasons Why VoIP Is Ideal for Businesses Seeking Simple and Affordable Phone Calling:

  1. Significant cost savings on interoffice calling, long-distance, and international calling.
  2. Simple phone line management.
  3. Cost-effective management.
  4. Automated call distribution, voice recognition, and remote phone lines management.
  5. As your business grows, you can scale from VoIP to UCaaS.

UCaaS is defined by as-a-Service apps that are hosted and delivered by a cloud communication tool and as a Unifying communication tool for a streamlined user interface. Vision Net’s UCaaS is delivered through our Unified Communications platform. Adopting Vision Net’s UCaaS will lead to remarkable cost savings and productivity gains.

UCaaS: The Top 5 Needs It Addresses for Businesses:

  1. Video features including video conferencing, web conferencing, and screen sharing.
  2. Simple communication and management across multiple sites or locations.
  3. Developing strong business continuity and disaster management processes including broadcast via voice phones, instant messages, text, and email.
  4. Increase productivity and decrease error by integrating data across apps.
  5. Improve the customer experience by unifying channels including chat, email, and phone.

One of the most practical features of UCaaS missing from VoIP are video communications. If your employees work remotely, travel expenses are a concern, or teams work in different offices, video has benefits that will deliver a strong ROI. 93% of communication is nonverbal, so video could mean fewer miscommunications, 30% less on business travel, and greater collaboration between teams. For many companies, video is the deciding factor between VoIP or UCaaS since video conferencing lets your employees conduct interactive meetings, share screens, connect with and help clients troubleshoot issues in record time.

VoIP and UCaaS both provide flexibility that businesses need. UCaaS offers extensive flexibility in services, especially if you partner with vendors who offer dedicated port connection and with VoIP, you can instantly add and subtract phone lines, and offer features to employees on an as-needed basis. We built our VoIP and Unified Communication Suite on our network with reliability and redundancy as priorities with a knowledgeable staff to ensure your network is proactively monitored and threats are eliminated before they can attack your network.

As an additional feature to the Vision Voice suite of products Vision Net offers Microsoft Teams integration where Vision Net handles the call origination and termination through MS Teams rather than relying on Microsoft as your phone provider. The benefits are our redundant network optimized for call and video applications and the ability to overlay services and advanced features such as call center, hunt groups, call recording, call reporting and faxing.

Still not sure which option will work best for your business? Contact Vision Net to learn about the functionality that will work best for your business.

Businesses are moving to the Cloud: learn why

Has your business been affected by a cyberattack? If so, you understand the time and money required to recover, to say nothing of the hit to your reputation, your client’s well-being, and the future of your business. As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, business owners want to protect their businesses; shifting to a modern data platform is the most cost-effective and secure way to accomplish this.

Cloud has become the primary location for businesses storage; security, data modernization, and cost are among the top reasons businesses are migrating their data to the cloud. Vision Net makes it easy to manage your data, protect your network, and keep your business running. Cloud computing offers several benefits to your business.

Flexibility | Cloud is ideal for businesses with growing or fluctuating bandwidth demands. If your needs increase, Vision Net makes it easy to scale your capacity and if you need to scale down, that flexibility is available. Your businesses will see a real advantage over your competitors.

Low-Cost Disaster Recovery | Your business should invest in robust disaster recovery, and Vision Net’s Cloud solutions can help your business prevent data loss and help you recover vital data in the event of a natural or other disaster.

Software Update | The innovation of cloud computing is that the servers are off premises, out of sight, and out of your hair. Vision Net takes care of your servers, along with software updates so you don’t have to worry about wasting time maintaining your on-site server, giving you time to focus on your business.

Capital-Expenditure Free | Cloud computing cuts out the high cost of hardware. You pay for what you need, ensuring your cash flow goes toward your business. Along with the ease of setup and management, it’s easier than ever to take the first step to cloud adoption.

Increased Collaboration | When your employees can access, edit, and share documents anytime, from anywhere, they can to do more and do it better. Cloud-based workflow combined with our Work Anywhere Suite help your employees stay engaged, make updates in real time, and fully collaborate across offices and locations.

Once your business migrates to the Cloud, your files are centrally stored with employees having access to files. If you still use on-site storage, it could be time to learn about Vision Net’s streamlined network management methods; we’re happy to answer any questions and design your business’ 21st Century technology solution.

Enterprise Cloud delivers superior technology and business solutions

Enterprise cloud is a computing model where businesses can access virtualized IT resources from a public or private cloud services provider including servers, processing power, data storage, virtualization capabilities, and networking infrastructure. Vision Net’s Enterprise cloud computing creates new opportunities for your business to reduce costs while enhancing business resiliency, flexibility, and network security. Our Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure provides our clients with superior service and availability. Our geo-diverse centers leverage our investment into efficient operation and enhanced service offerings for our clients. We use the power of Cisco UCS fabric interconnect and security systems, EMC storage, triple redundant network connectivity by multiple vendors, and triple redundant power/environmental systems. For over 15 years, Vision Net has invested in the technology and infrastructure to bring Enterprise cloud technology to the region’s businesses and communities because we recognize the benefits Enterprise cloud offers. 1. Cost savings | Vision Net can build custom deployments to fit any budget. Leveraging our infrastructure allows for your business to scale quickly and efficiently while not having to make large capital expenditures for on-premise hardware, translating to faster speed to market and a more cost effective and robust server environment. 2. Security | businesses of all sizes can become a target for cybercriminals intent on stealing or exposing your data. Costly and time-consuming to repair, data breaches can negatively impact your reputation and customer relationships. With Enterprise cloud, your business can access security tools like system-wide identity/access management and cloud security monitoring, along with implementing network-wide identity and access controls. 3. Disaster Recovery/Business Resiliency | Without a solid Disaster Recovery solution, business resiliency is at risk in the face of a service outage, natural disaster, or cyberattack. Lost revenue, degradation of client trust, and loss of business. Vision Net’s world-class disaster recovery suite offers a solution that is powerful, affordable, and fully managed. We provide non-disruptive recovery testing, reliable back-up data storage, and we manage the disaster declaration and failover process. 4. Flexibility & Innovation | Vision Net’s innovative Enterprise cloud offers your business the flexibility to dynamically scale resource consumption up or down as needed, minimizing the upfront capital cost associated with launching a new product and removes barriers to innovation. Vision Net monitors and manages hybrid solutions on behalf of our clients. Are you ready to transform your business with Vision Net’s Enterprise cloud? Let us help you get started.

Vision Net is Montana’s Largest Network, providing comprehensive security solutions

Technology is at the center of change, enabling businesses to transform their operation models and respond nimbly to competitive threats. Every business’ needs are different and to succeed, you need innovative insight, a technology solution, and a secure network. Smart technology solutions will support your business’ success and help you improve employee efficiency aspirations, stay ahead of regulatory mandates, and guard against external cyber threats. Hosted Voice | Vision Net is a premiere provider of Hosted Voice solutions. We built our Hosted Voice platform with multiple layers of redundancy, providing your business with maximum uptime and continuous operation. Your business will have the power and functionality to receive and manage phone calls from anywhere, anytime. If your growing business is ready to improve your operations, your business needs the complete suite of Vision Net’s Hosted Voice. Endpoint | Vision Net’s Endpoint security suite secures devices, or endpoints, such as laptops, tablets, mobile devices, and servers. Our endpoint security systems protect your business’ devices on our cloud-based platform from cybersecurity threats. Evolving from traditional antivirus software to proactive and comprehensive protection, Vision Net’s Endpoint security is your business’ cybersecurity frontline. Over the last decade, the volume and sophistication of cybersecurity threats has steadily grown, and with the average employee connected to at least 5 endpoints, Vision Net remains committed to stay ahead of the trend with proactive tools, including our advanced endpoint security solutions. Microsoft Teams | Your business needs a professional communication suite that provides employees with professional chat and videoconferencing, file storage, and application integration. Vision Net’s Microsoft Teams integration leverages our carrier-grade telephone platform to process the voice side of your Microsoft Teams deployment. Unified Communication Suite for Business | With Vision Net’s Unified Communication Suite, your business’ collaboration, conferencing, and messaging are more immediate and flexible. Vision Net’s UC technology gives your business the accessibility and transparency to keep your team productive. As a premier provider of Unified Communications and Collaboration solutions, Vision Net delivers a mobile, flexible, and reliable voice and video solution seamlessly integrated with productivity applications to simplify your business’ communications and improve efficiency. UC through Vision offers business continuity, diversified workforce, and scalability. Metro Fiber | Supporting our business solutions and technology offering is our metro fiber network. For the last decade, Vision Net has invested in new fiber optic infrastructure throughout Montana to provide small, medium, and large businesses secure and reliable connectivity options. We proactively added several layers of redundancy into our network to ensure your business’ connection stays up and running and that your data is secure. If there is ever a complete outage situation with your main connection, Vision Net proactively detects and seamlessly transfers your traffic to the secondary connection so your business can continue to function, while your competitors wait for their provider to react. As your provider, we can integrate a world-class business solution. Our expertise as Montana’s largest independent network gives us the tools to give your business an agile, robust, and adaptive system within your budget and size. In 2021, stay ahead of threats, disruptions, and your competitors with a complete business solution from Vision Net.

Bandwidth on Demand: stay ahead of the competition

The world revolves around bandwidth, and the next evolution in our connected world is Bandwidth on Demand, an adaptable technology providing additional bandwidth as necessary to accommodate increased traffic. In the Cloud Computing age, static connectivity is not enough for businesses to operate. What is increasingly needed is a network that gives your business the bandwidth you need, when we need it.

A fast, reliable, and secure connection is the lifeblood of your business’ productivity, and trends show increasing bandwidth use across all industries. How can your business harness the power and flexibility of Bandwidth on Demand to stay ahead of your competitors?

The following are examples of Bandwidth on Demand that businesses will realize the benefits this service provides:

Sporting events | Stadiums and sporting arenas have drastically fluctuating bandwidth demands. During off-hours, these venues have little need for connectivity compared to when an event is happening. Compared to a typical Wednesday morning when very little is happening to when a baseball game is happening, the seats are full of fans on their own devices, and food and beverage transactions are being processed, there is such a massive difference in bandwidth demand that management researches options to bring their bill in line with their actual bandwidth use.

Healthcare | With emerging changes in privacy laws, record-keeping, telemedicine, and wearable health monitors, healthcare provider networks consistently struggle to keep their data infrastructure current. A dynamic and nimble broadband solution would help healthcare professionals stay ahead of the evolving and growing data needs of the healthcare industry to focus on client care.

Retail | As we enter the holiday shopping season, businesses can anticipate when their busiest days and times can adjust their bandwidth use to ensure credit card and online transactions can process with no interruption to the client experience. In addition, if an online retailer is releasing a new product with a special discount or gift for the first 4 hours of the product’s launch, they can order the bandwidth they will need for a discreet time.

Bandwidth on Demand allows your business to customize your connectivity parameters, giving you control over your network’s use and output like never before. For example, a business may request an increase in bandwidth from 1G to 10G every Saturday night, from 9pm to 1am, to perform a large-scale data backup.

Vision Net delivers the increased bandwidth you need and after that time period, your bandwidth service returns to normal usage levels. Vision Net’s professionals adapt to these network fluctuations with different approaches; your business can demand instant or scheduled bandwidth. As a technology solutions provider, we can help you determine the best needs for your business.

For businesses that require nimble and forward-thinking technology solutions, Vision Net’s Bandwidth on Demand provide flexible bandwidth, locations, and connectivity times.

Bandwidth on Demand is designed to assist your established network and provide your business with the flexibility of choice. Vision Net is here to help you find the best solution for your business, and our Bandwidth on Demand will ensure your business gets the fast, reliable speeds you need and your customers enjoy a seamless and fast service experience.

Work Anywhere Suite: Empowers work-from-home business model

Even before COVID19 changed how and where we work, companies had begun shifting to remote workplace solutions. Businesses are working to provide employees with collaboration and productivity apps more than ever before.

However, communications, security and scalability are major concerns; your business’ security and communications platforms  are one of your smartest investments; a data breach, hack, or phishing scam can damage your business’ reputation and revenue. Your business needs robust cloud based systems supported by knowledgeable ,proactive technical and customer support.

Vision Voice is the foundation of our Work Anywhere Suite. This next-generation hosted platform combines the best attributes of UCaaS, VoIP, and traditional phone features. When you need to move your workforce to a remote platform, we provide a reliable, easy, and quick transition into industry-leading tools, combined with the security of Vision Net’s network. Your business can successfully bridge the gap between in-person and remote work functionality. Our work from anywhere suite is designed to reduce distance disparity, support the work model that works best for your business, and empower your employees to be active, engaged, and productive team members, no matter where they are.

Dedicated to Your Success

Vision Net has over 25 years’ experience designing, deploying, and managing technology solutions, and our experts are available 24x7x365 to run and optimize your remote work solutions so you can focus on what is important, your business.

By combining two critical business needs into a single offering Vision Net’s Work Anywhere Suite makes communication and security simple.

Key Benefits

Key Features

Regardless of your network, our technical teams are here to monitor and support your connection to ensure your teams can work with optimal productivity and collaboration. Contact Vision Net to learn about the functionality of our industry-leading Work Anywhere Suite.

VoIP is THE business phone system for your team

Outdated, analog phone service no longer delivers the convenience it once did, and many companies have switched to Voiceover Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone services to meet their increasing needs. Since its introduction to the market in the 1990s, VoIP continues to improve its offerings, quality, and availability, delivering businesses the high-quality service they need, and delivering a product far superior to analog.

How VoIP works

VoIP converts your voice into a digital signal that travels over the Internet. When you call, the signal is converted before it reaches the destination. VoIP routes your phone calls directly to your telephone using your high-speed internet connection, meaning that you don't pay a big bill to use the phone company's outdated copper wires.

VoIP give businesses the tools to make voice calls using a secured internet connection, letting businesses innovate, mobilize their workforce, and adapt to changing business models.

The convenience of VoIP allows employees to make a call directly from a computer, a special VoIP phone, or a traditional phone connected to an adapter. Vision Net’s VoIP provides a range of options for businesses to keep their employees connected; either remotely or in-person.

Why will VoIP work for my business?

Vision Net’s Hosted Voice and Unified Communications (UC) solution provides your business phone system over the internet, giving you access to the calling features you’re used to, but with the added benefits and extra features of next-generation mobility, advanced security, and unlimited and on-demand scalability.

Calling | Enrich your client and customer relationships with high-quality HD voice and video from any device or conference room

Messaging | Quick communications with 1 to 1 and group chat

Cost | Businesses of all sizes want cost-effective and reliable connectivity across all professional devices

Meeting | Improve collaboration with HD video, voice, messaging, and screen sharing

One of the biggest advantages of VoIP and UC is that it allows employees to bring their business phone line with them anywhere they go. Vision Voice features a mobile app that rings when a client or colleague calls that mirrors the business line and allows the employees to use their business line to make outgoing calls from their mobile phone.

VoIP for E911

An emerging and innovative technology, E911 is Enhanced 911 so that in addition to a 911 call, their exact location is delivered to the 911 call taker. Vision Net works with our partners to bring the next evolution of 911 using VoIP technology that will allow texts, photos, videos to be delivered to 911 call staff, ensuring better location accuracy, faster response times, and

VoIP for your Business

Vision Net can design a system for your needs now, and for the future. Contact Vision Net today to learn how we can help transform your business’ communication.

The Competitive Advantages of IoT Connectivity

The Internet of Things (IoT) has changed how businesses operate and function, allowing for seamless use between devices and operations. What once required multiple networks, bulky cables, or cumbersome wires, now requires just one secure network.

Business advantages

Employers are increasingly seeing the benefits of incorporating IoT into their business model; as IoT becomes more integrated into workflow, additional remote working opportunities will be available for tasks that used to require staff to be on-site to complete. The industrial applications are vast and efficient, and according to Roy Alexander, Vision Net’s Senior Account Manager, “eventually, everything will be connected to the internet, so businesses that develop or expand IoT into their operations will realize a significant competitive advantage.”

Data leverage

The IoT’s multi-industry functionality provides small and large businesses with improved efficiency, increased productivity, and enhanced employee engagement. Companies can leverage the data created by their connected devices to improve efficiency across operations. For example, Vision Net monitors and supports the secured network of a business that utilizes IoT for multiple users on multiple connected devices. Vision Net’s support staff provides real-time reports and proactive monitoring to ensure connected devices remain secure. By leveraging the data these reports provide, our client knows they are giving their customers the best service and experience. This forward-thinking business, and others who embrace the IoT, understand the value of technology adoption and are better-positioned to survive into the future.

Predict and act

A key advantage of IoT connectivity is the ability to predict needs before they arise, letting you guide your business with precision based on analytics and insights. Using your data, you can analyze historical trends to help you proactively predict client needs before they arise. In today’s connected world, businesses that predict and plan for client needs will stay ahead of their competition, and you owe it to your business to invest in the tools that will keep you well-positioned; IoT connectivity gives you that advantage.

Improved client messaging

IoT connectivity gives your business the opportunity to interact and engage with clients, both existing and potential, like never before. Using data from your secured network, you can analyze the information clients have sought from you and anticipate what they will need from you in the future. You’ve seen this example every month when you get your utility bill; your provider shows past use and predicts future use, giving you an idea of what you will pay in the future. This model can be applied to your business, giving your clients the information they need, before they know they need it! Businesses of all sizes use IoT connectivity to fine tune their client messaging. Before IoT connectivity, businesses would have to guess what their clients needed, when they needed it, and how they would deliver it. Today, you don’t have to guess! Data-driven insights will guide your message and how you deliver client care.

Security solution

One of the keys to ensure businesses continue to realize the potential of the IoT is to consider the security of the network that supports the business’ connected devices. Through state-of-the art patch management, Vision Net acquires, tests, and installs multiple patches on existing applications and software tools, enabling systems to stay updated on existing patches and determining which patches are the appropriate ones.

Vision Support

IoT connectivity gives your business the power to collect your network’s data and with the capabilities of analytics, lets you discover insights that will help you run your business better, maximizing productivity. Vision Support, designed with each client and business in mind, supports IoT device connectivity, allowing for the complete management of the health and status, and our technicians proactively monitor your network to prevent malware attacks and phishing attempts that can corrupt your device’s security. Vision Net’s Vision Support package includes our managed ACS that allows for the seamless management of remote devices. Any device, any protocol, any service, any time, anything, can be managed by our platform. Vision Net’s professionals can design an IoT solution for your business so your connected devices will utilize the full advantage the IoT today and into the future.

Connect with Vision Net’s Business Development team today to learn how your business can benefit from a secure platform for your devices!

A brief history of cloud computing

Believe it or not, Cloud computing has been around since the 90s. Over the last 30 years, the applications for Cloud computing have grown exponentially. Businesses increasingly rely on the access, ease of use, and affordability that cloud computing offers and today, Vision Net is an industry-leader with our Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure that provide businesses and service providers with superior service and availability. The functionality of a cloud-based system are endless, so let’s take a look at where we’ve been to see where we’re going.

Like most modern technology applications, Cloud computing has been a concept since the early 60s, when the need for fast and secure communication between the burgeoning space industry was seen as a necessary component to putting a man on the moon, and for storing the data that would calculate the science behind it.

Dating back to 1994 when Silicon Valley behemoth General Magic, Cloud computing was envisioned as a "place that mobile agents in the Telescript environment could go.” Instead of just having a device to program, the entire Cloud can travel to different sources of information, creating a virtual service.

No one knows who named it ‘the cloud,’ but the phrase took hold because of the cloud symbol on flow charts and diagrams to visualize the Internet. The first public use of the term was in August 2006 at a search engine conference in San Jose, when Eric Schmidt (then Google's CEO), described one approach to data storage as "cloud computing."

By early 2008, NASA's OpenNebula became the first open-source software for deploying private and hybrid clouds, and for the federation of clouds.

Over the last decade, Cloud computing has increasingly allowed users to focus on their core business instead of being impeded by IT obstacles. Vision Net’s client-server models are built with each client’s specific needs in mind for superior service and availability. Our geo-diverse centers leverage our investment into more efficient operations. Find out how Vision Net can help you move your business forward: https://www.vision.net/contact.php