Tags: cloud services

Tech Advancements in 2019 and Looking Ahead to 2020

Posted by Bryan Williams on Posted in Analytics, Biometrics, Contact Center, Education, Enterprise, Finance, Government, Healthcare, Hospitality, Law Enforcement, Retail, Security, Servers and Storage, Software-Defined Networking, Unified Communications Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Cloud computing, security and collaboration top the list of enterprise technology trends in 2019. Gartner estimated early in the year that cloud services would grow 17.5 percent over 2019 and infrastructure services would be the fastest growing segment. In 2019 and 2020, business leaders must consider the cost of scalability, communications adaptability and how to help increase efficiency for IT staff.

NEC led the charge with a banner year of new releases, updates and development in the cloud computing and unified communications market.

As we close out the year, let’s review technology trends firmly established in 2019 and what to expect from NEC in 2020.

Reduce the Complexity of Data Center Management

A 2019 Spiceworks survey found that 46% of enterprise organizations planned to adopt hyperconverged infrastructure solutions by 2020. With the complexity of datacenter applications, virtualization and other cloud-based services, IT staff is challenged with managing it all. Each application or service typically involves installing its own server, requiring more storage, networking and skill requirements. Inefficient resource utilization and disorganization leads to unnecessary purchases, the inability to innovate and increased downtime.

In 2019, NEC released a new HCI solution powered by Scale Computing’s HC3 software. HCI consolidates and streamlines IT processes, bringing the hardware costs down and making management easier through one virtualized system and interface. A more stable and simplified environment means that IT staff can be proactive, with far less downtime, and the ability to scale easier.

Solve Communications and Collaboration Challenges

Unified communications helps businesses of all sizes to collaborate from across the globe. As more employees work from remote locations, team communications must be adaptable and easily accessible for reliable availability and a better employee experience. Unified communications requires technology that is easily integrated into current IT environments, cost effective, flexible and scalable.

NEC continues to be a world leader in UC research and development. In 2019, NEC was proud to announce the latest evolution of UNIVERGE-SV9000 series for communications and collaboration.

Securely Prioritize UC Network Traffic

When enterprises rely on unified communications, they are challenged with delivering cost-effective bandwidth while helping critical applications coexist securely and efficiently. In 2019, NEC announced a partnership with Infovista that combines Infovista’s Software defined WAN (SDWAN) capabilities with NEC’s software defined unified communications services. This partnership helps to reduce WAN operating costs while delivering optimal voice quality and dynamic routing of voice traffic based on real-time network traffic and conditions. By leveraging multiple WAN links and centralizing management, application performance is safeguarded and operational efficiency is improved.

Move to More Cloud-Based Solutions

2019 saw the increase in use of as-a-service options including infrastructure, unified communications, collaboration and backups, and this increase will continue throughout the New Year. In 2019, NEC expanded the UNIVERGE BLUE cloud portfolio to include Team Collaboration and BaaS (backup as a service).

NEC’s UNIVERGE BLUE Team Collaboration improves workforce communications and cooperation, anytime and from anywhere. By simplifying the complexity of voice, video, screen sharing and meetings, the employee experience is enhanced and employee retention improves.

BaaS solutions can reduce the likelihood of data loss and save money on the cost of backup infrastructure. Built on NEC’s powerful distributed grid platform, HYDRAstor®, and secured in Iron Mountain® data centers, this backup as a service solution securely backs up onsite data centers cost-effectively with advanced encryption and easy scalability.

NEC continues to deliver excellence in cloud computing, business continuity, infrastructure and unified communications.

Tech Trends to Look for in 2020

Research shows that IT budgets will continue to increase in 2020, much of it to be spent on new technology as well as hardware replacement. According to a survey of 1,000 North American and European companies conducted by Spiceworks, 44% of businesses plan to increase IT spending in 2020 (vs. 38% in 2019). Gartner also predicts increased worldwide IT spending in 2020 with a growth rate of 3.7% overall.

Here’s a look at some of the trends for 2020 and beyond.

Cloud Computing and Everything as a Service

Installations of cloud-based computing will continue to grow at a record pace as organizations become more familiar and comfortable with the advantages it offers to a mobile workforce. Cloud infrastructure is maturing beyond being separated into public, hosted private and on premises buckets to instead becoming more portable and mobile as well as more standardized.

Spending-wise, Spiceworks’ IT spending survey found that hosted and cloud-based services are expected to make up about 22-23% of the total IT budget in 2020 (for NA and European companies). Online backup and recovery services will represent the second largest budget allocation in cloud services, with larger companies allocating more money toward desktop-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service than smaller organizations.

Edge Computing and IoT

Another leading-edge trend that is gaining momentum is edge computing. Defined as distributed computing, edge computing moves computation and data storage closer to where these services are needed, improving latency and saving bandwidth. Spiceworks reports that 68% of large companies plan to use edge computing by the end of 2020.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are no longer part of science fiction. Spiceworks estimates that businesses using AI-powered tech is going to triple by 2021. As an example, AI/ML can be used to help reduce costs by increasing the efficiency of cloud computing. Workplace efficiency can also be improved by using AI to sort through volumes of data to find the information that is most pertinent. AI also is making its way into collaboration and communication within the enterprise. Both internal and external teams continue to become dispersed, so better and more intelligent collaboration is needed to provide information and insight for decision-making.

Facial Recognition

NEC has paved the way for the use of facial recognition in aviation, government entities and retail and in 2020, use of NEC facial recognition will continue to expand across all industries including healthcare, education and hospitality to increase security and improve the customer experience.

NEC Face Recognition Technology Ranks First in 2019 NIST Accuracy Testing

In retail, NEC facial recognition will continue to be expanded as it’s used to personalize the online and in-store experiences for shoppers. Retailers also use it to fight retail crime and shoplifting.

Several new applications for using facial recognition in healthcare are in development. For example, rather than waiting in line to be seen, a virtual assistant can scan a face and assign a patient to a doctor. In education, administrators will be able to take attendance with the help of facial recognition. Facial recognition will be used to enhance identity management and verification systems within healthcare, education and hospitality. NEC’s goal by developing cross-industry facial recognition solutions is to help businesses enhance their employee and customer experience by enabling seamless, frictionless, and more efficient environments by automating operations with this technology.

Star Alliance and NEC Sign Partnership to Enhance Passenger Experience

Technology will continue to improve in hospitality, including security and access, payment authorization and customer service. Hotels, cruises, airports and restaurants are using facial recognition to personalize the customer experience, including using their face to pay for a meal, check into a flight, get recommendations or receive special offers.

Which of these trends does your organization plan to embrace in the coming year? Talk to an NEC expert to learn more about our award-winning research and development and we can customize a solution for your technology needs.

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Soar To New Heights with NEC UNIVERGE Blue Cloud Services

Posted by Paul Matte on Posted in Education, Enterprise, Finance, Government, Healthcare, Hospitality, Retail, Unified Communications Tagged , , , , , , ,

Take Your Unified Communications to the Cloud

Today’s businesses have customers and employees that expect reliable and secure communications from anywhere at any time. Unfortunately, building and maintaining this infrastructure can be cost-prohibitive. Cloud-based communication services are available but could put businesses in a bind paying for services they don’t use or limiting them to one-type of solution.

Small businesses and large enterprises need flexibility when investing in cloud computing. Enterprise businesses expect scalability that’s available when needed. Small businesses are limited in resources and require the ability to do more with less.

No matter the path: on premise, cloud or hybrid, NEC’s UNIVERGE BLUE offers a dynamic and flexible delivery model that’s tailored to your business needs and built on our award-winning IT infrastructure.

Why Move to Cloud-Based Solutions?

Your customers, whether internal or external, desire an easily accessible, secure and responsive experience. Employees must be able to perform their duties effectively and rely on dependable technology to fully support a positive customer experience.

Organizations are challenged with implementing communication systems and technology that allows their employees to work together from anywhere at any time. The solution typically involves multiple types of software, infrastructure and other platforms across many locations. Complex system integrations and management can raise IT costs and limit the IT staff from enjoying a productive and efficient employee experience. With IT employees in reaction mode, the customer experience falters due to downtime or unavailable data.

Adapt, connect, and transform your business with UNIVERGE BLUE Cloud-based solutions and unified communications streamline the employee experience while reducing costs and simplifying management. Employees have access to their data and systems via the internet or anywhere they have cell data coverage.

The challenge becomes deployment of these new solutions (legacy systems, reliability, security and cost) and choosing a technology that will continue to grow with the organization.

NEC UNIVERGE BLUE: Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS)

UCaaS provides tools for organizations choosing to move voice, mobility, messaging, chat, video collaboration and more into the cloud. Employee teams can communicate anywhere, at any time, on any device. As an enterprise-grade communications solution, UNIVERGE BLUE is cost-effective, built with the latest UC tools at the cost of a standard user license. Best of all, this solution is fully customizable so any business can scale up or down as needed. UCaaS replaces outdated communication systems and reduces the need for extended disaster recovery planning and resources.

NEC’s UNIVERGE BLUE delivers this solution while shouldering the burden of maintenance and upgrades, freeing your staff to focus on other business needs.

NEC UNIVERGE BLUE: Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS)

Meet your customer where they are by implementing a cloud-based contact center solution that can be accessed from anywhere. Empower agents to use social media, SMS, webchat, phone, video and more to provide an elevated customer experience. Customers speak to a real human, specifically chosen through CCaaS skills-based routing and, if needed, moves your high-priority customers to the front of the queue. Any size business can benefit from this solution that scales from 5 agents to 20,000.

Again, NEC manages and maintains the system 24/7/365 and business continuity and disaster recovery is built into the solution.

NEC UNIVERGE BLUE: Team Collaboration

Team Collaboration creates a digital workplace in the cloud by improving workforce and remote communications and cooperation. Voice, video, screen sharing, messaging, meetings and file sharing is accessed through a single dashboard on multiple devices at any location. Either used in real time, or off-line, all team members are kept connected and up to date as communications follows them to whatever device they’re using.

Simplifying collaboration and reducing the cost and complexity of multiple applications improves the employee experience and employee retention.

What Makes NEC UNIVERGE BLUE Better?

NEC UNIVERGE BLUE enables a phased approach to organizations moving to cloud as well as a flexible delivery model. Built on highly secure JITC-certified encryption technology and offering two layers of support, NEC’s innovative solutions and customizable approach to communications allows businesses to:

  • Improve the customer experience
  • Improve the employee experience
  • Reduce IT costs
  • Reduce risk
  • Simplify technology management
  • Improve productivity

NEC also has extensive expertise in the market with more than 120 years of experience across all environments. Our solutions integrate into your current environment and scale to where you want to be in the future. Our dynamic delivery model gives you the options of on premises, cloud, hybrid, public or private environments. Payment options are just as flexible, with capex, op-ex or a combination of both.

NEC’s Cloud services allows your organization to grow and deliver a unified, reliable and secure experience with minimal investment. Customize the solution that’s perfect for your organization. Contact an NEC Solutions Expert to learn more or download the UNIVERGE BLUE ebook.

NEC Corporation of America

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Reach Sky-High Communications

This ebook will help you understand how UNIVERGE BLUE can support your communications system while allowing your team to remain focused on what matters most—your business.
 
 


Casting a Wider Net to Help Solve Criminal Cases

Posted by Lee Kicker on Posted in Biometrics, Government Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Face Recognition Aids Investigators

Video and photographs provide valuable evidence when law enforcement officials conduct criminal investigations. Originating from a wide range of sources—and with varying quality—video or photographic images are sometimes the only evidence in a criminal case. Investigators will spend countless hours trying to identify an unknown suspect from the images.

For the first time, multiple agencies can share mugshot databases with each other using NEC’s powerful #1 NIST-ranked facial recognition algorithm, the industry’s fastest and most accurate face-matching algorithm. NeoFace® WideNet is a hosted service that benefits law enforcement personnel with expedited criminal investigations and faster crime solving by processing photographic images and video evidence.

This service saves law enforcement valuable time with the ability to search multiple databases rather than a single source when matching images, resulting in reduced caseloads as well. Accessible from any web browser, NeoFace WideNet enhances poor quality latent face images, searches against large mugshot and video repositories, and provides easy-to-assess ranked suspect candidate lists.

Putting a Powerful Tool in the Hands of Law Enforcement

Quicker processing of evidence combined with the ability to rapidly generate a list of actionable leads gives investigators an advantage in cases involving facial video evidence. NeoFace WideNet can process images from either still images or video streams.

The strength of NEC’s facial recognition solutions rests in a tolerance of poor quality, highly compressed surveillance videos and photographic images. The service offers several standard and advanced enhancements to correct difficult-to-match images. It turns previously unusable facial images into hard evidence with enhancements such as pose correction, consolidation of images and improved illumination. With the capability to match low-resolution facial images down to 24 pixels between the eyes, NEC’s facial recognition technology outperforms other face recognition systems in matching accuracy.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) matching algorithm recognition benchmarks have consistently proven that NEC’s biometric technologies have the fastest and most accurate face and fingerprint recognition algorithm and have the most resilient facial recognition technologies to viewing low angles, low-resolution images and poor image quality.

You don’t need the perfect imageto identify a suspect.

Affordable Technology for a Wide Range of Agencies

NeoFace WideNet is designed to be highly scalable as well as affordable, suitable for small, medium and large law enforcement agencies. Through a licensing agreement, authorized agency users can deploy any HTML 5 compatible web browser to access the NeoFace Reveal application. By changing the purchase model from CAPEX to OPEX through a hosted service and lowering acquisition costs, agencies can see an immediate return on investment through decreased investigation time and reduced workloads.

World-leading Identification Matching Technology

Independent testing confirms that NEC’s facial recognition technology provides the fastest, most accurate matching capability and the most resistant to variants in, race and pose angle. Quickly and accurately processing video images expedites criminal investigations and leads to more crimes being solved. More than 30 years ago, AFIS revolutionized fingerprint evidence. Today, NeoFace WideNet is poised to doing the same with photo and video evidence.

To learn more, check out our new eBook below, Turn Your Images Into Evidence.

NEC Corporation of America

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Create the Perfect Cloud Solution for your Organization

Posted by Paul Matte on Posted in Servers and Storage, Unified Communications Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Cloud computing used to be the “wave of the future” but now small businesses and large enterprises alike are realizing the benefits. Instead of replacing aging infrastructure or making large purchases as the business grows, cloud services allows scalability and availability at a lower operating cost. Small businesses enjoy enterprise grade features and mobility with the use of cloud computing, allowing them to do more with less cost, less maintenance and a smaller staff. Large enterprises can grow exponentially, deploying large systems on a scalable platform that’s available when needed.

A cloud solution allows organizations to revolutionize how they deploy business applications, communicate and store data with greater flexibility and scale. Businesses that have previously managed their own infrastructure may be hesitant to subscribe to a public cloud model. A private cloud or a hybrid solution, may be a good alternative for those businesses looking to maintain control over security and expenses while offering the latest technologies.

Built on our award-winning IT infrastructure, NEC offers flexible solutions for organizations considering a private, trusted cloud or hybrid cloud solution.

Communicate Better with Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS)

UCaaS, or Unified Communications as a Service, offers tools for businesses seeking to move communications, messaging, chat, video collaboration, contact centers and more into the cloud. UCaaS is customizable, allowing organizations of any size to scale up or down, depending on seasonal demand, so that businesses are only paying for what they’re using. Lower up-front costs, minimal maintenance and extensive mobility allows your IT staff to be proactive and efficient, anywhere and at any time.

NEC’s UNIVERGE BLUE Business Cloud Services delivers dynamic flexible UCaaS options, using public, private or a hybrid cloud, and can also leverage your current on-premises PBX investment. NEC’s cloud-based communications and collaboration solutions brings value and, if needed, improves upon the existing IT infrastructure.

UNIVERGE SV9100 BLUE

Straight out-of-the-box, UNIVERGE SV9100 BLUE delivers hybrid cloud communications for businesses wanting the ease and cost-effectiveness of a cloud solution while still maintaining an on-premises system. Reliable and secure, the SV9100 BLUE provides unified communications and mobility applications with a minimal investment.

Hosted Telephony

NEC’s hosted telephony solution reduces the need for in-house maintenance by a telephony support team. Free up space in the data center and management costs for scalable features such as call recording, automated attendant, mobility and call transfers from a landline to a cell or a computer.

UNIVERGE BLUE SIP Trunking

Route calls over an IP network instead of traditional phone lines with NEC’s SIP Trunking. For businesses with multiple offices, SIP Trunking turns voice into an application, creating the appearance of a single location without the cost of extensive infrastructure.

UNIVERGE BLUE Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS)

Capitalize on customer interactions and let them engage with you on their terms, from anywhere, at any time by providing multiple avenues of communication through social media, SMS, webchat and more with NEC’s CCaaS. Customers speak to a real person, specifically selected to meet their needs through skills-based routing, while allowing high-priority clients to skip to the front of the line. Additionally, NEC’s CCaaS provides metrics and workforce management solutions to improve the effectiveness of your customer service team.

UNIVERGE BLUE Team Collaboration

Improve company-wide communication and collaboration with NEC’s UNIVERGE BLUE Team Collaboration. Enabling users to participate in private one-to-one, group, or company-wide conversations. Communications are streamlined and can follow users to whatever device they are using at the time.

Unified Threat Management

NEC’s Unified Threat Management monitors and manages threats between the local network and the local gateway. The appliance connects to the cloud for up-to-the-minute virus definition updates and can also be used for keyword filtering, URL filtering and notifications when a threat is detected.

UNIVERGE BLUE Video Collaboration

NEC’s UNIVERGE BLUE Video Collaboration delivers a reliable video hosting solution for businesses. Powered by Vidyo, this scalable communications solution offers 4K quality, multi-party conferencing, crystal clear picture and sound from any device and location at an affordable price.

Backup as a Service (BaaS)

In a sobering 2018 statistic, 60% of companies that lose their data will shut down within six months of the disaster. As cloud environments grow, the need to securely back up and manage data that is delivered in the cloud and not cloud-delivered has also grown. Considering the threat of natural disasters, power outages, cyberattacks and man-made errors, NEC offers powerful Backup as a Service (BaaS) solutions to mitigate the risk of data loss and save businesses money on the investment of backup infrastructure.

Built on NEC’s award-winning distributed grid storage platform, HYDRAstor®, placed in highly regulated, compliant and secure IronMountain® datacenters and using industry-leading Commvault® backup software, BaaS delivers powerful performance and security. Whether backing up between datacenters on site, straight to the cloud or in virtual or physical environments, organizations can expect cost-effective managed backup 7x24x365, advanced encryption, compliance and easy scalability.

NEC’s UNIVERGE BLUE Cloud Services allows your organization to grow and deliver a reliable and secure experience with minimal investment. Customize the solution that’s perfect for your organization. Contact an NEC Solutions Expert to learn more.

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Did You Consider This in Your 2015 IT Budget

Posted by Linda Graham on Posted in Straight Talk Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Your IT budget planning is most likely well underway and you are probably putting the finishing touches on it. Or perhaps you work for one of those organizations that has a fiscal year that does not align with the annual calendar, and you are in research mode. Either way, deciding where money will be well spent is a significant planning process. The word “budget” can be such an intimidating and restricting word to many…but it’s an essential annual process and perhaps could be viewed as a way to limit unnecessary expenses and maximize the value of the investments to enable your business.

To prioritize your 2015 IT expenses, it is important to consider the following to ensure you have allocated enough budget dollars. Not only will considering these as priorities help set up your IT team for success, but the addition of strong strategic partners for managed services will place your core team in the driver’s seat for more strategic and revenue-generating activities, leaving other less-strategic IT tasks to a value-added partner.

The Complexity of Big Data

Big data is here, and will continue to be an important part of every organization’s IT department. It is important to recognize that multiple aspects of a big data strategy enable your access to the best information. These include:

  • Acquiring and storing data securely
  • Analyzing data effectively
  • Ensuring your team has the right skills to manage this process

Fortunately, you do not have to go it alone. NEC offers complex Analytics and Big Data that turn your data into valuable insights for your business. Think of these insights as priceless intellectual information your business can use to make smarter decisions. Maximize your business potential by using analytics to decrease costs, improve revenue, drive profitability and increase customer satisfaction.
While your team is focused on the core of your business, the NEC team will partner with you to bring big data to life, unlocking the intelligence hidden in the data, while also supporting any planning and implementation. Our solutions work in the NEC Cloud, on-premise and hybrid deployment models and leverage multi-vendor strategies.

How Do You Cloud?

Cloud services provide an excellent way to empower a mobility strategy, as well as ensure rapid provisioning of seasonal and temporary employees. In fact, enterprise mobility removes many barriers for employees who are either on the road or in remote locations, ensuring they can access enterprise applications quickly and easily. However, the use of cloud in your organization is something that requires strategic thought.

There are many concerns about cloud applications, including security and reliability. What applications should you actually use in the cloud? Are there some that should remain on-premises? Can you be certain that the cloud services will meet your needs?

This is an area where the NEC team can bring broad experience to your table. Our Cloud Services team provides solutions that transform your business by bringing together people, applications and smart devices to deliver communications and collaboration solutions through the cloud. For example, Desktop-as-a-Service or DaaS is a cloud service that deploys virtual desktops that users can access from any device, anywhere. Talk about flexibility for your business! One of the benefits of DaaS is that it enables your business to step into cloud usage in a strategic manner, while giving you peace of mind regarding security and access, all without touching critical enterprise applications, such as financial software.

The NEC team offers a solid strategy that meets your specific environment, from on-premises to hybrid to public cloud services. The important thing is that your business requirements are considered and met without interruption through a seamless integration. Our team is well-versed in creating this environment so you can utilize the cloud to maximize your business while minimizing any risk.

Finding the Best Managed Services Partner

Knowing which services are core to your business or simply routine, but still important, is a key decision to be made…so that leaves the question: Do you have all the expertise in-house to properly evaluate the many aspects of IT and then make the best decision for your organization? With the ever-changing landscape, particularly in the areas of security, cloud and virtualization, it is extraordinarily difficult to have all the talent in-house you need to make the best decisions and implement the right solutions while still contributing to the company bottom line.

Our Managed Services teams understand all these complexities, and have built a strong talent pool to execute our offerings. We believe that rather than trying to do it all on your own, you should have the option to align with experts who act as an extension of your existing IT team.

Our managed services offering, NECommand, enables business through important IT solutions in three key offerings: nBuild™, nMaintain™, and nManage™. These services provide you with the level of expertise for your particular environment, whether it’s implementing a new system, providing administrative functions and maintenance to free up your internal IT talent, or managing those complex systems such as security, we have created services to align with your business needs.

Budgeting and Beyond

The typical budgeting process often means “take what you have done, add or subtract by percentages and submit the number.” However, with the consistent fluctuations in IT, you should probably ask yourself is it better to rely on historical experiences alone to make important business decisions? Instead, consider working with NEC to help you manage your IT future and make solid business decisions that can enhance your bottom line.

You can learn more about our Analytics and Big Data, Cloud and Managed Services by visiting our web site, where you will find white papers, videos and other information to help you make the right adjustments to your 2015 IT budget.