Tags: Remote Work

What is UNIVERGE BLUE CLOUD CASH?

Posted by Josh Loinette on Posted in Cloud, Contact Center, Unified Communications Tagged , ,

Your business and customers’ needs have changed significantly over the last few years. Working in a traditional office gave way to fully remote working to the current mix of on-site and remote working. Customers now expect businesses to communicate on their terms. Chat, phone, email, and SMS are now necessary tools and with great change comes great opportunity. NEC UNIVERGE BLUE CLOUD CASH helps our Channel Partners navigate the changing landscape, as businesses shift towards selling both on-premise and cloud services.

WHAT IS NEC UNIVERGE BLUE CLOUD CASH?

NEC UNIVERGE BLUE CLOUD CASH is a one-of-a-kind new program to help you, our Channel Partners, get paid upfront for selling cloud services and solutions, just as you would for selling on-premises hardware. NEC will pay you upfront commissions plus SPIFFs for qualified sales with term agreements. Now you can offer your customers the benefits of cloud AND get paid upfront – just like hardware.

HOW DOES UNIVERGE BLUE CLOUD CASH WORK?

With traditional On-Prem sales, the revenue is upfront and allows you to sustain your business until your next big sale. With selling Cloud Services, the revenue is split up in monthly increments which means no one-time influx of cash. By leveraging this NEW Program, NEC Financial Services will help alleviate this revenue gap so that you can sustain your revenue streams while transitioning from selling on-prem to cloud. And the best part is: you get to decide which deals you want to get paid upfront for.

HOW DOES IT BENEFIT MY BUSINESS?

This new CLOUD CASH Program allows you to focus on selling cloud while enabling you to maintain your revenue stream…just like when you sell hardware. Now you can afford the transition to monthly recurring revenue that comes with selling cloud, without being dependent on hardware in the interim. The Program provides you with the flexibility to choose the deals that you want to get paid upfront on.

CAN I STILL EARN PROMOTIONAL SPIFFS

Yes! Currently, all promotional SPIFFs are still applicable and available to you, whether or not one of your customers is participating in the Program.

HOW DO I ENROLL?

UNIVERGE BLUE Channel Partners who sell under either the Agency* Model or the Revenue Share Model are eligible for the program. Each Channel Partner must be approved by NEC Financial Services for participation in the Program. The first step, which is a one-time event, is to request participation in the Program via email to UnivergePartner@NECLease.com.

* NOTE: Sub-Agents who sell under a Master Agent, also known as a Technology Solutions Distributor, do not currently qualify for this program.

HOW DO I BECOME AN NEC UNIVERGE BLUE CHANNEL PARTNER?

Visit the UNIVERGE BLUE website to learn more about how to join the NEC UNIVERGE BLUE Channel Partner Program.

Contact Us Today

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. Fill out the form, and we will get back with you.

Why Unified Communications Is Essential to Remote Work and Business Continuity

Posted by Stoney Reynolds on Posted in Cloud, Contact Center, Enterprise, Unified Communications Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

As business leaders implement new policies for returning to work, they are also reevaluating plans for enterprise resilience. The COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns caused businesses to react quickly, testing their agility and ability to recover. During this stabilization period, there will be a pivot towards flexibility and improved business continuity plans for the “next normal.”

Business Continuity While Working Remotely

No one could predict that organizations would have to quickly embrace remote work due to the potential spread of employee illness. As a case in point, a Gartner Business Continuity survey revealed that only 12% of organizations felt that their business continuity plans were prepared for the impact of COVID-19. Without these plans in place, revenue has been affected, some businesses have shuttered, and others are unable to reopen.

With the continuation of the pandemic and the uncertainty of a vaccine, 74% of CFO’s are planning to permanently shift to remote work in order to manage costs. The onus is now on IT and security leaders to consider what employees need to successfully work from a remote location so that business can continue as usual. Leaders are looking to cloud-enabled services and unified communications to minimize future business disruption and support remote collaboration.

Built on NEC’s award-winning infrastructure, UNIVERGE BLUE® offers affordable services to ensure business continuity and employee productivity and collaboration while working remotely.

Why Unified Communications is Essential for Business Continuity

Remote work and telecommuting options have steadily been increasing, with 159% growth in the past 12 years, driving an increase in UC implementation. As some organizations were considering unified communications before, there is now an added benefit of increased business continuity and disaster recovery, post-COVID-19.

Moving to a UC solution takes services such as telephony, file storage sharing, video conferencing, contact center and data backup to the cloud so they are accessible from anywhere at any time. Cloud-enabled services create an additional layer of security to real-time work processes, guaranteeing availability beyond weather events or pandemics. Systems and collaboration tools remain available to remote work locations, often at higher speeds, to enable workflow and increased productivity outside of the normal office environment.

Since the unexpected impacts of the pandemic, work and team collaboration have been changed for good. It is imperative that a disaster recovery plan account for remote work options. Organizations must include UC in their contingency plan to be agile and continue business as usual.

Remote Collaboration and Effective Communications

As more employees are expected to work from home, remote teams must find new ways to work together. Unfortunately, remote communications can be easily distorted or misinterpreted with delays and a lack of physical and social interaction. Another frustration is when remote teams choose ad-hoc services, creating more complexity, security holes and maintenance challenges for IT and security teams.

Streamlining communication complexity is the key to improving remote collaboration, enhancing security and productivity, as well as saving time, finances and resources.

It’s important that employees don’t lose the power of face-to-face meetings while remote. The good news is they don’t have to! With NEC’s UNIVERGE BLUE® MEET Video Conferencing solution, you and all of your colleagues have access to powerful virtual collaboration tools to help keep your business moving forward—even when employees aren’t in the office.

What’s more, NEC is giving MEET Video Conferencing and Collaboration to existing customers and new UNIVERGE BLUE® customers for FREE for the rest of the year!

*Some Restrictions Apply*

Responsive Remote Contact Center

One of the challenges with remote work is continuing to provide a high-quality customer experience. Implementing unified communications optimizes contact centers, offering increased control and simplified maintenance through a single platform. Instead of working through multiple tabs or applications, contact center agents are more agile, with one interface to handle customer needs efficiently, from anywhere at any time.

Contact center performance can be measured through monitoring, recording and analytic reporting. The use of unified communications for contact centers also allows for easier scalability and deployment for remote workers. With a streamlined remote contact center, organizations can hire agents in any location and ensure top-notch customer responsiveness.

Secure Disaster Recovery

No business continuity plan is complete without secure backup and recovery to manage and protect critical proprietary information and data. Working remotely can increase security and compliance challenges, as sensitive data may be stored unencrypted on remote workstations, especially if there is no singular platform for accessing company resources.

When moving to cloud-enabled services for responsive communications or collaborative work practices, IT and security teams require simplified and more secure data storage. The cost-savings of implementing a secure, cloud-enabled data backup and recovery platform also include ongoing access to the latest hardware and software without the need to maintain the infrastructure or personnel.

Why Choose NEC UNIVERGE BLUE® for Remote Work and Business Continuity?

The new remote work challenge for IT and security teams is managing multiple types of software, infrastructure and other platforms across many locations. UNIVERGE BLUE offers secure, cloud-enabled unified communications and collaboration solutions that are fully integrated, scalable, cost-effective and easier to maintain than on-premises hardware. The streamlined communications platform improves employee and customer experience with secure access from anywhere for team collaboration and a centralized hub for information.

NEC also offers a phased approach and flexible delivery model for organizations moving to unified communications. Consider UNIVERGE BLUE solutions to:

  • Improve remote employee productivity and collaboration through greater mobility and communications
  • Reduce IT costs through integration with other cloud-based applications and simplified management
  • Reduce risk with secure, compliant data backup and recovery

Contact your NEC Account Manager or visit the UNIVERGE BLUE website to learn more.

Save Money and Take Control of Your Telecom Environment by Switching to NEC’s NETWORK CONNECT

Posted by Bobby Brown on Posted in Contact Center, Customer Experience, Education, Enterprise, Finance, Government, Healthcare, Hospitality, Retail, Unified Communications Tagged , , , ,

Our “new normal” requires businesses to decentralize their workforce and allow team members to work from home. The new surge in phone activity, video conference calls and virtual meetings puts a strain on networks – including Zoom, Skype, Webex and FreeConferenceCall.com – leading to busy signals, audio issues, video latencies and an extreme increase in monthly telecom costs.

Because employees are working remotely, removed from their usual IT support structure, many organizations are experiencing an uptick in incoming help desk calls. Additionally, external customer support calls and internal calls to and from colleagues are overloading call centers and networks, and slowing productivity. Many industries such as healthcare, banking, state and local government and online retailers are currently facing much higher than normal call volumes, resulting in excessively high phone bills.

Call 1-844-NEC-SAVEto speak to an expert today!During this unprecedented time in history, organizations are being challenged to cut costs while maintaining the same level of productivity, and employees are being challenged to work and communicate differently. NEC has a solution to help organizations support the sudden influx of remote workers and increased call volume while mitigating financial pressure and network vulnerabilities that could be festering as a result: NEC NETWORK CONNECT.

Finally, The Ability to Control Your Telecommunications Network Traffic

With the use of intelligent call routing, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, NEC NETWORK CONNECT establishes the most optimal and cost-effective call path, reliably and securely, saving organizations 30% or more.

Don’t be dependent on a single carrier with a single connection. NEC Network Connect utilizes hundreds of carriers, efficiently and transparently, so that every call is completed and telecom prices remain affordable.

Automated voice network monitoring and remediation is built into NETWORK CONNECT so all calls are automatically routed around network outages, assuring your customers and colleagues can reach you on the first call. NETWORK CONNECT routes each call through to the most cost-effective network by avoiding carriers that are charging fees and above-average prices, helping reduce voice network costs during a time where call volume is at an all-time high.

With NEC’s NETWORK CONNECT, organizations gain more insight and control of you’re their entire telecom environment.

Gain Reliable Phone Lines at Reduced Operating Costs

Even though current circumstances have put physical restraints on many businesses’ operations, certain industry demands, like customer support, are higher now and remote workforces are busier than ever. Consumers are frequently reaching out to remote customer support lines to ensure they are being supported and logistics are operating smoothly. While an increase in customer call volume can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, it can also result in excessive phone bills as well as carrier overload.

Today more than ever, these businesses and industries are looking to save money and cut unnecessary costs. Companies must continue to offer high quality customer service. Employees and teams must be able to connect and collaborate. Now is not the time for busy signals, dropped calls, unavailability and excessive phone bills. Collaboration and customer service require that calls are answered, and lines of communication are always reliable.

Reduce Telecommunications Costs by 30% with NEC NETWORK CONNECT

Increase Network Visibility and Control

According to Bernstein Research, video conferencing company Zoom has added more users in the first few months of 2020, than in all of 2019. The challenge with Zoom or other conference lines is the lack of control and network visibility.  Mission critical networks, such as 911, healthcare, public safety and education, need reliable, secure networks for connecting.

To support your workforce, your IT and Call-Center personnel require visibility and control into organizational voice network traffic through a singular management interface across a multi-site or multi-national network. By switching to a voice network provider that offers enhanced network visibility into call traffic, organizations can see if 800 numbers are being misused and if certain numbers are dormant or have engaged in non-compliant activity during remote calls.

Maximize Productivity and Security for Your Remote Workforce

As organizations reevaluate their plans, now is an ideal time to seamlessly upgrade to NEC NETWORK CONNECT. NEC has provided unified communications solutions globally for generations and can work with your implementation team to define a path forward.

The transition to NEC NETWORK CONNECT is quick and seamless, requiring no additional infrastructure or changes in business operations. Simply make the switch from your current provider to maximize control of your telecom environment and to start saving money today!

Please give us a call today at 1-844-NEC-SAVE to start saving or schedule a consultation to see how NEC NETWORK CONNECT can work for your organization.

Contact us and find out how NEC’s NETWORK CONNECT can work for you!