James Dimmer III

What is MPLS ? Multi Protocol Label Switching is a technology introduced to use the carrier’s switch fabric between the layer 2 and layer 3. It is referred to as layer 2.5 switching. Many clients have asked, How do I understand MPLS ? Label Switching ?

Really this is simple. The individual IP packets are labeled and delivered to the location (IP) with the priority chosen. A good example is a voice call through IP. The call is generated and the IP Packets are labeled for priority over the MPLS Cloud. Once the packets reach the router(s) they are labeled for Priority and traverse the MPLS WAN with the highest priority. You can label each packet for priority or classify different levels of packet priority to make VOIP and SIP calls work more efficiently on your nationwide or global network.

We are experts wth MPLS, SIP and VOIP. Give me a call and I’ll gladly assist you in sourcing a rock solid network today.

Understanding the Telecom and Data business

The key to making a good decision is in how the telecommunications and data business works.

A point to make here is that the provider contracts with your company to provide a certain suite of services at a certain level of performance.  Many terms and conditions of newer contracts with providers are listed on a web page, how easy is it for the carrier to change the terms ?

And what about carriers consolidating and merging ?  Will your direct representative be with that carrier in 3 months ?  A year ?

How about care for you after the sale ?

Is it a local office ?  A call center ?

Can the direct carrier representative actually assist you, or do they get paid once to sell and move on ?

The Truth

Carrier direct representatives likely will not be employed for more than 18 months. You are left with a contract and no advocate to assist you. Most likely a  call center out of state and an 800 number to reach a cryptic system where you punch in your account number and then have to repeat yourself 3 times to get an answer, and usually they will insult you and claim the problem is on your end of the connection.

How can a prospective client sort through 3 or 4 providers information and make an educated decision about a provider at contract renewal time ?

You can dedicate the next few weeks to research, study and reviewing terms and conditions, service level agreements (SLA) and calling current clients of the prospective vendors.

Why not call us ?

The Solution

Call an independent telecom consultant, who knows the available providers, the services available and negotiates many telecom contracts every year.

Telecom consultants are experts,  and with all the change in the carrier space, consultants  have  direct connections to carriers.   Many clients just like you who turn to telecom consultants for answers, receiving a live local response to their needs.

Independent telecom consultants work for you.  When  hired they are  paid to assist you and to make sure you receive what you are paying for.  In many cases the independent consultant will not get paid unless your services are installed and invoices continue to be paid.

Telecom consultants are paid to assist you today, and when it’s contract renewal time.  Independents are responsive, timely and know each and every carrier that is available for you to choose from.

In many cases they search for 3-5 quotes to source your services.  They continue to earn your business every month when you pay your invoice.  In addition the independent consultant will analyze your needs BEFORE suggesting a certain product or service.

Why Not ?

Click on the start saving money now tab and let us get your savings started !

Don’t shun the cloud.  Change is coming, embrace it and stay with the flow of change in IT.

Virtualization is changing the landscape rapidly.

Here is a great ground shaking article on PC’s moving to the cloud and creating a complete virtual environment.

Give us a call, and we will help you prepare your WAN for optimization and more efficient computing.

Telco Joe

888.352.6563

Do you have a BCP ? have you considered the damage that can occur if your enterprise is not ready for a disaster or data breach ?

What would it cost your enterprise to recover from a data breach ?

My guess is that the breach is more costly than an expensive BCP. There are numerous studies that indicate a business that suffers a data loss or breach will not survive the following 60 month period. In many different instances this scenario has played out.

Not only are data security departments on high alert, but attackers are even targeting Voice over Internet Protocol Phone Systems for exploit. VOIP systems can be breached from any global location with a simple ethernet connection. Tunneling can be created to hide or mask the attackers IP address and then the exploitation can begin. Hundreds or even thousands of calls can be made on the attacked VOIP system. Who would be liable for the damages ?

It is doubtful that the attackers system would be identified.

Obviously this type of attack is rare, but this does occur on a regular basis in America. Don’t wait, create a DRP plan today ! As always I am ready and able to assist you in creating a DRP, or even implementing a disaster recovery plan. DRP’s involve offsite data storage at one of our Cyber Centers allowing you to have a backup copy of all data in a safe secure location.

Don’t risk YOUR business information implement a BCP today and move toward disaster recovery to ensure that your enterprise survives, no matter what transpires !

James Dimmer III
www.jamesdimmer3.com

Telco Joe

Asterisk is a fantastically simple PBX operating system.  Just the mere fact that finally there is a solution for the Small to Medium business that doesn’t break the bank is fabulous.  Why pay too much for telephones ?

How did this happen ?  Why have people dismissed such a simple solution to a complex problem ?

My belief is that buyers and users of telephone systems are used to the complications of older systems.  They have no idea how easy the new SIP and IP systems are to deploy and maintain.

It requires some forward thinking too.  Not that you aren’t forward thinking, but that few phone vendors have spent time evangelizing the ease of use, cost reductions, and easy moves, adds, and changes.

WHY ?

Simple.  Newer solutions can be remotely maintained, remotely installed, remotely managed.  This does not fit into the traditional model with service vans, showrooms, and and old school mentality about how the phone business is run.

Who is more eco friendly ?  The guys with all the vans and showrooms, or the friendly folks at .E4 who conduct their business using cutting edge technology like Webex, Google and Pbxact ?

Why roll trucks, when you can remotely manage and maintain the system using the internet ?  How about the time savings ?  What if your system is down ? Rather have a truck headed your way, or a technician remotely logging in immediately ?

You can go ahead and pay WAY to much, or you can give us a chance to prove exactly how we can help you reduce cost and adopt all the latest functionality for your office.

Give us a call

James J Dimmer III

877.434.8647

Do you really get what is going on with technology and the “New” economy ?  Take a minute, look at this video and then let’s discuss how advanced connectivity and infrastructure can help YOUR company capitalize on these emerging trends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

Times are changing… is your company ??

James Dimmer

888.352.6563

Ever wonder why companies are pushing so hard to outsource and move services outside the business location ?

Some say that these moves are meant to decrease costs…  this may be so, however in many cases it makes sense to move the data off site.  Think about centralized computing as a reallocation of resources closer to the core or backbone of the internet.

The closer your data and centralized computing is to the internet, the faster the speeds of throughput and the lesser the amount of delay in computing and data transfer from ANY location.  The idea is to push the computing away from “edge” sites on the network and provide these services from the backbone allowing for greater flexibility.

Imagine a world where all Ip Centric services are delivered by the data center at lightning fast speeds to any location via the internet !

Voice, video, data, IM, Presence, chat…   Any service developed and delivered via IP is able to be utilized with minimal hardware on the remote site.  Even VPN can be delivered from the data center to a remote user allowing smart devices to serve remote employees and offer a full suite of services to communicate with.

In the event that the IT staff desires to offer offsite backup a copy can be maintained easier from data center to data center via fiber to another data center on the fiber map.  The costs of services once the data lives on the backbone is decreased by moving to the core or backbone.

Data center tactics are alive and well let me know if I can help.

Interesting thing happened to me yesterday.  I have a newer GM car, still under warranty and the sensors indicated a low tire.  So I stopped in to the dealership and requested service.  They indicated that I would have to wait until Wednesday to fill my tire with air.

I drove down the street, pulled into the Ford dealer, (in my 2 year old GM) and they asked what they could do to help me.  Explaining the situation they offered to air up the tire.  As the tech was airing up my tire, he noticed a small air leak and pointed out a nail in the tire.

Amazed, he said, no problem let me see who can fix this.  The ford team rolled the car around the corner, pulled the nail and repaired the tire for me.  When requesting the invoice, they refused.  So my repair was free, and immediate.

I guess you can draw your own conclusion ….

Happy motoring

James

An interesting article that stresses the fact we all must be diligent in keeping our computing environments safe.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Microsoft-Releases-Security-Advisory-for-LNK-Bug-Under-Attack-638320/

Have a great day !

Let me know how I can help your IT team.

James