Carol Spowart, Eastman Technologies CEO, is set to speak at the upcoming “Belle of the Ball” charity event on March 13th. This annual event, which has already helped serve 835 girls, is designed to provide support for teens who would otherwise be unable to attend their high school prom. Donations of costume jewelry, dresses, evening purses and other event related accessories are requested from all attendees and will be donated to at risk teens.
In addition to the accessories donated, teens will attend three workshops; Body IMAGE-ination, Drumming and the Make-Up workshop. Body IMAGE-ination is a workshop designed to assist in personal relationships and nutrition. The Drumming workshop is provided to teens for an opportunity to utilize the drum set as a tool to relieve stress. The final workshop, the Make-Up workshop is an opportunity to provide teens with professional consultation when it comes to the application of make-up.
Carol Spowart and Eastman Technologies are proud to be apart of this upcoming event and are looking forward to helping reach the goal of assisting 350 girls this year. More details will be forthcoming.
Interest in the business continuity and productivity enhancements provided by Microsoft Lync continues to grow at a rapid pace. Nearly a decade after communications manufacturers began openly discussing unified communications – that is, a full and rich user experience incorporating voice, email, messaging, video and other communications channels through a single user interface – Microsoft has delivered. In short, business-class Unified Communications is finally here.
As Eastman continues to work with new clients on Microsoft Lync deployments, a common question hinges around existing PBX equipment. While most businesses realize the advantages of deploying Lync, many companies find themselves in restricted budget environments where deployment of all new user telephone stations may be cost prohibitive.
Particularly concerned are Eastman’s Nortel clients who find they need to either replace the system entirely or enter into a long-term service agreement with Avaya in order to receive adequate support. However, Microsoft Lync offers a clear migration path to wildly enhanced feature functionality without immediate replacement of existing hardware.
Microsoft Lync is a server based solution communicating primarily via the SIP protocol over a client’s data network. To leverage a client’s existing PBX system, and thus user telephone stations, Microsoft has formed strategic partnerships with voice gateway manufacturers. Voice Gateway manufacturers (examples include Audiocodes or Dialogic) complete a rigorous testing and certification process with Microsoft to ensure full functionality. Gateways are configured to receive SIP traffic on the network end and connect to Lync via the LAN while utilizing SIP, Digital or even Analog connectivity on the back end to communicate with legacy PBX equipment.
The result is full Microsoft Lync call control but with end user telephones and service provider trunks still handled by the PBX. Deployments of this nature offer significant upfront cost savings as clients can migrate users to Lync certified endpoints such as Polycom or SNOM devices at their leisure and upon budget allocation. This “migrate at your own pace” philosophy offers the best of both worlds for clients looking to utilize robust unified communications while minimizing capital expenditures.
“Entrepreneurs embody the promise of America: the idea that if you have a good idea and are willing to work hard and see it through, you can succeed in this country. And in fulfilling this promise, entrepreneurs also play a critical role in expanding our economy and creating jobs.”
The entrepreneur has always played a unique role in society. We’ve all heard stories of the underdog who held on to his dream despite all of the criticism he received from his peers. Richard Branson, for instance, dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen and went on to build the Virgin Empire, ranking him the 212th richest people in the world with a net worth of roughly four billion dollars. In an interview with an officearrow.com staff writer, Branson stated, “As an entrepreneur you have to learn very quickly that there’s no such thing as a failure; you must be quick to accept that something is not going well and either change tack or close the business.” The exponential growth of the world’s population along with the growing interconnectedness of society will result in an overall optimistic attitude regarding entrepreneurship. In turn, these three factors will synergistically lead to significant growth in the amount of start-up businesses over the next 50 years.
The world’s exponentially growing population is quite obvious from an intuitive perspective; more people are having more kids, and those kids are even having more kids. The world’s population can be represented by the following logistic function: log(N/No)=rt where: “t” is the amount of time required to produce a growth in population proportional to (N/ No), No is the initial population at time t =0, N is the future population at t, and “r” is the growth rate percentage (rate of population change as a function of t). Furthermore, from this equation we can calculate the doubling time of a population by simply dividing both sides of the equation by r. The World Bank calculated the world population growth rate at 1.2% and therefore, when plugged into the equation, we can expect the world population to double in approximately 57 years and 9 months. This is considering that the growth rate does not change however, the ramifications of a doubling population present a plethora of opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs. Scarcity, a pillar of economics, states that people have unlimited wants and limited resources. Over the next 50 years, the opportunities for entrepreneurs will arise faster than they ever have, especially, due to the dramatic growth in technology and the interconnectedness resulting from the internet.
Individuals who grew up during the “technological revolution” know first hand how dramatically technology has increased efficiency over the past few decades. In 2000, there were approximately 360,985,492 internet users and today there are 1,966,514,816 internet users, a dramatic 444.8% increase. Today, entrepreneurs seek to take advantage of the digital marketplace as it is a relatively cheap and easy way to start a business. For instance, instead of paying over a thousand dollars a month renting out a spot for a store, an entrepreneur can sell his or her products online and pay as low as ten dollars per year for a domain. Not only is this approach cheaper, but it is also accessible by much more customers. Retireat21.com composed a list of the forty richest entrepreneurs under 30 and every single one of them started some type of website/software. This goes to show the vast amount of opportunities available to any entrepreneur who harnesses the power of the internet.
Overall, the growing population and interconnectedness leaves many entrepreneurs, journalists, academics, and government officials very optimistic about the future of entrepreneurship. In a book by BNET blogger Donna Fenn title Upstarts, she claims that today’s entrepreneurs are more passionate about start-ups than any proceeding generation. Kenneth D. Brown, President and CEO of E3 Capital Resources, LLC wrote an article titled, The Future of Entrepreneurship in which he expresses his passion for start-ups and emphasizes the fact that small businesses (less than 500 employees) account for 99.99% of businesses in America. This fact, according to Brown, is greatly overlooked as these small businesses provide a majority of the jobs, internships, goods, and services. An even more radical approach to entrepreneurship was expressed in an article titled, Ten Reasons You Should Never Get a Job, by personal development guru Steve Pavlina. He surprisingly presents an amazing argument revolving around the idea that “jobs” do not necessarily provide “security.” In fact, Pavlina claims that jobs provide the complete opposite in that your income is in control of somebody other than yourself. The current shift in thinking towards entrepreneurship was given a significant push on January 31, 2011 when The Obama Administration launched the “Startup America” campaign to support, encourage, and inspire entrepreneurs throughout the country. All the examples cited above are evidence that society is feeling more and more optimistic when it comes to entrepreneurship. We are moving past the days when putting on a suit and climbing the ladder in corporate America was the way to go. Today’s society wants people who are always willing to push the envelope. This optimism can only result in a significant increase in the number of start-up businesses over the next 50 years.
As a communication tool, Microsoft Lync provides the kind of reliability and service that businesses of today require. The protocol used is SIP, which offers multi-media and multi-user definition to expedite communication and keep the operational aspects clear. With concise and direct integration, Lync is able to provide pinpointed conferences, clear and fast instant messaging, and speedy file transfers.
SIP, is an independent function. Most people refer to the terms of communication control as layers. The transport layer lies directly over the SIP layer, but each operates as an independent function from the other. This is a steady protocol that has been founded in reliability and speed.
This helps your teams communicate better with each other, clients communicate with employees, and collaborative efforts come through without significant and time consuming glitches. The development of a strong independent layer helped to eliminate issues like lost transmissions and messages that get lost in cyberspace.
This also helps to transfer all information over to mobile clients. While the technology your clients have access to may vary, most of your clients will be able to access, communicate, and transfer various elements as they need to. Systems that are not updated will still struggle to maintain a high level of performance. Clients that are not receiving your communication efforts easily may need to upgrade their technology.
Using an SIP based protocol has the added advantage of being scalable. After all, you do not need to have peer to peer interactions on systems that are designed to handle twenty users on the same conference. The ability to scale helps to improve reliability and create faster transmissions.
Instant messaging is loaded on the SIMPLE protocol, giving Microsoft Lync a high level of reliable transfers for back and forth messaging systems. Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions, or SIMPLE protocol, is powered by a two step function for initiation and delivery. There is a simple request and a basic response, which operates on a very solid platform for reliable communication tools.
An established dialogue can remain in high speed delivery for the duration of the conversation. Once the connection has been made it requires termination from one end in order to stop functional delivery. The common term for termination not initiated by a user in the conversation is getting “kicked off” or “booted” from the connection. The use of the SIMPLE protocol helps to eliminate this on a system that is cohesive with supporting the connection.
There are many ways that you will deliver information between colleagues, clients, and other vital people that make your business what it is. Delivering high speed performance with high reliability helps to shorten down time, produce faster results, and include collaborative features for task management.
Microsoft Lync is an excellent tool that can be utilized in a variety of ways. Establishing a strong basic connection and maintaining reliability is the focus of many newer, less experienced companies. Lync already delivers on this particular business requirement, which makes it easier for your company to grow and get stronger.
If you would like the guidance of one of the Best Microsoft Lync Consultants, give us a call, we’ll be glad to manage you through the process and invite you to the next Race Day!
On Thursday, October 6th, Eastman Technologies held their Race Day Event at the historic Willow Springs Raceway. This was Eastman Technologies’ second time putting together the event, and once again it was met with great success. The event brought together Microsoft Lync Partners from across southern California for a day of knowledge, racing and fun.
The event kicked off in the morning with attendees arriving in air, in a private jet, and on the ground in chauffeured vans. Once assembled, the attendees were able to spend time with Microsoft Lync Partners; interacting, exchanging knowledge and racing around the 2.5 mile main road course. The attendees were seated in a Porsche race vehicle and got to experience several laps as their veteran drivers worked their way around the track in full race trim, jostling back and forth for position.
The racing continued into the afternoon on the .625 mile Kart track where attendees battled each other, navigating the nine turn track in single rider go-karts. There was plenty of passes and excitement as drivers went head to head. Attendees later sat down for a catered lunch and were involved in a raffle of Lync Partner Products.
The event came to a close in the late afternoon with attendees leaving the raceway with white knuckles and smiles. Not only was the event a chance to experience high speed racing action, but it was also an opportunity for those in attendance to learn more about the Microsoft Lync platform and what it’s doing to change the landscape of Unified Communications.
Eastman Technologies recently had a Day at the Races and flew some of their clients and prospective customers into…..
The historic Willow Springs Raceway. This was Eastman Technologies’ second time putting together the event, and once again it was met with great success. The event brought together Microsoft Lync Partners from across southern California for a day of knowledge, racing and fun.
The event kicked off in the morning with attendees arriving in air, in a private jet, and on the ground in chauffeured vans. Once assembled, the attendees were able to spend time with Microsoft Lync Partners; interacting, exchanging knowledge and racing around the 2.5 mile main road course. The attendees were seated in a Porsche race vehicle and got to experience several laps as their veteran drivers worked their way around the track in full race trim, jostling back and forth for position.
The racing continued into the afternoon on the .625 mile Kart track where attendees battled each other, navigating the nine turn track in single rider go-karts. There was plenty of passes and excitement as drivers went head to head. Attendees later sat down for a catered lunch and were involved in a raffle of Lync Partner Products.
The event came to a close in the late afternoon with attendees leaving the raceway with white knuckles and smiles. Not only was the event a chance to experience high speed racing action, but it was also an opportunity for those in attendance to learn more about the Microsoft Lync platform and what it’s doing to change the landscape of Unified Communications.
How Microsoft Lync Makes My Organization Easier to Run
Microsoft Lync is the software of the communication age. While many are still referring to this period of time as the information age, the vast improvements made within my organization have to suggest that we are entering a communication age. With every single person able to be reached regardless of the personal communication device they use, there is never a delay in making firm and quick decisions.
Structurally, an organization has to be run by those who know how to get from one point to another very quickly. Whether there is a social cause in the midst or it’s purely about profits, moving along the line as quickly as possible is part of what makes us competitive. Without ample communication between the appropriate parties it can be almost impossible to make fully informed decisions.
The departments are set up to allow individual members of the team to remain focused on an area of development. You may have marketing, billing, and IT services all under different departments. The head of each department is, of course, the one with all of the relevant knowledge. When you need information pertaining to a department, you turn to the head of that department. When it appears that the individual in question is simply not available, your process grinds to a halt.
We have all been there. But we don’t have to be anymore. Microsoft Lync connects everyone. If the head of the IT department is at home or away I can simply send a request for a conference. This can be over the phone or it can be done through video conferencing. Either way, what is truly remarkable is that the head of one department does not need to be using the same device as I am. We can both connect and before you know it we are able to resolve any potential problems, exchange information, and agree on a decision very quickly. There is no waiting for someone to call back or make a secondary contact because it is already arranged.
The applications that can be applied to nearly any situation are beyond what most people believe is the normal scope. However, within a short period of time it is possible that each application will be as handy as texting is today. The savings in time and money is certainly profound. The speed of communication is becoming just as important as its overall quality.
Customer service is able to be upgraded as well. Communications with customers for any organization can be a hard area to manage. Because the program is so highly adaptable it is easy to continually develop while keeping the software up to date. The customer service department is able to enhance communication and help more customers in a much shorter period of time.
Microsoft Lync gives organizations the tools that are necessary to create positive communication in a faster, more effective manner. Without these tools, most organizations will be able to master high end customer service, inter office communications, and communication with other organizations.
