For those looking for a Windows 7 phone that offers an easy to use interface with good Office integration, the Verizon HTC Trophy will work for you. The trophy is 4.67 inches tall by 2.42 inches wide and .47 inches thick weighing in at 4.95 ounces with a 3.8 inch touch screen. It has a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and 568MB RAM, which makes it very responsive. Its slim profile makes it comfortable to hold and easy to slip into a pant or jacket pocket.

This is Verizon’s first Window’s phone device, which provides ease of use for the owner. The onscreen keyboard is simple and very accurate. It stacks up against the iPhone keyboard. The display is sharp and bright, although it is harder to see in the sun. The touch screen does respond well, but is prone to smudges and fingerprints. The blocked home screen makes it easy to find the most popular items (messages, missed calls, calendar, etc. ), with one touch. It also has some cool apps that you can install.

Some highlights of the system are integration with Zune and Xbox Live, coupled with a user-friendly interface. The phone is international capable and will automatically detect and switch to a GSM network, an important feature for those who travel internationally. The HTC Trophy also features a speakerphone, call forwarding, conference calling, voice dialing, and text/multimedia messaging along with Bluetooth Stereo support and a 5.0 Megapixel camera, which is average at best.   For business people, it supports Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo!, Windows Live, POP3 and IMAP email accounts along with a GPS. The call quality was good, but in areas outside of the city, I had a hard time getting a connection.

All in all, the Verizon HTC Trophy is a good, moderately priced phone at around $149 before rebates.

Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network now covers more than 186 million Americans coast to coast. With additional markets planned before year-end, Verizon’s 4G LTE network build-out is ahead of schedule and has already exceeded the company’s 2011 target of covering a population of 185 million.

Verizon launches 4G in Lexington Nov. 17. At the same time, the Louisville 4G footprint will grow along I-65 to the south toward Lebanon Junction, and I-71 toward Carroll County.

Begin with the Bottom Line

The first question on the agenda when quoting telecom services is what the customer presently has for services and how much they are paying for those services.

I would like to begin this new year by informing you about some telephone and bandwidth services, and ideas, that could help you.  But these ideas can’t help if you don’t know about them, or haven’t given them a thought, or if you have not ever wondered how they work.

To begin I would like to draw a comparison of telecommunications services to the commercial real estate market.  When looking for a business site the prescription for success is location, location, location!

If you stop to consider your telecom expenses when you are about to move your business site, location is also a significant consideration because of access to the latest technology.  It’s also a time when you should be looking at your telecom plans to reduce your telecom expenses with newer technology.  And because you already assessed your present services with vendor management, invoice auditing, and telecom service procurement options it should be easy, right?

On the other hand, if you have avoided planning your telecom inventory for years, your guesses could be wildly inaccurate and your organization could have no true enterprise-level telecom expense control going on. In short, you don’t know what you don’t know.  What you need are answers.

So, start gathering data now, regardless of whether you are moving or not.  This means looking at everything you’ve got including landlines, data circuits, wireless devices, and all other telecom services for which you are billed.

After you have all the data together, life starts getting a lot easier.  You’ll have easy answers to telecom expense questions and renewal options and winning IT decisions. Paying telecom invoices will be friendlier because you will be sure that what you are paying for is what you need.

The best part of accomplishing this task is that you will have a visible, working knowledge of your present telecom position and a plan to lower your future expenses.  When it is time to expand, and the need for new telecom decisions arise, your equipment and service purchases will be orderly and you will be asking for what you need rather then what someone is going to sell you out of the box.  You won’t need to scramble through what you don’t know because you know you already know.

Do YOU Know?

Are you planning to travel for business over the holidays?  Be prepared because the prices for airlines tickets are going up 7% to 18%.

You can also expect to have more crowded flights and longer lines checking in.  According to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, “airlines are at a 10 year high of packing the planes”.

So, what are your alternatives to spending time in hotels and airline terminals?

Collaborative Meetings

With new flash-based collaboration solutions you can share documents, applications and even incorporate items on your desktop.  Your meetings are able to include whiteboards, chats, and application sharing utilities on high quality webinars that allow you to present with distinct professionalism.

Video Messaging

Video is, by far, the most successful way to give your message impact.  You can easily create a personal video message while incorporating PowerPoint slides and media clips and email them to your clients and prospective clients.

With video messaging you are able to easily run a live webinar and produce an active, creative   presentation that will be remembered.  Research has shown that a shorter, more connected video message is very effective for communications because the person on the other end can see your face and hear you talking directly to them.  If you then add videos of customer testimonials and product shots it can become a convincing box of goods.

Large Group Webcasting

Cater to a larger enterprise group with a solution that enables you to schedule, produce and manage your own webcast events.  It is possible to use streaming video and audio during this larger, broadcast style meeting.  Webcasting eliminates the need for connecting large pieces of equipment that are difficult to move or set up.

The arrival of streaming media is an advantageous addition for corporate education.

It eliminates travel, removes time restrictions and distance issues and is cost-effective and convenient as a dispersed audience method of involvement.

Maximize Your ROI

Simply stated, this is a solution that is convenient, economical and packed ready for use:

• An inexpensive alternative to many face-to-face group meetings and events
• A simplified method to produce and deliver streaming media webcasts
• At your disposal whenever you need it, even on short notice, for events such as:
  • corporate meetings
  • marketing events
  • online training

Prepare Before for the Event:

• Set up the event through a simple point-and-click user interface
• Select the registration type, ranging from quick access, to secure password protection, to credit card collection
• Automatically create an index of sessions in the event, to provide convenience for prospective participants
• Automatically generate URLs for attendees to register for and view an event
• Customize the branding to reinforce your brand identity
• Upload your slides to the event at a moment's notice
• Make downloadable materials available for participants
• Send out branded and customized email notifications to your audience
• Create polls, surveys, tests and URLs for use during your webcast
• Track registrants as the event approaches

Live Action During Your Event:

• Conduct your webcast
• Further interact with the audience by pushing polls, surveys, tests and URLs
• Manage live Q&A with your audience through our Message Center
• Monitor your online participants
• Support different media players and connection speed types for true compatibility
• Support streaming video, streaming audio only and conference call-supported participants from the same live event

Follow Up After Your Event:

• Create an on-demand archive presentation from the live webcast
• Send out branded and customized post-event email blasts to announce the archive
• Obtain collective as well as individual responses of polls, surveys, and messages from webcast participants
• Track viewer usage statistics on both the live and archived event
  
  

After reading this information, you may just want to give that travel a second thought!

by, Rose Wyman, President, ValuLink Technology Solutions

The Entire World’s A Stage – for a T1 prop, that is. . .

So, really, what can a T1 do for me, you ask?

Well, let’s take a look at how many different types of T1s exist.

And, what do they do?

The reliability of a T1 line is superior to standard telephone lines or DSL so give a much greater level of service. Most T1’s come with a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that guarantee speed, uptime, and latency (the time it takes for the signal to travel from one point to the other).

A Voice T1 handles up to 24 calls simultaneously, or more if voice compressed.  There is no limit to how many telephone numbers that can point to a T1. These numbers are called DID’s, short for Direct Inward Dialing.  DIDs operate on the assumption that not everyone in the company will be on the phone at the same time.

A Channelized T1 is split up into 24 equal channels. Each voice grade channel Digital Signal, level zero (a DS0) can plug directly into a PBX for phone service and features.   ISP’s (Internet Service Providers) use this type of service to connect customers using dial up modems.

Another type of T1 is an ISDN-PRI (Integrated Services Digital Network-Primary Rate Interface) or simply stated, a PRI.  A PRI uses one of 24 channels available to carry call information and control signals rather than an actual call.  This provides the information for Caller ID and screen pops, customer information and history that “pops up” on screen prior to incoming calls being answered.

A Data T1 is configured to transport data signals rather than voice traffic. Data T1’s have become increasingly more popular with the increased demand for VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services. VoIP requires a reliable and stable internet connection to work properly.

A Private Lines is a dedicated circuit between two or more locations. The terms point-to-point and point-to-multipoint are used to describe this service. Private lines are used for direct and secure access between locations; to connect PBX’s or multiple servers; to restrict internet access to a single location.

The Fractional T1 is limited to a predetermined number of channels or bandwidth. Fractional T1’s are typically used for small businesses and small branch offices and carry the same reliability and guarantee as a full T1.

An Integrated T1 combines both voice and data services on the same T1. The voice channels simply lay dormant when no phone calls are being made or received.

A Dynamic T1 will instantly allocate bandwidth to a phone call on an as needed basis.  When a call comes in or when an outside line is accessed, the required bandwidth needed for the call is dedicated to that conversation. When the call is completed the bandwidth is released back for data use.

A Bonded T1 combines multiple T1’s to make them work as a single circuit.

So, what makes one T 1 different from another? It’s the equipment at each end. The equipment and its configuration will determine the speed, routing, type, cost, etc. of the T1. Each T1 provider will vary in their services offered, provisioning, service guarantees, footprint, etc. T1 prices also vary greatly.