IT Consulting in South Florida: Why Migration is the Hardest Aspect of Office 365

it consulting in south florida why migration is the hardest aspect of office 365 2

IT Consulting in South Florida
An important aspect of IT consulting is incorporating new programs and applications in your operations. Office 365 has been great so far in terms of increasing business productivity. It seems like the biggest problem businesses have had so far is migrating to the cloud. Once that’s set up, they have no trouble at all as far as adjusting to the hosted applications goes.

According to this article, migrating to Office 365 is becoming increasingly popular among businesses both large and small. The upside of moving from an on-premises environment to one hosted online by Microsoft offers compelling benefits.

There’s a reason migrating is the hardest part. Most business owners don’t have experience with cloud applications. Although they function like Windows program for the most part, setting them up is a different story.

For that reason, many businesses seek professional help to set their hosted applications up. According to a recent Info World article, this is particularly common with Office 365’s cloud Exchange:

“Office 365 has been touted as Microsoft’s fastest growing business ever. Still, some organizations are stalling when it comes to moving mailboxes from on-premises Exchange to Office 365’s cloud Exchange. What’s the holdup? For some, the need to plan and execute the transition may be competing with other day-to-day issues, delaying the Office 365 Exchange migration.”

Exchange is perhaps Microsoft’s most important program for businesses. But because they rely on email so much, they’re hesitant to migrate to the new hosted Exchange.

Here’s the good news: after the migration is over, your business productivity will increase. Employees will have access to the hosted Exchange from remote locations. The standard benefits of cloud computing also apply to hosted Exchange in this context.

The important thing is that you get the migration right. If you mess with the settings and employees aren’t able to send outgoing emails, then your productivity will take a hit. You can avoid this problem altogether by working with a professional IT agency. In this case, you’ll know that you’re starting off on the right foot regarding Office 365.

To talk more about IT consulting in South Florida, or anything else, please contact us.

Three Things Your Old Office Suite Can’t Do; The Cloud, Office 365, and VoIP

three things your old office suite can t do the cloud office 365 and voip

“When I wrote ‘The World Is Flat,’ I said the world is flat. Yeah, we’re all connected. Facebook didn’t exist; Twitter was a sound; the cloud was in the sky; 4G was a parking place; LinkedIn was a prison; applications were what you sent to college; and Skype, for most people, was a typo.”

-Thomas Friedman, Author and Journalist, New York Times

Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and their peers, all spoke wistfully about a world where large servers on the Internet do all the work, and the only device that any citizen uses is a ‘thin client’ to interact with these servers across the network. In spite of their evangelizing, none of them predicted the system we have in place now; in fact, many business users are—at this moment—unaware of how much power and flexibility exists in this ‘cloud and client’ system that is quickly replacing legacy systems where everyone’s power sits directly under their desk.

The Cloud is something most of us are familiar with, that large data center far away where all of our critical data is stored in case of a catastrophe, hardware failure, or otherwise unforeseen loss of vital information. According to a recent article, the cloud is a network of servers, and each server has a different function. Some servers use computing power to run applications or “deliver a service.” Businesses have come to realize that backing up to the cloud is critically important; however, for a large percentage, this is as much cloud integration they have with their office.

Office 365 was for many businesses, the first glimpse of the cloud as a productivity tool; after all, with the introduction of 365, Microsoft was cannibalizing their bestselling product, the ubiquitous Office 2013 Suite of locally run applications. We are all familiar with the old Office lifecycle, buy the license, and constantly update the product with security patches and feature enhancements, then watch, as compatibility becomes an issue when a newer version of Office becomes the standard.

With Office 365, the updates are in the cloud, the security, the hardware, the IT support, the compatibility—all of it handled in the cloud. All the user needs is a browser, on any device connected to the Internet; even better, everybody can collaborate in real-time, contact lists are synced, emails, calendars, instant messaging, (even VoIP) the entire team is on the same page no matter where those team members are. These are all reasons why this past ‘upgrade cycle’ businesses have finally migrated to the cloud-based Office 365.

Yes, with Office 365’s, Lync Online component, Office 365 can do everything mentioned above, while also serving as a comprehensive communications platform. In summary, a user purchasing a license for Office 365 is able to use Exchange for email, SharePoint for documents, but also leverage Lync for a fully desktop integrated phone system replacing legacy systems, or any current VoIP system.

Office 365 is appearing everywhere, especially now that Microsoft is offering free one-year subscriptions with a slew of new mobile devices. Couple this with the distinct business advantages, and VoIP integration, and you’ll realize it is time to contact 4 Corner IT and get started. To keep up with the latest news, follow us @4CornerIT, or come join the conversation on our Facebook page, we understand your business, not just your technology.

VoIP Integration: Wireless vs. Wired Networks

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One thing to keep in mind concerning VoIP integration is the role your Wi-Fi network plays in the quality of your calls. You can hook up a VoIP system to the wired or wireless network, and it’s your decision to make. Traditional telephony applications, such as outbound call center applications and inbound IVR applications, normally can be run on VoIP.

Many businesses are trying to integrate VoIP with their wireless network. This is practical and convenient when it works, but not every company’s network is ready for that amount of phone traffic.

A recent Tech Target article talks about VoIP integration. According to the article, many workers will use Wi-Fi for voice communication in the near future:

“There are many points to consider when deploying Voice over IP (VoIP), including the readiness of the wired network and WAN considerations. One part of the network that is becoming increasingly important in the enterprise, however, is the wireless network. In fact, for many workers, the Wi-Fi network will be their primary network for voice communication.”

Yet while this is a possibility now, it’s not necessarily the right decision. If your wireless network isn’t capable of handling an increase in traffic, then your call quality will suffer.

This is why we recommend business owners to speak with a professional IT team before implementing a communications solution. Someone may think that their wireless network is fast enough to support VoIP, when in reality they should integrate it with their wired network.

We can help evaluate and analyze your Wi-Fi network to see if it’s ready for VoIP integration. We can also advise whether it’s best to stick with your wired network for now and wait until your wireless network is a feasible solution. Our goal is to provide your business with a superior voice communication solution that improves your current call quality.

To talk more about VoIP integration, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks

The Office 365 And VoIP Integration Can Have A Positive Impact On Your Small Business

the office 365 and voip integration can have a positive impact on your small business

The integration of Office 365 and VoIP is a great step for businesses to take, especially those who want to save a significant amount of money when long distance phone calls have to be made. A business can save on long distance calls, while not having to make a steep investment in the hardware and software.

With the Office 365 and VoIP integration, your business will have a sophisticated system that is not difficult to use. Your system will be unified with your messaging and conference calls, and you will have an enterprise level online presence. A great thing about VoIP is the support it has been getting from Microsoft Skype for Business.

The Microsoft Skype for Business software makes it very simple and convenient for a business to integrate VoIP into their business. Just about every person in a business is familiar and comfortable with Microsoft products, and they know what to expect from Microsoft software. Skype uses the Microsoft interface that we are used to seeing.This makes it a smooth transition for everyone in your business or organization. It will not be difficult for employees to get used to the new system because it will seem so familiar to them.

When your employees use Microsoft Skype for Business for the first time, they will see all of the collaboration features that it offers. The software makes it very easy for employees to send messages or make phone calls. So, it will be very easy for everyone in the office to connect and communicate with each other to discuss the business. This will definitely come in handy when team members need to have meetings or conferences. Since the system is simple and straight-forward, your business will not have to spend money on training sessions or spend extra time showing employees what needs to be done to put a conference or meeting together.

Integrating Office 365 and VoIP and having the support of Skype, will help your business improve in its communication efforts. It is also a money saver. Since VoIP was first brought to people’s attention, several things have changed since then. It is has seen great improvements, and it can significantly help your small business.

Contact us if you want to discuss this topic or anything else.

Office 365 with VoIP integration: Affordable and mobile

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The world’s workforce is getting increasingly more mobile. This can leave businesses looking for a highly accessible and affordable solution to help them get the job done. Here’s the solution: Office 365 with VoIP integration. And here’s why.

* Office 365 with VoIP integration combines Microsoft technologies and applications for a single, complete cloud-based solution created to help businesses communicate with each other and with their clients.

* Businesses can now access a 24/7 work environment from where ever they are and with whatever device they happen to be using for consistent work flow.

* Available through Office 365 and VoIP is Microsoft Skype for Business, which provides instant messaging, Face Time, and standard phone service. Other collaborative tools provided through Office 365 VoIP include Office Online, Exchange Online and SharePoint Online.

* Office 365 VoIP users have the benefit of scalable solutions. Pay for the solutions that your company needs, not the “package” that someone else thinks a company “like yours” needs.

* The Office 365 VoIP service provides enterprise-class security, privacy and reliability at a price that small to medium sized businesses can afford.

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* Get managed services from a provider who understands that VoIP can strengthen your company through integration, but only if that integration is done properly.

* Office 365 VoIP can help you expand your business hours and provides credibility with your customers, as your ability to communicate with them and the ways in which you can do that are greatly enhanced.

4 Corners IT understands that there is more to your business than just its technology. We want to help you make the most effective use of technology in order to reach a higher level of success. For more information, contact us.