Posts in Category: industry

Why Was Google ‘Bought’ By Alphabet?

Photo by Susan Holt Simpson on Unsplash

The Internet went up in flames a few hours ago when Google announced a major shift in its organizational structure: the creation of a parent company called ‘Alphabet’ with the purpose of better managing the many branches spawned by Google in various fields (like the driverless car project). Alphabet will have one CEO and one President, while the subsidiaries (Google among them) will each have their own CEOs.

Co-founder Larry Page wrote in a blog post on Monday that Alphabet is merely an effort to make Google and all the projects that emerged from it over the years “cleaner and more accountable.” Parent company Alphabet will not be a consumer brand, Page said. In fact, the purpose of creating it was to allow each separate company to evolve individually and pursue its own branding. So, let’s answer some of the most pressing questions regarding Google’s surprising decision.

FCC Outlines New Rules for Service Providers Retiring Copper Phone Lines

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The U.S. is ditching copper landlines in favor of IP telephony (about time!), but the FCC is requiring providers to notify customers of such plans three months in advance, as well as supply backup power sources needed in case of an outage. IP telephony has major advantages over legacy phone networks, some of which we will outline in this article.

The regulatory body issued its announcement yesterday, addressing service providers with the following claims:

Between Manager and Employee, Feedback Is Everything

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Cementing the belief that communication is vital in building and retaining a team, a study conducted by human resources firm SHRM reveals that employees rate their relationship with their immediate supervisor among the top five job satisfaction contributors.

Specifically, 54% of employees in the survey indicated that a good relationship with their team manager or supervisor was “very important” to their job satisfaction. Middle-management cited this aspect more vocally than the executive ranks (probably because the C-suite doesn’t get bossed around as much).

UC&C Hits Mass Adoption in North America, Vendors Now Focused On Quality

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Who says Unified Communications is slow to take off? In an analysis of the North American hosted IP telephony and UC&C services market, Frost & Sullivan reports that 2014 saw 8 million installed users, with a projection of 41.9 million users installed by 2021. That number will be mostly small and medium businesses (SMBs). Next in line will be large, distributed organizations looking to streamline their communications infrastructure and IT operations, while managing a remote workforce.

As it transitions from the early-adopter to mass-adoption stage, the North American hosted Internet Protocol (IP) telephony and Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) services market is seeing growth rates accelerating. This is mainly due to an increase in customer awareness of cloud communications benefits. Providers are now compelled to differentiate their products through innovative features as scrutiny of service quality and reliability has increased. Vendors’ focus is gradually switching to refining their UC offerings, after successfully convincing SMBs to adopt the technology.

When Blocking Communications Is Actually A Good Idea for Business

Photo by Kai Pilger on Unsplash

We love it when communication flows. Everything we do at 4PSA revolves around communication and collaboration, so we believe strongly in the power of using these as tools for building teams and businesses. But sometimes, shutting up can help too.

According to a study published in the Journal Of Social & Personal Relationships, blocking communications with negative people can increase your productivity and even boost your IQ. It’s the kind of research that seems to reach an obvious conclusion, but most of us are oblivious to these teachings our entire lives.

Fear Is The #1 Obstacle In Deploying UC&C

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Unified Communications & Collaboration (UC&C) as a technology has unquestionable perks for productivity. In some cases, a good UC&C implementation leads to new revenue streams, a goal that sits high on every CEO’s agenda, yet many are reluctant to take the plunge. The reason itself is surprising.

Business leaders are regarded as anything but fearsome, but when it comes to investing in new technologies, many executives start to get cold feet. In a whitepaper titled Build a Better Business Case for UC, research firm Forrester offers a list of fears reported by the C-suite at 133 enterprises across the US and Europe regarding implementing UC services. Here it is below (complete with our own observations):

Entrepreneurship Comes From Money, Not Genes [Study]

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It’s upsetting to know that your jet-set friends will always have it better than you thanks to their wealthy families, but it’s a reality we have to accept. Many have made their fortunes through hard work, getting up at 5 and investing all their energy in changing paradigms. Who can argue, then, that their offspring received the best?

According to recent studies, it is this simple recipe that usually makes an entrepreneur: wealthy family (i.e. safety net) → great education → Mom & Dad supply capital after graduation → Mom & Dad’s connections pave the way to business-oriented future → business works thanks to positive attitude and risk taking.

Remembering How President Obama Helped Save The Internet

President Barack Obama is photographed during a presidential portrait sitting for an official photo in the Oval Office, Dec. 6, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Today, Medium Daily Digest served me one of the best 5-minute reads available on the web: US President Barack Obama’s open letter to the FCC, twisting their arm to do the right thing and save the Internet from ISP monopoly. For those who haven’t read it, let’s recap and remember how The White House supported (and still supports) the notion of an open Internet, amid wireless carriers’ appeal to the FCC’s June ruling.

Communication & Collaboration: Arts That Leaders Need to Master

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

I recently stumbled upon some lectures that talk about communication & collaboration in business, explaining its crucial role in leveling the field for executives and floor employees alike, driving successful operations across an entire organization. They were great reads and I want to lay out some bullet points for our readers. If you own a business, listen up!

IDG: Demand For Collaboration Software Poised to Explode Within The Next Year

A few days ago, data group IDG Enterprise rolled out a lengthy report coupled with an infographic to show the state of UC&C (Unified Communications & Collaboration) today, with an eye on the next 12 months.

The research conducted by the enterprise technology media company revealed that data transformation continues to climb a steep hill, but that the UC&C sector in particular is making an innovative leap. Best of all, “organizations are recognizing the value that sits within these solutions,” according to Brian Glynn, chief revenue officer of IDG Enterprise.

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