Coronavirus Update: Remote Workers - What is Needed?

We at Persimmon hope that you and your family stay healthy. For those organizations who are moving their workers offsite to work remotely from their homes or some other location, we have prepared some guidance at Remote Worker Enablement. Let us know if you have any questions or need any assistance in setting up a smooth running operation: Contact info.

Meanwhile stay safe - keep a safe distance. Also, the newest advice is to wear a mask whenever you are in public.

Complimentary Work at Home Services for Remote Workers during the Coronavirus Threat

To help organizations deal with the Coronavirus threat, several providers of remote worker aids are offering complimentary use of their services. These Technology and Telecommunications providers are giving free service typically for a 90-day period and some of them require no financial commitment. Services being offered range a wide gamut from the ability to operate a work PC remotely to face-to-face video meetings. We review an organization's situation and needs and then recommend which of these offerings is most likely to benefit them. See Coronavirus Remote Worker Enablement.

Telarus in the Inc 5000 for the Second Consecutive Yar

Persimmon Telecommunications considers Telarus as our corporate office since Telarus negotiates contracts with providers and supplies the software plus teams of experts that allow us to provide optimal choices to organizations for their Telecom and IT technical challenges. We are proud to see that Telarus earned a position in the 2018 Inc 5000 for the second year in a row with revenue of $61.5m and a 3 year revenue growth rate of over 100%.

NICE InContact named Telarus as Top 2017 Producer

Persimmon Telecommunications as a proud member of the Telarus Group of business data, voice, mobility, cloud, and contact center consultants is pleased to announce that Telarus has been named the top producer of new channel partner revenue in 2017 for NICE InContact, a leading provider of cloud contact center and unified communication services.

As Adam Edwards, CEO of Telarus commented: “NICE InContact has been a leader in this space . . .  for many years". NICE inContact empowers all size organizations to provide exceptional customer experience (CX) using the most advanced capabilities available in a truly unified cloud platform. This allows an organization to interact with a customer using the customer's preferred medium whether it be by a phone call, text, chat, or Email. NICE inContact is recognized as a market leader by five industry analyst firms: Gartner, Ovum, IDC, Frost and Sullivan, and DMG. NICE inContact was placed in the leader quadrant in the 2017 Gartner Cloud Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) Magic Quadrant and has been named a leader every year since this Magic Quadrant’s inception in 2015.

ACC Business awards Two Platinum Cups and Two-Million-Dollar-Club to Telarus

Persimmon Telecommunications as a proud member of the Telarus Group of IT & Telecommunications consultants is pleased to announce that Telarus earned two Platinum Cups from ACC Business and subsequently earned status in the “multimillion-dollar-club.” Telarus, and Carrier Sales which is now a part of Telarus, were both awarded the Platinum Cup from ACC Business at the April 2018 Channel Partners event in Las Vegas. Also, Telarus was declared an inaugural member of the ACC Business “multimillion-dollar club”.

Telarus LLC is the fastest growing master agent of UCaaS, Security, and contact center solutions. Telarus is known for creating the industry’s first real-time commercial telecom pricing software, and now has proprietary pricing and fiber mapping tools used by Persimmon Telecommunications and other partners.

#1 in 2017 with Spectrum Enterprise, Nitel, AireSpring, Sierra Wireless, WOW Business

Persimmon Telecommunications as a proud member of the Telarus Group of IT & Telecommunications consultants is pleased to announce that Telarus was #1 in 2017 with Spectrum Enterprise, Nitel, AireSpring, Sierra Wireless, WOW Business as well as the recipient of top partner awards from Telstra, ShoreTel, Vonage, YIPTel, and CentraCom. Additionally, Platinum status was awarded by Comcast Business, Spectrum Business, Level(3), and ACC Business.These are only some of the many awards that we won in 2017.

At it's birth, Telarus was the first organization ever to provide automated Telecom quotes for data and voice circuits across many providers. More recently has been added Hosted Voice and SD-WAN matrices that help provide organizations with a basis for determining which of the many Hosted Voice providers and SD-WAN providers can best satisfy their requirements.

Contact us to take advantage of these tools and our expertise.

A SD-WAN provider, Bigleaf, was chosen as the Best New Supplier for 2016

Persimmon Telecommunications as a proud member of the Telarus Group of IT & Telecommunications consultants is pleased to announce that Telarus partners chose Bigleaf as the Best New Supplier for 2016. Using SD-WAN, Bigleaf provides a straightforward way to use multiple Internet connections and prioritize crucial applications across the Internet. The resulting Internet connection gives better reliability and performance than much more expensive Internet connections.

Persimmon Telecommunications works with numerous suppliers that offer SD-WAN. The advantage that Persimmon Telecommunications has in assisting clients choose the best SD-WAN provider for their situation is a tool that allows us to find those suppliers that best satisfy a client's requirements.

Telarus: Top 2016 Distributor for Vonage Business

Persimmon Telecommunications, proud member of the Telarus Group of IT & Telecommunications consultants, is pleased to announce that Telarus was named the top 2016 Distributor for Vonage Business. 

Vonage’s solutions, designed to quench the communications needs of mid-market and enterprise organizations, contain expanded features and functionality over conventional communications systems. The result is greater efficiency, mobility and flexibility, allowing organizations to increase productivity and competitiveness. Through advanced Unified Communications as-a-Service (UCaaS) tools – such as integrated voice, instant messaging, web collaboration, video, and email – employees communicate conveniently using their desktop, laptop, tablet and/or mobile devices. 

Although previously known for their residential VoIP services, Vonage has purchased business VoIP firms and has otherwise concentrated in recent years on becoming a premier provider of UCaaS with core PBX functionality for SMBs and enterprises. Their projection is that 2017 business revenue will surpass their residential revenue. Vonage Business already terminates 15 billion minutes of global voice traffic annually. 

Telarus: Top New Revenue Producer for WOW! Business

Persimmon Telecommunications, proud member of the Telarus Group of IT & Telecommunications consultants, is pleased to announce that Telarus was named the top producer of new revenue for WOW! Business. This is especially outstanding news given that WOW! Business is one of the newest providers with whom we've been working. This marks the first full year that Telarus has been distributing WOW! Business services.

WOW! Business offers award winning fiber and coax services in areas of the Midwest and Southeast USA. Using Telarus proprietary pricing and fiber mapping tools, Persimmon Telecommunications is able to determine when WOW! Business' products are the best options for our clients. Persimmon Telecommunications works as our clients' trusted advisor to recommend the best fits for network, unified communications and cloud service solutions from among over 100 providers whose services and products with which we maintain intimate familiarity.

Persimmon Telecommunications Founder/CEO Joe Budelis Interviewed by AireSpring Communications

For over 10 years, Joe Budelis, the founder and CEO of Persimmon Telecommunications, has worked with AireSpring Communications which is one of the providers that we recommend. Joe was interviewed for the AireSpring December Newsletter. He discussed his background, his history with AireSpring, and the future of the Telecom industry. The interview is published in full at Joe Budelis Interview with AireSpring.

CenturyLink acquiring Level 3 Communications

CenturyLink formally announced yesterday its plans to acquire Level 3 Communications. The new CenturyLink will be the #3 company in wireline revenue after AT&T and Verizon and ahead of Windstream which will then be #4. (source: Telarus linkedIn post). CenturyLink shows that the new CenturyLink will be #2 in Enterprise / SME / Wholesale Revenue after AT&T with Charter following as #3. The companies expect the merger to complete by the end of third quarter 2017. Additional details are given in the CenturyLink Press Release.

Elite Channel Partner status with Level 3 Achieved in 2015

Persimmon Telecommunications is proud to be a member of the Telarus Group. In 2015, Telarus achieved Elite Channel Partner status with Level 3. Elite Channel Partner status is level3's highest tier of partnership rewarded with the highest level of support, investment and resources available. Only 7 other organizations hold that status.

Attend Cloud Expo New York with a Complimentary Golden Pass from Persimmon Telecommunications ($2200 value)

Persimmon Telecommunications invites you to attend the 16th Cloud Expo at the Javits Center in Manhattan. Join Us at the Cloud Expo, the Big Data Expo, the Internet of Things Expo, the SDDC Expo, the WebRTC Summit and/or DevOps Summit 2015 near Penn Station NY. Persimmon Telecommunications can supply you with a complimentary VIP Golden Pass to these events being held simultaneously in New York City.

The VIP Golden Pass is good for June 9-11, 2015 at the Javits Center -- it gives you full access to 150+ sessions across all tracks, including Keynotes, General Sessions, Power Panels, Technical Breakout Sessions, and the Expo Floor. (All that a fully paid $2,200 Golden Pass provides, except for the Luncheons, @ThingsExpo IoT Bootcamp, DevOps Foundation Certification Class and the collectible conference bag.)

Contact us right away for your complimentary pass.

Persimmon Telecommunications New Web Site

Kristina  helped update Persimmon Telecommunications web sites and create a new Persimmon Connections site that is more appropriate for 2015. In the past,  our consulting sweet spots were voice and data services such as VoIP, PRI, SIP, T1, Cable Internet, EoC, Fast-E, Fiber Ethernet, OCx, and GiG-E services plus MPLS and Managed Security. Although these are still important (especially VoIP, SIP, Cable Internet, EoC, Fast-E, Fiber Ethernet, and GiG-E services plus MPLS and Managed Security which show growing usage), many organizations now receive our assistance for Services in the Cloud which we define as including Data Center space, Managed hosting, traditional Cloud Services, and Application Management. Our new web site better introduces these offerings which are becoming more important to the businesses that we serve.

Comcast was the top 2013 supplier of Telecom services

Persimmon Telecommunications, a proud Telarus partner, is thrilled to announce that, Comcast Business was the top Telarus supplier of 2013. Of the 40 plus providers with direct contracts (indirectly we represent hundreds of suppliers) the top five by 2013 sales revenue were:

• 1. Comcast Business
• 2. Windstream
• 3. ACC Business
• 4. Time Warner Cable
• 5. Tw Telecom

Partner's Choice awards were presented as follows:

• Top New Supplier of 2013: Momentum
• Best Overall: Time Warner Cable
• Most Improved: Comcast Business

The above were presented last week at the Partner Summit in Deer Valley, Utah. See the previous post in this blog for a glimpse at the somewhat unusual Deer Valley weather during mid-June 2014.

Summer this week? Telecommunications Summit

When we arrived at the Telarus Telecom Summit, we were greeted by this view out our window:

which resulted in this view the following morning

In spite of this wintry welcome to Park City, Utah, a few days before summer, we had a very productive week with lots of updates presented by carriers on their latest bandwidth, voice, network, data center, and cloud solutions. Additionally, CenturyLink announced that we are now a Premier Alliance Partner.

Complimentary Admission to Cloud Expo New York - Save $2200

For a limited time, Persimmon Telecommunications is offering you a complimentary Golden Pass for the entire Cloud Expo NY three day event. The pass gives full access to all 150+ sessions across 9 tracks, including all Keynotes, General Sessions, Discussion Panels, Technical Breakout Sessions, and the Expo Floor... everything that a fully paid $2,200 Gold Pass brings, in fact, with the exception of Luncheon and the collectible conference bag

To obtain a complimentary Golden Pass, contact Persimmon Telecommunications.

Cloud Services Presentation March 15 at Trenton Computer Festival 2014

Joe Budelis is scheduled to give a presentation entitled "Cloud Computing Services" at the 2014 Trenton Computer Festival.

Abstract: The world is drifting toward more and more use of services in the cloud. Many organizations are finding that moving services to the cloud is cost effective and a wise decision from the point of view of management and business continuity. Topics discussed will be:
1) How a firm's employees can enjoy the benefit of 10 Gig Internet connections,
2) How quick restoration of servers becomes easy,
3) How security updates, OS upgrades and hardware changeovers become straightforward.
Although some of the discussion, especially the first part, will be useful to an individual, the presentation is
mainly applicable to organizations for which PCs and servers are critical to their mission.

High Speed Ethernet Services becoming more widespread

One of the rapidly changing areas of Telecommunications is that T1s, DS3s, and OCxs are being replaced by Ethernet services. DIA (Dedicated Internet Access) services and other network services; e.g., MPLS circuits are now being supplied over fiber or Ethernet over Copper (EoC) or some similar Ethernet product. The reliability and bandwidth consistency of these circuits is at least as good as, if not better than, that of legacy TDM services. If a building is close enough to an appropriately equipped CO, EoC is now available from many carriers in speeds varying from 2 Mbps x 2 Mbps sometimes up to 100 Mbps x 100 Mbps. Each year the number of COs that are equipped to provide this EoC service has been increasing. And, the cost per Mbps of these services is less than that of the legacy services and has been decreasing.

Furthermore, an improvement over traditional asymmetric cable and DSL service is currently being offered by a small number of carriers. These services come in at similar price points as similar bandwidth cable services; however, they are dedicated rather than shared services and come with the reliability of symmetric EoC offerings. Run a quote to see if any of these EoC offerings have made it to you location(s).

Cloud Services Presentation on February 4 at CLC

Joe Budelis is scheduled to give a talk entitled "Cloud Storage and Backup For Personal & Small Business Use" at the Computer Learning Center at Ewing on February 4 at 2 PM. In simplest terms, the Cloud is a network of servers that can communicate and provide services over the Internet.  Many Cloud solutions exist that can be very useful to individuals and businesses, particularly by providing a way of storing and accessing data and programs on the network rather than on your computer’s hard drive.  During his presentation Budelis will review some of the better free and low cost options such as Google Drive, SkyDrive, Mozy and Dropbox.  All of these options have paid versions for those who need more space or functionality. The audience will also learn about some Cloud options and features available over and above simply providing storage.