Mitel’s smart unified communications solutions and applications are on the move, and they’re bringing them right to your doorstep!  They’ve equipped a 40-foot tour bus with working demos of the latest Mitel innovations so you can experience Mitel’s “better than live” communications solutions first-hand.  Mitel’s and AmeriTel’s knowledgeable communications specialists will be onboard to guide you through the hands-on demos, and answer all of your questions to help you break down the barriers to more effective business communication.

Contact AmeriTel to reserve your space on the bus today, and learn how Mitel is making Simply Communicating®… simple.

The barrier for virtualizing real-time voice applications is gone.
Mitel® and VMware® made it happen.

Now you have choice. No longer do you need dedicated servers for voice. Run all your voice and non-voice business applications in one single virtualized environment.

Find out how your business will benefit from this breakthrough in communications.

Featured speakers at this webcast include:

Brent Kelly, Senior Analyst and Partner, Wainhouse Research

Rob Neil, Head of ICT, and Customer Services, Ashford Borough Council

Parag Patel, Vice President of Alliances, VMware

Stephen Beamish, Vice President of Business Development, Mitel

Learn More http://vmware.mitel.com

Register Now for the Series X Webinar! USA/Canada/EMEA/Caribbean/Latin America or Asia/Pacific

Contact AmeriTel, Inc. on how you can take advantage of this exciting technology.

Northridge, CA January 22, 2010 – AmeriTel, Inc., a leading voice and data service provider in Southern California, announces the build-out of their new State-Of-The-Art Solution Center, soon to become available to all clients and businesses interested in getting a close look at the latest and greatest in VoIP technologies and solutions.  The Solution Center, located at AmeriTel’s headquarters in Northridge, CA., will feature 1000 square feet of “live” IP phones and Unified Communications solutions including Mitel’s extensive range of award winning applications like Unified Communicator Advanced, NuPoint Unified Messaging, Audio and Web Conferencing solutions, Mobility Solutions and much more.

“We’re excited to bring this unique experience to Los Angeles.” says AmeriTel President Scott Murphy.  “This Solution Center will showcase the hottest in Voice Over IP applications available today, by some of the best in the industry, with Mitel being #1 in Small to Mid-Size system sales in North America and the UK.  Our new demo facilities are unique in that there is no other like it in all of the northern section of Southern California.  This allows us to provide immediate, demonstrable access to all that our manufacturers have to offer in a casual and comfortable setting.”

AmeriTel is expected to make the Solution Center available in April 2010, with an Open House announcement to be made in the next couple of months.

For more information on AmeriTel, Inc.’s service please visit www.ameritelinc.com

In response to a Notice of Inquiry released by the FCC to explore how to transition to a purely IP-based communications network, AT&T has declared that it’s time to cut the cord. AT&T told the FCC that the death of landlines is a matter of when , not if, and asked that a firm deadline be set for pulling the plug.

AT&T said in its response to the FCC that “with each passing day, more and more communications services migrate to broadband and IP-based services, leaving the public switched telephone network (“PSTN”) and plain-old telephone service (“POTS”) as relics of a by-gone era.”

It also stated “It makes no sense to require service providers to operate and maintain two distinct networks when technology and consumer preferences have made one of them increasingly obsolete.”

Moving to VoIP

Providers like Vonage have been delivering VoIP (Voice over IP) for consumers over broadband Internet connections for years. I should know, I was one of the charter members. I haven’t had an actual POTS landline for at least five years.

While my local telephone providers wanted to nickel and dime me for “features” like caller ID and voicemail, Vonage has reliably provided all-inclusive service for $24.95 for as long as I can remember.

While Vonage is still a major player in the consumer VoIP market, just about every communications entity has joined in the game now. VoIP phone services are offered as a bundled service along with broadband Internet service, and digital cable TV by major players like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T itself.

Transition to Mobile

The way wireless phone plans are set up now, it is hard to argue in favor of keeping both a mobile phone and a home phone–even a VoIP line. You can get unlimited minutes of talk time with all of the bells and whistles you can imagine–caller ID, call forwarding, etc. Many plans come with unlimited data, unlimited text messaging, and more. With all of that service in your hip pocket, do you really need a phone attached to your wall?

The number of U.S. households that have ditched the landline entirely in favor of relying solely on mobile phones doubled between 2006 and 2009. A quarter of U.S. households no longer have a landline of any kind, and that number will continue to grow.

No Dial Tone

One of the last remaining reasons for maintaining a standard POTS landline is the fact that in most cases the POTS line maintains a dial tone and the ability to make and receive calls during catastrophes and emergencies.

When Hurricane Ike hit here in the Houston area, there was no power for days, or even weeks in some areas. No power means no broadband Internet, which means VoIP phone services like Vonage don’t work. No power to cell towers means no bars on your cell signal and no wireless service.

Some broadband VoIP providers have solutions to address at least short-term power outages. AT&T provides its UVerse customers with a UPS (uninterruptable power supply) battery back-up that maintains power to the broadband router at least for a while.

Emergency services, and the ability to place 911 calls have also been an issue. With a POTS landline it is easy to match a phone number with a physical address, but with broadband VoIP you could be calling from around the corner or around the world and the 911 operators can’t tell. There are solutions in place for 911 calls via broadband VoIP, but users who drop landlines entirely in favor of wireless phones may have issues getting timely emergency service.

Those are issues that will have to be worked out, though. The future marches on, and it is fair for AT&T and other traditional POTS providers to want to drop the obsolete, unprofitable technology and focus their resources on the universal broadband and IP communications of tomorrow.

With version 3.0, Mitel brings the incredible benefits of Unified Communicator Advanced (“UCA”) to the Linux or VMWare environments.  Originally only available for Windows Server environments, UCA has been evolving as a benchmark for enhanced and improved intra/inter office communications.

Companies today are in the midst of significant transformation into more global, collaborative workforces that are increasingly becoming more mobile. In order for businesses to thrive in this environment, given today’s economic pressures, a well-defined unified communications strategy is a must. This will certainly help companies reduce the overall cost of communications, streamline business processes, and increase employee productivity. But more importantly, deploying unified communications will help companies improve customer satisfaction and increase customer loyalty, thereby driving up revenues and profitability.

Mitel Unified Communicator® (UC) Advanced provides a single client interface with a rich feature set and access to all of Mitel’s communications applications. UC Advanced delivers voice, rich presence, video, messaging, call history, conferencing, collaboration, rich contact management capabilities, and mobility options for Mitel Communications Director (MCD) and Mitel 5000 Communications Platform (CP) customers. The UC Advanced Web and Mobile Portals provide remote access to a subset of UC Advanced features.

Mitel’s newest desktop peripheral is the Mitel 5610 DECT Handset and Mitel IP DECT Stand for the Mitel 5300 Series IP Phones. This unique accessory offers unprecedented convenience and limited mobility for IP Phone users. The cordless 5610 DECT Handset, with full dial pad and vibrant illuminated color screen, gives users the freedom and mobility to move away from their desk within their office or adjacent offices. Hotel guests will appreciate the convenience of additional cordless phone extensions in their rooms, while IT staff will appreciate the cost savings of servicing an entire room or suite of rooms with a single LAN drop.

“The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a request for public comment (PDF) on an upcoming transition from the decades-old circuit-based Public Switched Telephone Network to a new system run entirely with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. This is perhaps the most serious indication to date that the legacy telephone system will, in the near future, reach the end of its life. This public commenting phase represents a very early stage in what will undoubtedly be a very complex transition that makes this year’s bumpy switch from analog to digital television look relatively easy.”

Extends business communications from Philadelphia to Spring Training facilities

The Philadelphia Phillies has extended its long-standing relationship with strategic business communications provider, Mitel®, to deploy an innovative communications solution to its Spring Training facilities in Clearwater, Florida. The Phillies selected Mitel for its ease of scalability and flexibility in deploying applications suited to meet each individual user’s communications needs.

Collaboration yields solutions to enable companies of all sizes to deploy voice, real-time applications in VMware environments

News Facts:

Mitel®, the trusted provider of unified communications applications, announces Mitel business communications solutions as VMware Ready™, leveraging technology designed for VMware vSphere™ 4.  The latency challenge of virtualizing voice has also been solved with Mitel Communications Director (MCD) software, the first real-time voice application designed for the VMware vSphere 4 platform.    These developments come after the two companies announced their strategic relationship in June 2009, with the intent to develop Mitel real-time voice applications that run on VMware vSphere™ 4.

Mitel has the following unified communications applications that are now VMware Ready™ and available to customers. They include:

I.  What is Section 179?
II.  How to Use it to Your Advantage
III.  Example
IV.  One Step Further

WHAT IS SECTION 179?

We’ve all heard of it. Chances are people have tried to explain it multiple times in different ways. We know it is somehow related to a business’ tax liability. But do we really know what Section 179 means and how it can benefit you as a business trying to keep up with technology in these tough times?

First, let’s start with a very clean and clear definition of what the term “Section 179” is referring to. Tax benefits, including the Section 179 provision that aided businesses in acquiring new equipment in 2008 were extended to 2009 when President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on February 17th, 2009.

Under Internal Revenue Code Section 179, businesses are allowed to expense up to $250,000 on most equipment or software placed in service during the tax year 2009. Additionally, you are able to expense up to 50% of the remaining figure under the depreciation bonus provision.

According to the Monitor Daily (www.monitordaily.com), the Associated Equipment Distributors has sponsored a website that explains the provisions in more detail and provides a tax calculator (www.depreciationbonus.org) to illustrate examples of deductions.