Wave Blog

Vertical Communications is announcing the release of Wave IP 6.0, which supports ViewPoint Web -- a new browser-based application that enables users to leverage cloud-based micro services for real time communication and collaboration capabilities.

Integration with ViewPoint Web will make the Wave platform capable of even greater flexibility, offering support from any device including: PC, Mac, Android, and iOS. Wave 6.0 will also feature: E911 location support, a click-to-call Chrome browser plugin, new IVR features for the built-in Voice Server, and improved reliability and disaster prevention capability by supporting SIP phones registering to different call managers.

ViewPoint Web also offers price-leader Edge IP 9802 phones. A more detailed summary of Wave 6.0 is available in the attached press release.

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All Wave 5 owners!

Microsoft released security update -  Microsoft Security Bulletin MS17-010 for protection against “Wannacry” ransomware . 

Vertical released Wave general hotfix 1818 (which lists this update as included) last night – May 14, 2017!   

You will want to see this hotfix is installed as soon as possible to protect against “Wannacry” ransomware.

Contact us at 1-800 967-1412 for assistance in installing this general hotfix!

Latest software platform includes new features, new Vertical Updates cloud service and new Vertical Edge IP phones

Vertical is pleased to announce that as of June 15, all new Wave IP platform orders are being shipped with the system’s latest version 5.0 software release. In addition to new system features and enhanced performance, Wave IP release 5.0 provides customers access to Vertical’s newest cloud service -- Vertical Updates -- and a new series of Edge IP phones.

New in Wave IP 5.0:

• Updated core platform services, including support for MS SQL 2012
• Support for automated software updates via Vertical Updates
• High density call recording (up to 125 simultaneous call recording sessions)
• New features and tools for streamlined provisioning and deployment
• New Vertical IP phone family
• Feature enhancements for mobile and desktop UC, including seamless session handoff between devices
• Expanded support for third-party SIP phones, including Polycom VVX
• New bundled applications for inbound IVR

Vertical Updates – New Cloud Service!

Vertical has fully automated the process of continually delivering software enhancements to its customer base with its new cloud-based Vertical Updates service. Easy to use and customizable by administrators, Vertical Updates delivers continuous updates from Vertical’s secure cloud so enterprises can easily take advantage of the most recent security and feature updates from Vertical while further reducing the overall TCO of Wave IP.

 

• Communicate and collaborate quickly, with the ability to see customized personal statuses and the availability of everyone in your company directory across all of their devices
• Build better customer relationships with personalized voice greetings and customized customer routing rules, including VIP Call Handling
• Improve customer service with screen-popped caller information and contact center queue callbacks
• Easily record, search and retrieve calls to enhance customer service, ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations, and support employee training and performance
• Record and broadcast targeted messages to groups or your entire organization
• Add notes to and prioritize messages at a glance with Visual Voice Mail
• Enhance safety and emergency response times with custom emergency Caller ID
• Customize, extend and integrate Wave IP applications with your own CRM systems, billing applications, contact center reporting packages, IVR and more to enhance business processes

 

 

1. Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) and Short Message Service (SMS)

2. Wireless Mobility

3. Integrative Technologies

4. Cloud

Texting 1, 2, 3: Please Listen Carefully As Our Options Have Changed

The most notable way in which Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technologies help improve workflows is by automating routine customer communications, such as appointment reminders, lab results and follow-up service surveys. With IVR software, you can quickly create, schedule and send custom messages to dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of customers at once, saving hours of valuable staff time on making manual calls.

IVR technology utilizing artificial intelligence to interpret (and in some cases, predict) a user's responses can dramatically enhance your call flow capabilities to get customers to the right person or department more quickly. Instead of hearing a long list of options like "Press 1 for sales. Press 2 for customer service ...," callers can simply state what or who they need and the system automatically interprets and processes the call accordingly.

Another common technology that can enhance everyday workflows is SMS, or what most of us simply refer to as text or instant (IM) messaging. Integrated with a company’s communications system, SMS allows employees to securely communicate and collaborate in real time while on the phone or on a video conference. (See? You really can do two things at once.) Marketers, in particular, have discovered the value of SMS as a popular customer communications tool, with marketing text messages achieving 98% open and 45% response rates. 

Click here for more examples from CRM Magazine of how businesses can use IVR and SMS to enhance workflows.

Fascinating Factoid:  97% of Americans send text messages at least once a day, making text messaging the most-used smartphone app.

Work Takes Place Every Place

For years now, wireless technologies have enabled the proliferation of mobile communications, changing forever how business is conducted. With the transformation to the mobile workplace is the need to adapt workflows to support it. Here are just a couple of real-world examples of how mobile technologies are meeting that challenge in the medical field.

To enable enterprise mobility, phone features have evolved from simple hot desking (where employees share the same desk/IP phone at different times and locations) to supporting today's bring-your-own-device (BYOD) work environment -- in or out of the office. With applications like Vertical's ViewPoint Mobile™, workflows can proceed uninterrupted, thanks to seamless integration of enterprise communications features and functionality with employees' personal mobile devices.

 

Integrate, Integrate, Integrate!

In addition to integrating mobile devices into your communications system, the integration of company databases and directories, customer management and accounting programs, and other mission-critical systems and resources is essential to improving workflows. Integrative technologies and the use of application programming interfaces (APIs) are the lynchpins to creating a communications system built upon a company's specific use cases.

Integrating communications with other business systems saves time and reduces errors that often result from the manual re-entry of data into multiple programs. For example, Vertical's cloud-based CRMLink service eliminates the need to manually enter and create records in your CRM system by transparently connecting Vertical's Wave® IP Communications Platform with popular cloud-based CRM and ERP programs where all incoming and outgoing calls (including mobile) are automatically logged for complete and accurate call activity records. 

The Cloud Has Come of Age

Of course, all the buzz in business operations over the last several years has been about moving everything -- including communications -- to "the cloud." Cloud technologies provide secure, cost-effective access to files and business communications services from any location. These rapidly evolving technologies are also driving the need for new workflows to keep pace with the changes.

The challenge of cloud is to find a flexible infrastructure that can conform to a business' unique needs and workflows without significant development and technology integration costs. Vertical Cloud Connect (VCC), for example, enables businesses to extend their Vertical Wave IP infrastructure to cloud-based services from any endpoint at any location. It serves as a fundamental link between the premise and the cloud, providing access to cloud-based tools and solutions that can increase productivity and enhance workflows.

 

Application-rich Software Adds More “Built-In” Features and Applications that Improve Business Processes

Vertical Communications®, a leading provider of business communications software and solutions, today announced the availability of the Vertical Wave IP version 4.0 software. A continuation of its highly successful Wave IP unified communications platform, Wave IP 4.0 incorporates a broad range of new capabilities, including enhanced collaboration and new native interactive voice response (IVR) applications for appointment reminders and customer surveys. Vertical Wave IP 4.0 is available through Vertical’s network of resellers and channel partners.

Among the new features and applications in Wave IP 4.0 are:

 

Embedded MeetMe Conference Rooms – Enhancing the Wave IP’s existing built-in conference bridge solution, 4.0 adds new MeetMe conference rooms for easier collaboration. Wave IP‘s MeetMe rooms provide secure conference rooms for each user and support up to 24 participants per room, with no additional licenses or infrastructure required. This standard feature is fully accessible from any endpoint or client, including Vertical’s award-winning ViewPoint desktop UC and ViewPoint Mobile clients.

 

Embedded Outbound Appointment Reminders and Customer Survey Applications – Enhancing the Wave IP’s native IVR platform (Voice Server), which offers six TTS ports of IVR per Wave IP system, Wave IP 4.0 now includes two new configurable IVR applications. Vertical’s Outbound Appointment Reminder uses data from any third-party source using a standard CSV format to automate appointment reminder calls. The Customer Survey application also uses third-party data sources to enable automated outbound survey calls. Both applications offer web-based reports that use XML for easy integration with other systems, and enable businesses to utilize these valuable tools without the need for any extra hardware, software, or service contracts.

 

Campaign Tracker – A powerful new add-on application, Campaign Tracker enables businesses to track their marketing investments without the need for costly third-party marketing tracking services. Campaign Tracker tracks calls associated with targeted print and electronic campaigns, and generates real-time reports to make it easy for businesses to monitor and adjust marketing programs on the fly.

 

OpenVPN and Native STUN Support – To enhance Wave IP’s centralized deployment capabilities and access options for remote and mobile workers, Wave IP 4.0 offers a pre-configured integration with OpenVPN, as well as native support for STUN for traversing NATs and firewalls.

 

Support for Gmail and Office 365 Email/Voice Mail Integration – Wave IP 4.0 supports TLS, enabling Gmail and O365 customers to integrate Wave IP into their work environments.

 

ViewPoint Softphone Client Now Bundled – The Wave IP’s integrated softphone is now included at no additional cost as a primary phone for any user, reducing the need for traditional handsets.

 

“Vertical’s Wave IP unified communications platform is highly regarded for its broad range of valuable features, tools and applications that are accessible to every end user in an organization—from the CEO, to remote salespeople, to in-house administrative staff,” said Peter Bailey, Vertical’s chief executive officer. “Wave IP version 4.0 continues our company’s vision and leadership in providing innovative technology that will have a very tangible and lasting effect on the way our customers conduct business.”

According to Bailey, Wave IP’s unique architecture, which incorporates all unified communications technologies, as well as mobility, call recording, conferencing and a variety of other features into a single integrated system, offers customers an appealing, easy-to-deploy solution to leverage the latest advances in communications technology. In addition, Vertical’s singular licensing model, which enables customers to access all of these features without having to pay additional software licenses or acquire expensive servers, encourages businesses to fully leverage the benefits of these powerful business tools to address specific operational goals, such as increasing revenue, streamlining operations, enhancing customer service and reducing costs.

“We continually see our competitors undermine the value of their solutions by charging exorbitant licensing fees, increasing management burden with non-integrated solutions with separate management interfaces and infrastructure, or offering these capabilities to only a sub-set of users,” continued Bailey. “Our overarching objective is to drive adoption throughout the organization so that every customer and user has an opportunity to improve workflow and productivity. Wave IP 4.0 advances Vertical’s mission to do just that. It enables every customer to leverage the full power of UC technologies and capitalize on the associated benefits.”

 

 

Standard UC feature set includes:

• Award-winning ViewPoint UC desktop client
• Integrated SIP Softphone
• Secure Instant Messaging
• Organization-wide Presence & Personal Status
• Visual Voicemail
• Intelligent Find-Me / Follow-Me
• Email and Contacts synchronization with Exchange
• Personalized Call Handling

Mobility. The power to connect anytime, anywhere
You can take Wave IP's feature set with you wherever you go so you are always connected and have powerful enterprise communications tools at your disposal.

Mobility feature set includes:

• One number service - publish one number, make & receive calls from multiple devices
• Transform any PSTN connected phone into your personal enterprise extension
• ViewPoint UC desktop client with integrated phone
• UC client on smart phones and mobile deveices
• Access all frequently used PBX Features
• Find me / follow me & twinning
• Remote contact center agent

Integrated Applications
Vertical's Application Ready architecture means you have all the tools you need, when you need them. Add applications with a simple license key.

Integrated Applications include:

• Wave ViewPoint Unified Communications desktop & mobile application
• Contact Center
• Call Classifier (database driven call tagging and handling)
• Secure Instant Messaging
• Inbound & Outbound IVR
• Fax Management
• Management and reporting
• Call recording, logging, archiving and management
• Multisite Networking
• Messaging integration - MS Exchange, SMTP and more
• Disaster Recovery - Wave Live Image (powered by Acronis)

Vertical AppMarket
The Vertical AppMarket offers developer solutions that extend the Unified Communications capabilities of your Wave IP system and integration opportunities with existing business applications.

Feature developer solutions include:

• Integration with leading CRM packages
• Real-time visibility into your queue call status
• Wall display solutions for contact center performance
• Enhanced reporting utilities

 

How do you keep everyone connected, on target and on task while they’re on the move? The key to productive mobile employees isn’t the device they use. It’s access. Immediate access to co-workers, customers, decision makers, information. Access to all the communications functionality and features you use in the office, even when you’re not – all at your fingertips.

Wave ViewPoint Mobile includes an extensive array of built-in, advanced communications applications like presence and call management, secure instant messaging, visual voice mail and call recording that you pay a premium for with other systems – all included. No extra hardware or software needed. And now true mobility. At no extra cost.