We Make HIPAA Compliant Communications Easy for Healthcare Providers

TCI offers healthcare communications solutions that enable more proactive and efficient care to increase patient engagement and satisfaction. We specialize in enabling more proactive and collaborative communications in hospitals, medical centers, and physician practices.

Reliable communications between healthcare facilities – such as between a doctor’s office and hospital – are essential to delivering patients the best care in a timely and efficient manner. Protecting your patients’ right to communications privacy should not be difficult or expensive. TCI and Mitel take the worry out of protecting patient privacy by offering HIPAA-compliant communication solutions.

The need for information to remain secure extends past physical human interactions. The transfer of patient information also needs to be done through secure and regulation-compliant communications methods. TCI’s
Mitel-powered solutions protect your communications on-site or in the cloud.

Connecting healthcare providers…

  • Hosted Cloud Voice Services for Small Healthcare Organizations – Reliable, easy to use, manage, and set up. Get the HIPAA-compliant communications service your healthcare business needs for an affordable monthly price.
  • On-site & Private Cloud for Larger Healthcare Organizations – Truly seamless communications and collaboration lets care providers focus on patients instead of processes. On-site communications solutions and cloud phone systems can make all the difference.

More Efficient Workflow Operations

Our healthcare communications solutions keep on-site nurses, dispersed physicians, and non-clinical staff connected with each other and with patients. When communications solutions are securely integrated into your workflows, you can reduce the chance of bottlenecks and ensure patients get the right information at the right time.

Better Outcomes. Satisfied Patients.

Better patient care means higher satisfaction rates and higher reimbursement rates. Build your business and attract new patients with communications solutions that help you deliver better care to more people.

Let’s talk about how TCI connects the DC region’s healthcare providers and how these solutions can benefit your facility.

Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Phone System Connections… SIP Trunks & Choosing Your Next Provider

If your business is still running old-school network connections like PRI or analog lines, now is the time to consider what virtual SIP trunks can do for you.

SIP Trunks offer a number of benefits over outdated network services. Get cost savings, increased flexibility to support a distributed workforce, and added business continuity. By running everything over the Internet, you’re able to gain cloud benefits with your current onsite phone system and increase operational efficiency.

Here are a few things to consider as you look at different SIP providers…

  • Support for Future Needs & Growth – If your business is expecting growth or you experience seasonal fluctuations in call volume, SIP Trunks are a great way to save time and money. You can add trunks as needed so you’re able to manage resources more efficiently. SIP Trunks also improve business continuity by delivering built-in redundancy and automatic failover destinations. With legacy connectivity solutions, if something happens to your hard lines, you likely don’t have multiple carriers at your fingertips for backup.
  • Resiliency & Redundancy – SIP Trunks can be delivered over multiple paths and/or sites. No longer do you have to tolerate downtime because the Carrier has a circuit issue. TCI can move the SIP Trunks to an alternate path or an alternate site and keep your service up and running until the primary path is fixed.
  • Performance with Other Communications Solutions – Knowing how your SIP Trunking solution will perform with your other communications solutions is critical to ensure clear call quality and dependable uptime. Older connectivity solutions aren’t optimized to work with modern UC solutions so the connectivity may not perform as well as it could. Make sure your SIP provider is aware of your current communications solutions, so you are properly configured for success.
  • Complexity, Maintenance & Effort Required – As you evaluate virtual trunks, keep in mind the amount of time you spend maintaining your current solution. Determine how much goes into scaling, configuring, and budgeting for your hard lines. With traditional non-virtual trunks, scaling requires adding new physical lines and entails time and money to order and install them. With virtual trunks, all you have to do is contact your provider and you can scale instantly.

The benefits of SIP Trunks are numerous and compelling. TCI is ready to help you select and implement SIP services from the best providers.

Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

More Choice & Flexibility… TCI and Mitel add RingCentral MVP Cloud to VoIP Service Portfolio

TCI continues to expand our product portfolio… Our most recent addition is RingCentral’s popular MVP Service. We support MVP with the added value of TCI’s end-to-end design and deployments, all backed with outstanding customer support.

What does RingCentral MVP bring to the table?

RingCentral is rated as the #1 UCaaS provider by many industry analysts. RingCentral’s MVP solution will be a great Cloud choice for many TCI customers, offering a comprehensive suite of communication and collaboration services…

  • An integrated phone, team messaging, and HD video experience built on intuitive mobile and desktop clients for better employee productivity and customer engagement.
  • Rich analytics and real-time reporting to unlock insights for every part of your business.
  • A secure and reliable platform with 99.999% call service uptime to ensure your communications system is always running.
  • A global calling footprint in over 44 countries, and local and toll-free numbers across more than 110 countries, enabling you to scale quickly with employees who can work from anywhere, all backed by industry-leading reliability and security standards.
  • Over 275 pre-built integrations and 500+ APIs are available to enhance business applications and workflows.

Supporting Public & Private Cloud Services or On-Premises

TCI clients choose us because we customize everything to fit their requirements. Supporting small to large enterprises and single office to multiple locations, your TCI team offers a range of cloud and on-premises deployments to keep your organization connected – public cloud subscriptions, private cloud arrangements, on-site systems, and hybrid arrangements – whatever fits you best.

More Cloud Service Options

In addition to RingCentral’s MVP, TCI offers TCI Advantage – Host, our ‘Mitel-powered’ Cloud service. We connect Host clients across the DC Region and nationwide, improving their business operations with affordable, locally sourced and supported cloud communications. Based on your unique needs, TCI Host can be deployed in public, private and hybrid arrangements.

On-Premises… Customized Control

If you need more control, an on-site business phone system can offer a customized blend of communication and collaboration tools presented in one easy-to-use user interface. No need to combine tools from multiple vendors, TCI will design and deliver the unified communications solution you need to support your business apps and system integrations.

Local experts. Better technology.

We back up our advanced technology solutions with exceptional 24 x 7 support – whether managed plans or on-demand – to keep your organization well connected and productive.

Let’s talk about your business and how TCI can connect you for more success in 2022. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Experiencing Deja Vu? A Refresher on Helping Your Team Adjust to Remote Work

With Omicron on the march, many of your employees and managers are back to the unique challenges they faced while working at home.

Kids grappling with schoolwork – then add in some young children who can’t go to daycare, or the need to provide care for an elderly parent – and you can begin to appreciate the stress of trying to balance work and family responsibilities.

Work-Life Strategies

Whether you are a manager or an employee, we’re all looking for ways to manage our converging responsibilities at home. With that in mind, here are some strategies that can make life easier…

  • Consider extending the workday (or week) – start earlier or end later – so you have more time for family matters, chores, and catching up with friends
  • Keep the focus on getting the work done as opposed to number of hours worked.
  • Take more breaks to relieve stress, improve your health, and maintain a better work-life balance.
  • Get outside and move… You’ll give yourself an energy boost so you can be more creative, productive, and responsive.
  • Resist the urge to watch TV, view social media or shop online – before you know it you can waste a good part of your day.
  • Dress for success… You never know when you’ll receive a request to join a video call with a client or colleague.

The Role of Technology

Of course, it will take more than changing our behavior to overcome the challenges of working at home. Also essential are having the right technologies, connections, and apps in place to enable work to be performed efficiently and effectively. This is where TCI comes in.

TCI has proven remote workforce solutions for any size organization. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

3 Good Technology Decisions that will Fuel Business Growth in 2022

Many businesses are finding they are weighed down by technology choices they had to make quickly during the pandemic.

With little time to assess communication platform pros and cons, they made quick purchase decisions that may have been awkward for employees to navigate, saddled businesses with unanticipated costs, and introduced performance problems that frustrated staff and customers.

The beginning of the new year is an ideal time to ensure you have a communications platform that’s designed — from the ground up — to deliver the reliability, agility, and efficiency you need to optimize productivity today and respond quickly to unanticipated changes tomorrow.

To take advantage of that opportunity, you’ll want to make 3 smart choices:

1 – Choose the Cloud to Streamline and Strengthen Your Technology

The cloud is the easiest way to simplify and supercharge your communications technology. By consolidating disjointed communications tools into an all-in-one, cloud-based solution that offers team and video collaboration, mobility, and voice capabilities, you can unleash greater productivity and performance, while eliminating the cost and resource burdens of managing your current systems.

2 – Choose a Proven UCaaS to Meet Your Needs Today and Tomorrow

Customer and employee expectations have permanently changed. Businesses have gained new confidence in their staffs’ ability to work from anywhere. Employees value the balance that hybrid working environments provide. And customers just want great service — and don’t care where the employee supporting them is working from. That’s why TCI is partnered with Mitel and RingCentral to empower our clients with the world’s leading UCaaS technology.

3 – Choose a Trusted, Local Partner to Customize Your Migration Path

Your business has already made investments in its communications platform. You’ll want a migration plan that takes that into consideration. Look for the guidance of a local partner with extensive expertise in the full range of VoIP deployments — including on-premises, private cloud, and public cloud systems. TCI has been serving the DC region’s businesses and public sector for 40+ years. That’s why you can trust our experts to ensure your transition to the cloud will be based on a customized migration plan and timeline.

Choose the Freedom to Focus on the Future

If the communications platform you put in place during the pandemic isn’t providing you with all the functionality you need to grow and meet new challenges ahead, now is an ideal time to press the reset button.

Contact TCI to help you make the right choices for your business. Call us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Keep Your Workforce Connected with TCI… Your Local Technology Partner

It’s not easy in these challenging times to keep your current Voice & IT systems running – let alone add new technology for more flexibility and mobility during our new ‘normal’ hybrid work arrangements.

To keep your business moving forward, you’ll need easy-to-use-anywhere collaboration tools – delivered on a reliable, secure communications platform. Getting access to these tools begins with having the right local technology partner.

For over four decades, we’ve improved the bottom line for thousands of TCI customers including SMBs, commercial and financial institutions, associations, non-profit, and leaders in the DC region’s public and private sector.

Our customers appreciate the value we provide them, including higher levels of staff productivity, improvements in operational efficiency, increased satisfaction, and strong return on investment. Our solutions and services include:

Voice & Unified Communications

  • Business Phones, VoIP, UC, UCaaS
  • Hosted Voice – Public, Private and Hybrid
  • Conferencing – Web, Audio, Video
  • Mobility, Telework, Remote Access
  • Network Services – Telco, Carriers, ISP

Infrastructure

  • Data, Voice, Video Cabling
  • LAN, WAN, IP Networks
  • Data Center and Collocation
  • Wireless Networks

Managed Services Plans

  • Full-Service Support
  • Proactive Monitoring
  • Prepaid Support
  • Ad hoc Support

Cloud Services

  • Cloud Computing
  • Hosted Services
  • Managed Services
  • Relocation Services

Professional Services

  • Strategic Planning & Policy
  • Technical Assessments & Audits
  • Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
  • Procurement & Bid Consulting
  • Third Party Vendor Management
  • Project Consulting & Services

TCI is ready to support your organization’s workforce initiatives. Let’s map out a plan for your business… Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 


Grappling with the New Work Environment? Get to Know Evolving Private Cloud Voice Options

Many enterprises are urgently reconsidering their business communications to keep pace with the needs of the new work environment. Do they stay with their premises-based solution or migrate to the cloud to take advantage of new capabilities, new technologies, and hybrid working?

Public, Private or Hybrid Deployments

Migrating to the cloud may mean that you no longer need to buy and operate servers and software. You simply purchase the services you need – delivered through the cloud. You can buy software as a service (SaaS) that delivers specific application services. Another option is infrastructure as a service (IaaS) from providers such as Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure or AWS, who provide data center services. These are public services where you share the cloud with other organizations. For enterprises that need a dedicated environment and more control, a private cloud arrangement makes sense.

More on Private Cloud Advantages

TCI’s private cloud services are most appealing to organizations with 100+ seats when control is as important as reliability, security, scalability, and global reach. These organizations may also be spread across several locations. This makes private cloud services an ideal solution as users can enjoy the same communications experience anywhere, anytime, and on any device.

Cloud storage means applications and information can be seamlessly accessed, while advanced security protection ensures that sensitive data remains safe. In addition, it also offers organizations that previously rejected private clouds due to complexity and costs the chance to take a fresh look. TCI optimizes the benefits of public cloud services, such as scalability and global reach, with the control that many organizations need.

TCI can customize a managed cloud service combining:

  • Traditional owned or controlled software in a data center – a secure, private solution accessible only by one business
  • Controlled software on cloud infrastructure – for businesses that want to keep control but with the capability to be more agile in deploying communications applications
  • Public software as a service – shared between different organizations with hosting, management, and security the responsibility of a hosting company

Whether your business needs a private cloud solution or can make a quick move to the cloud via a public cloud solution, TCI’s Mitel-powered services provide everything necessary to meet your communications technology needs. As experts in on-premises, cloud, and moving customers from one to the other, you can trust that your cloud migration experience will be easy and seamless.

TCI offers a no-hassle migration to the cloud. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 


Need Wi-Fi Support Help? Simplify Management & Secure Your Office Network from the Cloud

Wireless connections are a critical element of today’s network infrastructure and one that consumes a growing share of IT resources to secure and manage. To support your wireless connections, TCI offers cloud-managed Wi-Fi solutions that enable you to streamline switching, routing, and security tasks via the web.

Protecting your Wi-Fi networks

You can arrange to dynamically grant or restrict network access to a device based on its security status, location, installed software and OS version, and more. And when a user fails to comply with a set security measure – such as disabling the antivirus program, jail-breaking a device, removing a passcode, or leaving a given territory – that person’s access to your Wi-Fi networks will be automatically revoked.

Need Wi-Fi support help?

TCI’s certified network experts can optimize and manage the hosting of your entire Wi-Fi infrastructure by offering:

  • Immediate implementation and expansion of Wi-Fi, switching, and security to new sites.
  • Upgrades, patches, and maintenance.
  • Support to allow mobile and remote workers to become as productive on the road as in the office.
  • Tiered services to suit the needs of any sized organization.

TCI’s cloud experts are ready to help you secure and manage your Wi-Fi network. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 


Flexible Funding & Delivery Models… Why Migrating to the Cloud is More Affordable than You Think

Most businesses recognize that modernizing their communications technologies will help them increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction and sharpen their competitive edge. But many are sticking with the technologies they have today because they don’t believe they can afford to do anything else.

The good news is funding and delivery models for communications technologies have become far more flexible in recent years. This flexibility opens the door for almost every business to start on the path to modernization.

CapEx Funding Strategies May Be Holding You Back

Traditionally, CFOs have preferred to buy IT infrastructure outright as a capital expenditure (CapEx) because they could use the associated amortization and depreciation costs as tax deductions. While these financial benefits are helpful to businesses, a CapEx purchase strategy for communications systems also comes with downsides.

  • A significant cash outlay is required to initiate the purchase.
  • Hardware is particularly notorious for becoming obsolete in shorter-than-expected timeframes.
  • There’s a significant risk that purchased resources will remain idle or underused over the lifetime of the system.
  • Purchased on-site hardware and software systems consume space, and they must be maintained, powered, and cooled.

An OpEx Strategy Increases Flexibility On Every Front

With an OpEx strategy, businesses don’t purchase the communications system hardware or software. Instead, they pay a monthly, quarterly, or yearly fee to access communications capabilities that are offered in a subscription model. All hardware and software are owned, operated, and maintained by another company, and communications costs become day-to-day business costs. When technology is an operating expense, businesses can:

  • Pay only for the capacity they currently need, so capital is never tied up in under-used hardware and software
  • Write off the entire subscription cost each year rather than just a percentage of the total CapEx purchase price
  • Free up large amounts of capital that can be invested across the company
  • Avoid the need to borrow money or divert money from other projects to pay for large, upfront technology costs
  • Reduce the costs of system operation, management, and maintenance
  • Streamline cash flows by eliminating large, sporadic cash outlays
  • Simplify and accelerate budgeting exercises because short-term spending requirements are lower

Cloud Communications Solutions Leverage the Benefits of OpEx Funding

The limitations of CapEx strategies, combined with the availability of subscription-based, cloud-hosted communications solutions, are leading many CFOs and CIOs to choose OpEx funding models for business communications systems.

With this approach, businesses can immediately start migrating to the cloud at a pace that makes the most sense for their communications requirements, business goals, and budgets. For many businesses, a hybrid approach that combines existing on-premises solutions with cloud-based applications could be the right way to start the journey to the cloud.

TCI Is Ready To Help

Your local TCI experts are ready to discuss the benefits of an OpEx funding strategy for your communications system as well as the pros and cons of different cloud migration strategies.

Don’t let financial roadblocks be an obstacle to cloud migration. For flexible financing arrangements, contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 


Onboarding Checklist for Your New Hires… Ramp Up Successful Employees in Remote/Hybrid Work Settings

The Covid-19 outbreak forced many companies to allow employees to work remotely or through hybrid work models. However, not all employers were prepared to transfer their entire workflow to a virtual setting. As a result, many organizations have struggled with disengaged employees and reduced productivity.

This helpful 7-step onboarding checklist works for fully remote or hybrid working teams.

1. Early Engagement

Making your employees feel included early on before onboarding even starts is one of the best employee engagement strategies for those workers who work at least a part of their time remotely. Get creative with these possibilities:

  • Send them a welcome package
  • Invite them to the relevant group chat or communication channel
  • Organize an informal virtual get together
  • Explain the career path and reward system for top performance
  • Communicate and keep in touch regularly during early onboarding

2. Secure a Desk Setup In Advance

New employees need the right equipment to start working. These would be things like a PC or a laptop, a high-quality headset, webcam, phone, printer, desk supplies, keyboard, and mouse. Depending on job role and specialization, there might be other equipment and tools they need. If employees are audited and judged based on their performance, remote people need the same tools and working conditions as on-site employees.

3. Tools & Learning Materials

Once you’ve provided the necessary devices and tools, arrange a virtual meeting between your new employee and your IT department or other onboarding person/group. At this point, you have to provide your new hire with the following:

  • Login details for their new company email account
  • Credentials for any remote tools or software they will use
  • Company-wide communication channels and tools
  • Calendar access for client appointments or meetings
  • Proper training on cyber security
  • Digital employee handbooks and learning materials
  • Access to cloud storage and documentation

4. Assign a Buddy for Mentorship

New employees will often have many questions but can be too embarrassed or afraid to ask. To make them feel more comfortable, provide one-on-one mentorship with an existing employee who’s willing to show them all the ins and outs of the company. You’ll create a sense of unity and common goals by tying the mentor’s success to the new hire’s performance.

5. Be Transparent

Be clear about work and performance expectations. Provide your new hire with details on how you plan to measure their performance and a list of short and long-term goals of their job role. After going through virtual training, give your new employee straightforward tasks to start with. Always set clear expectations and give reasonable deadlines. At the end of each successful project, schedule some time for re-evaluation and feedback.

6. Don’t Stop Communicating

Making a first impression and establishing personal connections with teammates so that an employee feels included is more challenging to achieve virtually. Since the employees aren’t always there to read your facial cues, you have to open a constant communication line. In remote settings, over-communicating is better than under-communicating. Onboarding shouldn’t be one-way communication, rather a process, where you socialize and engage the new hire. And this is especially vital for workers with a hybrid schedule.

7. Train Managers to Lead Their Hybrid Teams with Flexibility

There is no one-fits-all solution when it comes to flexible schedules, so your managers and leaders need to learn what type of hybrid schedules work best for your business needs and different job roles within an organization. A great manager will differentiate between essential staff that has to be on-site or on a minimally hybrid schedule, and those that can work fully remote. From that point on, the manager needs to be able to rotate and schedule staff shifts accordingly, with employees’ well-being always in mind.

Personalize to give your hybrid onboarding a boost

Tailoring your onboarding process to each job role and allowing your new hires to progress at their own pace can improve their integration and assimilation to the company culture, regardless of how many days they work on- or off-site.

TCI has technology solutions that can support remote and hybrid work arrangements. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.