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Schools, Non-Profits, Gov’t… Are You Exploiting Sourcewell’s Discounts for Telecom Solutions?

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Sourcewell is a municipal contracting government agency serving the public sector.

Who qualifies for Sourcewell membership?

  • Educational institutions – both public and private, including K to 12, special education districts, charter schools, and higher education/universities
  • Non-profits – including hospitals and nursing homes, rural power cooperatives, housing authorities, member associations, and groups
  • State and local government agencies – including cities, counties, water districts, and tribal nations

How does Sourcewell work?

First, Sourcewell goes out to competitive bid nationally on a wide range of products and services that would benefit their members. They then award the contract to the selected vendor. Sourcewell sets up the legal authority between vendor and member.

The member organizations then have access to the vendor’s services at Sourcewell, resulting in accolades like this from a school district:

“Sourcewell contracts have streamlined our purchasing process, saving our district thousands of dollars.”

Significant Discounts

Working with TCI as your local technology partner, Sourcewell members can purchase Mitel telecom solutions without issuing an RFP, including:

  • Public Cloud
  • Private Cloud and On-site Systems
  • Contact Center
  • Team Collaboration
  • Mass Notification
  • Business Phones
  • Devices and Accessories

Mitel is the exclusive Sourcewell telecommunications equipment vendor based on its record of innovation, product quality, customer service, pricing, and overall market leadership.

Simplified procurement and savings … More reasons to go with TCI and Mitel. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Remote Work Considerations as the DC Region Prepares for Coronavirus/Covid-19 Impact

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Hope for the best, prepare for the worst… The Covid-19 outbreak is moving fast and you’ll need to be flexible in the coming weeks to minimize disruptions to your business.

TCI is Ready

At TCI, our staff’s welfare and your need for support are top of mind. Rest assured that our customer and tech support staff are equipped to work remotely as necessary and will be able to continue to support you without interruption.

Preparing Your Business

You’re likely thinking about how your business will stay connected to continue operations and serve customers. If your employees need to work at home, there are several teleworking options available. Depending on the licensing and system levels of your phone system or service, TCI experts can help you coordinate…

  • Softphones – implemented via an app installed either on your desktop/laptop or smartphone
  • Twinning – having desk phone and cell phone ring simultaneously
  • Teleworker Phone – a physical phone that can be used at home and programmed with the same features and apps as the business phone at the office
  • Conferencing Services – enables virtual face-to-face meetings to complete projects and make decisions
  • Mass Notification Solutions – broadcasts information to teams, groups or the entire organization via text messages, phone calls, and email.

Arranging Call Forwarding 

In many cases, you may want to forward your main business telephone number to a primary point-of-contact’s extension. As a full-service provider, TCI can get this done quickly.

You can also Call Forward your desktop extension to your teleworker phone prior to leaving the office or set call forward to your smartphone. Make sure you have a way to cover any incoming faxes.

Do Not Delay

News about Coronavirus/Covid-19 is developing fast, so now is the time to arrange your contingency plans and test your solutions in case your main office has to close to protect your employees and customers.

Let’s talk more about safeguarding your business. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Emergency & Crisis Management… Keeping Your Employees Safe, Informed and Connected

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Disruptive events – man-made or natural – unfold quickly, so fast response time is essential for safeguarding people and property. Regardless of the type of disruption, fast response is facilitated by a robust mass notification solution that allows you to communicate with all your employees at once wherever their location.

For example, employees may have to be notified of severe weather conditions, fires, hazardous material spills, IT outages, suspicious people, or an active shooter incident.

To ensure your mass notification system is up to par, make sure all the following functions are present and accounted for…

  • Anywhere, any device, any mode – A robust mass notification solution can notify staff and visitors via SMS, email, voice, landlines, mobile devices, desktops, digital screens in the lobby or cafeteria or overhead public address speakers.
  • Multiple channels – The system needs to integrate with your internal contact database. That way, you can reach employees through multiple channels simultaneously. In critical situations redundancy is a good thing.
  • Different messages, different people – Your system should be able to target different audiences by geography, function and position. For example, one message can go to executives while others are sent to staff, facility personnel, remote workers and others.
  • Confirmation – The system should also ask recipients to confirm they received the notification. In this way, real-time reporting can inform company responders of everyone’s location during an emergency.
  • Collaboration between security personnel – A mass notification solution powered by unified communications (UC) enables your security people to cut through the “wires” and connect to colleagues quickly.
  • Pre-event readiness – A good mass notification solution gives you the option of identifying numerous scenarios and preparing detailed messages and announcements – as well as automatic procedures like notifying first responders – ahead of time.

Getting urgent messages to your employees doesn’t have to be complicated. With a UC-based mass notification system, you can reach your people no matter where they are and get them to safety.

Let’s talk about how a mass notification system can protect your people and property. Contact TCI today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

Mitel Mass Notification… Connect with the Right People at the Right Time

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Mitel’s award-winning Mass Notification solution enables faster delivery and acknowledgement of vital information to your customers, employees, and other constituents.

From routine billing notices, order status, and appointment reminders to crisis events such as outages, recalls, and emergency response, Mitel enables you to deliver personalized information in real-time to the right people at the right time.

Mass Notification allows you to text, email or call to get the word out

  • Notify your target audience of events, promotions and limited time offers using their preferred device.
  • Using channel of choice, managers can notify staff of tasks that require immediate action.
  • Notify all your locations regarding notices, product issues, policy changes.
  • Notify people to fill shift; billing notices, appointment reminders, order status.
  • Automated notification for unexpected outages, planned outages and outage restoration.
  • Customer Notifications with welcome messages and appointment reminders.
  • Send Promos, coupons and loyalty programs via customer’s media of choice.
  • Generate real-time reports consisting of auditable record of open, acknowledged and closed issues.

Check out how Texas A&M is using Mass Notification as they discuss how they use the technology to keep its sizable student body, faculty and staff connected – especially when it’s critical.

For more information about Mitel’s intelligent notification solution, contact us today at  (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.