DAVENPORT, IA - February 28th, 2014 - Small businesses have been drawn to VoIP technology because of the substantial cost savings they gain when making the switch. However, as VoIP has continued to evolve over the years and moved into the "cloud", small businesses have begun to leverage VoIP in new ways to gain competitive advantages in their respective industries. The growth of virtual companies and remote workforces has brought everyone to the same playing field and customers across every industry are looking to work with credible, prestigious, large companies. Here are some ways in which cloud voice can make your business look bigger than it is today.

Your Office Just Got a Receptionist You Don't Have to Pay For  - Cloud based phone systems today include features that completely eliminate the need for a receptionist. Systems can be configured in order to route calls directly to the intended employee via a unified auto-attendant. Also, if your office doesn't have a receptionist, systems can distribute incoming calls among specific groups. This goes beyond simply sending sales calls to salespeople and admin calls to support employees. For example, you can use Caller ID to send specific accounts directly to the CEO's cell phone. Or if none of the salespeople answer an incoming call, it goes to the Sales Manager's cell phone.

Unlimited Locations, 1 Office Number - With the rampant growth of startups and virtual companies, many businesses need to have a communications system that supports both in-house and remote workers while maintaining a professional image across the board. With cloud voice, calls to the main office can be sent out anywhere simply by asking the customer to dial an extension, just like how large corporations are doing.

Seamless Conference Calls and Lightning-Fast Voicemails - Conference calls or online meetings are often a source of frustration for most companies. This is due largely to the tendency to bolt-on collaboration tools in the hopes that things will work smoothly during the meeting. However, they rarely ever do. Cloud voice solutions enable businesses to host conferences during meetings so you can be "face-to-face" even when you can't be in the same location. Furthermore, all technology is hosted through a single solution so when it's time to host a meeting, businesses can rest assured that the technology will perform as promised. Another way in which cloud voice accelerates collaboration is through its ability to convert voicemails into MP3 files, which can be sent as email attachments. Additionally, voice calls can be converted to text and vice versa for easier retrieval and communication.

Collaborate on the Fly. - Today's employees need to be constantly connected. Collaboration can't always be planned out in advance and when a good idea strikes, everyone needs to be in the loop. Cloud technology has made it easy for employees to see from their desktop what their co-workers are doing and how to best access them (e.g. instant message, voice, or email) so communication can happen immediately.

There are many advantages to moving a company's using cloud voice. For small business, the rewards are plentiful because they can utilize the same technology as large enterprises for a fraction of the cost and make them look just as big.

ABOUT MIDLAND COMMUNICATIONS

Midland Communications began more than 60 years ago in 1946 as the Worldwide Marketing Arm of Victor-Animagraph Projectors. In 1977 a communications division was formed due to a partnership with NEC America. Today, As a distributor of NEC America, for 33 years, Midland Communications has a customer base of more than 3,000 satisfied customers that include general businesses, government agencies, Universities, colleges, hospitals, and hotels.
Midland provides a wide range of communication services including VOIP, PBX and key systems, Wide Area and Local Area networking, computers, Computer integration, voice mail, CCIS, and video conferencing and paging systems. Our philosophy is simple, provide quality products at a fair price, backed by an average emergency response time of twenty minutes, and the best service in the industry. For more information on Midland Communications, call (563) 326-1237 or visit www.midlandcom.com.

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Leading Unified Communications Provider Offer Solutions to Enhance Customer Profitability

DAVENPORT, IA - December 31st, 2013 - Midland Communications, a leading provider of unified communications, announced a new program today that enables businesses to migrate from hardware-based technology to cloud-based services. This transition has been accelerated largely due to the maturity of cloud-based services, and their ability to deliver a dramatic competitive advantage across several industries. The impetus for Midland Communications' initiative lies in advancements that have made this technology cost-effective for the majority of small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Midland Communications' cloud-based services enhance their customers' mobility, security and strategic IT capabilities.
The primary reasons that many SMBs look into cloud-based services are for the inherent benefits of mobility, freedom and workforce flexibility. Midland Communications has been able to eliminate the notion of being "chained" to on premise equipment such as servers or traditional desktops. The average employee is in-and-out of the office and can hardly afford to spend time making additional trips to the office to retrieve files, access certain programs and collaborate with team members. According to Global Workplace Analytics, "Regular telecommuting grew by 79.7% between 2005 and 2012...".  It's no secret that the days of the 9 to 5 business are long gone and the increase in the resulting mobile workforce has created a need for employees to stay connected with company data while having the freedom to be away from the office. Virtual workspaces now allows for complete collaboration across various departments regardless of location or hardware.
Further flexibility can be found in the Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) environment. Employees can access company data across multiple devices, operating systems and much more. For example, salespeople can create sales presentations at the office, drive out to an appointment, and make last minute revisions on their iPad while accessing all of the programs, tools and files that are hosted in the cloud. Businesses that can operate on-the-fly have a huge advantage over their competitors.  This is why so many organizations are moving towards this type of technology.
Additionally, cloud-based services have enhanced security features as well. SMBs should make certain that providers deliver enterprise-grade services such as virus, malware, spyware and rogue employee protection. Customers should also expect 24x7x365 network monitoring and system support so they can always be confident that their data is safe and accessible. Midland Communications offers solutions with security measures in place that are on par with military-grade data encryption and have built-in redundancy across the network.
Lastly, the growth in cloud-based services has enabled providers like Midland Communications to take over the day-to-day management of technology so the customer can concentrate on growing their business. Most business owners have recognized the benefits associated with getting their staff "working ON the business" rather than "working IN it."
"Many cloud-services have evolved from being a cheap, low-cost alternative to becoming more secure than the majority of on-premise solutions," stated Jason Smith, Vice President of Midland Communications. "There are significant advantages of moving from on-premise equipment to the cloud and it is our role to educate our customers as well as make it an easy transition."

ABOUT MIDLAND COMMUNICATIONS

Midland Communications began more than 60 years ago in 1946 as the Worldwide Marketing Arm of Victor-Animagraph Projectors. In 1977 a communications division was formed due to a partnership with NEC America. Today, As a distributor of NEC America, for 33 years, Midland Communications has a customer base of more than 3,000 satisfied customers that include general businesses, government agencies, Universities, colleges, hospitals, and hotels.
Midland provides a wide range of communication services including VOIP, PBX and key systems, Wide Area and Local Area networking, computers, Computer integration, voice mail, CCIS, and video conferencing and paging systems. Our philosophy is simple, provide quality products at a fair price, backed by an average emergency response time of twenty minutes, and the best service in the industry. For more information on Midland Communications, call (563) 326-1237 or visit www.midlandcom.com.

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Leading Unified Communications Provider Helps Education Leverage Today's Technology

DAVENPORT, IA - November 31st, 2013 - Midland Communications, a leading provider of unified communications, announced today that the company will be launching a program designed specifically for the education market. Today's teachers are utilizing outdated technology which is not only robbing them of much needed functionality but is also incurring unnecessary expenses during tough economic times. Midland Communications is actively spreading awareness about several of today's technology advancements which increase a school's capacity to collaborate, establish continuous communication channels and most importantly, improve overall campus security.  These developments are affecting the lives of students, teachers, faculty, administrators and parents alike.

"Today's school phone system is not like our parents' phone system," stated Jason Smith, Vice President of Midland Communications. "Today, we're able to provide educators with dramatically greater levels of communication and security than ever before. Frankly, this technology simply didn't exist in years past, and we're thrilled to finally be able to bring this caliber of technology to our school systems, for a cost that they can actually afford, especially since the features are much needed."

One of the growing concerns of schools across the nation is security. With the unfortunate growth of domestic terrorism, this issue of campus safety has come to the forefront of discussion. Recent advancements in technology have given Midland Communications the ability to increase overall campus security like never before. One example is the development in instant messaging capabilities. For instance, in the event of an intruder on campus, students and teachers are now able to receive instant notification on their phones and 911 lockdowns are immediately initiated. In the event of such an emergency, two-way classroom communication allows teachers to speak back and forth with a central office than waiting for help. Such security is invaluable and provides far greater levels of comfort for parents and local district officials of schools that are deploying this type of technology.

Another far less dramatic usage for the same instant mass messaging technology, is targeted group messaging. An example of this in action would be if a basketball game were being cancelled, all patrons, students, athletes, officials, parents and transportation could immediately be notified of the cancellation, instead of having to coordinate with everyone separately. Furthermore, these messaging functions also ensure that the sent messages are delivered, received and read by the intended recipient, adding a new element of clarity.

Another in-classroom example of new technology impacting educators is the fact that teachers can now eliminate the mundane repetitiveness of taking daily classroom attendance. It is now commonplace for students to have cell phones and teachers can now take attendance with the push of a button via cell phone. "There are plenty of features and advancements to examine that enable schools to communicate more effectively, enhance security, and save time for educators and students," added Mr. Smith.

ABOUT MIDLAND COMMUNICATIONS

Midland Communications began more than 60 years ago in 1946 as the Worldwide Marketing Arm of Victor-Animagraph Projectors. In 1977 a communications division was formed due to a partnership with NEC America. Today, As a distributor of NEC America, for 33 years, Midland Communications has a customer base of more than 3,000 satisfied customers that include general businesses, government agencies, Universities, colleges, hospitals, and hotels.

Midland provides a wide range of communication services including VOIP, PBX and key systems, Wide Area and Local Area networking, computers, Computer integration, voice mail, CCIS, and video conferencing and paging systems. Our philosophy is simple, provide quality products at a fair price, backed by an average emergency response time of twenty minutes, and the best service in the industry. For more information on Midland Communications, call (563) 326-1237 or visit www.midlandcom.com.

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