One Click Conferencing App

Comcast Business^® has announced that it had added a new VoiceEdge™ Conferencing app to its cloud phone service. The addition of this new app will radically improve the service by making it easier to carry out and manage conference calls.

With the VoiceEdge™ Conferencing app, a single click can help in initiating a conference call and resolve any of the issues for a smoother calling experience. Available to all Comcast Business^® VoiceEdge™ subscribers, this new facility can add up to 50 participants for a conference call and initiate the call using the “click to start conference” feature.

John Guillaume, the Vice President for Product Management at Comcast Business^® said, “With an increasingly distributed and mobile workforce, conference calls are an important tool for keeping teams connected, but this can become challenging from a user standpoint when different people are trying to access a conference call while traveling, in remote locations, from a different office.”

“We’re continually innovating and evolving our voice platform with a focus on improving the end-user experience and overall business impact,” he further added. “With Comcast Business^® VoiceEdge™ Conferencing, the days of remembering long phone numbers and PINs or asking ‘who joined the call,’ are now a thing of the past – saving our customers both time and resources.”

The Conference app for VoiceEdge™ will also make it easier for users to join a conference call by simply clicking on the “join conference” link. The app comes with several management tools and options that allow those who host the conference calls to view and identify the users who are connected to the call.

High Speed Internet

The VoiceEdge™ Conference app is an award-winning feature developed by Comcast Business^® that was conferred the 2018 Internet Telephony Product of the Year by TMCNet. Comcast^® being one of the best internet service has made a new development by introducing this feature as it allows business services to become more advanced and user-friendly. Besides, the VoiceEdge™ Conference app is also available for many of the standard tools and software used for business, such as Microsoft OWA, Skype for Business, and Google Chrome.

The VoiceEdge™ Conference allows the addition of 50 participants along with a moderator for making the conference call. It essentially takes away the elaborate processes of making a conference call by providing a one-click access feature. This makes it much easier and fast to make and manage conference calls with multiple users.

It also provides improved security with the feature of PIN-protected conferencing, which is crucial for business communications. The VoiceEdge™ Conference app is compatible with various PC and mobile operating systems, including Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows.

Level 3 Communications Acquisition

The year ahead is going to be largely fruitful for CenturyLink^® as it lays down its goals and priorities for the year. The Telco has announced that it is focusing more on finalizing its interlinking with Level 3 Communications. By finalizing this merger, CenturyLink^® intends to create a new digital experience that extends from quoting to payment for its entire range of customers. CenturyLink^® acquired Level 3 Communications in the previous year for a sum of $34 billion. The goals and were laid by the Chief Financial Officer of CenturyLink^®, Sunit Patel, during the Citi 2018 Global TMT West Conference in Las Vegas.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do in terms of digitizing our customer experience so people don’t have to call to find out why their network is down, how long is it going to take, etc.,” Patel said. “So I think focusing on that will simultaneously improve our customer experience; it will drive a lot of change inside the enterprise in terms of automating workflows for our employees so they can support our customers better. A digital future for us inside and how we interact with our customers is going to be pretty important.”

Internet Of Things

Being one of the top internet providers in the country, CenturyLink^® is looking for new developments to compete with other major providers. He also stressed that the approach to the market and the customers are another key goal of CenturyLink^®. Moreover, the Telco has made further plans in attracting more of the enterprise market share. This includes customer organization based on segments as per their needs, capital, and strategic priorities.

Patel said, “The other big thing is the scale that we now have in the United States; we are the second-largest enterprise provider in the [U.S.], larger than Verizon^® and second to AT&T^®. I think that scale and the network footprint that we have will allow us to improve our win-loss ratios. We should be able to win in the marketplace a lot more because our network goes to more places than any of our competitors do.”

He also stated that there is an increase in the demand for bandwidth in this year. “Looking forward, you’re going to have a lot more bandwidth demand driven by machine-to-machine bandwidth needs, the Internet of Things (IoT), etc.,” Patel added. “There’s a constant need for more bandwidth, so while you might have different legacy services going down and new services going up, the backdrop is everyone needing more bandwidth.”

KTVN Channel 2 Blocked

An ongoing negotiation relating to the agreement on extending the distribution has led to the KTVN Channel 2 being barred for AT&T U-Verse^® TV subscribers based in Northern Nevada. AT&T^® failed to come to an agreement in the negotiations regarding the extension of distribution and the amount the Telco is agreeing to pay KTVN for its content. Moreover, AT&T^® denied the permission to offer the channel without the approval from its owner Sarkes Tarzian Inc.

Lawson Fox, who is the General Manager of KTVN said, “Negotiation has to do with the value of our programming for the system. So they pay us for the privilege of the content. We’ve done 10 of these in the last few months successfully. This is the one that isn’t complete. And the only one where we didn’t maintain carriage during the conversation.”

He did not stress on the price they require from AT&T^® on behalf of offering their content. The fact is that the pricing has increased right from the previous contract. The negotiations are further stalled by AT&T’s reluctance to pay higher prices for obtaining the same content.

Best Entertainment Programs

Regional spokesperson of AT&T^®, Steven Ramirez, said, “We want to get KTVN back into our Reno customers’ lineups as soon as possible, but by law, KTVN’s owner Sarkes Tarzian has exclusive control over whether that station remains available on U-verse or not. Sarkes Tarzian is seeking a significant increase in fees even though the same people can still watch its shows for free over-the-air on channel 2 and, often, at cbs.com or using the CBS app.”

However, KTVN is also stating that the price increase is also not that high. Fox also stresses that other TV and internet providers have already paid the new price and it is only AT&T^® that is showing reluctance regarding paying the fees. AT&T^® spokesperson Ramirez has also stated that Tarzian has disconnected the service based on contract disputes several times before.

Ramirez said, “Our goal is to offer customers more choice over the content they may care about most, delivered at a value they can consider justified. We want to resolve this matter quickly and reasonably, and appreciate our Reno customers’ patience while we attempt to do just that.” However, latest reports say that the negotiations are heading in a positive direction as AT&T^® has finally accepted the offer made by KTVN to extend the distribution of the channel.

Story-Telling Platform

Cox Communications^® has rolled out its latest storytelling platform known as Converge. This platform is designed in such a way to allow the people to remain connected and informed with the things they like through the means of technology. The Converge platform has a new design that consists of stories divided into three major categories, which are Community, Entertainment, and Technology.

In Community, users can access stories that highlight the changes that Cox^® is carrying out for the people living and work in its communities. Entertainment and Technology consist of various stories that inform and connect people regarding the latest shows, movies, sports, places, and names. It also provides stories that connect and inform the people regarding the latest technologies and important moments.

Gaston Vaneri, senior vice president of brands, Cox Communications^®, “On Converge, you’ll find stories that humanize us and showcase how Cox helps to create the moments that matter. It’s also a great resource for stories about trending topics, entertainment, helpful tips and lifestyle advice from third-party influencers.” The development of this new story-telling platform is a progressive approach carried out by Cox^® one of the major internet providers in the country.

It is mainly due to the results of recently conducted surveys that pointed out the importance and reliability of custom content over traditional content among the customers. A majority of the customers prefers custom content as it allows their favorite brands to engage with them and thereby provide guidance and value to the content available.

As a part of the rollout of Converge, Cox^® is planning to collaborate with numerous companies like Common Sense Media, Music Choice, The Hallmark Channel, and many others for sharing and creating content. Currently, Cox^® is collaborating with Crown Media Family to add more content in tune with the prevailing festive season and holidays.

Digital Literacy Training

The content in the Converge platform is based on a library, which is developed, curated, and updated regularly by Cox^®. The team behind the operation of the Converge platform is also closely following the various latest events and trends that are of importance to the audience.

Leigh Woisard, the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at Cox Communications^® said, “Our goal is to deliver an authentic, engaging experience with the Cox^® brand. We are energized by a wealth of storytelling opportunities, and we are excited to offer compelling content that people will enjoy and share.”

Besides, Cox^® is also planning to use Converge for addressing numerous societal issues, like the role played by the Telco in easing out digital divide, free digital literacy training, and the technology centers based on more than 100 boys and girls clubs in the country.