Virtual Office Resource

Broadview announced recently the release of version 2.0 of its MyOfficeSuite portal for managing OfficeSuite services. The update includes support for mobile users and added support for browsers.

Rye Brook, New York-based Broadview Networks Inc. offers phone and unified communications (UC) systems. One such system is OfficeSuite, a modernized UC solution in the cloud. Since it is not hosted on-premises, OfficeSuite preserves business continuity in a disaster or other equally disruptive event. It’s also great for a mobile workforce, since it can be accessed anywhere, regardless of the device. Businesses that use OfficeSuite can avoid the maintenance and labor costs that come with an on-premises PBX (News - Alert).

OfficeSuite customers use the MyOfficeSuite portal to manage and view numerous settings across the system. Admins can modify permissions to allow employees control over their settings. Users can log in from anywhere to listen to voicemail. One section uses color-coded indicators to show employee availability. If an employee is out of the office, their calls can be routed somewhere else.

An already great UI has been improved even more with the release of MyOfficeSuite 2.0. Mobile users can access their company’s phone system through either an Android or iPhone app. Google (News - Alert) Chrome users can install an extension that makes it possible to make calls from clickable links on web pages. You can choose hold music, setup call groups, set operating hours, and manage orders.

MyOfficeSuite is another example of one of the latest trends in user interfaces, the dashboard. As common and ‘cool-looking’ as they are, many fail to deliver, according to Stephen Few, author of a book on dashboard design. Their problems fit into several categories including too much or too little detail; failure to show whether the value displayed is good, bad, or neutral; using the wrong graph type (i.e. a pie chart when a bar chart is better); and failing to highlight significant data.

It appears that MyOfficeSuite does not suffer from these problems, at least according to one testimonial. Intercommunity Action, Inc. a Philadelphia non-profit has over 400 staff members. Mike Mann, the VP of IT services for the organization found that the portal saved him a lot of time when it came to delegating work.

Most people who care are already aware of the benefits of cloud-based phone service; such service alone however, means little in a crowded market of providers. By providing a new and improved dashboard that extends these benefits further with increased productivity, Broadview may have a key differentiator in the creation and upgrade of MyOfficeSuite.