Chinook Communications Unveils Integrated Communications Tools for Mobile Workforce

By Rajani Baburajan, TMCnet Contributor

There’s been a substantial increase in the number of mobile workers -- those who work from home or while traveling -- over the past several months. IDC (News - Alert) estimated the world's mobile worker population will hit the one-billion mark this year and grow to nearly 1.2 billion people -- "more than a third of the world's workforce" – by 2013, TMCnet recently reported.

This trend brings the need for companies to employ technology solutions that allow communications between individuals and teams to be easy, effective and available anytime, anywhere.

Chinook Communications, a Seattle-based provider of Unified Communications (News - Alert) or “UC” for small- and medium-sized businesses, announced customizable integrated communication service packages to address the demands of this emerging communications needs.

The solution includes capabilities that enable employees to collaborate on projects while working from home. Managers can give presentations while on the road. Users can access software applications from a variety of operating systems and mobile devices, including Apple products, Android (News - Alert) and Blackberry phones, and Linux computers.

In addition, they can quickly add new compatible devices to any plan.

Chinook Communications’ solution is designed for companies with 10 to 500 employees and diverse communications needs. The package is custom-designed to meet individual business needs and costs between $10 and $45 per month, per user, depending on services provided.

The features, ranging from hosted messaging and collaboration communications package to customer relationship management with Internet phone, are built on an integrated suite of Microsoft (News - Alert) technology designed to simplify communications, collaboration, sales, marketing, and customer service.

With this service, Chinook Communications offers cost-effective service packages that enable businesses to benefit from software applications and services typically reserved for larger companies, including secure e-mail, collaboration, and business phone plans.

“Chinook Communications is removing the financial and technical road blocks that often prevent small and mid-size companies from taking advantage of Unified Communications service packages,” Steve Schwartz, CEO of Chinook Communications, said in a statement. “We are empowering business owners to streamline communications in a way that benefits their bottom line.”

Chinook's offsite hosting service offers secure servers with "caged," video-monitored storage with backup power and built-in redundancies to ensure a customer's business is "always on," according to company officials.

The company’s suite of on-demand solutions can be updated and implemented quickly without disruption to employees or operations. Every package comes with standard features like antivirus, anti-spam and continuous data backups.

(source: http://unified-communications.tmcnet.com/topics/unified-communications/articles/104827-chinook-communications-unveils-integrated-communications-tools-mobile-workforce.htm)