2024 has proven to be another year of impressive breakthroughs in the communications industry, with companies introducing innovative solutions that not only tackle pressing needs, but also enhance user experiences across various markets. We truly think the real tech innovation is happening in the business sector. Consider this: A groundbreaking innovation this fall in the consumer smartphone space has been a new camera button, while this year’s 2024 Unified Communications (News - Alert) TMC Labs winners have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to addressing real-world challenges with cutting-edge technology.
AVer Information, Inc. USA leads the charge with its FONE700 ceiling speakerphone system, designed to deliver superior audio performance in large conference spaces. This product’s advanced microphone array and simplified connectivity offer an unparalleled audio experience for modern enterprise environments. ITMCX follows closely with its Voice Border Element (VBE), a robust solution that enhances voice communication reliability and security using advanced SD-WAN technology, making it ideal for industries that require high levels of performance and protection.
NUSO enters the spotlight with Brand Watch, a vital tool for businesses seeking to avoid the pitfalls of mislabeled phone numbers in spam databases. This cloud-based solution offers peace of mind and is a proactive step toward maintaining clear communication lines. Meanwhile, Phoundry LLC presents the Phound Phone, a versatile cloud-based phone system catering to individuals and SMBs. It seamlessly integrates traditional phone numbers with OTT features, delivering flexibility and enhanced communication tools at an accessible price point.
Viirtue, Inc. continues to impress with ViiBE, a comprehensive platform for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) that streamlines the sales process from quoting to cash collection. Its seamless integration with accounting and payment systems, alongside features like tax automation and customer billing, make it an indispensable tool for MSPs aiming to improve operational efficiency. Finally, VirtualPBX introduces the AirDial POTS Replacement Solution, an innovative answer to the phasing out of traditional POTS lines, offering compliant and redundant communication solutions for critical systems like elevators and fire panels.
As these companies push the boundaries of what’s possible in communications, we congratulate all the 2024 TMC Labs Unified Communications Innovation Award winners for their contributions to advancing the industry.
AVer Information, Inc. USA
FONE700
In the ever-evolving landscape of corporate communication technology, AVer Information, Inc. USA has introduced the FONE700, a ceiling speakerphone system specifically designed to enhance audio performance in medium-to-large conference spaces. Catering to corporate and enterprise applications, the FONE700 is particularly suited for settings such as meeting rooms, training sessions, and classrooms.
The FONE700 stands out for its advanced audio capabilities, which include the ability to minimize background noise, detect simultaneous speech, and reduce echo. The system’s full duplex acoustic feature ensures that all participants experience clear, uninterrupted communication during meetings. One of its key innovations is its simplified connectivity through a single USB cable, promoting a clutter-free environment and ensuring quick installation. Additionally, the FONE700 supports up to four speakerphones with a maximum range of 40 meters, making it adaptable to various room sizes.
A technical highlight of the FONE700 is its microphone system. The speakerphone integrates three directional and eighteen omnidirectional microphones, capturing voices from all directions with precision and clarity. This versatility, combined with seamless integration with video conferencing setups, makes the FONE700 a valuable asset for any collaborative environment.
Furthermore, AVer emphasizes seamless compatibility with leading third-party applications. Certified for platforms like Microsoft (News - Alert) Teams, Zoom, and RingCentral, the FONE700 ensures a user-friendly experience designed to improve productivity. Its integration capabilities with AVer’s full suite of audio-visual products offer a comprehensive communication solution for businesses seeking to elevate their conferencing experience.
In summary, the FONE700 brings innovation and simplicity to corporate communication spaces, providing advanced audio quality, easy installation, and wide-ranging adaptability to meet the needs of modern enterprises.
ITMCX
Voice Border Element (VBE)
The Voice Border Element (VBE) from 101VOICE is a cutting-edge communication network appliance designed for enterprise, government, education, healthcare, and non-profit sectors. This hardware-based solution integrates modern SD-WAN technology, improving the security, reliability, and overall performance of voice communications for organizations of all sizes.
The VBE stands out due to its ability to seamlessly manage and prioritize voice traffic, ensuring high-quality calls even in network congestion scenarios. Its advanced failover mechanisms guarantee that voice communications remain uninterrupted in the event of WAN connection failures. Moreover, VBE's intelligent bandwidth bonding and overflow capabilities enhance network efficiency by distributing traffic over multiple WAN connections, allowing businesses to maximize available bandwidth while ensuring redundancy and failover security.
One of the VBE's key innovations is its built-in security features, including AES 256-bit encryption and centralized security management. These features protect voice traffic from unauthorized access and provide IT teams with a centralized solution to manage security policies across the entire network. With additional functions like WAN smoothing and forward error correction, VBE is designed to optimize performance, particularly in environments where packet loss or latency issues are common.
The VBE is an essential solution for any organization looking to enhance the reliability and security of its communication infrastructure. With its ability to seamlessly handle voice traffic, manage network failover, and ensure robust security measures, the VBE provides a scalable, cost-effective solution to support the communication needs of modern enterprises.
NUSO
NUSO Brand Watch
NUSO's Brand Watch is a solution designed to combat the ongoing issue of legitimate business phone numbers being mislabeled as Spam or Fraud across various databases. This product is specifically tailored for a variety of customer categories – SMEs, service providers, resellers, and enterprise markets – providing peace of mind by routinely checking and identifying mislabeled numbers in key databases like the FTC (News - Alert), Nomorobo, and First Orion. NUSO Brand Watch not only informs businesses about flagged numbers, but also provides detailed instructions on how to clean them and prevent future labeling issues.
We have heard repeatedly that legitimate businesses are being hurt as more and more of their communications with customer won’t go through. As businesses face increasing challenges with outbound calls being blocked or mislabeled, NUSO Brand Watch emerges as a stopgap solution while the industry awaits the implementation of the BCID standard. This tool is entirely cloud-based and operates within NUSO’s network, requiring no hardware or equipment at the customer premises. It offers businesses an easy-to-understand, user-friendly report to monitor the status of their numbers and address any issues without requiring IT expertise.
In addition, NUSO has ensured that this product remains accessible and affordable, distinguishing it from competitor solutions that come with significantly higher costs. NUSO's approach is to offer a practical, cost-effective service without conflicts of interest – unlike some competitors who also manage blocking databases.
NUSO Brand Watch serves as an essential, cost-effective solution for businesses aiming to avoid mislabeling issues with their phone numbers. By providing ongoing monitoring and reporting, it offers reassurance to companies and ensures their outbound calls reach their intended recipients while the industry moves toward broader BCID implementation.
Phoundry LLC
Phound Phone
Phoundry’s Phound Phone is a comprehensive cloud phone system designed for individuals and SMBs. It is a versatile solution that allows users to purchase or port numbers from the US, UK, Mexico, or Canada, providing a cost-effective communication tool with features comparable to industry giants like Zoom Phone and Google (News - Alert) Voice. For individuals, Phound Phone offers free unlimited calling to US numbers, high-quality audio/video meetings, and screensharing for up to 500 participants, while businesses can access premium features, such as unlimited calls to Canada and Mexico, SMS/MMS capabilities, and more.
Phound Phone is built on a proprietary infrastructure managed by CarrierX, Phoundry's sister company, ensuring exceptional call quality with direct HD interconnects to major US telecom carriers. With flexible configurations, users can create multiple personas, dedicated meeting rooms, and complex IVR systems, all from one platform. Additionally, advanced privacy and security features, such as identity verification and AI-powered note-taking via Magnum.AI, set Phound Phone apart from competitors.
Phoundry’s innovation is rooted in its seamless integration with the PSTN, maintaining traditional phone number-based communication while enhancing it with modern OTT features like video calls and messaging. Phound Phone also allows users to take full control of their contact information, providing fine-grained access controls and advanced spam prevention tools, giving users unmatched control over their communications.
Key features and recent enhancements of Phound Phone include:
Phound Phone delivers a versatile communication tool designed to meet the needs of both individuals and SMBs, offering advanced features and cost-effective alternatives to mainstream solutions. Through its seamless integration with traditional phone systems and innovative cloud-based enhancements, Phound Phone delivers a superior communications experience.
Viirtue, Inc.
ViiBE
Viirtue's ViiBE platform is a comprehensive solution designed for small to mid-size MSPs, offering an all-in-one system that simplifies the entire sales cycle from quoting to cash collection. With advanced features like contract management, invoicing, tax automation, and customer billing, ViiBE consolidates critical business functions into one seamless platform, helping MSPs streamline operations, reduce administrative costs, and enhance customer service.
Built on a scalable cloud-based infrastructure, ViiBE ensures high performance and security while offering key integrations with popular accounting and payment systems like QuickBooks and Stripe. The platform also provides a mobile-first customer portal, enabling clients to easily manage accounts, make payments, and view invoices from any device. Additionally, ViiBE’s usage rating system handles complex billing scenarios for VoIP and UCaaS services, making it an ideal solution for MSPs managing voice and unified communication services.
Some of ViiBE’s key features include:
In the last 12 months, Viirtue has enhanced the ViiBE platform with several new features, including optional Netsapiens Domain integration and improved account settings. The platform also saw improvements in error messaging for number ordering and better recovery fee management, ensuring smoother operations for MSPs. With updates targeting better billing accuracy and user interface improvements, Viirtue continues to refine ViiBE for optimal performance and usability.
Viirtue’s ViiBE platform offers MSPs a comprehensive feature set, ease of use, and scalability. By integrating quoting, invoicing, tax automation, and billing into one unified platform, ViiBE helps MSPs operate more efficiently while reducing complexity. This all-in-one solution is designed to grow with businesses, making it a superior choice for MSPs looking to optimize their processes and enhance customer satisfaction.
VirtualPBX
VirtualPBX AirDial POTS Replacement Solution
VirtualPBX's AirDial POTS Replacement Solution offers a reliable and modern alternative to traditional Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines. The solution is designed to support businesses transitioning away from costly and outdated POTS lines, providing a wireless, turnkey communication platform. AirDial covers essential systems, such as elevator phones, fax machines, fire panels, and security communications, by using redundant LTE and ethernet networks, ensuring businesses remain compliant with regulatory standards while upgrading their infrastructure.
Targeted at businesses of all sizes – from small to enterprise – AirDial addresses the key pain points associated with maintaining POTS lines, such as high costs, reliability concerns, and compliance issues. The product offers enhanced quality and redundancy while supporting seamless communication for critical systems.
The AirDial hardware unit is installed at the customer’s premises and connects through both ethernet and LTE, ensuring constant connectivity even if one network fails. In addition, the solution is compliant with regulations from agencies such as the California Fire Marshall and HIPAA, making it a trusted option for businesses with critical communication needs.
Key AirDial features include:
In an industry where other providers often lock businesses into long-term contracts with limited flexibility, VirtualPBX offers tailored solutions with flexible pricing, discounts for multiple lines, and a focus on customer service. VirtualPBX’s AirDial solution is built for reliability and compliance, providing peace of mind to businesses handling critical communications systems.
Since its release in January 2024, AirDial has established itself as a strong contender in the POTS replacement market. It is a new product, and its future updates and enhancements will further solidify its role in safeguarding essential communication systems.
VirtualPBX’s AirDial POTS Replacement Solution is a forward-thinking approach to ensuring seamless, compliant communication for businesses that rely on critical systems like elevator phones and fire panels. With its focus on redundancy, regulatory compliance, and excellent customer service, it’s a cost-effective solution for businesses looking to transition from traditional POTS lines.
Edited by
Erik Linask
