GWI Blog
Welcome to the GWI blog regarding telecommunications policy, rural broadband, and economic development in Maine and New England.
Top 10 Hosted PBX Features
Hosted PBX features set these cloud-based business phone systems apart from traditional phone systems. These advanced features provide added mobility, call management, and flexibility to your voice communication. They help you manage vacation and sick time, respond to disasters and make changes to your setup faster and easier than was possible in the past. Most importantly, a Hosted PBX gives you access to these features without the up-front costs of traditional phone systems. Below, we offer 10 of the most compelling features and benefits that apply to most Hosted PBX systems on the market today: 10. Find-Me, Follow-Me – Find-me, follow-me is one of the sexier hosted PBX features, but it falls low on our list because its usefulness is limited to workers who are regularly away from the office and need to receive calls. Find-me, follow-me allows employees to set their phone to ring other numbers (such as a … Continue reading
Six Reasons to Buy Hosted PBX Phone Systems from Local Carriers
Hosted PBX phone systems offer businesses a number of operational benefits, including low up-front costs, easy mobility, and flexible call handling. Moreover they’re unparalleled in their ability to handle multi-location deployments and telecommuters. If you’re sold on the benefits of Hosted PBX, the next question is invariably where to buy it from. There are literally hundreds of Hosted PBX phone system providers out there. Some of them are little more than online service providers that take your order and ship you phones. Others are large, nationwide carriers or smaller local carriers. However, when it comes to service quality, support and getting a Hosted PBX tailored to your needs, nothing beats your local telecommunications carrier. Here are Six Reasons Local Carriers are the Best Choice for a Hosted PBX Network Prequalification. Before you install your Hosted PBX, it’s important to evaluate your local area network for problems that don’t impact your … Continue reading
Five Safe Internet Browsing Tips
Internet browsing is part of our daily lives but there are all kinds of risks while doing so. These risks can include exposure of sensitive personal information and infection by malware, which includes viruses, spyware, and adware. Safe browsing means being aware of these online threats and taking the necessary steps to avoid them. It only takes a little bit of effort, a few tools, and some basic information to be safe as you browse the Internet. Follow these guidelines to protect your personal information and your computer online. 1.) Get a better browser! Internet Explorer is widely considered the least secure browser compared to the other popular offerings. While IE has certainly gotten better over the years due to the backlash of public opinion on the matter, I still recommend you install Firefox or Chrome. Both offer better security, more helpful plug-ins and easier to understand configuration options to … Continue reading
Behind the Scenes of a 90’s Internet Start-up
Way back in early 90′s we had a few less than ideal options for computer connectivity in Maine. There were incompatible dial-up systems such as Compuserve, AOL, and the University of Maine’s mainframe system. These were a toll call in most Maine towns and it was usually cheaper to call the New Hampshire number to use Compuserve or AOL. Alternately, people could transfer messages and files with local bulletin boards using 2400, 9600, or 14.4k modems connected to their phone line. Occasionally these bulletin board systems linked together at scheduled times to exchange messages. I hosted my own bulletin board in 1993 and set it up so that once a day, it connected to the Internet in another state to exchange messages. In 1993, when I went off to Massachusetts for college, the universities, AOL, Compuserve, and others were just starting to link together via the Internet for email purposes. … Continue reading
Design Goals for the Network of the Future and its Regulation
Today, we are still in the early days of the Internet revolution. New telecommunications applications are being deployed over the next decades that will shape every aspect of our future lives, society and economy. We have touched on those emerging applications in the past, including driverless cars and healthcare robots. In this post, I’d like to concentrate on the regulatory issues because today’s regulatory regime reflects an earlier era and is unsuitable for the network of the future. Goals for Regulators and Carriers Who Aim to Meet Future Needs The Internet applications that will serve as a basis for future economic and societal advancement require three qualities our current telecommunications network is unable to deliver: reliability, security and speed. Reliability is vital and of great economic value because in the future, life critical applications will be built with the expectation the Internet is always available. Security is vital because a) … Continue reading
Safety Training is as Vital on Ladders as Fixed Wireless Towers
In the last decade, the death rate of cell tower climber’s has risen to almost ten times the rate of construction workers. In last year’s Frontline/Pro Publica investigation, their researchers found that since 2003, nearly 100 climbers have perished, 50 of them on cell sites. For those of us who are in the industry of wireless service, this investigation highlights the already apparent need for qualified and trained tower climbers. Recently, two members of GWI’s wireless team received ComTrain certification for Tower Climbing Safety and Rescue Training. Jeffrey Coffin and Joshua Steeves both completed the training in Philadelphia, PA. ComTrain is an industry leader in the instruction of safe tower climbing measures and protocols and completion of their training course was an absolute must for any company employee who plans on climbing cell towers or our company’s smaller fixed wireless Internet towers. Following the completion of the training, Dave Allen, … Continue reading
Three Ring Binder & Fixed Wireless to Speed Up Broadband on Islesboro
GWI acquired Midcoast Internet Solutions at least partly for its expertise in using fixed wireless to extend broadband service to unserved and underserved areas of Maine. In particular, their innovative use of mixed technologies to provide island broadband is both unique and important to extending adequate Island broadband coverage on Maine’s ragged coastline. This week, we’re wrapping up a project on Islesboro that is an excellent example of how the Three Ring Binder, a middle mile network, can be leveraged with different last mile technologies to coastal communities. The Situation Before this spring’s upgrade, GWI’s service to Islesboro was fed through two wireless links. A wireless antenna on a tower adjacent to our Rockland Data Center provided back-haul to a tower on Owls Head. From the Owls Head tower, a second link fed transmitters at the school on Islesboro Island, about 14 miles away, which served fixed wireless customers on … Continue reading
Eight Steps to Improving Your Wi-Fi Security
We live in a wireless world. Wi-Fi networking connects dozens of devices in our homes and businesses to the vital Internet services we need for both work and play. On the other hand, network security experts warn us that wireless networks can be insecure and leave our vital data at risk to eavesdropping and intrusion from unwanted guests. That said, Wi-Fi security is not an oxymoron. There are things you can do to keep your network secure. GWI’s IT Director, Brad Dormanen is fond of saying “When it comes to Wi-Fi, don’t sacrifice security for convenience.“ It’s true that some of these security measures can make it less convenient for you and your guests to use your Wi-Fi, but the risk of having your identity or those of your clients stolen because of poor Wi-Fi security is much worse. Take these Wi-Fi security steps at work and at home 1.) Secure … Continue reading
Pat Sweeney Joins GWI Senior Leadership To Help Achieve Aggressive Growth Plan
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Top 10 Hosted PBX Features
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