We get asked all the time, do I have to upgrade from my old Nortel, Panasonic, Grandstream or other PBX. Well it is true that the old systems can’t do what a Hosted VOIP solution can do. Below are a few reasons why sticking with your current solution might be right for you. In today’s cloud-first world, it’s easy to feel pressure to ditch your legacy phone system and jump head-first into a hosted VoIP solution. And while hosted systems have their advantages—like remote access and scalability—they may not be the best fit for every business. At TIS Ltd., we specialize in both traditional and modern phone systems, and we’ve seen firsthand that there are still plenty of good reasons to hang onto your old Nortel PBX. 1. It Still Works (and Works Well) Nortel systems were built to last. If your existing PBX is stable, reliable, and still meeting your business needs, there may be no urgent reason to replace it. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” holds a lot of weight—especially when dealing with something as mission-critical as your phone system. 2. Full Control, No Dependency With an on-premise PBX, you’re not reliant on an internet connection or a third-party provider to make and receive calls. That control can be especially valuable in areas where internet connectivity isn’t always stable. For example at TIS we service some golf courses where reliable internet hasn’t been readily available. 3. Serviceable with the Right Expertise At TIS Ltd., we help businesses modernize their legacy Nortel systems without ripping them out. Some small business owners prefer the simplicity of an on premise solution and at TIS we have the expertise to keep you running smoothly. In Summary: Hosted phone systems are a great fit for many organizations, but they’re not always the best or most cost-effective solution for everyone. If your Nortel PBX is still working for you, there’s no harm in keeping it—and even enhancing it with the right support. If you’re unsure whether to stay or switch, we’re here to help. Contact us at to talk about the best path forward for your business.

Say goodbye to missed calls. Hello AI Receptionist! AI Receptionist or AIR is a fit-for-purpose AI phone agent that’s fully integrated into your RingCentral business phone system. No bolt-ons. No extra tools. Just seamless, out-of-the-box intelligence for the front lines of your business. And what makes AIR so powerful isn’t just what it does. It’s how easy it is to get started. You don’t need IT resources or months of configuration. With an intuitive setup experience, anyone can deploy it quickly, freeing your technical teams to focus on bigger strategic priorities. Think of AIR as your always-on, never-off-duty front desk. It answers routine questions with human-like responses, understands context, and routes callers accurately so customers get what they need without the wait or frustration. For small and midsize businesses especially, AIR levels the playing field. You can scale your phone support, never miss a call, and deliver a great first impression without hiring more staff. It’s enterprise-grade AI, made accessible to small and medium business that delivers value from day one. By the numbers 22% of calls on RingCentral phone systems go unanswered. That’s nearly one in five—a customer trying to book an appointment, a lead ready to convert, or an urgent request that goes unanswered. This means that everyday businesses lose opportunities because of missed calls. Now, imagine the impact on revenue if even a fraction of these missed calls were answered. This is where AI-driven solutions like RingCentral AI Receptionist come in—ensuring businesses never miss another opportunity. Invoca did a study by industry, follow the link to see how your industry is affected. https://www.invoca.com/blog/how-many-phone-calls-are-you-missing Since its launch in February 2025 over 2,000 customers are already live on AIR. What’s stopping your business from getting started on its AI journey? AIR is one small example of how you can start seeing AI results today.

A cloud PBX offers incredible advantages over an on-premise PBX. Understand the difference better by reading this blog! Did you know that 84.7% of enterprises currently use or plan to use a cloud PBX within the next 2 years? Not only that, but there are other estimates too that emphasize how the technology will change in the coming future. As per a survey, 75% of enterprise users will use softphones over desk phones by 2024. Another survey states that 63% of employees want to work from anywhere after the Pandemic. With businesses going remote or hybrid, they now require more than what an on-premises PBX can provide. That’s where cloud PBX comes in. It equips teams with the right tools to work together—from anywhere and on any device. Here is what all a cloud PBX can do! Unify Business Communications A unified solution offers enterprise-grade features, such as phone, faxing, SMS, IVR, call queues, team messaging, video meetings, and voicemail—all on one platform. Easily Manage Multiple Locations A single solution with global availability is easier to manage and can be administered from a single portal using a desktop or mobile phone. Add and Remove Services at Any Time Cloud solutions are flexible and scalable, allowing you to easily add services or remove users at any time. Providers offering a 99.999% uptime SLA ensure your business never halts. Meet All of Your Security and Compliance Needs Security, service delivery, and architecture, as well as industry compliance (CCPA, GDPR, HIPAA, FINRA) are fully managed by the cloud provider. Eliminate Your Infrastructure Management Costs Best-in-class cloud solutions are hosted in top-tier and redundant data centers. All aspects of the infrastructure are managed and monitored 24/7/365 by the provider. Support Mobile and Remote Workers Workers can make calls, send messages, and start video calls at any time and on their device of choice—PC, mobile, or tablet. Move to the cloud Businesses going remote or hybrid require more than what an on-premises PBX can provide. With a cloud PBX, your teams have the tools to work together—from anywhere and on any device. Always Have the Latest Features Updates are free, automatic, and come with the latest features with no impact on users or disruption to the business. So you see? Choosing cloud PBX might be just what your company needs to make the right upgrade. It’s time to take your business to the next level! ~ Source: RingCentral Blog

As the Greek philosopher Heraclitus stated: nothing is constant but change. And with the amount of innovation in our industry, year in and year out — Heraclitus could easily have been talking about enterprise communications. In 2022, we saw applied AI begin to make meaningful contributions to the meeting experience, to the customer experience, and to agent assistance. We saw UCaaS begin to permeate into adjacent spaces like events and the metaverse, and APIs continue to integrate into everything, and everywhere we work. Change is constant, and 2023 won’t be an exception to Heraclitus’ rule. So as we start 2023, what changes will happen in the new year? We asked a handful of industry experts in the analyst community to see what they thought. Here is what they shared with us, along with my takeaways on their predictions: Sheila McGee-Smith, President & Principal Analyst, McGee-Smith Analytics: “Automation of customer care—using digital channels and conversational intelligence—will progress from innovators to early adopters but not replace the voice channel. The CX market had an object lesson this December, when a US airline announced the end of voice contact center support. Nobody needs that kind of damaging attention to their brand.” The takeaway: Consumers will always want the ability to talk directly to an agent if their issue is too complex or becomes too frustrating for an automated interaction. I completely agree with Sheila that we are going to see the need for digital channels and voice-centric contact center platforms, plus a boom in the use of conversation intelligence augmenting customer support. Denise Lund, Research Vice President, IDC: “There has been minimal differentiation amongst traditional UCaaS vendors in the past several years. Most of the industry has pivoted to platform capabilities almost in unison. So in the next year, we should see a few of these providers break out with a host of integrations that put UC&C—and the data it creates—where people are working. This will enable connections, enable seamless work, and enable new metrics.” The takeaway: Speaking of the constant challenges in this market, differentiation is paramount for survival for enterprise comms vendors. Innovate or die, but innovate where it matters to our customers. I think we are going to see a lot of innovation in the industry around making data available and actionable at the point of work and at the point of customer care, which will make intelligent, connected experiences a defining differentiation for those vendors who can effectively enable them. Blair Pleasant, President & Principal Analyst, COMMfusion: “In 2023, I’m expecting to see more focus on the best ways to deploy various AI capabilities, ensuring a good user experience. There will be more AI best practices, as organizations learn from others what works and what doesn’t work. Businesses will be more thoughtful about how they roll out AI, identifying the best use cases, and making it a better experience for both employees and customers.” The takeaway: Excellent customer-first user experiences are critical. AI will increasingly be embedded within UCaaS and CCaaS to help users close gaps between their access to information and communications, which will lead to better outcomes and more productive decisions. This will be game-changing for employee and customer experiences. Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research: “AI in video meetings is just getting started and for it to show the real value it has to be used to solve harder problems. Transcription is nice, but meeting notes are better. So I’m pretty excited about AI being used not just during the meeting experience but also in the pre-and post-meeting experiences as well.” The takeaway: I couldn’t agree more here. I think the entire tech sector has learned that AI for AI’s sake isn’t going to make anyone better off. We’ve gotten past talking about meeting fatigue, which is great. We all need less fatigue in our lives. But the industry does and should have higher aspirations. Better applied AI in meetings will not only make meetings shorter, but will also make post-event actions easier and more structured. This is one area I am confident we’re already seeing a lot of innovation around and where we’ll see more in the future. Jim Lundy, CEO & Lead Analyst, Aragon Research: “Micro video will rise in 2023 and along with it a surge of short-form, user-generated content with all the comments that entails. The use cases for micro-video center around learning and communications. For learning, the right videos can allow a person to see how to set up a product or for a technician how to fix it. On communications, we see micro-video being a key part of employee engagement.” The takeaway: Jim’s prediction is quite interesting. Whether you’re on YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram, we’ve all seen videos from various platforms. And yes, we’ve seen a lot of choreographed dancing and puppies and kittens videos, but employees and customers alike respond to quick-fix videos and microinstruction. Micro video applied to the way we work and communicating business information will be very interesting in the future – especially when hybrid work is here to stay, and people are operating on different schedules. Micro video allows easier asynchronous business communication in a global, hybrid environment. Dave Michels, Principal Analyst and Founder, TalkingPointz: “The metaverse hit a peak in 2022, and the hype will continue to wane in 2023, but video meetings in the metaverse will start to show ROI versus overhyped applications like gaming.” The takeaway: Time will tell with the metaverse. I’m a big fan of the metaverse – and for it to take off beyond video gaming will require the broader deployment of 5G Edge Compute instances and use cases built around specific industries such as healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and more. I agree with Dave that there’s been an over-hype, but maybe this has overshadowed the practical potential of the platform. The metaverse will clearly be important, however still likely to be several years out before we’ll see any real traction in business applications. Elka Popova, VP Research, Frost & Sullivan:

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