Communications In the Cloud Blog

2018 was an incredibly fast-paced year for the S-NET Team. But no matter how hectic things can get, it is important to take the time to celebrate our accomplishments, count our blessings and give thanks to all those who have been there supporting us along the way. S-NET CEO, Alex Fayn reflects on the things he is most grateful for.

Our customers know that when they have a question, they can count on George Gazdacka to jump in and help. S-NET’s Client Technology Advisor relies on his extensive industry experience to ensure that clients make the most of the technology they are paying for. In his free time, George enjoys playing and coaching softball and basketball. He is aiming to visit every major league ballpark with his kids, and he is already down to the last 8!

The prospect of switching to a cloud phone system is exciting for many businesses. But most companies are either overwhelmed by the process or underestimate the complexity involved. Creating a phone cloud migration plan will help you anticipate potential problems that may arise and determine every step ahead of time.

Last week gave us the opportunity to get out of the office and play a little during the annual S-NET Team Appreciation Party. It served as an excellent reminder to stop once in a while, reflect on the last few months and celebrate all the amazing progress we’ve made.

A modernized version of its predecessors, S-NET Connect 5.1 offers the same reliable softphone capabilities and intuitive business communications tools as before, but now with a brand new interface designed to maximize efficiency and user experience. Read on to find out what’s new.

S-NET Director of Operations, Jim Cronin has been in the telecommunications industry for over 30 years and now oversees the deployment of all of S-NET’s cloud communications services. He loves the adrenaline rush of a busy office and likes to make complex installations look easy. In his free time Jim enjoys watching hockey and baseball. Can you guess which teams are his favorite?

Customer service representatives are your first line of defense against client attrition. Optimizing your call center operations so your agents can perform at their best and client requests are handled in timely manner is vital. So what can you do to improve call center efficiency?

One of the youngest members of the Tech Team, Kirill Likhovid is fast becoming S-NET’s cloud security specialist. With a range of large projects under his belt, he is excited about the chance to delve deeper into wireless technology. Kirill’s favorite pastime is playing or watching soccer. Can you guess which team is his favorite?

Growth and success are always a reason for celebration, but if you are running an expanding business, you know that at times progress can feel more chaotic than joyful. If your communications and networking are failing to keep up with your growth, it may be time to consider a technology upgrade.

Desk phones have become a fixture in the American workplace, and with the business needs they continue to meet, they will not be replaced any time soon. But when you start to feel tied to your chair to do your work or have to make difficult choices between equally important tasks, it may be time to rethink your relationship with your phone.

S-NET’s conscientious Project Manager, Rob Meersman, followed his passion for helping people and transitioned from a Sales role to supporting clients throughout the onboarding process. As a closet food critic, Rob enjoys cooking and grilling, and is always on the lookout for unique restaurants and specialty markets. Read on to get to know him better.

Any technical outage puts a significant dent in your organization’s productivity, costing you thousands of dollars. Although some disasters and outages cannot be prevented, it is critically important to shield your company and get services back up and running ASAP. Read on for 5 tips to help you plan ahead and minimize the effects of outages on your voice communications and business.

Mike Hensgen joined the S-NET team to work for an organization more closely aligned with his values. He deeply enjoys learning about his clients’ unique business challenges and proposes simple, creative technical solutions to help companies grow and thrive.

If your small business has expanded to multiple locations, chances are that your staff relies on lower bandwidth internet access to connect to business critical applications and databases. You or your IT staff may be struggling to keep all the different…

Alex Fayn founded S-NET Communications in 2006 with the mission to provide companies large and small with quality customer service and cutting-edge cloud communication solutions. He is a problem-solver at heart, loves being the hero and has grown S-NET into a…

Most businesses like yours rely on VoIP phone systems, cloud data storage, video conferencing and a host of online multimedia collaboration tools to drive efficiency and communicate. But with the ever-increasing bandwidth needs of these applications, finding the right internet connections…

Tuesday, May 15th 2018 was a memorable day in our company’s history: S-NET acquired Strategic Telecommunications to expand our footprint and empower a wider range of clients with the cloud-based business solutions they need to grow and thrive. The transition will…

Office 365 SharePoint workflow automations developed for our team’s unique needs have completely revolutionized how we do business here at S-NET. This customized solution helped streamline our processes from Sales and Customer Onboarding to Billing and Technical Support. We are very…

SharePoint wizard Dmitri Plotnikov completely transformed S-NET’s operations with his customized workflow management automations. Compelled by his impressive work, we are now rolling out an Office 365 SharePoint Migration and Development offering to our clients. When Dmitri is not revolutionizing businesses…

We have heard from many of our clients that maintaining healthy connections, opening and pushing trouble-tickets toward resolution and managing ISPs can easily turn into a full time job, putting a significant burden on IT departments and organizational resources. We are…

Most contact center managers know that sophisticated call center software can help them measure performance metrics or track agents down to the minute. But few know that they can increase employee engagement and reduce call center turnover with the same technology….

At one point in time, S-NET’s SD-WAN guru used to pride himself in playing 9 different musical instruments. Now he spends his days troubleshooting complex customer issues, maintaining and upgrading S-NET’s core infrastructure, and evaluating, testing and deploying new technologies. Read…

Many new S-NET clients know Jorge as their primary point of contact during the onboarding process. Our fast evolving Project Manager has a passion for efficiency, cares deeply about fulfilling promises, and spends much of his free time dancing the Bachata….

In the last several years we have seen a major shift in the data center. Reliance on IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) providers like Azure, AWS (Amazon Web Services) or Google Cloud has become more widespread than ever. The limited lifespan,…

Although a heightened awareness of cybersecurity is becoming the new norm, many companies are struggling to secure their data in the face of increasingly sophisticated threats like phishing scams, ransomware, malware and botnets. According to the ITRC, the number of data…

Winter is here. If you live in an area that experiences snow storms, chances are that these disruptions adversely affect your organization’s efficiency at least a few days of the year. Adopting a technology-driven approach keeps your team connected and can go a long way in safeguarding your business from the damaging effects of unexpected downtime.

If you’ve ever called our technical support team with a question, you probably talked with Ron Mangune, our superstar Technical Support Engineer. Ron works out of S-NET’s Manila office, and doesn’t let the tropical paradise of the Philippine islands distract him…

With the growing number of business apps eating through bandwidth at an unprecedented rate, protecting vital UC (Unified Communications) tools can easily turn into a hefty challenge for most network administrators. SD-WAN offers a simple, elegant solution that provides reliable network…

Wrapping up an SD-WAN channel event a couple of weeks ago with S-Net’s closest partners, I reflected on how rapidly the market for cloud based technologies is changing, and the enormous impact of customers on the direction of its growth. It is hard to believe that the SD-WAN technology that barely earned its place in IT in 2015 has now matured into a solution ready for a major shift toward enterprises unifying their networks on their own terms. With their wide range of locations, connection types and business needs, companies seem to increasingly invest in SD-WAN as a service managed by carrier-agnostic providers with a wide portfolio of offerings.

Samira started at S-NET in 2016, when she transitioned from the manufacturing industry into a fast-paced, hi-tech environment. Read on to find out what makes her tick. What is your educational background? I earned my Bachelor of Science and Master of…

By Alex Fayn, Co-Founder & CEO I have seen first-hand how improving collaboration across a business and changing how employees relate to their workplace can accelerate business growth. According to a white paper by UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, making collaboration an…

For teamwork to be effective in a mobile era, businesses need to change their practices and adopt new technologies that enable employees to collaborate efficiently from anywhere and any device. Here at S-NET we have always believed in the transformative power…

Here at S-NET 2017 has been our best year yet. Our hard work was rewarded with dramatic growth as we widened our product portfolio, upgraded our infrastructure, onboarded numerous new clients, initiated exciting collaborations, and expanded our team. These are the 5 things we have done that contributed most to our success.

In the last few decades, phone systems have become ubiquitous and indispensable to conducting business. While voice communications requirements may differ significantly from organization to organization, it is impossible to ensure streamlined internal collaboration and efficient customer relations without one. And…

S-NET’s very own VoIP Engineer, Greg Winiarski received his bachelor’s degree in Network Technology from DePaul University, and served as a Manager and Lead Technician at a start-up computer and mobile device repair store before joining S-NET’s team in May of…

As you may have heard – and probably experienced – Comcast’s internet service saw a massive nationwide outage on Monday starting at 12pm CST. While service was restored after 90 minutes, Down Detector, a website monitoring outages, received as many as…