Tag: cloud voice

Gage Provides 24/7 Innovative Solutions for Unbeatable Support

June 26, 2024



“Gage provides innovative and cost-effective technology solutions that cannot be beat.”
Josh Loeske, CEO/Owner, QSM

It’s always nice to hear a ringing endorsement of our IT Services from one of our clients like Josh Loeske. Josh is the CEO and Owner of QSM, which provides high-quality infrastructure solutions for civil construction and municipal works projects across four states. We respect and admire the work QSM performs and are proud to provide the company a full range of IT services, which is an integral part of its day-to-day operations and ultimately its long-term success. So how do we assist? Let us count the ways.

IT Services

The best-performing IT Services are those that you don’t even have to think about. Your internet, computer systems, software, and hardware should all be working together, humming along and supporting your business so you can focus on serving your own customers to the highest degree. Our services include the following:

  1. Infrastructure Management
    Gage offers a suite of fully managed IT Services constantly monitoring your systems, fighting against viruses, performing backups to protect your data, and ultimately keeping problems at bay, often before you even know there’s an issue.

  2. Cybersecurity
    For as long as we humans can remember, there have always been bad guys and bullies trying to take what’s yours or disrupt your success. In today’s technological world, these villains’ destruction comes in the form of cyber-attacks and malware that can steal sensitive data or even bring your entire system to a griding halt, which almost always leads to lost time and money. We employ a range of tools and technology to protect your business from evil forces set to wreak havoc on your system.

  3. Business Continuity
    We consistently backup data and make sure your critical information is secure and accessible whenever you need it—even during a network failure or a disaster—so you’ll never have to worry about data loss again. 

  4.  Help Desk
    Got an issue? Our help desk provides 24/7 assistance every single day of the year and can be contacted by phone, email or web-based chat. Our skilled technicians can offer support for a variety of software applications and answer any technical questions to ensure your IT system is functioning at its best. 

  5.  Custom Project Work
    We can also offer a variety of custom projects designed to help optimize your IT infrastructure, including software installations, migrations, setups and configurations, and more. 

 

Overall, Gage IT Services gives you 24/7 peace of mind that your system is working flawlessly to support your business. Click here to listen to Josh Loeske speak about our innovative and cost-effective technology solutions. Want to learn more from our customers about the range of services we provide from phone systems to IT to generators? Check out our additional client success stories. Let us know if we can assist, we look forward to hearing from you. 

GAGE excels with comprehensive offerings and exceptional service

April 10, 2024

 

GAGE has been helping businesses communicate since 1980, evolving into the full-service telecommunications and IT services provider we are today. While we are working hard each day focused on providing customers with the very best products and services in our marketplace, sometimes we take it for granted that everyone knows about all of the many products and services we offer. The last thing we want to hear from a customer is, “Oh, I didn’t know you guys did that!” So, with that in mind, here’s an overview of our core offerings that can enhance your communications, increase profitability, and give you the competitive advantage you need for success.

Gage Cloud Voice

So much more than a phone system, Gage Cloud Voice is a cloud-based, carrier-class VoIP communications solution. What does that mean exactly? Well, Cloud Voice gives businesses the ability to be accessible anytime, anywhere, on any device. This product links everyone in your company, allowing you to communicate more efficiently and effectively. Another important point is when you use Gage Cloud Voice, we actually become your phone carrier, so you don’t have to deal with the big phone companies that treat you like a number. With GAGE, you get treated like the individual you are.

My Cloud Messenger—Business Texting

As we all get flooded by emails, calls, and social media messages, texts continue as a real option to cut through the clutter and communicate with people. Gage’s My Cloud Messenger enables your business to connect with customers via SMS and MMS messaging using your business’ main phone number, a toll-free number or even employees’ numbers. Use My Cloud Messenger for sales and marketing promotions, appointment reminders, customer support, delivery scheduling and tracking, one-to-one customer interactions, and more. Best of all, it’s easy to set up and easy to use.

IT Services, Cybersecurity, and Infrastructure Management

That’s right, GAGE provides IT Services, too. Gage Insite gives you 24/7 peace of mind freeing you to focus on driving your business forward. We monitor your systems, protect against viruses, ensure backups are performing successfully, and more. We’ll catch (and fix) the little problems before they become big ones, in many cases before you’re even aware there’s an issue. In addition, we protect you from cyber-attacks that could bring your entire system grinding to a halt, which can cost you time and money. Don’t leave your IT to chance, trust a reliable partner like GAGE.

Cabling Services

Many businesses don’t consider the importance of setting up the cable and wiring in an office. However, Structured Cabling is the foundation on which all other business activities depend. When you properly design, install, and administer your cabling system like we do at GAGE, it reduces costs through each phase of its life cycle including: installation, moves, adds, changes, and maintenance.

Power Generators

If you’ve lived through a hurricane or natural disaster with an extended power outage, you know how disruptive that can be to your business. GAGE offers our customers top-of-the-line generators to fit your needs along with a team of experts to perform regular maintenance that safeguards this important investment and ensures it’s ready when you need it most. Already have a generator? Our dedicated, reliable professionals can perform maintenance on a commercial or residential standby generator from several trusted brands including Cummins, Generac, Kohler, and Briggs & Stratton.

So, if you’re a business looking for communication assistance from phone systems to IT services to generators, GAGE has everything you need, along with customer service that goes above and beyond expectations. Want to learn more about how we form special connections with our customers? Watch our client success stories. Each connection is different, but the results are the same—satisfied clients using GAGE to connect with their own customers. And if you have a question about any services we offer, don’t be afraid to ask. We look forward to assisting you!

How Do You Know If It’s Time For An Equipment Upgrade?

September 29, 2022

yealink phone

 

Technology is like the weather; it’s constantly changing. Knowing whether your equipment is up to date may not be apparent or top-of-mind. If you’re a GAGE customer with a premise-based phone system, your equipment is likely out-dated and possibly even discontinued. We want you to know that we’re migrating many of our customers to our cloud-based phone system (VoIP): Gage Cloud Voice in order to continue providing the best service possible. 

Parts for older phone systems are difficult to find and are likely way past their life span, which is why we’re recommending making the switch now. Not only will Gage Cloud Voice supply the latest equipment, you will be able to take advantage of many advanced features this new technology offers. 

Below are some frequently asked questions:

  • Can I keep using my current phone system? – YES, however, our ability to replace equipment or repair the system is greatly diminished.
  • Can GAGE still get parts? – YES, but it’s becoming more expensive to service and difficult to maintain. Processors, power supplies, and desk phones are the most common parts that need replacement.
  • If parts are still available, should we keep it? -You can, but it’s important to understand our limited ability to remedy issues in a timely manner.

Can I get more advanced features or an upgrade? – Not with your current phone system. The move to VoIP is an upgrade within itself and robust features are readily available on this platform.

You have our commitment to make every effort to support your current phone system. The world of technology has been changing rapidly in recent years, and we stand ready to help. We understand how important technology is to our customers and if it’s not improving your bottom line, or giving you a competitive advantage, then it is not worth investing. 

The time is now for an equipment upgrade. For more information or a budgetary proposal for GAGE Cloud Voice, please contact us at 225.753.4243 or visit Gage.Cloud

Communication Tips Every Small Business Should Know

July 12, 2019

Communication Tips For Businesses Today

Here at Gage we understand the importance of communication within your business. Great communication can increase productivity, create a healthy culture and increase accountability, while poor communication can have the opposite effect. Here are a few tips every small business leader can implement to create a strong foundation for communication in their organization.

Document Processes & Protocols.

The first tip is to have established and documented methods for all of your key business operations. These documents should outline the tactics to be used, the objective, and how to evaluate effectiveness. Having your methods documented creates a company-wide standard that helps keep everyone accountable and in sync. Your documentation should be available to anyone within the company, so every employee can easily access things like protocol, workflows, training, and more. In small businesses, this important step is often overlooked, as leadership assumes they are small enough to implement these things without documentation. The truth is, no matter how small you are, you can always benefit from defining your processes. It ensures that everyone knows what’s expected and improves efficiency and accountability company-wide.

 

Use Technology to Your Advantage.

With the advancements in communication technology that have been made, today more than ever it is easier to stay connected and have effective communications. There are a number of tools and methods that can be used to keep everyone in touch and informed. Task Managers are great for communicating responsibilities among different roles and seeing projects go from beginning to end smoothly. Similarly, CRMs help your sales team manage their pipeline and communications in one place. Unified communication tools help you stay connected, any time, any place. Video conferencing allows you to have meetings remotely with your team or clients wherever they are. Tools like instant messaging help your team constantly stay in contact, even when they’re not in the office. And cloud-based business VoIP solutions can make sure you never miss a call – following you from your desk phone to your cell phone when necessary.

 

Plan Effective Meetings.

Meetings are one of the single biggest pain points in any organization, large or small, and often one of the biggest time wasters. Small companies often fall prey to this when they don’t define a structure for their meetings, don’t stick to internal meeting times, or let meetings go off on a social hour tangent. Make sure your meetings have a purpose – define who should take part, what you want to cover, and what you want to accomplish from each meeting. It’s a good idea to have an agenda and a moderator to keep your discussion points on track, take notes, and conduct the meeting in a timely manner. Everyone should have a key takeaway from the meeting and know what their next action item should be. Again, you can utilize technology to manage meetings – sync team schedules with shared calendars, set conference calls, and more.

 

Be an Active Listener & Be Responsive.

Possibly one of the most important tips is to practice active listening and always be responsive. The 3 key objectives of active listening are to listen to obtain information, listen to learn, and listen to understand. Implementing these three can increase the efficiency of your communications. When you practice active listening, you are able to pay attention, ask the right questions, and provide clear feedback and direction, increasing the productivity of the entire team. That leads to being responsive. Implement a standard response time in-house as well as with clients, whether you have all the answers or not. At the end of the day, employees and clients alike just want to be heard. It’s important that they know that you’ve listened to them and have internalized what they shared, and that’s truly the cornerstone of effective communication.

………………………….

At Gage, we have a solution that can help meet all of your communication needs in one platform. Gage Cloud Voice is truly the last phone system you’ll ever need. But Gage Cloud Voice is more than just a phone system – it’s a cloud based, carrier-class complete VoIP communications solution that gives business the ability to be accessible anytime, anywhere, on any device. Gage Cloud Voice will link everyone in your company, allowing you to communicate more efficiently and effectively, with powerful features like unified messaging, time-of-day routing, and video collaboration. With no system to install, it’s easy to add seats or functionality on-demand. And, just like everything we do, you can count on expert installation, thorough training and local personal service. Read More about how we can meet all of your communication needs, or contact us today to schedule a consultation.

What Is Accession Unified Communications?

September 7, 2018

Cloud Based Technology

What is Accession Unified Communications by Gage Telephone?

It’s no longer enough to have a business communications system only for voice calls from a desk phone. Modern businesses need to communicate over multiple channels – voice, video, email and messaging.

Not only that – they also need them to be integrated and accessible anytime and from any device – desktop PC, laptop or smartphone. That’s a tall order, but one that’s made easy with our cloud-based Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solution – just one of the many offerings under our Gage Cloud Voice services. We take care of the details for you, and it’s easy to get started with a unified communications system:

// No upfront costs for hardware and software
// No extra cost for upgrades or enhancements
// Scales with your company as it grows
// Predictable subscription-based pricing

 

Empower Your Always-On Workforce

// Unify Your Communications

Integrate voice, video, presence, instant messaging and email into a single platform with Accession Communicator for desktop or mobile devices.

// Enable Employees Wherever They Are

Supporting a distributed workforce is easy with our cloud-based platform. Employees can connect wherever they are with any Internet-enabled device.

// Bring Your Own Devices

With our service, your employees can use their own desktop PCs, smartphones, tablets, laptops or other mobile devices to access our cloud-based solution.

// Get Uninterrupted Access

Access all the capabilities of our UCaaS platform anywhere, anytime. In the event of a power outage or natural disaster, calls can be forwarded to any phone.

// Extend the Office Phone

Twin your office phone features like dialing plans, outgoing caller ID and ACD hunt groups on smartphones, tablets, laptops or other mobile devices.

// Manage Your UC Experience

Easily manage business telephony features, call routing, contacts, messages, user profiles and more with our intuitive UC interface.

 

Anywhere, Anytime, Any Device

Access powerful communications features whether you’re working from the office, home or on the road. Accession Communicator is a user-downloadable application that extends UC capabilities to desktop PCs, laptops, tablets or smartphones. It’s the ideal solution for our Gage Cloud Voice customers that have remote and mobile workers – especially those that bring their own devices.

ACCESSION COMMUNICATOR SUPPORTS:

  • Calling features, dial plans and outgoing caller ID available on users’ office phones
  • Wi-Fi, 3G/4G or wired connections
  • Access to the corporate contacts directory
  • Instant messaging (IM) and presence
  • Click to call, chat or conference
  • Point-to-point video for video-enabled devices
  • Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android operating systems
  • SILK audio codec for high-quality voice
Accession Communicator Mobile Dashboard by Gage Telephone

 

INSTANTLY IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY WITH THESE UC FEATURES:

Control Incoming Calls

Set home of office call presence and preferences from wherever you are to guarantee important calls reach you and others go to voice mail.

Seamless In-Call Transfer

Using Accession Communications, users can transfer active calls from mobile to desktop without interrupting the call.

Unify Messaging

Get a single interface for wireline and wireless messages, with alert to new messages on any line.

Visual Voice Mail

With an optional speech-to-text transcription service, users can not only listen to voice mail, they can read it, too.

Centralize Contacts

Accession Communicator integrates contacts from various sources like email or .csv files, so users can find them all in one place.

Business SMS

Easily send and receive 1:1 text messages between business Direct Inward Dial (DID) phone numbers and SMS-enabled devices.

Synchronized Instant Messaging

1:1 and group instant messages (and SMS if enabled) are synced between desktop and mobile clients.

Access Web & Video Conferencing

Access optional Accession Meeting for video and web collaboration either scheduled or uplifted from an Accession call or IM in progress.

ABOUT GAGE

GAGE is a full-service telecommunications and IT services company that has helped businesses since 1980. Founded in Baton Rouge, the company’s original mission continues today, which is to provide the very best products and services that enable its clients to increase their profitability, obtain a competitive advantage, and improve employee productivity. Gage has served the Louisiana business community for nearly 40 years through a culture of striving towards excellence and unparalleled commitment to customer service.
Gage works with companies of all sizes with business phone systems, computer networks, managed IT services, structured cabling and standby generators. The company conducts a complete needs analysis to ensure that each customer implements the right technology to meet their needs now and into the future. Gage has been recognized with numerous industry awards and has become one of the region’s leading technology services companies.

For more information on Gage, please call (225) 753-4243 or visit www.gagetelephone.com/contact-us

Understanding Cloud Computing: What is the Cloud and How does it work?

March 27, 2018

Cloud Based Technology

 

You’ve most likely heard of people referring to “the cloud,” but what is the cloud exactly, and how does it work? More importantly, is it safe for sensitive business or personal data? We’re here to clear up some rumors you may have heard, and help demystify the cloud.

What is the Cloud?

The cloud is virtual and therefore does not require any hardware of your own to deliver a service. Cloud technology can deliver that service to you, without having to install anything or have it on a server at your business. This is something that you can access remotely, or via the Internet through your web browser. Offsite, secure third party data centers manage all of your cloud data so that you can access it at your convenience.

You May Already be Using the Cloud

Are you using Gmail? Amazon Music? A Kindle? Dropbox? These are all cloud services that store the data you access. All you have to do is log in to their servers to get what you need. If you use an Apple iPhone or iPad, then you’re familiar with the iCloud service, the cloud technology that allows you to sync and upload your photos and contacts.

Why Use the Cloud?

The cloud is convenient for accessing and backing up data no matter where you go. With it, you can access servers anywhere, rather than just locally from your office. This allows you to perform your job duties at home and on the go! There is no need to carry around (and risk losing) USB drives with sensitive information on them. If you lose that USB drive, then your files are gone forever. If you back them up to the cloud or store them there, however, you can easily retrieve that data.

Why is the Term “Cloud” Used?

There is both a literal and figurative meaning here. Have you ever laid down in the grass, and looked up at the clouds in the sky? Oh, look, an elephant! A boat! Oh nice, a dinosaur! But the person next to you may not see the same shapes. They may see a sandwich, a skyscraper or an airplane in the clouds instead. The possibilities are almost endless, and not everyone has the same vision. Cloud technology is similar, offering a plethora of possibilities to help support and scale your business. Also, clouds are generally always above us. Just head on up, and grab whatever you need on-demand. The sky is always accessible.

So, you can store and access files in the Cloud. You can use cloud-hosted applications, like Gmail and GoogleDocs, and there’s even a cloud based phone system. Finally, the cloud gives you access to your data anywhere with a network connection. This all sounds great, right? It is, but as with anything on the Internet, these services need to be used responsibly. Is your IT services provider helping to manage this?