Volume 1, Number 4 - Fall 2005  
Featured Articles  
HOT OFF THE PRESS: HOW INDUSTRY MERGERS IMPACT CORY CUSTOMERS
CONVERT YOUR EMAIL SYSTEM TO A FAX MACHINE!
COMPUTER BACKUP: TODAY, IT'S AN EXPECTED BUSINESS PRACTICE
ATTENTION CELL PHONE USERS: CORY'S "ICE" HOT TIP

LATE BREAKING NEWS: HOW INDUSTRY MERGERS IMPACT CORY CUSTOMERS

We’ve all read about imminent consolidations in the telecommunications industry. Industry giants SBC and AT&T will merge, as will Verizon and MCI, following recent approval by the (FCC) Federal Communications Committee and (DOJ) Department of Justice.

But, exactly what does this mean for Cory Customers and Cory Service Providers? The merger news could have been disastrous – BUT INSTEAD WE AT CORY believe the news is very positive for the competitive telecommunication industry!

As a condition for the industry mergers, the telecommunication giants were forced into a 30-month freeze on special access rates and a 24 month freeze on unbundled rates. The result: our customers’ rates will not skyrocket, as some industry observers had feared and most likely will remain the same or decrease.

Cory’s Service Providers, (CLECs - Competitive Local Exchange Carriers) rely on competitive special access and unbundled rates from companies such as Verizon and SBC. These rates provide healthy competition that reduces telecommunication rates for businesses and residences nationwide.

But despite the initial good news coming from the mergers, discussions are far from over.

Activity by our service providers is expected to be intense over the next 24 – 30 months. CLECs, and we at Cory, who follow regulations closely and actively help influence decisions want to see the FCC use this post-merger timeframe to further address special access and unbundled rates well beyond the freeze timeframes.

We will keep you posted on developments, but are extremely pleased at the initial judgment by the FCC and DOJ!

For more information on industry mergers and impact on telecommunications rates, call us at Cory at 856-795-2223 or email us at info@corycommunications.com.
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CONVERT YOUR EMAIL SYSTEM TO A FAX MACHINE!

Most of us could not conduct business without the fax. A dependable fax capability is as important to our business life-line as newer technologies including cell phones, wireless LANs, and email.

But there are definitely times when the office fax machine just doesn’t give all the support we need – especially when we are on the road, working from multiple offices, or relying on off-site employees who do not have access to the office machine.

There is a solution to some of these fax challenges – and it works very much like your email service. Using this solution, anyone can receive faxes without a fax machine, right to their email box. And send faxes from their computers, too.

Sometimes called Fax2Mail, other times eFax, this service is based on the Internet.

Cory likes the service because it provides some features a fax machine cannot:

  • Keeps an audit trail of sent and received faxes.
  • Maintains electronic copies of every fax including the cover sheet for easy retrieval.
  • Retains pages in the order they are received, via PDF.
  • Allows you to print only what you need.
  • Sends faxes directly to the recipient, without others seeing confidential data on the fax machine.

Some firms have even added the electronic fax service as a backup to their conventional fax machine.

Fax2Mail is compatible with any email system, and it doesn’t require any additional software. Individuals have the option of using new or existing phone numbers as their “fax” number.

In fact, we at Cory Communications use this service ourselves. To our senders and recipients, the process is seamless. There is nothing extra they need to do differently.

Over a decade ago, many larger firms began offering this “email / fax” service. Employees sent or received faxes from hotels or client locations from their computers.

Today, with wireless Internet access growing exponentially, smaller and mid-size businesses are increasingly taking advantage of Fax2Mail.

Here are just a few of the companies who benefit from the Fax2Mail service: businesses with virtual offices, home-based firms, and high-volume document-driven firms such as mortgage companies, medical practices, law firms… the list goes on.

But, there are also entire small to medium size firms with professional offices run solely using Fax2Mail because of the unique benefits of this electronic faxing service. Others have made it their back-up, in the event the office fax machine no longer works.

Cory Communications wants to make you aware of this simple but incredibly useful tool. If you want to hear about our experience with Fax2Mail or learn more about how it could help you, give us a call at 856-795-2223 or send an email to info@corycommunications.com
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COMPUTER BACKUP: TODAY, IT’S AN EXPECTED BUSINESS PRACTICE

A recent news article reported that a large oil and gas company spent millions of dollars to re-create test results for the Food and Drug Administration. The company had lost its initial data because of a computer backup failure.

Small and mid-sized businesses are certainly not immune to similar backup problems.

Secure computer backups have become an expected business practice. Essentially, backing up your computer data means creating a copy of your computer files, delivering and storing the copy to a secure location either off-site or at your own office, and having the ability to quickly find and replicate the data whenever you need to.

Whether you back up data off- or on-site is a decision you, the business executive, must make. Often criteria such as: the type of data, cost, manual involvement, and access to a secure location all play a part in the decision. But the most important decision is to put a secure backup system in place – and to maintain it.

Crashes, inadvertent file deletions, new and anticipated laws affecting electronic data storage, and peace of mind: these are just some of the reasons to ensure your backup system is foolproof.

  • 90% of businesses that lose data will close their doors within 2 years of the event.
  • 43% of companies experiencing disasters never recover.
  • 50% of companies experiencing a computer outage will have to close within 5 years.

Through our integration partners, Cory can provide our customers backup services to help businesses replicate and store critical computer data both at your office and to an off-site location through the Internet. Both approaches are designed for smaller to mid-sized companies.

While both have unique benefits, the Internet backup service is ideal for companies with remote departments. Because it works via the Internet, it can store data from different locations to an off-site facility and restore it at any time, from anywhere – all through the Web.

While the Internet service is not a tape-backup, it will work for companies whose internal processes are tape-based. Some benefits include:

  • Automated backup as soon as new data is entered to the computer
  • Secure off-site storage
  • 100% recovery guaranteed
Cory Communications wants you to select the backup approach that is right for your firm. Call us at 856-795-2223 to learn more about our different backup approaches. Or, send an email to info@corycommunications.com
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ATTENTION CELL PHONE USERS: CORY’S “ICE” HOT TIP

There’s a new trend that we all should be aware of it. It’s called “ICE-ing your Cell Phone.” And it could be just what you need in an emergency situation.

ICE is the acronym for “in case of emergency.” Cell phone users simply type the letters ICE before individuals whom should be contacted in case of a crisis. For example, if John should be called, the listing might be ICE-John Smith and his number. Some cell phone users have even prioritized their emergency numbers: ICE1-John Smith; ICE2-Mary Smith, and so forth.

The idea apparently started after the London bombings in July 2005. Emergency workers didn’t know whom to call for those who were injured or had died. One paramedic reportedly originated the idea. Now, the concept has traveled the world.

Paramedics and hospital staff are learning to look in cell phone directories for the acronym. Then, they quickly reach out to family and friends who can help in critical situations. For example, emergency workers can learn information about a patient’s medical history or other background data, according to a recent article by Gary S. Carter, President and CEO of New Jersey Hospital Association.

In New Jersey, hospitals will join with other first responder groups, emergency room physicians and the State Police to launch a public awareness campaign promoting the benefits of ICE, Carter reported.

There are some down sides to this clever plan, however. If someone steals a cell phone the ICE individuals may receive disturbing sham calls. Or, a cell phone may be password-protected and therefore the emergency workers cannot learn the ICE individuals.

Nonetheless, this new trend appears to have strong acceptance among emergency workers – and with the participation of cell phone users, first responders and others can convert the trend into an effective emergency tool.

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Cory Communications, Inc. is a full-service telecommunications company based in Cherry Hill, NJ. Founded in 2001 by Jack Zoblin, an industry veteran with over 15 years telecommunications experience, the firm provides a complete range of voice and data products to business clients in South Jersey and throughout the country.

For additional information, visit www.CoryLD.com, email Cory Communications at info@CoryCommunications.com or call toll free 877.489.8186.

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