News You Can Use: FCC Petitions Supreme Court to Review 5th Circuit Decision Declaring Universal Service Fund Contribution System Unconstitutional

The FCC has filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of a recent decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that invalidated the current funding mechanism for the Universal Service Fund (USF).

The Fifth Circuit’s ruling argued that the FCC had too much discretion in determining contributions from telecommunications carriers and improperly delegated authority to a private company, USAC.

A stay order is currently in place, allowing USF contributions to continue while the Supreme Court decides whether to take up the case, preventing potential disruptions to essential telecommunications services.

If the Supreme Court upholds the decision, it could jeopardize funding for programs supporting rural broadband and affordable telecommunications services. 

Check out CommLaw Group’s client advisory here 

We’ll continue to keep you informed on emerging FCC news. Need help with your business communications? Contact CTS today at 800.787.4848 or jnolte@ctsmd.us.

Maryland adds Suicide and Crisis Lifeline ‘Dial 988’ Trust Fund Fees

This bill establishes a State 9-8-8 fee with a structure and application nearly identical to the structure and application for the State’s 9-1-1 fee. 

The 9-8-8 fee is set at $0.25 and applied on specified 9-8-8 accessible services in Maryland (including on phoneline subscribers beginning October 1, 2024, and prepaid wireless purchasers beginning July 1, 2027). 

Fee revenues accrue to the 9-8-8 Trust Fund to offer 24/7 coverage by specialized counselors who can intervene and provide confidential support.

Learn more about the approved fiscal legislation here

We’ll keep you informed on related regulatory developments. Questions? Call 800.787.4848 or jnolte@ctsmd.us.

Avoid Cyber Scams After Disaster Strikes

As hurricanes and other natural disasters occur, CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency urges businesses and individuals to stay alert for potential malicious cyber activity. 

Fraudulent emails and social media messages - often containing malicious links or attachments - are common after major natural disasters. Exercise caution in handling emails with hurricane-related subject lines, attachments, or hyperlinks. 

In addition, be wary of social media pleas, texts, or door-to-door solicitations relating to severe weather events. 

Before responding, ensure hurricane-related guidance is from trusted sources, such as local officials and disaster response organizations, including Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and DHS's Ready.gov.

CISA encourages users to review the following resources to avoid falling victim to malicious cyber activity: 

• Federal Trade Commission’s Staying Alert to Disaster-related Scams and Before Giving to a Charity, 

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Frauds and Scams, 

• FEMA's Disaster Fraud guidance, and 

• CISA’s Phishing Guidance, Stopping the Attack Cycle at Phase One to help organizations reduce the likelihood and impact of successful phishing attacks. 

Need help with compliance or securing your business communications? Call CTS today at 800.787.4848 or jnolte@ctsmd.us.

2024 Tech Tax Break… Don't Miss Out on Your Section 179 Deduction 

This year’s Section 179 deduction is $1,220,000. The deduction includes both new and used qualified equipment. In addition, businesses can take advantage of 100% bonus depreciation on both new and used equipment for 2024.

Remember to keep delivery times in mind when making your Section 179 purchases for 2024.

The deduction applies to both leased and purchased equipment and software. When you buy, you can deduct the total amount from your taxes. When you lease, you pay the monthly lease payments, but you still get to deduct the total purchase price from your taxes.

Whether you choose to purchase or lease, you'll need to put the equipment/software into service by the end of the day on December 31, 2024.

For more details visit: Section 179 and check out this handy Savings Calculator.

Let’s talk about how new technology can help you reach your goals in 2024. Contact us today at: 800.787.4848 or jnolte@ctsmd.us.

RingCentral for Microsoft Teams turbocharges your Teams deployment 

Transform your Microsoft Teams into a communications powerhouse

Highly reliable telephony, advanced calling features, and analytics can transform Teams into a powerful communications hub. With RingCentral for Microsoft Teams embedded app, you'll get:

1. One number for all your communication needs: Get phone, fax, SMS with a single number, all available in Microsoft Teams

2. Integrated into Teams and all your devices: Extend telephony into Microsoft Teams, desk phones, and mobile devices from one trusted partner

3. Robust call controls for power users: Get the advanced call capabilities to satisfy the needs of salespeople, support staff, and other phone power users

4. Heads-up display: Get a smart sidecar panel for quick access to key contacts and advanced call features

5. Business SMS without using your personal line: Text customers and colleagues from the Teams app to keep work and personal lines separate

6. Electronic fax: Embed an easy-to-use online fax service into Teams – no fax machine required

7. Bi-directional presence sync for accurate user availability: Presence status is automatically detected and synced between Microsoft Teams and RingCentral, including hard phones, helping users avoid needless interruptions.

8. Unified contact searching from RingCentral and Microsoft directories: Contacts from both Microsoft and RingCentral directories are now searchable in RingCentral for Microsoft Teams 2.0. This ensures callers can always find the right contact without app switching.

9. Over 19 quarters of secure, compliant 99.999% uptime: RingCentral’s market-leading 99.999% uptime (less than 6 mins of annual downtime) ensures business doesn’t stop.

Let’s talk about integrating your Microsoft Teams and RingCentral for better, faster business performance. Contact our experts today at 800.787.4848 or jnolte@ctsmd.us.

Future-Proof Your Contact Center Communications with AI-powered Mitel Interaction Recording 

Mitel Interaction Recording provides a comprehensive AI-powered solution for analyzing and utilizing contact center data, improving customer experience, automating compliance processes, and achieving effective quality management. 

1:45 min. Video Overview

AI-Driven Customer Experience Enhancement 

• Analyzing communication data and measuring agent script adherence

• Identifying negative customer sentiment and churn risks

• Detecting inappropriate language and behavior

• Categorizing calls containing sensitive information

• Generating automatic interaction summaries and action items

Ensuring Compliance and Minimizing Risks 

• Ensures required disclaimers are stated during calls

• Automatically categorizes regulated and non-regulated calls

• Identifies calls containing personal or sensitive data

• Flags PCI-DSS sensitive information

Automated Quality Management 

• Enabling automatic quality evaluation of all calls

• Allowing creation of AI-based scorecards for comprehensive agent evaluation

• Providing objective results and insights for 100% of calls

• Facilitating creation of meaningful dashboards and reports

Secure Cloud Hosting with Microsoft Azure

• Top-notch security and compliance features

• Data sovereignty in designated Azure regions

• Protection against misuse of data for AI model training

• Exclusive data processing within secure Azure infrastructure

Let’s talk about how AI can help you reach your contact center goals in 2025. Contact us today at: 800.787.4848 or jnolte@ctsmd.us.

Get a $250 Halloween Treat for Your Leads and Referrals

Know someone who is looking for a new phone system? Grappling with a Hybrid workforce? Is moving their office? A friend who needs faster broadband or Wi-Fi? A business partner who wants to add Sound Masking to their space?

Tell us about it... Just mention the "Newsletter Referral Program" when you contact us – we'll take care of the rest. CTS rewards you with $250 when we get their business. And there's no paperwork hassle or hoops to jump through.

Contact us with your sales tip at: 800.787.4848 or jnolte@ctsmd.us.