In healthcare, communication isn’t just important—it’s a lifeline. Every missed call, delayed message, or miscommunication can ripple into outcomes that impact patient care.

This is where Iristel steps in as a game-changer.

By leveraging cutting-edge communication technology, Iristel bridges the gaps, connects teams, and empowers providers to focus on what truly matters: delivering exceptional patient care.

Let’s explore how Iristel is transforming healthcare communication and why its solutions are a must-have for modern healthcare providers.

Keeping Healthcare Teams in Sync: The Power of Unified Communication

Picture the constant buzz of a hospital: doctors consulting on cases, nurses relaying updates, and administrators juggling schedules. Without clear communication, this intricate dance can easily fall apart.

Iristel’s unified communication platform integrates phone calls, video conferencing, and instant messaging into one streamlined system.

This all-in-one approach eliminates the chaos of juggling multiple apps or devices. When communication flows seamlessly, decisions are made faster, and patient care improves significantly.

“ Efficiency in communication leads to efficiency in care delivery, ” says healthcare consultant Dr. Emily Wright. “ That’s why integrated solutions like Iristel’s are indispensable in modern medicine. ”



Practical Tip : Implement Iristel’s unified tools to reduce internal delays and promote collaboration. Hospitals can boost efficiency by up to 30% through better communication systems, according to a study by Deloitte

On-the-Go Connectivity for Mobile Healthcare Heroes

Healthcare is rarely a desk job. Professionals move between clinics, hospitals, and patient homes, often relying on outdated or fragmented communication tools. Iristel’s mobile solutions ensure constant connectivity , no matter where your team is.

Think of it as having the entire hospital’s communication system in your pocket. Whether it’s a nurse needing an urgent consult or a specialist joining a virtual roundtable, Iristel keeps the conversation going—anytime, anywhere.

Practical Tip : Equip your team with Iristel’s unified calling app to reduce missed calls and ensure real-time communication in critical scenarios.

Cost-Effective Scalability: Grow Without the Pain

Traditional communication systems are notorious for being expensive and inflexible. Expanding these systems often involves hefty costs and long downtime. Iristel flips the script with its VoIP-based (Voice over Internet Protocol) solutions.

Adding new lines or handling a surge in calls becomes a breeze. More importantly, healthcare facilities save money—funds that can be redirected toward patient care.

" Smart tech isn’t just a luxury; it’s a necessity for resource optimization ," says Alex Peterson, CTO of a leading healthcare network.

Practical Tip : Replace outdated phone systems with Iristel’s scalable solutions to reduce operational costs by up to 60% while ensuring reliable service.

Engaging Patients Through Smarter Communication

Patient engagement is the cornerstone of effective healthcare. Appointment reminders, follow-up messages, and educational health tips aren’t just conveniences—they’re critical touchpoints in a patient’s journey. 

Iristel enables SMS communication through healthcare business lines , allowing providers to engage with patients directly and conveniently. This reduces no-shows, improves treatment adherence, and fosters trust.

Statistic : A study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research found that text message reminders can reduce missed appointments by up to 28%.

Practical Tip : Use Iristel’s SMS tools to send automated reminders and personalized messages, keeping patients informed and engaged.

Revolutionizing Telehealth and Remote Care

The rise of telehealth has redefined healthcare delivery, and Iristel is right at the forefront. Its high-quality video and communication tools make virtual consultations seamless and efficient. This isn’t just about convenience—it’s about expanding access to care for rural or underserved populations.

Patients can connect with their doctors without leaving their homes, and providers can deliver consultations across distances with clarity and ease.

Fortifying Healthcare with Top-Tier Security

Supporting Healthcare’s Future with Innovation

A Future of Better Care Through Better Communication

In the fast-paced world of healthcare, effective communication isn’t just a convenience—it’s a necessity. Iristel’s innovative solutions empower healthcare providers to stay connected, agile, and patient-focused. From unifying teams to engaging patients and securing sensitive data, Iristel redefines what’s possible in healthcare communication.

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The future of patient care begins with a simple question: Is your communication system ready to meet the challenge? With Iristel, the answer is a resounding yes.

Step into the future of healthcare communication and  deliver the care your patients deserve.

In recent years, the concept of remote work has undergone a remarkable evolution, transforming from a novel idea into a widespread phenomenon. What was once considered a perk for a select few has now become a standard practice for businesses worldwide. As we continue to adapt to this new normal, it's crucial to explore the current trends shaping remote work and understand how businesses can leverage innovative solutions to thrive in this landscape.

The Rise of Remote Work

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote work at an unprecedented pace. Overnight, businesses across industries were forced to embrace remote work arrangements to ensure business continuity while prioritizing the health and safety of their employees. What initially began as a temporary measure has since evolved into a long-term strategy for many organizations.

The benefits of remote work are undeniable. From increased flexibility and improved work-life balance to reduced overhead costs and access to a broader talent pool, remote work offers numerous advantages for both employers and employees. However, it also presents unique challenges that require thoughtful solutions.

How Iristel Can Help

At Iristel, we understand the evolving needs of businesses in today's remote work landscape. As a leading provider of communication technology solutions, we offer a range of services designed to enhance remote collaboration, streamline operations, and ensure the security of your digital assets.

Our telecom solutions provide reliable connectivity, enabling seamless communication and collaboration among remote teams. Whether you're conducting virtual meetings, sharing files, or collaborating on projects, our high-speed internet and cloud-based communication tools ensure that you stay connected and productive from anywhere in the world. 

Furthermore, we prioritize cybersecurity to safeguard your organization's sensitive data and communications. Our advanced security features, including encryption protocols, multi-factor authentication, and threat detection systems, help mitigate the risks associated with remote work environments, ensuring that your business remains protected against cyber threats.

Additionally, our flexible communication solutions cater to the growing trend of hybrid work models, allowing employees to seamlessly transition between remote and office settings while maintaining consistent connectivity and collaboration.

Embracing Remote Work at Iristel

At Iristel, we practice what we preach. We have fully embraced remote work, with most of our employees working remotely. Despite this distributed setup, our team has maintained or exceeded productivity levels. With employees located across North America, Africa, Asia, and Europe, our unified communication tools allow us to work seamlessly with team members and customers globally. Our firsthand experience with remote work enables us to understand the unique challenges and opportunities it presents, allowing us to provide tailored solutions to our customers.

As remote work continues to redefine the modern workplace, businesses must adapt to this new reality by embracing innovative solutions that enable remote collaboration, ensure cybersecurity, and promote employee well-being. At Iristel, we are committed to empowering your organization with the tools and support needed to thrive in today's remote work landscape. Contact us today to learn more about how our communication technology solutions can help elevate your remote work experience.

In today's dynamic business world, uninterrupted communication is essential. Disruptions in SIP trunk services can derail operations and impact growth. Iristel provides failover and redundancy solutions to ensure seamless connectivity, critical for business continuity and customer satisfaction.

Our SIP trunk failover acts as an emergency plan, automatically redirecting calls to backup lines if the primary service fails. This ensures your business remains operational, even during unexpected outages. Iristel makes setting up failover straightforward, offering automatic rerouting to maintain your communications without interruption.

Moreover, Iristel's redundant network infrastructure offers additional stability, reducing downtime and enhancing service reliability. Our resilient systems are built to sustain consistent performance, ensuring your business communications are protected against various disruptions.

By partnering with Iristel, a leading SIP trunking provider in North America , you gain a robust communication setup designed to support your business's needs reliably. Our advanced failover and redundancy features safeguard your SIP trunk connections, allowing you to focus on growth and customer service. Trust Iristel to keep your business communications flowing smoothly, regardless of the challenges.

Looking for something you haven't found yet?

In today's digital age, the telecommunications industry is undergoing a profound transformation driven by artificial intelligence (AI). From enhancing customer experiences to optimizing internal operations, AI has the potential to revolutionize every aspect of the telecom sector. At Iristel, we're committed to staying at the forefront of this AI-driven evolution.

The Rise of AI in Telecommunications

AI is no longer a futuristic concept; it's a reality that's reshaping the telecommunications landscape. With AI-powered technologies like virtual agents and predictive analytics, telecom companies can deliver more personalized experiences and optimize their operations for greater efficiency.

Investing in AI Innovation

At Iristel, we recognize the transformative power of AI, which is why we're making strategic investments in AI innovation. By partnering with leading AI providers and developing our own AI-driven solutions, we're positioning ourselves as pioneers in the AI-driven evolution of the telecommunications industry.

The Role of AI in Enhancing Customer Experiences

One of the key benefits of AI in telecommunications is its ability to enhance customer experiences. Through AI-powered virtual agents, we can provide customers with instant support and personalized recommendations, leading to higher satisfaction and loyalty.

Driving Operational Efficiency with AI

In addition to enhancing customer experiences, AI is also driving operational efficiency within telecom companies. By leveraging AI-powered analytics and automation tools, we can optimize network performance, reduce downtime, and proactively address issues before they arise.

Looking to the Future

As AI continues to evolve, so too will the telecommunications industry. At Iristel, we're excited to be at the forefront of this AI-driven revolution, leveraging the latest technologies to provide best-in-class service experiences to our customers.

AI is transforming the telecommunications industry in profound ways, from enhancing customer experiences to driving operational efficiency. At Iristel, we're embracing this AI-driven evolution and are committed to leveraging AI to provide innovative unified communication solutions and exceptional service experiences to our customers.

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, delivering exceptional service is no longer just a goal; it's a necessity. To meet the demands of modern customers, companies must streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and provide seamless experiences. This is where ServiceNow comes in.

Introducing ServiceNow: Revolutionizing Service Delivery

ServiceNow is a cloud-based platform designed to automate and streamline business operations workflows. By leveraging ServiceNow's capabilities, companies can transform both customer and employee experiences, paving the way for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness.

Key Benefits of ServiceNow Integration at Iristel

At Iristel, we're committed to delivering superior service to our customers. Through our partnership with ServiceNow, we've been able to achieve just that. Here are some key benefits of ServiceNow integration at Iristel:

1. Streamlined Processes: ServiceNow allows us to automate core processes, reducing manual effort and streamlining operations.
2. Faster Service Delivery: With ServiceNow's automation capabilities, we can offer faster and more reliable services to our customers.
3. Enhanced Customer Experience: By integrating ServiceNow into our ecosystem, we've created a unified digital hub that enables seamless interactions across workflows, resulting in an enhanced customer experience.
4. AI-Driven Insights: ServiceNow provides AI-driven insights that help us develop innovative solutions and deliver proactive service notifications to our customers.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Service Delivery

As we continue to innovate and evolve, ServiceNow will remain a key partner in our journey to provide exceptional  experiences with services like VoIP systems for business . By harnessing the power of ServiceNow, we're able to stay ahead of the curve and meet the ever-changing needs of our customers.

ServiceNow is more than just a platform; it's a game-changer for businesses looking to elevate their service delivery. At Iristel, we're proud to partner with ServiceNow to provide best-in-class service experiences to our customers.

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, seamless communication is not just a convenience; it’s a business imperative. With Microsoft Teams at the forefront of collaboration, enhancing its functionality with reliable PSTN calling is crucial. This is where Operator Connect by Iristel transforms your experience, integrating effortlessly with Microsoft Teams to deliver unparalleled communication solutions

Understanding Operator Connect

Operator Connect is not just an add-on; it's a revolution in direct routing for Microsoft Teams. This innovative service simplifies the incorporation of PSTN calling, eliminating the need for complex configurations. As a leading telecom operator, Iristel provides a direct pipeline to Microsoft Teams, offering a seamless, more cost-effective communication strategy for businesses transitioning to modern telephony solutions.

Why Choose Iristel as Your Carrier?

Selecting Iristel as your Operator Connect carrier means prioritizing quality and reliability. Our proven track record in telecom services ensures that your business communications are in expert hands. Iristel’s integration with Microsoft Teams is a testament to our commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions tailored to enhance your organizational efficiency and connectivity.

Advantages of Operator Connect with Iristel

Streamlined Setup: Iristel’s integration simplifies the deployment of PSTN calling within Microsoft Teams, making it a straightforward process that saves you time and resources.

Cost-Effective Communication: Embrace the financial benefits of Operator Connect with Iristel. Say goodbye to expensive infrastructural investments and enjoy a system that’s as economical as it is efficient.

Scalable Solutions: As your business evolves, so do your communication needs. Iristel ensures your PSTN capabilities grow with you, offering scalable solutions that adapt effortlessly.

Robust Security: With Iristel, your communication is fortified with top-tier security measures. Operator Connect minimizes vulnerabilities, safeguarding your data and conversations.

Unified Experience: Experience the integration of PSTN calling directly within the Teams interface, thanks to Iristel. This unification enhances collaboration and boosts productivity across the board.

Getting Started with Iristel’s Operator Connect

Embarking on your journey with Iristel’s Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams calling is a decision to propel your business forward. The integration process is streamlined, and our team at Iristel is ready to support you every step of the way. Experience the robustness of seamless communication with Iristel and Microsoft Teams.

Conclusion

The partnership between Iristel and Microsoft Teams through Operator Connect is more than just a service; it’s a strategic move towards empowering your business with state-of-the-art communication tools. Opt for Iristel and unlock the full potential of your Microsoft Teams environment. Dive into a world where communication limitations are lifted, and every call propels you towards greater success.

Discover how Iristel’s Operator Connect can transform your business communication by visiting our website and scheduling a consultation with our experts today.

At Iristel, we constantly strive to improve our services and provide the best possible experience for our valued customers. We are thrilled to announce that we are in the process of completing our migration to a more advanced and reliable telecommunications platform. This transition marks a significant milestone in our journey to enhance our service offering by providing a superior business voice cloud calling communication experience to all our customers.

Smooth Migration Process

We are currently in the process of migrating our customers to the new network, and we would like to express our gratitude to all the customers who have already gone through this transition. Your patience and cooperation have been invaluable, and we appreciate your trust in us during this period of change.

Benefits of the New Platform 

The new platform brings a host of benefits that will significantly enhance your communication experience. Here are some key advantages you can expect:

1. Enhanced Reliability and Increased Redundancy: Robust and stable network infrastructure, minimizing downtime and providing uninterrupted service. We have also implemented increased redundancy measures, with redundant systems and backup protocols in place. This means that even in the rare event of a network failure, our backup systems will seamlessly take over, ensuring that your communications remain uninterrupted. You can rely on our services to stay connected whenever and wherever you need, with an added layer of redundancy for peace of mind.
2. Expanded Features: We are introducing an array of exciting features that will transform the way you communicate. From advanced call management capabilities to seamless integration with other communication tools, our enhanced services will empower you to be more productive and efficient.
3. Scalability and Flexibility: Our new platform self-serve capabilities allow us to scale our services seamlessly as your business grows. Whether you are a small startup or an enterprise-level organization, we can adapt to your evolving needs, ensuring a future-proof solution.
4. Improved Call Quality: Enhanced voice quality, offering crystal-clear calls and eliminating disruptions or dropped calls. Your conversations will be more immersive and professional, enabling better communication with your clients, partners, and colleagues.
5. Enhanced Security : We prioritize the security and privacy of your communications. by migrating to the new platform it comes equipped with advanced security measures, protecting your data and ensuring confidential conversations remain private.
   

Looking Ahead

As we continue the migration process, we want to assure our remaining customers that the new experience will be worth the wait. Our team is working diligently to minimize any potential disruption during the transition, ensuring a seamless and hassle-free migration for everyone.

At Iristel, we are committed to delivering an exceptional communication experience to all our customers. Moving to a new and improved platform is a significant step towards achieving that goal. We sincerely thank all our customers who have already completed the migration process and appreciate your ongoing support. To those customers who are still in the process of migration, we assure you that the benefits and reliability of new platform will surpass any temporary inconvenience. We are confident that the enhanced reliability and redundancy, expanded features, improved call quality, scalability, and heightened security will transform the way you communicate and positively impact your business.

We are excited about this new chapter and remain dedicated to providing you with the best communication solutions possible. Stay tuned for further updates as we progress towards the future of enhanced connectivity.

Are you tired of waiting on hold for customer support, only to get disconnected or transferred to another department?

Say hello to Iristel's new cloud ticketing support portal, accessible at support.iristel.com ! We're excited to announce the launch of this game-changing platform that will revolutionize the way our customers interact with us.

So, what exactly is the Iristel Cloud Ticketing Support Portal? It's an online system that allows you to submit support tickets for any issues you may encounter with your Iristel products and services. You'll receive a unique ticket number that allows you to track the progress of your request, communicate with our support team, and receive updates on the status of your ticket. This means no more waiting on hold, no more frustration, and no more wasted time!

But wait, there's more! Here are some of the benefits of our new cloud ticketing support portal:

• Faster Response Times: With our new platform, you can expect a quicker response time from our support team. Our goal is to resolve your issues as soon as possible, so you can get back to what matters most.
• 24/7 Availability: Need support outside of our regular business hours? No problem! Our cloud ticketing support portal is available 24/7, so you can submit a ticket whenever it's convenient for you.
• Efficient Communication: Our platform allows for efficient communication between you and our support team. You'll receive email notifications for each update on your ticket, so you're always in the loop.
• Continual Improvement: At Iristel, we're committed to continual improvement. We'll be using your feedback to improve our products and services, so you can expect even better support in the future.

So, what are you waiting for? Head over to support.iristel.com to create your account and start submitting tickets today. We can't wait to hear from you!

The Iristel Cloud Ticketing Support Portal is a significant step towards improving our customer experience. We believe that by providing our customers with a convenient and efficient way to request support, we can better serve their needs and exceed their expectations. We're excited to see how this platform will enhance our relationship with our customers and look forward to providing even better support in the future.

At Iristel, we pride ourselves on being a leading CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) that offers wholesale phone number services to a variety of companies. We sell millions of phone numbers to businesses of all sizes and once the numbers are sold, we have no control over how they are used.

We understand that some people may receive unwanted calls from telemarketers or scammers using phone numbers that were originally sold by Iristel. However, it is important to note that we are not responsible for these calls as we cannot control what happens to the numbers once they are sold.

Think of it like this: when Apple sells an iPhone, they can no longer control what happens to that phone once it is in the hands of the buyer. If a scammer uses an iPhone to make fraudulent calls, Apple is not responsible for the actions of the user.

Similarly, once we sell a phone number, it becomes the property of the buyer and we have no control over how they use it. We take our responsibility to provide high-quality phone number services seriously and work hard to ensure that our customers are using the numbers ethically and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Our wholesale phone number business model allows companies of all sizes to purchase phone numbers in bulk and use them for a variety of purposes, such as marketing campaigns or customer service hotlines. We offer a range of services to our customers, including toll-free numbers, vanity numbers, and local phone numbers in various area codes.

At Iristel, we believe that communication is essential for businesses to succeed, and we are proud to play a part in facilitating that communication through our wholesale phone number services. While we cannot control what happens to the numbers once they are sold, we remain committed to providing reliable and high-quality services to our customers.

As a managed service provider (MSP), your primary focus is to provide your clients with reliable and effective IT solutions, including white label VoIP, that help them achieve their business objectives. However, offering only IT solutions may not be enough to stay competitive in today's market. Many MSPs are looking for ways to diversify their offerings to generate additional revenue streams and stay ahead of the competition. One way to achieve this is through a white label partnership with Iristel.

What is a White Label Partnership?

A white label partnership allows your MSP business to offer telecommunications products and services to your clients under your own branding, without having to invest in the infrastructure or technology required to offer these services yourself. Iristel provides the telecommunications infrastructure, technology, and support, while you focus on building and maintaining relationships with your clients.

What is White Label VoIP Service?

White label VoIP refers to a service where a company can use and rebrand another company's VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) platform as their own. In this arrangement, the company utilizing the service is known as the white label VoIP partner. These partners typically do not have the infrastructure or resources to develop and maintain their own VoIP service, so they opt to partner with an established provider who can offer a white label solution.

The white label VoIP partner benefits from being able to offer a high-quality VoIP service to their customers without the need for significant investment in infrastructure or development. They are able to leverage the expertise and technology of the white label VoIP provider, while also having the flexibility to customize and rebrand the service as their own. This allows them to maintain their brand identity and offer a seamless experience to their customers.

By becoming a white label VoIP partner, companies can quickly enter the market and start offering VoIP services without the need for extensive technical knowledge or a large upfront investment. They can focus on marketing, sales, and customer support, while leaving the technical aspects of the service to the white label provider. This enables them to rapidly expand their product offering and generate additional revenue streams.

White label VoIP is a solution that allows companies to offer their own branded VoIP service without the need for significant investment in infrastructure or development. By partnering with a white label VoIP provider, companies can quickly enter the market and start offering high-quality VoIP services to their customers. This arrangement offers flexibility, customization options, and the ability to maintain brand identity.

Benefits of Adding Telecommunications Products to Your MSP Business

By adding telecommunications products and services to your MSP business through a white label partnership with Iristel, you can benefit in the following ways:

1. Increased Revenue Streams: By diversifying your offerings, you can increase your revenue streams and create new opportunities for growth.
2. Increased Client Retention: Offering a broader range of services can help you retain clients who may be considering switching to a competitor that offers a more comprehensive suite of services.
3. Improved Client Satisfaction: Providing clients with a one-stop-shop for their IT and telecommunications needs can lead to increased satisfaction and a stronger relationship with your clients.
4. Competitive Advantage: Offering telecommunications products and services can differentiate your MSP business from competitors who only offer IT solutions.
5. Access to New Markets: Offering telecommunications products and services can open up new markets and client segments, leading to additional growth opportunities.

Iristel's White Label Telecommunications Products 

Iristel offers a range of white label telecommunications products and services that can complement your existing MSP business offerings. These products and services include:

1. Hosted PBX: Iristel's hosted PBX solution allows you to offer your clients a cloud-based phone system with advanced features such as auto attendant, call routing, voicemail, and more.
2. SIP Trunking: Iristel's SIP trunking solution allows you to offer your clients a cost-effective way to connect their on-premise PBX to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
3. Toll-Free Services: Iristel's toll-free services allow your clients to provide their customers with a free and convenient way to contact them.
4. International Numbers: Iristel offers international phone numbers from over 60 countries, allowing your clients to establish a local presence in new markets.
5. SMS Services: Iristel's SMS services allow your clients to send and receive text messages from their existing business phone number.
6. Cybersecurity: As cyber threats become more sophisticated, businesses need robust cybersecurity solutions to protect their data and networks. MSPs can offer cybersecurity services such as firewall protection, antivirus, malware detection, and penetration testing. With Iristel's white label cybersecurity solutions, MSPs can offer their clients a comprehensive suite of cybersecurity services that can be customized to their specific needs and requirements.

Adding telecommunications products and services to your MSP business through a white label partnership with Iristel can provide a range of benefits, including increased revenue streams, improved client satisfaction, and a competitive advantage. With Iristel's range of white label telecommunications products and services, you can offer your clients a comprehensive suite of IT and telecommunications solutions under your own branding, without having to invest in the infrastructure or technology required to offer these services yourself.

At Iristel, we are in the midst of a legal battle over millions of dollars in denied tax credits. We firmly believe that we are entitled to fair and equitable treatment in our dealings with the Canadian government, and we are determined to see this legal challenge through to the end.

The appeals court decision in our case has raised important questions about the jurisdiction of the Tax Court of Canada and the power of courts to review the Canada Revenue Agency's administrative decisions. We strongly disagree with the Federal Court of Appeal's ruling against us, and we have appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

This legal battle is not just about recovering lost revenue for us. It is also about setting a precedent for fairness and equity in the Canadian tax and legal system. We believe that all businesses should be treated fairly under Canadian law, and we are proud to fight for what we believe in.

We recognize that the outcome of this case will have far-reaching implications, not just for the telecommunications industry but also for how the Canadian government interacts with the private sector. That is why we are not just fighting for ourselves but for all businesses in Canada.

We know that this legal battle will not be easy, but we are determined to see it through to the end. As our President and CEO, Samer Bishay, has stated, "the issue of oversight of government conduct and the jurisdiction of the courts in Canada is an issue of national importance," and we are proud to be at the forefront of this fight.

At Iristel, we believe that our fight for fair taxation is a battle for what's right. We will not rest until we have secured justice and fairness in the Canadian tax and legal system, not just for ourselves but for all businesses in Canada.



Are you a business owner looking to expand your revenue streams and offer new services to your customers? Becoming a white label partner with Iristel can be a game-changer for your business.

  Iristel offers a turnkey solution that enables you to provide your customers with a range of communication and IT services, including cloud business phone systems, Unified Communications, Cybersecurity, Business Process Outsourcing, and managed services. As a white label VoIP partner, you get to own the customer relationship, bill and support your customer, and set your own margins. Iristel is there to support you every step of the way.

One of the biggest benefits of partnering with Iristel is the ease and speed with which you can get started. Iristel provides everything you need to be successful, including a provisioning and customer support portal, a support ticketing system, training, billing (if required), marketing, and go-to-market guidance. With Iristel, you can be up and running in a short period of time, without the hassle and cost of building your own solution from scratch.

As a white label VoIP services provider, you get to customize the services you offer to your customers and create your own brand. You can choose to offer one or several of Iristel's products and services and tailor them to meet your customers' specific needs. This flexibility allows you to differentiate your business and stand out from your competitors.

Iristel's white label VoIP services offer a win-win scenario for both parties. You get to add new revenue streams to your business, while Iristel benefits from increased market reach and customer acquisition.

White Label VoIP FAQs

By partnering with Iristel, you also gain access to a team of experts who are dedicated to helping you succeed.

If you're looking to grow your business and offer new services to your customers, becoming a white label VoIP partner with Iristel is a smart choice. With a range of products and services to offer, and the support of a dedicated team, you can take your business to the next level. Visit iristel.com to learn more about Iristel's white label VoIP partner program and how it can benefit your business or reach out to us for a 1 on 1 meeting to discuss the potential.

On one hand, my telecom company and I have top secret security clearance from the federal government, and yet another part of the Ottawa bureaucracy is convinced we we're crooks.

It doesn't add up.

There has been much talk lately about Canada feeling broken and our story does little to dispel such talk.

Unequivocally, we are not crooks.

And just as unequivocally, Ottawa is broken when one department – Canada Revenue Agency – accuses us of stealing from the taxman while law enforcement agencies see the value of us helping protect the treasury from nefarious people using technology and advanced networks to scam Canadians and our
government coffers.

We can't be such bad actors if the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and other law enforcement agencies give us top secret clearances to help them resolve complex telecom issues, including potential national security threats.

For example, to combat the tide of digital malevolence from domestic and foreign enemies, Ottawa has set up the Lawfully Authorized Electronic Surveillance ( LAES ) Sub-Committee. Its members include federal government officials, from many agencies who invite partners like us to offer expertise.graph

The L AES group is empowered to ensure the security and safety of Canadians while finding a balance with privacy protection and promoting coordinated approaches for dealing with challenges caused by ever-changing new technologies.

And like other telecommunications and technology firms, my company, Iristel, and I have been thoroughly vetted by Canadian law enforcement. I was also personally vetted by the Canadian Armed Forces in 2019 before being appointed Honorary Colonel of the 34 Signal Regiment

Which makes CRA's four-year (and counting) attack on us all the more perplexing.

Our case is before the courts, which limits disclosure.

CRA claims we are committing fraud by seeking GST rebates of more than $100 million without collecting a similar amount.

The GST – a value-added tax – is similar to consumption taxes around the world. On the corporate side, as opposed to consumers, the tax works this way: Companies pay the tax on goods and services, while collecting the tax on products and services they sell with the net differnce either paid to or refunded from the tax department.

But with advanced technology networks, this simple supply chain of sales and GST collection is not always so simple.

Take voice over internet protocol (VoIP) calling and how we got on the wrong side of the CRA. VoIP, in part or whole, is used in virtually all wireless and wireline phone calls today.

Whenever a VoIP call is placed, it pings around the internet, bouncing from server to server, to complete the transaction. According to CRA testimony, it sees each computer like a stop in the traditional supply chain and believes the GST should apply at each server.

But most of our telecom services are exported to the U.S. and elsewhere via servers on the internet. Under law, the GST is not charged on exports.

The big phone companies are shielded from CRA audits and harassment on this issue. That's because with their 90 per cent market share, Bell, Telus and Rogers are already collecting so much GST from all their Canadian customers that they are all remitting huge sums of GST money back to the CRA. With our smaller Canadian customer base, we end up in a refund position from the CRA.

Through our Canadian suppliers, for items like rent and telecom infrastructure, Iristel is paying the GST. But the CRA refuses to re-imburse us and make us whole because it thinks we're pulling some scam.

"Perhaps to obscure this deficiency, the CRA's presentation tends to wander from fact into poetry," international tax lawyer and professor Richard Ainsworth – who has 30 years' experience in VAT fraud, tax technology, and effective policy responses to tech-based frauds — said in a
written affidavit in our case.

"There are elegant software solutions to VoIP fraud. They have been around for over a decade," Ainsworth says. "It is unfortunate that Canada has not adopted these tools. Cases like (Iristel) only advertise Canadian vulnerability."

Other countries, such as the United Kingdom , have adapted tax laws to limit technology-based fraud and not just when it comes to VAT rebates, but also things like carbon credits and natural resources credits.

Two years ago, in February 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada ended a 13-year battle between the CRA and Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp. , a publicly-traded uranium miner.

Like us, CRA accused Cameco of using shell companies to defraud the treasury.

"It has been incredibly disheartening for us, as a Canadian company, to have an agency of our federal government continue to pursue a flawed argument for 13 years, even after law-abiding companies like Cameco and Iristel.

If CRA feels the laws arenʼt written the way they want, itʼs clear they need to make the case to government to change those laws moving forward rather than unfairly dragging Canadian businesses through long and costly legal processes,” Gitzel added.

The GST amounts to 12 per cent of federal government revenues or more than $40 billion annually. Thatʼs a lot of money, especially considering the auditor general recently found that federal government may have overpaid as much as $32 billion in COVID-19 financial aid.

It sure feels like things are broken.

Author: Dr. Tarek Khei

Small business owners have a lot on their plate, and the last thing they want to worry about is the security of their digital systems. By working with a cybersecurity organization, small business owners can have peace of mind knowing their data is secure and their business is protected. They can rest assured that their digital systems and sensitive information are in good hands and that they are taking the necessary steps to protect their business from cyber threats.

Small businesses today are facing numerous cybersecurity challenges such as hacking, phishing, and ransomware attacks, to name a few. With sensitive information being stored on digital systems, it's crucial for small business owners to secure their data. However, with so many security options available, it can be challenging to determine the best fit for their business.

That's where cybersecurity experts come in. A cybersecurity organization is comprised of specialists in information security who can assist small businesses in evaluating their current security measures, finding any weaknesses, and suggesting areas for improvement. By partnering with a cybersecurity expert, small business owners can reap the following benefits:

Let a cybersecurity expert guide you in creating a roadmap to secure your small business's digital systems. This roadmap will provide a clear understanding of potential risks and the necessary measures to mitigate them, ensuring a smooth and secure journey for your business.

Partner with a cybersecurity expert to boost your small business's security measures. Experience enhanced protection with firewalls, MDR, SIEM, two-factor authentication… Furthermore, your employees will be trained on recognizing and responding to cyber threats, ensuring a fortified defense against any potential dangers.

Avoid costly mistakes and achieve long-term savings. DIY security measures can lead to security breaches and misconfigurations, costing your business dearly. A cybersecurity expert will help you avoid these pitfalls and maximize your investment, securing both your business and your budget.

The field of cybersecurity is constantly changing, and small business owners need to keep pace to secure their systems. Partner with a cybersecurity expert for continuous learning and stay informed  about the latest threats and best practices through regular training and updates.

In today's digital world, small businesses face various cyber threats! Don't let your business fall victim to these dangers. By working with a cybersecurity expert, you'll enjoy a secure digital infrastructure, cost savings, peace of mind, and ongoing learning opportunities. Invest in your business's future and secure your digital systems today!

If you're interested in learning more about how cybersecurity services from Iristel can benefit your company, reach out to Iristel today to discuss how we can help.

In today's fast-paced business world, communication is key. Whether you're a small business owner or managing a large enterprise, having an efficient and reliable phone system is crucial to your success. A unified business phone system can help streamline your communication, improve customer service, and boost productivity. In this blog, we will explore the benefits of a unified business phone system and why it's a smart investment for any organization.

1.    Streamlined Communication
A unified business phone system combines all communication channels, such as voice, video, and instant messaging, into a single platform. This means you no longer have to manage multiple systems or services to communicate with your team and clients. With a unified system, all your communication channels are integrated, making it easier to collaborate and communicate effectively.

2.    Improved Customer Service
With a unified business phone system, you can provide a seamless customer experience. Customers can reach you via various communication channels, such as voice, email, or chat, and you can access all their communication history in one place. This allows you to provide better and more personalized customer service. Additionally, a unified system allows you to transfer calls easily, reducing wait times and improving overall customer satisfaction.



3.   Increased Productivity
A unified business phone system also boosts productivity. By consolidating all communication channels, your team can focus on their work without worrying about missing important messages or calls. The system also offers advanced features, such as call routing, call forwarding, and voicemail-to-email, which enable your team to manage their time more efficiently. With a unified system, you can also analyze call data and gain insights into your team's performance, allowing you to make data-driven decisions that improve productivity

4.    Cost Savings
Investing in a unified business phone system can also help you save costs. By consolidating all communication channels into a single platform, you can reduce the number of subscriptions and services you need. Additionally, a unified system offers advanced features, such as conferencing and video calls, which can reduce travel costs and increase collaboration. With a unified system, you also have greater control over your communication expenses, allowing you to manage your budget more effectively

A unified business phone system is a smart investment for any organization. It streamlines communication, improves customer service, boosts productivity, and saves costs. With its advanced features and integration capabilities, a unified system can help you take your business to the next level. If you're looking for a reliable and efficient communication solution, consider investing in a unified business phone system today.

If you're interested in learning more about how a business phone system from Iristel can benefit your company, reach out to Iristel today to discuss how we can help.

Without proper communication, it is impossible to establish a strong and successful business. Business voice cloud calling systems are the most important tools that organizations rely on for communication. However, traditional business phone systems are becoming outdated, and many organizations are now switching to cloud-based business phone systems. These systems are not only more flexible and feature-rich, but they are also more cost-effective. In this blog post, we will explore the cost benefits of cloud-based business phone systems.

Cost Savings
The cost benefits of cloud-based business phone systems are significant. One of the most significant cost savings comes from the fact that there are no upfront costs for hardware and installation. In a traditional business phone system, an organization needs to invest in hardware, software, and installation costs. This can be quite expensive, especially for small businesses. However, with cloud-based business phone systems, all hardware and software are provided by the service provider, and the organization only pays for the service. This means that organizations can avoid large upfront costs and can pay a low monthly fee for the service.

Reduced Maintenance Costs
Another significant cost benefit of cloud-based business phone systems is that they require less maintenance. With traditional business phone systems, an organization needs to maintain the hardware and software, which can be quite expensive. However, with cloud-based business phone systems, all maintenance and upgrades are taken care of by the service provider. This means that organizations can avoid maintenance costs and can focus on their core business operations.

Flexible Pricing Plans
Cloud-based business phone systems offer flexible pricing plans that can be customized to fit an organization's specific needs. The service provider can provide a variety of pricing plans, depending on the organization's size, number of employees, and communication needs. This means that organizations can choose a pricing plan that fits their budget and only pay for the services they need.

Scalability
Cloud-based business phone systems are also more scalable than traditional business phone systems. With traditional phone systems, adding more lines or features can be quite complicated and expensive. However, with cloud-based business phone systems, adding more lines or features is simple and can be done in minutes. This means that organizations can easily scale up or down depending on their changing communication needs.

The cost benefits of cloud-based business phone systems can be significant. With reduced upfront costs, lower maintenance costs, flexible pricing plans, and scalability, organizations can save money and focus on their core business operations. If you are still using a traditional business phone system, it's time to switch to a cloud-based business phone system and take advantage of these cost benefits.

If you're interested in learning more about how a business phone system from Iristel can benefit your company, reach out to Iristel today to discuss how we can help.

Business owners know that communication is key to success. A reliable and efficient phone system is essential for keeping in touch with customers, clients, and employees. However, many business owners are not utilizing all of the features that their phone system has to offer. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your business phone system, including hunt groups, auto attendants, call forwarding, voicemail, SMS, and third-party integrations.

Hunt Groups: A hunt group is a feature that allows you to distribute incoming calls to multiple extensions or employees. This can be particularly useful for businesses with high call volume or those that need to ensure that calls are answered promptly. By setting up a hunt group, you can ensure that your customers are always connected to someone who can assist them.

Auto Attendants: An auto attendant is an automated system that greets callers and directs them to the appropriate extension or department. This can be a great way to improve call routing and reduce wait times for customers. You can also use an auto attendant to provide callers with important information, such as business hours or contact information.

Call Forwarding: Call forwarding is a feature that allows you to route calls to different numbers or extensions. This can be particularly useful for businesses with employees who work remotely or are frequently on the go. By setting up call forwarding, you can ensure that your employees are always reachable and that calls are not missed.

Voicemail: Voicemail is an essential feature for any business phone system. It allows callers to leave a message if the intended recipient is not available. Voicemail can be accessed remotely, which means that you can check your messages from anywhere. Additionally, voicemail can be integrated with email, which means that you can receive your voicemail messages as an audio file in your email inbox.

SMS: SMS (short message service) is a feature that allows you to send and receive text messages through your business phone system. This can be a great way to communicate with customers and employees who prefer text messaging. Additionally, SMS can be integrated with other features, such as call forwarding or voicemail, to provide a more comprehensive communication solution.

Third-Party Integrations: Many business phone systems can be integrated with third-party applications, such as CRM software or project management tools. This can be a great way to improve collaboration and streamline communication within your business. By integrating your phone system with other tools, you can ensure that all of your communication is in one place and that everyone is on the same page.

A business phone system is an essential tool for any business. By utilizing all of the features that your phone system has to offer, you can improve call routing, reduce wait times, and ensure that all of your communication is in one place. Additionally, by integrating your phone system with third-party applications, you can improve collaboration and streamline communication within your business. By following these tips, you can maximize your business phone system and take your communication to the next level.

If you're interested in learning more about how a business phone system from Iristel can benefit your company, reach out to Iristel today to discuss how we can help.

When it comes to running a business, having a reliable and efficient phone system is crucial. A cloud-based phone system offers a number of benefits over traditional phone systems, including cost savings, scalability, and flexibility. However, with so many options on the market, it can be overwhelming to choose the right business phone system for your needs. In this blog post, we will guide you through the process of selecting a cloud-based phone system that will meet the unique requirements of your business.

1. Identify Your Business Needs
   The first step in choosing a cloud-based phone system is to identify your business needs. Consider the number of employees who will be using the system, the types of calls they will be making, and the features that are important to your business. For example, if your business relies heavily on customer service, a business phone system with advanced call routing and voicemail capabilities will be essential. If your employees work remotely, a system with mobile integration will be important. By identifying your business needs, you can narrow down the list of potential phone systems and focus on those that will best meet your requirements.
2. Compare Features
   Once you have identified your business needs, you can start comparing the features of different business phone systems. Look for a system that offers the features that are most important to your business, such as call recording, call forwarding, and voicemail. Also, consider the user interface and ease of use, as well as the level of customer support offered by the provider. Keep in mind that some features may come at an additional cost, so be sure to factor this into your decision-making process.
3. Assess Scalability
   Another important factor to consider when choosing a cloud-based phone system is scalability. A business phone system that can grow with your business will be more cost-effective in the long run. Look for a system that can accommodate an increasing number of users and lines as your business grows. Additionally, consider the system's ability to adapt to changing business needs, such as new locations or expansion into new markets.
4. Evaluate Reliability
   The reliability of a business phone system is critical to the success of your business. Look for a system that has a proven track record of uptime and reliability . Also, consider the system's ability to handle high call volumes and unexpected spikes in traffic. A system that is prone to downtime or has a poor call quality can negatively impact your business operations and customer satisfaction.
5. Consider the Cost
   Cost is always a consideration when choosing a business phone system. Cloud-based phone systems can be more cost-effective than traditional phone systems, but it's important to compare costs and determine which system offers the best value for your business. Consider the initial cost, as well as any ongoing costs, such as monthly fees or additional features. Also, consider the long-term cost savings that a cloud-based phone system can offer, such as reduced hardware and maintenance costs.
6. Read Reviews
   Finally, before making a decision, read reviews from other businesses that have used the business phone system you are considering. This will give you an idea of the experiences other businesses have had with the system and will help you make an informed decision.
   
   Choosing the right cloud-based phone system for your business can be a daunting task. However, by identifying your business needs, comparing features, assessing scalability, evaluating reliability, considering the cost, and reading reviews, you can make an informed decision and select a business phone system that will meet the unique requirements of your business.

In today's fast-paced business world, technology plays a vital role in helping companies stay connected and productive. One such technology that is becoming increasingly popular among businesses is the business VoIP phone system . This type of phone system utilizes the internet to make and receive calls, rather than traditional telephone lines. Let’s explore the many advantages that a business VoIP phone system can offer.

1. Cost Savings

One of the biggest advantages of a business VoIP phone system is the cost savings it can provide. Traditional telephone lines can be expensive, especially for businesses that make a lot of long-distance or international calls . With a business VoIP phone system, all calls are made over the internet, which eliminates the need for costly telephone lines. Additionally, many VoIP providers offer unlimited calling plans, which can save businesses even more money.

2. Scalability

Another advantage of a business VoIP phone system is its scalability. As a business grows and expands, it can be challenging to add new phone lines and extensions. With a VoIP system, it is easy to add new users and extensions as needed. This is because all calls are made over the internet, which eliminates the need for additional telephone lines.

3. Flexibility

A business VoIP phone system also offers a high level of flexibility. With traditional telephone lines, employees are tied to their desks in order to make and receive calls. With a VoIP system, employees can make and receive calls from any location with internet access. This means that employees can work remotely or from different locations, which can increase productivity and efficiency.New paragraph

4. Advanced Features

Another advantage of a business VoIP phone system is the advanced features it offers. Many VoIP providers offer features such as call forwarding, call waiting, voicemail, and caller ID. These features can increase productivity and efficiency for businesses. Additionally, many VoIP providers offer integration with other business tools such as CRM software, which can help streamline business processes.

5. Reliability

A business VoIP phone system is also a reliable option for businesses. With traditional telephone lines, outages and other issues can occur, which can disrupt business operations. With a business VoIP phone solutions , all calls are made over the internet, which eliminates the need for telephone lines. This means that businesses can continue to make and receive calls even in the event of an outage or other issue.

A business VoIP phone system can offer a wide range of advantages for businesses. From cost savings and scalability to flexibility and advanced features, this type of phone system can help businesses stay connected and productive. If you're considering a business VoIP phone system for your business, it's important to research different providers and compare features to find the best option for your needs.

Staying connected is more important than ever. Traditional phone systems are becoming obsolete, and businesses are turning to cloud-based solutions for their communication needs. Cloud-based business phone systems offer a wide range of benefits, from cost savings to scalability and flexibility.

One of the biggest advantages of cloud-based business phone systems is the ability to scale up or down as needed. This means that businesses can add or remove lines as their needs change, without the need for costly hardware or installation. This is particularly beneficial for businesses that experience seasonal fluctuations in call volume or those that are growing quickly.

Another benefit of cloud-based business phone systems is the cost savings. Traditional phone systems require a significant upfront investment, as well as ongoing maintenance and upgrade costs. Cloud-based systems, on the other hand, are subscription-based and require no hardware investment. This means businesses can save thousands of dollars in the long run.

Cloud-based business phone systems also offer a high level of flexibility and mobility. With cloud-based systems, employees can access their phone lines from anywhere, using their mobile devices or laptops. This means that businesses can have a virtual office, with employees working from home or on the road.

In addition to flexibility and mobility, cloud-based business phone systems also offer advanced features, such as call routing, voicemail to email, and call recording. These features can help businesses improve their customer service, increase efficiency and productivity, and ensure compliance with legal regulations.

Cloud-based business phone systems are an excellent choice for businesses looking for a cost-effective, flexible, and feature-rich communication solution. With the ability to scale up or down, cost savings, flexibility, and advanced features, cloud-based systems offer a wide range of benefits for businesses of all sizes.

In today's fast-paced business environment, communication is key to success. Whether it's connecting with clients, communicating with employees, or collaborating with partners, the ability to communicate effectively can make or break a business. One of the most effective ways to streamline your communications is by implementing a business VoIP phone systems .

Business phone systems are designed to provide a centralized platform for all your communication needs. They can be used for both internal and external communications and are typically more reliable and efficient than traditional telephone systems. For example, business VoIP phone systems often include features such as call forwarding, voicemail, and conference calling . These features help to streamline communication and make it easier for employees to stay connected, even when they are out of the office.

Another benefit of business phone systems is that they can be customized to fit the specific needs of your business. For example, if you are a small business, you may only need basic features such as call forwarding and voicemail. However, if you are a larger business, you may require more advanced features such as call routing, auto-attendant, and call queuing. By customizing your business phone system to fit your specific needs, you can ensure that your employees have the tools they need to communicate effectively.

Business phone systems can also help to improve the overall customer experience. Many business phone systems include features such as call routing and auto-attendant, which can help to ensure that customers are connected to the right person quickly and efficiently. This can help to improve customer satisfaction and reduce customer wait times.

In addition to these benefits, business phone systems can also help to reduce costs. Traditional telephone systems often require expensive hardware and installation costs. However, many business phone systems can be accessed through the cloud, which can significantly reduce costs. This makes them a more cost-effective solution for businesses of all sizes.

Overall, implementing a business phone system can provide many benefits for your business. From streamlining communication to improving the customer experience, business phone systems can help to make your business more efficient and cost-effective. If you are looking to improve your business communications, consider investing in a business phone system.

MARKHAM, Ontario--( BUSINESS WIRE )--Iristel, a global communications firm, announced today the launch of wireless number portability. This launch provides customers with a quicker method of transitioning their numbers to maintain business continuity. The average port time for wireless numbers is 5 hours vs 5 days for wireline numbers. All wireless numbers are also SMS ready.

Iristel takes porting seriously and we’ve put together a team of dedicated porting specialists that make sure the process runs smoothly, no matter the number of DIDs or carriers involved. Our team members have vast experience exclusively around LNP and their dedication and consistency allows us to perform a large number of simultaneous ports, hot-cuts and outside hour projects.

Iristel CLEC status for over 20 years in Canada means that we have direct and solid relationships with all carriers’ LNP departments, we know the particularities of each of them and we are always following the latest industry standards.

The Iristel APIs are a suite of powerful tools for enabling you to keep the most crucial processes in the spaces your team is already familiar with. We have built the API to integrate the same functionalities as the portal with the added benefit of a dedicated API engineer to take care of your account. In the long run, making use of our LNP API means that you will depend less on interaction with customer service, with increased response times and options to customize the client experience.

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a company that operates a Nomad mobile network, a unique two-way radio digital trunking network built to meet the specific needs of Canada’s rural regions.

MARKHAM, Ontario--( BUSINESS WIRE )--Iristel, a global telecommunications service provider, announced today its expansion into Kenya. This expansion provides Iristel a presence in Africa, as it looks to expand its wide range of communications solutions to new emerging markets.

Company CEO Samer Bishay @SBishayIRIS states: “Today is an exciting day as we are pleased to bring Kenya businesses carrier grade communication solutions. We will begin with our best-in-class wholesale services and expand our product offering in the coming months.”

For this initial rollout of our global expansion, we will provide the capability to purchase SIP trunks, which can be aggregated with our onnet footprint, and DIDs.

Iristel’s voice service offers an expansive, facilities-based local telephone number coverage and inbound voice origination service that enables over-the-top (OTT) and voice service providers the ability to offer innovative voice and messaging (SMS) services to their business or consumer end users. This wholesale service aggregates all calls to Iristel managed telephone numbers and hands it off to a single or multiple customer IP addresses. Iristel customers use this service to deploy next-gen primary line voice services to consumers, augment their toll-free numbers with more cost-effective local numbers that also provide a local touch or to create new mobile or OTT based applications for consumers. Iristel’s voice service is unique in that it offers service providers with the near ubiquitous local service reach, network scale and routing flexibility.

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and Telecommunications de l’Est (TDE), a company that operates a Nomad mobile network, a unique two-way radio digital trunking network built to meet the specific needs of Canada’s rural regions.

It's crucial to keep your business protected against cyber attacks. Not only can these attacks be incredibly costly, but they can also damage your reputation and lead to long-term negative consequences.

According to a recent study, cyber attacks cost businesses an average of $200,000 per incident. This cost includes not only the direct financial impact of the attack, but also the loss of customers, decreased productivity, and the cost of recovering from the attack.

In addition to the financial impact, cyber attacks can also harm your company's reputation. Customers may be hesitant to do business with a company that has been the victim of a cyber attack, and the negative publicity can have long-term consequences for your business.

Furthermore, cyber attacks can result in the loss of sensitive information, such as customer data and proprietary information. This loss of information can lead to legal and regulatory issues, further damaging your business.

Fortunately, there are steps that businesses can take to protect themselves against cyber attacks. This includes implementing strong security measures, conducting IP vulnerability scans and having professionally monitored and managed cybersecurity services that keep you protected 24/7/365. You can also regularly back up data and provide employees with cybersecurity training.

By taking these steps, you can reduce the likelihood of your business being the victim of a cyber attack and protect your company's financial and reputational health.

Protecting your business against cyber attacks is crucial. The financial and reputational costs of an attack can be devastating, so it's essential to take the necessary steps to protect your company. By implementing strong security measures and regularly training employees, you can greatly reduce the likelihood of a cyber attack and protect your business from long-term negative consequences.

As a business owner, it's important to stay connected with your team and clients to maintain productivity and foster collaboration. With the rise of remote work, having a reliable and efficient communication tool is crucial.

Enter Iristel Calling for Webex. This platform offers a comprehensive suite of tools for business calling, including audio conferencing, video conferencing, and instant messaging.

One of the key benefits is its seamless integration with other Webex tools, such as Webex Meetings and Webex Teams. This allows for easy collaboration and efficient communication across all platforms.

In addition, Iristel Calling for Webex offers a variety of features that enhance the user experience. With the ability to easily switch between audio and video calls, as well as the option to record and share meetings, it ensures that no important information is lost.

Another advantage of Iristel Calling for Webex is its security. With end-to-end encryption and secure dial-in options, businesses can trust that their communications are safe and secure.

Furthermore, the solution is highly scalable, allowing businesses to add users and features as their needs evolve. This means that businesses can easily adapt to changes without having to switch to a new platform.

In short, Iristel Calling for Webex is the perfect solution for businesses looking for a comprehensive and reliable communication tool. Its seamless integration, enhanced features, security, and scalability make it the ideal choice for businesses of all sizes.

5 Things You Need to Know about Webex Meetings

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Webex has come a long way. We recently unpacked a lot of great innovation in the new meetings experience. The great thing about Webex Meetings is that it’s a full video and content-sharing cloud solution that you can join via desktop, mobile, browser, and video devices.  Webex Meetings  is more powerful than ever before. Bring meetings to the way you work, not the other way around.We recently announced a whole new level of collaboration, bringing meetings and team collaboration together on a single platform. Now, everyone who uses Webex Meetings also has access to  Cisco Webex Teams  (formerly Cisco Spark), helping everyone collaborate, even after the meeting ends.

We’ve integrated the latest artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning technologies into the meetings experience to keep participants engaged. Webex Meetings can automatically detect background noise to remove distractions. The video delivers optimal views of people and content. Core functionality like start/join a meeting, attendee rosters, and more are at your fingertips no matter how you join.

Simple to join on any platform

I appreciate being able to join a scheduled meeting simply by pressing the big green button on my desktop, mobile device, or Cisco video device. Cisco is the only vendor to offer a single, consistent one-button join across devices and apps. We’ve simplified things. You don’t have to figure out how to join — the green join button comes to you.

Webex has the most comprehensive, browser-based meeting experience on the market today. If you are invited to a Webex meeting, all you need to do is click the big green button in the invitation and it takes you right in. This is especially important for first-time users. There’s nothing to install, plug in, or download to join from Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari browsers. And joining from a browser doesn’t mean you have to compromise on features. Hosts and participants get the rich video and application screen-sharing of the desktop version. You have full control and can see everyone participating.

Plays well with others

We’ve also made sure that Webex works with your preferred collaboration tools. Webex not only works across our own hardware and software but also with third-party solutions. You can join or a start a meeting from Webex or do it from Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Workplace by Facebook. It also works with calendars like Google Calendar. Support for Microsoft Office 365 is right around the corner. These integrations mean you do less switching between apps and have a more efficient workflow. You get the trusted, seamless, and reliable Webex features in the environment that you choose.

The best mobile meeting experience

Several enhancements make it easier be more productive and engaged – even on the road. For a long time, it was hard to see the other people in a meeting if you joined from a mobile device. Likewise, functionality like content sharing and scheduling weren’t options. We’ve turned the experience around and used the latest technologies to make significant improvements that help mobile users get an equal seat at the meeting table.

We’ve optimized the interface for better viewing. Pinch-and-zoom technology makes it easier to see who’s in the meeting and what they’re sharing. You’ll get native screen sharing and the easiest scheduling on the market. If you are an Apple user, you can now use voice commands, Touch ID, and Face ID.

Unparalleled speed and bandwidth

All Webex products use the Cisco network backbone, regardless of how attendees join. It’s a trusted, worldwide IP network built over the last 10 years with interconnects around the world. No other company can do this. Webex connects with both public cloud providers and our own data centers. Regardless of how you join, traffic hops off the Internet as soon as possible and enters the Webex backbone, minimizing latency, bandwidth, jitter, and packet-loss issues that happen so often on the public Web.

Grows with your business needs

Several options for using Webex let you mix and match between services as your business evolves. In addition to a free trial, there are several Webex Meetings subscription models for individuals, teams, departments, and, of course, companies. The offers are competitively priced and flexible so that you can choose a buying model based on your current requirements. Market-leading, secure, innovative Webex Meetings, plus team collaboration, unlimited VoIP, global PSTN audio services, technical support, customer success, and even analytics are all included so you always get the best features and services Webex has to offer.

We can’t wait hear what you think about the new Webex – please share your comments below.

As we continue to make fundamental shifts in our lifestyle to combat the Coronavirus, this has also entailed a drastic increase in data usage across Canada and the world. This instant spike in network load has created choke points that did not exist in the past, so we are working tirelessly to address to provide you with the best possible experience. There are several significant actions you can take to  enhance your data speeds  and reduce network load. We thank you for your patience in light of this unprecedented situation. Read more about it  here .

Recent events have made us even more dependent on digital connectivity. In response, Iristel and Ice Wireless are temporarily removing the throttling of data usage above the allotted plan requirements on all unlimited wireless data plans (which was previously throttled after 10GB usage on the Home network). Iristel is committed to enabling the health and well-being of our users by providing this worry-free convenience. We are all in this together.

A new area code – “428” is coming to New Brunswick (NB) on November 21, 2020. The new area code will be added to the code for the region: 506.



Existing customers’ phone numbers will not be impacted. After November 21, 2020, area code “428” will start to be assigned by providers.

Soon, you will be able to dial 9-8-8 to reach a mental health crisis and suicide prevention hotline. This service will be available in the United States starting on July 16, 2022.

9-8-8 is not available yet in Canada, but help is still available. Adults can text 741741 and youth can text 686868. Quebec residents can text 1-855-957-5353. You can also call Canada’s suicide prevention service at 1-833-456-4566.

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a company that operates a Nomad mobile network, a unique two-way radio digital trunking network built to meet the specific needs of Canada’s rural regions.

For more information:

www.iristel.com

pr@iristel.com

or call 416-800-0010

A new area code – “753” is coming to Eastern Ontario on March 26, 2022. The new area code will be added to the codes for the region: 613/343. Existing customers’ phone numbers will not be impacted. After March 26, 2022, area code 753 will start to be assigned by providers.

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a company that operates a Nomad mobile network, a unique two-way radio digital trunking network built to meet the specific needs of Canada’s rural regions.

For more information:

www.iristel.com

pr@iristel.com

or call 416-800-0010

A new area code – “368” is coming to Alberta (AB) on April 23, 2022. The new area code will be added to the codes for the region: 403/587/780/825. Existing customers’ phone numbers will not be impacted. After April 23, 2022, area code “368” will start to be assigned by providers.

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a company that operates a Nomad mobile network, a unique two-way radio digital trunking network built to meet the specific needs of Canada’s rural regions.

For more information:

www.iristel.com

pr@iristel.com

or call 416-800-0010

Iristel is committed to maintaining the integrity and security of our network and in full transparency, wanted to make customers aware of the issue at hand that was impacting our network.

On Monday, November 15th at approximately 11:00 (EST), Iristel had a cyber-attack attempt (known technically as DDoS) on a network element, specifically a port on an element. The port establishes connection to and from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). This caused a packet loss (electronic method of transporting conversations over the internet) to our Core Network that hindered the ability to establish a voice call.

Our senior engineers, along with our partners were fully engaged and dedicated on resolving the issue at hand to restore service, which has now stabilized and is functioning without disruption, per our current data, after implementing the permanent fix.

On behalf of the entire Iristel Team, we sincerely apologize over this disruption of service as we are keenly aware of the frustration it has caused to your business. We are very proud in the trust that you have in our company to deliver your services and we continue to monitor the entire network. More information and updates can be found at https://status.iristel.com/

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a company that operates a Nomad mobile network, a unique two-way radio digital trunking network built to meet the specific needs of Canada’s rural regions.

For more information:

www.iristel.com

pr@iristel.com

or call 416-800-0010

To Our Valued Customers and Partners,

On Monday, November 15th, as you already know, Iristel became the latest in Canada’s VoIP community to come under cyber attack. It was a network-level large scale Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that attempted to make our services unavailable by overwhelming the network with traffic from multiple sources. 

The Russian-based “REvil” group – short for “Ransomware-Evil” – claimed responsibility and demanded a ransom payment. REvil is known as one of the world's most prolific ransomware gangs and has staged several attacks this year against major companies and organizations around the world.

I am pleased to report Iristel beat back the attack and our network was fully restored to optimum levels in record time, fewer than 48 hours, and no ransom was paid. 

Although Iristel is not the household telecom brand, we touch countless businesses and consumer lives with every minute we carry voice and data across the largest VoIP network in Canada. As such, you felt the impact of this paralyzing event. We work for you, and we take pride in connecting people, that is why we countered this with full force.

It’s only during these times – a crisis – that one truly realizes and fully appreciates the positive impact of our services, our customers, and our team.

You, our partner, have chosen us to support your customers. We strive to create a partnership built on quality, survivability, and trust. We take great pride in the integrity and security of our network.

I have spoken to many of you during this time. I heard you loud and clear. The vulnerability feeling caused by these attacks is very unsettling, but I refuse to be a victim. That is why we will tirelessly monitor and make our ecosystem even smarter, driven both by machine learning and human engineering excellence to prevent such attacks. 

I want to thank those carrier partners who have offered their support during these difficult times. 

We know this is not over for the VoIP industry as a whole. The DDoS threat will rear its ugly head again. Now we need to be an active part of the solution. We have already contacted cyber law enforcement agencies and will also share our experience with our carrier community as we feel being good stewards will help defeat these criminals and secure our communications’ future.

I have seen firsthand our team step up, work around the clock, and face this crisis head on with leading edge and outside-the-box solutions to restore services. I was reminded once again of Iristel’s immense strength and higher vocation to keep everyone connected no matter where they are.

I truly appreciate all of you who trust us to deliver your services. We will remain vigilant and defend our network.

Sincerely,

Samer Bishay

CEO & Founder - Iristel

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a company that operates a Nomad mobile network, a unique two-way radio digital trunking network built to meet the specific needs of Canada’s rural regions.

For more information:

www.iristel.com

pr@iristel.com

or call 416-800-0010

A new area code – “742” was released for the Southern area of Ontario (ON) on October 16, 2021. The new area code will be added to the codes for the region: 905/289/365.

Existing customers’ phone numbers will not be impacted. As of October 16, 2021, area code “742” started to be assigned by providers.

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a company that operates a Nomad mobile network, a unique two-way radio digital trunking network built to meet the specific needs of Canada’s rural regions.

For more information:

www.iristel.com

pr@iristel.com

or call 416-800-0010

While the many benefits of a cloud-based call center may be tantalizing, it isn’t uncommon for call centers to put off migration to a virtual solution until some issue forces their hand. While these situations may seem unfortunate at first, they could actually be an opportunity to improve your contact center’s performance and bottom-line. In this third part of our series, we’ll explore when it’s time to migrate your on-premise call center system to the cloud.

Legacy Call Center End-of-Life

First-generation legacy on-premise call centers are aging and sooner or later will have to be replaced. Expanding or upgrading on-premise equipment is expensive, and while your existing vendor may be pressuring you to buy a whole new system, this is the perfect time to look into cloud-based solutions. While these next-generation systems offer many benefits, whether on-premise or in the cloud, you need confidence a new contact center will be relatively easy to install, will perform well, and will make a decent ROI.

Cloud-based call centers are easy to deploy, because it’s just a matter of getting a browser to connect to the system; the provider has already got the infrastructure ready and waiting for you to use. A traditional call center can be upgraded to an omni-channel contact center in a matter of weeks (depending on size).

Call Center Hardware and/or Software Upgrades

Even if your on-premise call center is not yet at the end of its’ productive life, it may be time to upgrade, perhaps to keep the call center software up to date, to add new features, or to integrate with other channels or systems. If you are maintaining different contact center systems at different sites, you may need to juggle upgrades between sites to minimize downtime.

If you are questioning whether the benefits of upgrading your old system are worth the risk, hassle, and cost, you could consider a hybrid solution, which can provide all the latest features and channels, in addition to unified cloud routing, predictive analytics-based routing, and a graceful migration path to the cloud. This is particularly valuable to multi-site, multi-system contact centers.

Moving or Relocating Call Centers

There are many reasons why a business needs to relocate – more space, a better location, financial necessity among them. Whatever the case for the move, it might be a good time to leave your old call center system with your old address.

Since cloud-based systems are easy to deploy, and much less expensive in terms of up-front capital expenditures, it might actually be cheaper and/or easier to have your new cloud-based call center ready and waiting for you in your new digs.

Growing and Scaling Your Call Center

If you must have a problem, growth is a relatively good problem to have. At the same time, if your call volume, number of agents, distributed sites, or outsource partners are increasing, it can lead to other problems that aren’t so good to have, such as difficulty scaling your old system, and difficulty controlling and managing the needed expansion. If you upgrade a traditional call center, you have a big capital expense up front for licenses and equipment, and you may still be limited by the number of ports you have.

With a virtual call center, the upfront cost is considerably less, and you will never have to worry about managing and maintaining equipment going forward. In addition, the better cloud-based solutions are scalable from small, middle, and up through large enterprises.

New Contact Center Features

With all the advances in communications and contact center technology, there will be times you need to add new features to stay competitive. While you may be able to get the features you need from your legacy on-premise contact center vendor, how much more will it cost? Does that include the cost of the people implementing the new features?

Virtual call center solutions allow you to get the latest innovations, features, and upgrades faster and at a lower cost. Going forward, you won’t have to manage upgrades, because the cloud service provider does that for you.

Integrating Your Call Center With Other New Systems

Even if you haven’t migrated your on-premise call system to the cloud, other SaaS platforms, such as a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) can enter the scene at your company. While software such as Salesforce might easily integrate with a cloud-based call center, it might not integrate so easily with an old on-premise system.

Modern cloud-based contact center software provides a unified solution that uses open standards to easily integrate your data, voice, applications, and databases.

Contact Center Service Quality

Customers respond negatively to unreliable situations. Maintaining reliability requires managing uptime and service levels across systems and sites, knowing when things are working and not, and having insight into peak times, loads, and other analytics across all systems. This can be challenging with on-premise equipment.

If your reliability and service levels are suffering, you can migrate to a cloud-based solution, which can provide up to 99.99% uptime while balancing call loads and ensuring the most efficient use of agents in multiple locations.

Contact Center Business Performance

10 years ago the priority was cost reduction, but in today’s competitive environment the focus is on improving business performance through key performance indicators (KPIs). Today’s disparate and distributed systems are not delivering the needed collaboration and integrated views to improve the two categories of KPIs: operational and business.

A cloud solution with predictive analytics-driven routing can improve business performance, as well as operational efficiency and costs. The unified user experience and centralized performance data across channels and systems some cloud contact center systems provide allow agents to provide better service, and managers to better understand and manage operations and business performance.

Combining Call Centers Due to Acquisition or Merger

We’ve all been through it – a company gets bought or sold, and not only do departments have to merge functions across the new enterprise, but call center systems that were originally not designed to work together now have to. You can try to keep the original systems and teams working separately, but it’s difficult to manage and optimize in real-time with no unified view or control of multiple sites or systems.

An alternate solution is to create a hybrid cloud contact center, which overlays some of your existing systems to unify and correlate metrics from the multiple systems and sites. The more sophisticated cloud-based contact centers have the capability of displaying cross-system, channel, and site operational and performance metrics – in real-time. These next-generation cloud call center systems can also drive the behavior of on-premise systems, letting you create centralized routing rules across sites and technologies. In time, you can gradually migrate some sites to the cloud.

In summary, challenging situations can arise that are really opportunities for you to take stock of your existing call center and improve your business by migrating to the next generation of contact center functionality.

$6-a-month Seamless Phone Number Portability Service Offered by Iristel Across North America

The new “Mobifi” Service Means Canadian Phone Numbers Can Be Used With Far Cheaper U.S. Wireless Plans

TORONTO, ON – June 14, 2021 – Iristel Inc., Canada’s fast-growing telecom services provider, will this month offer a new portability service allowing Canadian phone numbers to be used with far less expensive plans offered by U.S. telecom companies.

The $6-a-month “Mobifi” service is ideal for entrepreneurs re-locating in the United States and Snowbirds who spend half the year in the U.S. and Mexico or Canadians at home looking for value from services offered by T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or other U.S. telecom services companies.

“Canadians pay some of the highest wireless rates in the world and consumers and small business want relief,” says Samer Bishay, Iristel President and CEO. 

Typically, when south of the border for extended periods, price-conscious entrepreneurs and Snowbirds suspend their Canadian wireless service and use U.S. SIM cards (subscriber identification module) in their phones; temporarily losing both their Canadian number and contacts in the phone. Others pay $8-a-day roaming fees to Canada’s oligarchy phone companies.

“Our new Mobifi service will forward both voice and data from a person’s Canadian number to their phone with the American SIM card and contacts will remain in the phone,” Mr. Bishay says. “It’s seamless, easy to set up and will save Canadians money every month.”

Historically, the Canadian Radio-Telecommunications Commission has sided with big incumbent telcos and against service-based competition and lower prices for consumers. And in two CRTC decisions this year, the commission blatantly states it is partial to “facilities-based carriers” and against real competition, innovation and consumers’ choice.

“Mobifi is carrier agnostic,” Mr. Bishay says. “Customers with Canadian phone numbers, regardless which phone company, can use any U.S. carrier’s SIM cards. Our solution is great for people travelling to the U.S. for extended periods, or any consumer or business that wants to keep Canadian phone numbers but pay lower rates from U.S. phone companies.”

Adds Mr. Bishay: “And it works in reverse, too. As an industry first, Canadians with a U.S. number while back in Canada don’t have to miss out on any of their communications if they wish to have a Canadian number as a primary number.”

Mr. Bishay says he has a T-Mobile phone with unlimited voice and data, no long-distance charges anywhere in Canada, U.S. and Mexico for US$35 a month. “Transferring one of my Canadian phone numbers to that plan, even if I charged myself $6 a month, would still be a lot cheaper than a similar plan from Canadian wireless oligarchs.”

The simple, self-service Mobifi app will be available on Iristel.com website later in June.

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a company that operates a Nomad mobile network, a unique two-way radio digital trunking network built to meet the specific needs of Canada’s rural regions.

For more information:

www.iristel.com

pr@iristel.com

or call 416-800-0010

Iristel Wins 8 Blocks of 3500 MHz Spectrum for 5G Rollout for Rural Canadians

Malicious CRA audit limits the facilities-based carrier’s capacity to invest further in the wireless auction to help bridge the digital divide for rural Canadians, especially f or Indigenous communities

CORNER BROOK, NL and WHITEHORSE, YK – July 29, 2021 – Despite being held back by a groundless and drawn-out Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) hindrance, Iristel Inc. has been awarded eight blocks of the coveted mid-band spectrum at 3500 Megahertz by the Federal Government.

“While we’re delighted with these eight blocks, the CRA has deprived us of potentially landing 80 other blocks that would serve hundreds more rural communities, many of which are Indigenous,” says Samer Bishay, President and CEO of both Iristel and Ice Wireless. “We laud Ottawa for setting aside spectrum for competitors by preventing the Big Three wireless oligarchs from bidding on it, but we question the CRA’s draconian tactics. On the one hand, the Federal Government is wisely setting policy to bolster competition, and on the other hand, its tax department is doing the opposite.” 

Spectrum is radio frequencies needed for smartphones. It is divided into three ranges: low-band, mid-band and high-band. The higher the range, the more devices it can handle; however, it has a smaller coverage area. The lower the range, the fewer devices it can handle but the coverage area is larger. Iristel already holds licenses for multiple low-band blocks of spectrum in Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, rural Ontario, rural Quebec and all of Newfoundland and Labrador.

This mid-band spectrum at 3500 MHz is ideal for 5G, the critical ingredient to launching the economy into the future with mega-fast data download speeds. Iristel paid for and was awarded a block in western Newfoundland, one in Labrador, two in Nunavat, two in Northwest Territories and two in Yukon.

“All through the pandemic, the CRA has waged an unjustified war against us and withheld more than $80 million of our money. This currently tied up money in the CRA’s coffers could have been used to invest more heavily in spectrum to bring stronger competition and affordability to rural communities in Canada,” Mr. Bishay says.

Iristel and its wireless subsidiaries reach 1.2 million Canadians and the 3500 MHz spectrum will dramatically increase network capacity. With 5G, rural tourist operators, retailers, business consultants and more will potentially have the same digital opportunities as urban Canadians. Also, with 15 million Iristel telephone numbers in service, every Canadian has used Iristel’s advanced Internet-based telecommunications networks in some form.

Iristel is a proven Canadian telecom player with more than 20 years in business, not some fly-by-night operator that the CRA should punitively withhold its money as the case grinds on for years.

“We’ve written senior government officials, including Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, to outline our case and to seek the release of our funds from the CRA, which have been held almost two years,” Mr. Bishay says. “We’re not looking for political favours, merely fairness. In the letter, I called upon the Government of Canada to respond positively and promptly for the benefit of all Canadians to demonstrate the government's commitment to genuine competition, diversification and fairness in the telecommunications sector.”

In the 2021 budget, the Federal Government said Ottawa will spend $2.75 billion to bring more rural Canadians high-speed Internet with the ultimate goal of making high-speed access available to all of Canada by 2030. If the CRA was not holding Iristel’s money, the company could have bid on many more 3500 MHz spectrum licenses in Northern and Eastern Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and rural Ontario. 

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a company that operates a Nomad mobile network, a unique two-way radio digital trunking network built to meet the specific needs of Canada’s rural regions.

For more information:

www.iristel.com

pr@iristel.com

or call 416-800-0010

Healing Wings with support of Ice Wireless & Huawei provide

Internet-connected Mobile Devices to Emergency Shelters in Canada’s North

IQALUIT, NU, June 8, 2021 – In an effort to continue providing support and connectivity to those most at risk during this pandemic, the Healing Wings Foundation, is delighted to make a donation of Huawei tablets and laptops powered by free and unlimited internet access from Ice Wireless to clients at four emergency shelters. 

The 25 tablets and laptops will be divided up for communal use at Kaushee’s Place, a women’s transition home in Whitehorse; Side Door, an emergency shelter in Yellowknife; YWCA Agvik Nunavut Society in Iqaluit; and Isuarsivik Regional Recovery Centre in Kuujjuaq in Northern Quebec.

“Many residents in these communities do not have access to the technology that many of us take for granted,” says Healing Wings President Mireille Dahab. “Equipment such as computers, mobile devices and tablets are needed to help facilitate connections with family and friends, and enable access to important information for housing, job search, research and education.”

The Healing Wings Foundation has focused heavily on the so-called “digital divide” between Canada’s North and South. This very real disparity translates into fewer employment opportunities as well as challenges to learning especially during this pandemic. 

On top of that, a lack of connectivity and access to technology can also have more dire ramifications. 

“Often women do not have access to a phone, or it is shared with their abusers,” says Healing Wings Vice-President Samer Bishay, who is also President and CEO of Ice Wireless. “Communications is important for their safety and security, as well as their ability to search for long-term accommodation, social services and support for their children.”

Dr. Ashraf Salib, also a Healing Wings Vice-President, points out that technology is vital for the youth at these shelters; who are either there on their own or with mothers.

“Laptops and tablets enable homework and research for these at-risk youths who are supposed to keep up with studies during such troubling times,” Dr. Salib says. “And with schools open only half days or not at all, the laptops and tablets help reduce the sense of isolation and helplessness.”

All the Huawei devices have will soon be delivered to the four shelters in Iqaluit, Yellowknife, Whitehorse, and Kuujjuaq in Northern Quebec where they will be connected to Ice Wireless internet service.

“Healing Wings, Ice Wireless and Huawei believe in the power of connectivity. We also believe that every Canadian deserves access to a fast, reliable network, no matter which part or where in Canada they call home,” says Huawei Canada President Haiwen (Tom) Wang. “We are proud to help our partners connect those living in rural and remote communities, bringing people together from coast to coast to coast.”

Healing Wings Foundation Background:

Founded in 2020 during the pandemic, the Healing Wings Foundation has four main goals: provide connectivity and access to infrastructure to those living in remote arctic communities; provide subsidized accommodation for Armed Forces, Police Officers, Fire Fighters and Veterans and/or their families as they receive medical treatment within the Greater Toronto Area; provide a variety of subsidized or donated social services to those of needs; and collaborate with other local charities and not-for-profit organizations to support their objectives by aiding and providing supplementary programs.

For more information or to make a donation, visit  https://www.healingwings.org/

Media contact:

Norry Satov

info@healingwings.org

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a company that operates a Nomad mobile network, a unique two-way radio digital trunking network built to meet the specific needs of Canada’s rural regions.

Huawei Background:

Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With integrated solutions across four key domains – telecom networks, IT, smart devices, and cloud services – we are committed to bringing digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world.

Huawei's end-to-end portfolio of products, solutions and services are both competitive and secure. Through open collaboration with ecosystem partners, we create lasting value for our customers, working to empower people, enrich home life, and inspire innovation in organizations of all shapes and sizes.

At Huawei, innovation focuses on customer needs. We invest heavily in basic research, concentrating on technological breakthroughs that drive the world forward. We have more than 194,000 employees, and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company wholly owned by its employees. 

Established in 2008, Huawei Canada ranks amongst the top corporate R&D investors in the country and is committed to connecting Canadians for a better, brighter future.

For more information, please contact:

Peter Akman

Huawei Canada

peter.akman@huawei.com

TORONTO – April 15, 2021 – Sugar Mobile – long blocked from offering affordable wireless services to consumers – is disheartened with the federal regulator’s decision to side with Big Telco and regional cable players ahead of promoting competition, affordability, consumer interests, and innovation.

“Canadians are paying some of the highest wireless rates in the world,” says Samer Bishay, President and CEO of Sugar Mobile. “The proposed takeover of Shaw by Rogers will only make things worse and the CRTC explicitly stated today that they did not take into account the Rogers/Shaw merger in this decision because it was announced after the record closed on the MVNO proceeding. Today’s CRTC decision provides little, if any, relief for wireless customers. Indeed, the decision is based on facts that are already obsolete because they don't take the Rogers/Shaw merger into account.”

The CRTC – Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission – has effectively banned Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in Canada unless they invest in network infrastructure and spectrum, which is counter to the notion of a “virtual” network operator. MVNOs have long been a staple for healthy wireless competition in the United States and other wireless markets around the world.

“This decision is really an anti-MVNO decision. It provides access to regional wireless players like cable companies Videotron, Cogeco and EastLink, and Ice Wireless in Canada’s Far North, to roam on Bell, Telus and Rogers for seven years while they build duplicate wireless networks,” Mr. Bishay says. “The concept of MVNO and true consumer choice and fair pricing has been squashed in Canada.”

Sugar Mobile, an MVNO owned by Iristel Inc., a Canadian facilities-based network operator, spurred this regulatory battle after launching a consumer-friendly $19-a-month wireless voice-and-data service in 2015, only to be shut down several months later by the CRTC at the behest of Rogers, Bell and Telus. The federal government then asked the CRTC to take another look at the wireless industry and its regulations.

“This decision will stifle innovation and competition in Canada,” Mr. Bishay says. “In markets all over the world, we’ve seen MVNOs stimulate competition and choice for consumers without damaging incumbent phone companies. Indeed, many incumbents experience growth as their network usage becomes optimized.”

In its news release, the CRTC “puts measures in place to spur more mobile wireless competition for Canadians” and its decision will offer “Canadians more choice and affordable options”, but the devil is in the details, not how the story is spun, Mr. Bishay adds. 

“For whatever reason, the CRTC is hanging its hat on regional players – cable companies – to provide meaningful wireless competition, and banning real MVNOs which have brought actual and sustainable wireless competition to other countries,” Mr. Bishay says.

“Talk is cheap – unless it’s on a Bell, Telus or Rogers wireless phone,” he says. “It looks like it will be the same on other cable companies’ wireless phones, too.” 

For more information: 

Sugar Mobile Media Relations

416.800.0010

pr@iristel.com

Iristel Tops 15 Million Phone Numbers in Canada

Offers customers choice from East to West; North to South



TORONTO, ON – February 1, 2021 – Iristel Inc., Canada’s fastest-growing telecom services provider, today exceeded 15 million phone numbers across the country; offering Canadians choice and strong competition to the telecom oligopolists.

“As a wholesaler, our brand may not be as well known as other phone companies, but our cloud communications and fully redundant platform for voice, messaging and emergency services are best-of-breed. We provide the connectivity fabric on most calls that every Canadian experiences on a daily basis,” says Samer Bishay, Iristel President and CEO. “Vaulting past 15 million numbers is a milestone and strong telecom competition means more benefit for Canadians. We’re powering businesses and empowering people.”

Iristel’s advanced, all-IP network reaches more than 97 per cent of Canada’s population – including the most robust network in Canada’s remote Far North – covering more than 2,500 rate centers across the country.

Iristel’s advanced powerful APIs and self-service portal are easy-to-use and provide an efficient way for customers to order, manage and control land line, SIP trunks and wireless numbers individually or in bulk. 

“Our company started as a VoIP network and over the last 22 years we have grown and evolved into one of the most advanced communications networks in Canada that is relied upon by businesses, Tier 1 carriers and millions of Canadians for things like 911 emergency calls, industrial Internet of Things, machine-to-machine, gaming on mobile devices, and a lot more” Bishay says. “You might say we provide the technological plumbing that makes millions of mobile devices work seamlessly regardless of the communications provider.”

To learn more about Iristel services, visit  www.iristel.com .

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a company that operates a Nomad mobile network, a unique two-way radio digital trunking network built to meet the specific needs of Canada’s rural regions.

IRISTEL ENTERS INTO A COLLABORATION AGREEMENT WITH ENCQOR 5G

• ENCQOR 5G (Evolution of Cloud Services in the Quebec-Ontario Corridor for Research and Innovation) is a transformational Canada-Quebec-Ontario partnership focused on innovation in 5G technologies.
• The project brings together industry, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the public sector, innovation centers and academia to realize the technological promise of 5G in the short term and stimulate long-term economic growth. 
• ENCQOR 5G has five innovation centers located in Ontario and Quebec offering a 5G platform where SMEs can develop and test new solutions. 

Montreal, Quebec, October 9, 2020 - ENCQOR 5G is pleased to announce the signing of a new collaboration agreement with Iristel, an innovative player in the telecommunications sector based in Markham, Ontario, with operations across Canada.

Through this agreement, Iristel will have access to ENCQOR's 5G test bed to perform various technology development work and test new solutions using 5G technology.

Iristel joins the ranks of ENCQOR 5G along with six other telecommunications companies: Bell, Cogeco, Ecotel (Ambra Solutions), Rogers, Telus and Videotron. These companies also signed memorandums of understanding in February to use ENCQOR 5G's infrastructures for technological development purposes.

"We are pleased that the reach of the ENCQOR 5G program continues to expand in Canada's key telecommunications sector. By partnering with players of Iristel's quality, just as we did with the other six telecommunications companies earlier this year, ENCQOR 5G can directly contribute to the emergence of a robust and dynamic 5G ecosystem in Canada, capable of competing on a global scale," said Mr. Pierre Boucher, General Manager of ENCQOR 5G.

"Iristel is pleased to sign this MOU with ENCQOR 5G. It will provide us with easy and simple access to state-of-the-art 5G infrastructure to test, if necessary, different solutions using this technology. ENCQOR 5G will thus be a useful lever in our technological development efforts in the future,” said François Picard, Vice-President, Wireless Networks at Iristel.

ENCQOR is the only 5G test bench in Canada to offer access to all 5G frequency ranges through an interconnected network of 5 innovation centers based in Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Waterloo. ENCQOR's state-of-the-art infrastructure allows researchers and developers to use the full potential of 5G in their development work.

About Iristel:

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing carrier providing innovative communication services, including cybersecurity, that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. Iristel also owns brands such as Sugar Mobile, an Over-the-Top (OTT) app where phone calls and text messages can be transmitted through data, and TDE, a company that offers sale, rental and repair services of telecommunication equipment in Eastern Quebec and Northern New Brunswick.

About ENCQOR 5G:

The ENCQOR 5G initiative is funded by the governments of Canada, Quebec and Ontario, as well as key industry players: Ericsson, Ciena, Thales, CGI and IBM. ENCQOR 5G is coordinated by ENCQOR Innovation. It is issued in Ontario by OCE and in Quebec by Innovation ENCQOR, Prompt and ADRIQ. The program's mandate is to bring together SMEs and the academic community to contribute to the advancement of research, innovation and application demonstration through a 5G pre-commercial testbed.

TORONTO, ON – September 22, 2020 – dotmobile™, a Full Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), is pleased to announce its first network wholesale agreement. It is with Iristel, Canada’s only coast-to-coast-to-coast telecommunications network.

Dotmobile is an independent wireless service provider seeking access to multiple Canadian radio access networks to complement its own cloud-based core network. Both dotmobile and Iristel are a part of Competitive Network Operators of Canada. 

“We see the importance of investing in network infrastructure, as well as optimizing the use of what exists today” says Algis Akstinas, CEO of dotmobile. “Our goal is to bring our innovative, all-digital wireless service to all Canadians, no matter who they are or where they live. Iristel’s radio access network covers some of the least densely populated areas in not only Canada, but the world. Network agreements like this are critical to achieving our goal.”

Beyond building its national facilities-based VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) network and a wireless network in Canada’s far North, Iristel and its affiliates have also built networks in Africa and Eastern Europe.

“We know how to build robust networks using innovative technologies that offer customers advanced communications services at fair prices,” says Samer Bishay, President and CEO of Iristel. “Interestingly, with every network we’ve built around the world, we’ve found benefits by allowing competitors on our networks, something Canada’s big telecoms do not understand.”

The CRTC is currently deciding on the fate of fixed and wireless connectivity in Canada for the next five years. Canada has some of the highest wireless prices in the world. Smaller players such as MVNOs like dotmobile can offer innovative new services and serve niche segments while generating good returns for host networks to ensure continued network investment.

“Having our own core-network is paramount to offering differentiated service, having both cost and speed-to-market advantage. It unleashes real wireless service innovation,” says Mr. Akstinas. “dotmobile is following a low-cost high-tech business model. Modern cloud infrastructure, simple connectivity options and reduced operational complexity will bring significant savings and improved wireless experience to our members at an optimal cost.” 

Data On Tap Inc., parent of dotmobile, was founded by two former WIND Mobile product architects. dotmobile™ was a registered “Proposed Full MVNO” (Mobile Network Code - 302 100) from August 29th, 2019 to September 17th, 2020. According to rules set by the Canadian telecom regulator - the CRTC - an agreement with the core network provider is one of the three essential requirements needed to become a Full Mobile Virtual Network Operator. 

About dotmobile:

Data on Tap Inc. is building dotmobile™, a smart tiny telecom with a simple goal - to make wireless more affordable and awesome for youth, seniors, students, newcomers, visitors to the country, small businesses, and families that want to save. Data On Tap™, dotmobile™, dot.™ and the dotmobile logo are trademarks of Data On Tap Inc.

About Iristel:

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It also owns Ice Wireless, an LTE-A carrier with operations in Canada’s northern territories and Quebec. 

Media inquiries: media@dotmobile.app and pr@iristel.com

Samer Bishay named Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Entrepreneur in 2020 by the RBC

Tuesday, September 15, 2020 (Toronto, Canada) - Samer Bishay, President and CEO of Iristel and Ice Wireless, is pleased to accept recognition as one of Canada’s top 25 named immigrant entrepreneurs in 2020 by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). The award celebrates the inspiring achievements of Canadian business immigrants. 

Egyptian-born Canadian, Samer Bishay, has built one of Canada’s largest and fastest-growing telecommunications companies. Founded by Samer in 1999, Iristel operates facilities-based voice networks extending coast-to-coast-to-coast and operates internationally. For his industry and wider-community efforts, Samer is also recognized by the Canadian Armed Forces and holds the title of an Honorary Colonel of 34 Signal Regiment. 

“As a Canadian entrepreneur in the telecommunications industry, I am grateful to accept this award on behalf of my family and me. The Canadian-dream is available to anyone who can take the risk of starting a business and remaining committed to it over the long run. I chose to dedicate my life to helping other people connect through affordable and accessible telecommunications products and services. I am thankful to everyone who voted for me and for recognizing the great work we have done at Iristel and Ice Wireless.”

About the Award:

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that we are all interconnected despite race, culture or country of origin. This award symbolizes diversity, resilience, and the importance of coming together as Canadians during challenging times. Hundreds of nominations were received, from which a panel of past recipients shortlisted 75 finalists. The 25 winners were chosen based on a combination of nationwide online voting and judge’s scores. The RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award winners, will receive a commemorative plaque and ceremonial gift package. Winners will also be featured online at  www.canadianimmigrant.ca/rbctop25  and in the September print edition of Canadian Immigrant magazine. The awards program is supported by the Toronto Star, Metro, Omni, City TV and Sing Tao.

Facts About Iristel:

• Iristel is the largest privately-owned telecommunications company in Canada representing approximately 10% of the telecommunications market.
• Over 7 million Canadian subscribers rely on Iristel for a variety of collaboration and telecommunication needs under many household brands that Iristel enables exclusively on its infrastructure.
• Iristel provides competitive pricing and telecommunications services to specialized locations across Canada not covered by the three largest market companies.

Iristel enables more than 7 million phone numbers for thousands of telecom and technology companies around the world. And in the wake of higher volumes in unwanted telemarketing and spam phone calls, the CRTC and Canada’s telecom service providers have begun to take some more hard-hitting measures to protect Canadians. In a first-of-its-kind move against unwanted calls, Iristel has created a system in which users of Iristel phone numbers can report and block other Iristel-provided phone numbers.

“We are the first Telco in Canada to specifically block an abuser from contacting a user when the abuser is using a service provided by Iristel,” [CEO] Mr. Bishay added. “We hear from exasperated and angry Canadians all the time about these annoying calls and that’s why we’ve launched this new, easy-to-use, anti-spam website.”



Here’s how it works: to report unwanted calls, go to  iristel.com/antispam  and report the number by filling out the form and we will investigate, take action, if appropriate, and report back on what we did. 

Read the full press release here:  https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/new-iristel-service-stops-spam-phone-calls-891505941.html

The new network architecture uses a combination of multiple satellite technologies that include traditional C-band fixed satellite services and combines Ka-band fixed satellite capacity made available through the open access component of Innovation, Science and Industry Canada’s Connect to Innovate program.  Click here to learn more .

In Iristel's push to make wireless communications more accessible and more affordable, the company has made financial investments in California-based textPlus which has over 100 million worldwide downloads with 7 million being in Canada. This service allows users to talk, text and share for free or cheaply and will also power Iristel's Sugar Mobile. Read the story further on  Newswire .

Iristel has implemented the Universal Call Blocking (UCB) feature. It is an automated feature – free of charge to consumers – designed to protect Canadians at home and while roaming internationally. This new system operates on a specific set of rules which block malformed numbers that do not comply with international numbering plan standards. Examples of this include international numbers with more than 15 digits, North American numbers that have either more or less than 10 digits (long distance calls that begin with the number 1 and 310-XXXX calls), and numbers with unassigned North American area codes. There are few exceptions to these rules, which can be found here:  https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2018/2018-484.htm



A spoofed number can appear as a string of digits, such as 000-000-0000, a random number, or the number of a company, person, or government entity. Telemarketers who make sales calls to customers in Canada have an obligation to identify themselves. Callers who use technology to spoof their caller ID information with inaccurate, false, or misleading information violate this requirement. Spoofed calls are not necessarily illegitimate under the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules.

Iristel is proudly committed to adhere to the standards set out by the CRTC in order to protect and satisfy all Canadian consumers. If you have any further questions, please call us at 1 833 IRISTEL.

Founder and CEO of Iristel, Samer Bishay has made a generous donation of $470,000 to the Faculty of Science at York University. As a graduate from the Space and Communications program in 1998, Bishay aims to give back and create real impact for the young minds attending York U. 

Read the article on their official website:  https://yfile.news.yorku.ca/2020/01/07/new-gift-brightens-learning-research-opportunities-for-optical-physics-students/

Iristel’s second annual appearance at Legal week in New York will begin on February 3rd! This event hallmarks the symbiotic relationship between the legal field and technological solutions, of which cybersecurity plays an ever more important role.

Iristel Cybersecurity operates at the nervous system of your business. Artificial intelligence locks down your endpoints and sensitive data at the hint of suspicious activity, while human assistance is on call 24x7 for fast intuitive action.

Iristel is proud to support, in this time of need, to the Fondation Québecoise du Cancer ( Québec Cancer Foundation), with a donation of over 12,000 dollars . Thanks to this cash donation along with ongoing savings put forth on their telecommunications services, they will be able to offer Québecors , affected with cancer and going through treatments, expanded telephony services.



Staying connected is an important piece to the healing process and we are pleased to help out cancer patients in residences at the FQC facilities, throughout Québec, to keep in close touch with their loved ones, wherever they may be.

We would like to wish all of them a strong return to health and a happy new year. 

Rimouski, P.Q. – October 11, 2018 – Iristel Inc., Canada’s fastest-growing telecom provider and owner of a mobile network operator in Canada’s North, is speeding up its expansion with the purchase of Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a digital mobile radio operator covering 1 million square kilometres in Quebec and northern New Brunswick.

“TDE owns a lot of valuable infrastructure in North East Quebec, much of it overlapping the serving area of I-Mobileca and its spectrum,” says Iristel President and CEO Samer Bishay. “By acquiring them, we can complete our Quebec build out faster and move one step closer to becoming a national wireless operator offering Canadians innovative services and real choice that has been stymied by Canada’s big three wireless oligopolists for too long.”

Established 40 years ago, TDE operates across a vast territory, including the Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspésie, North Shore and northern New Brunswick. Many of these areas have mountainous and rugged terrain, resulting in limited cellular coverage.

TDE serves industries like forestry, mining, shipping and others operating in remote areas. To serve customers better, TDE augmented its traditional analog VHF radio systems with a digital trunking network offering additional services like GPS-tracking, telephone calls and push-to-talk over cellular.

“We’ve established this company as a leader in the field of communication technology over recent decades and joining Iristel is the next evolution for TDE,” says Daniel Gignac, general manager of TDE. “Like other SMR’s (Specialized Mobile Radio network operators), TDE is constantly faced with the challenge of providing its users with a reliable radio network that is also feature rich and easy to operate. Working with an innovator like Iristel – one that will continue to invest in our network – makes us even stronger.”

Indeed, all 55 TDE employees will be retained under the new ownership structure. Financial terms of the acquisition are not being publicly disclosed for competitive reasons.

But adds Mr. Bishay: “Beyond the synergies with our recently acquired I-Mobileca, we see even more opportunities with our Ice Wireless in Canada’s North. TDE’s NOMAD digital radio system technology can and will be deployed in the Arctic.”

One of the key features is full duplex calling on the NOMAD network. Traditional push to talk radio is based upon simplex or half duplex voice calling, meaning that each party takes turns speaking like traditional ship-to-shore radios. In today’s advanced digital world, this limitation makes it difficult to integrate telephone users across the network.

But with NOMAD, TDE is able to offer a seamless experience to customers regardless of the method of communication they are using. Telephone users are able to share conversations with radio users both in an individual and group capacity.

In May, Iristel announced it had taken majority control of I-Mobileca and its spectrum covering an area with a population of 535,000 mostly in rural Quebec and Ontario. Cellular connectivity has begun on a wireless 3G-4G/LTE network and TDE infrastructure will be used throughout the rollout.

I-Mobileca is a licensed Canadian wireless mobile telecommunications enabler and operator, headquartered in Trois Rivières, Quebec. Currently, it focuses on wireless data for machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. The company has Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada issued spectrum licenses that allows it to provide wireless services covering the regions of Kirkland Lake, Ontario and Eastern Quebec (in the Lower Saint-Lawrence, the Gaspésie, the North Shore and certain areas of the Beauce).

About Iristel and TDE

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast as well as Ice Wireless, a GSM carrier with operations in Canada’s Far North. TDE has 9 branches and more than 100 telecommunications sites and towers offering products and services for consumers and businesses in the fields of radiocommunication, cellular, business phone systems, paging, Internet and satellite communications.

www.iristel.com   pr@iristel.com   +1-416-800-0010

Kuujjuaq, Québec, May 28, 2018 – All 14 of Nunavik’s communities in the northern third of Quebec, will soon be getting cellular and mobility data services thanks to an important agreement between the Kativik Regional Government (KRG) and Ice Wireless.

The more than 14,000 residents – almost all Inuit – live in one of the very few remote areas in Canada still without cellular and mobility data services. Taken for granted by most Canadians, this service will be available beginning in May as KRG-owned Tamaani Internet teams up with Ice Wireless. 

“The KRG, through Tamaani Internet, is continuously working towards strengthening telecommunications infrastructure in the region. This new agreement with Ice Wireless for cellular and mobility data services keeps us moving in this direction. The KRG remains strongly committed to reducing the digital shortfall between Nunavik and southern Quebec,” says KRG Chairperson Jennifer Munick.

With 3G/LTE technology, customers will have services comparable to other Canadians like texting, apps, voice and Internet surfing on their smartphones, says Samer Bishay, President of Ice Wireless.

“It’s difficult to understand how a segment of Canadian society still does not have access to cellular services in 2018. We have made it our mission to end the Digital Divide that contributes to the isolation of northern communities and we will do this in Nunavik by demonstrating that, through innovative partnerships between socially conscious private-sector companies like Ice Wireless and forward-thinking government organisations such as the KRG, we can achieve together what individually we cannot,” Bishay says.

“This deployment of cellular services will allow Nunavimmiut to stay connected with family and friends, regardless of where they may be in one of the region’s 14 communities, or while in the south during business or personal travel,” Munick says.

For this agreement, Ice Wireless is providing its expertise, access to spectrum, national and international roaming and access to its parent company Iristel’s extensive Canada-wide telephone network. The KRG, through its Tamaani Internet, is providing bandwidth and access to its telecommunication infrastructure.

All the smartphone plans include unlimited calls, texts and roaming throughout Canada, United States and Mexico starting from $59. Ice Wireless is the first Canadian carrier to eliminate roaming charges without daily or monthly add-on charges. Voice and text only plans start as low as $19 per month.

More about the Partners

• The KRG is a non-ethnic public organization created in 1978, under the James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement. The organization has jurisdiction over nearly the entire territory of Québec north of the 55th parallel in areas such as municipal matters, transportation, the environment, policing, employment, labour training, income security, childcare services, telecommunications, renewable resources, land-use planning, civil security and economic development.
• The KRG’s Tamaani Internet delivers Internet and IP network solutions across Nunavik.
• Ice Wireless is a facilities-based regional mobile network operator (MNO) that delivers state-of-the-art 3G/LTE technology to rural and remote areas of Canada.
• Iristel is one of the largest competitive local exchange carriers and VoIP providers in the country.
  
  

Information:

Jean Barcelo
Communications Officer
Kativik Regional Government
Tel. 819-964-2961, ext. 2400
media@krg.ca  |  www.krg.ca

Jean-Francois Dumoulin
VP Regulatory & Government Affairs
Ice Wireless / Iristel
Tel.: 514-800-1577
jdumoulin@iristel.com www.icewireless.com

Quebec City – May 28, 2018 – Iristel Inc., Canada’s fastest-growing telecom provider and owner of a mobile network operator in Canada’s North, has acquired I-Mobileca and its licensed spectrum and will begin offering real choice to consumers and business in Eastern Quebec.

“This is really exciting for us to provide excellent cellular services at better prices for both residents and industries in this huge region from Quebec City eastward,” says Iristel President and CEO Samer Bishay. “The big three wireless oligopolists have done their best to keep our competitive and innovative wireless operations contained in the North, but no more. This is just the beginning.”

Iristel has taken majority control of I-Mobileca and company founder Dr. Hing-Sang Hum will retain a significant equity position and remain chairman of I-Mobileca. Mr. Bishay will assume the title of President and CEO of I-Mobileca Inc. Mobile services will be under the Iristel brand.

“This partnership means we can begin to deploy services almost immediately while the new extended network is being in assembled,” Dr. Hum says. “At the end of the day, clients will be better served at a lower price. We’re excited to work with Iristel, a partner with the same vision on how the market should be served.”

The spectrum owned by I-Mobileca covers an area with a population of 535,000 mostly in rural Quebec and Ontario. Rural service is an expertise that Ice Wireless, an Iristel affiliate, has acquired in serving in Canada’s North.

“This is more than simply offering the latest smart phones,” Mr. Bishay says. “With Dr. Hum’s medical expertise, we envision many other applications such as enhanced telemedicine services to people in remote areas of northeastern Quebec and advanced IoT (Internet of Things) applications.”

Cellular connectivity will begin in June 2018 and operating on an efficient and cost effective wireless 3G-4G/LTE network.

About I-Mobileca Inc.

I-Mobileca is a licensed Canadian wireless mobile telecommunications enabler and operator, headquartered in Trois Rivières, Quebec. Currently, it focuses on wireless data for machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. The company has Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada issued spectrum licenses that allows it to provide wireless services covering the regions of Kirkland Lake, Ontario and Eastern Quebec (in the Lower Saint-Lawrence, the Gaspésie, the North Shore and certain areas of the Beauce). The spectrum licenses entitle the company to operate an LTE (Long Term Evolution) based GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) wireless communication network in this area, providing voice and data services.

I-Mobileca Media Relations, Nagui Naoum nnaoum@iristel.com. +1-438-863-1093

About Iristel and Ice Wireless

Iristel is Canada’s fastest-growing carrier providing innovative communication services that are changing how consumers and businesses communicate. Founded in 1999, Markham-based Iristel operates Canada’s largest facilities-based local voice network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast as well as Ice Wireless, a GSM carrier with operations in Canada’s Far North.

www.iristel.com   pr@iristel.com     +1-416-800-0010

Every year there seems to be a new phone scam aimed at taking money from unsuspecting, often vulnerable, people. For the last several years, the CRA scam has been making the rounds, but there are countless others that are featured less prominently in the news. Through our customer support center, we’ve probably been asked about all of them, and while we don’t have all the answers, hopefully we can shed some light on some the most frequently asked questions.

Who’s Calling Me? 

That’s the big question, and unfortunately, one we can’t answer. With most phone scams, the number used to make the call has been assigned to a reseller. Meaning, that it was purchased from us and then sold to someone else whose information we can’t access. In other cases, the number may be “spoofed,” so what you see on your display isn’t actually where the call originated. These calls may not even be routed through our network, or made from within Canada.

Can’t You Just Block the Number?

Assuming we knew where the call was coming from, unfortunately it still wouldn’t be that simple. There are countless laws and regulations that prevent us from blocking or disabling a number, or even providing information about who a number was assigned to. For example, regulations require that we notify a customer before suspending service. Scammers change numbers so quickly, that as soon as the process begins, they’re operating under a new one. It’s like playing whack-a-mole – as soon as you get one, a new one pops up.

With that said, if we could, we would. In addition to the millions of dollars taken from innocent Canadians, telephone frauds cost Iristel thousands of dollars every year in support costs; the CRA scam is the number one reason for calls to our abuse and security hotline.

Is There Any Way I Can Block the Number?

You can call your personal telephone provider and ask them to block the number. Likewise, if you are an Iristel customer, we will gladly block the number for you, and provide you with self-serve tools that allow you to manage your account. Please keep in mind that if the number is spoofed we may not be able to help. The difference is that because it only affects you personally, it doesn’t violate the same laws and regulation that prevent us from universally blocking the caller.

What is Iristel Doing?

We work with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) to help prevent and disrupt phone scams. In 2016, we received over 200 requests from the CAFC, who has the authority to obtain information from resellers and investigate criminal activity.

What Should I Do if I Receive a Call?

The safest thing to do is hang up immediately. Don’t engage with the caller, and never give out personal or financial information over the phone. If you are the victim of a phone scam or suspect that you were targeted, please do one of the following:

• File a complaint with the CRTC by calling  1-877-249-2782
• Report the incident to the  Canadian Anti-Fraud Center online  or by calling  1-888-495-8501

Otherwise, the best way to stop a scam is to spread awareness. Tell your family, friends and neighbours.

This isn’t something that will go away overnight, but if you still have any questions or concerns, please email us at  feedback@iristel.com  and we will be glad to help in any way we can.

TORONTO, ON – October, 3, 2017  – Iristel, Canada’s fastest-growing carrier, proudly sponsored Contact! Unload, a theatre piece featuring Canadian Armed Forces veterans who share their stories as they transition home post-deployment.

More than 150 guests attended the performance at the Moss Park Armoury, including speakers Don Cherry and former veterans affairs minister Erin O’Toole.

The play has been performed over 20 times and highlights the sacrifices of men and women in the armed services as well as educating audiences of the support they require when returning home. It was co-written, directed, and performed by Canadian Veterans who served overseas in Afghanistan.

“Iristel is very proud to have sponsored Contact! Unload, we truly believe in this program and the positive impact it has on its audiences,” said Samer Bishay, CEO of Iristel. “It is imperative to have these services available for veterans – something that this performance makes very clear. We will surely continue to support these types of initiatives.”

Each performance offers an expressive vehicle for veterans to publicly examine their struggles and experiences in transitioning from active service to civilian life. Six military veterans, alongside an actor and a musician are featured in the moving and eye-opening performance.

(Don Cherry gives his patented “Thumbs Up” to the military, along with performers and other participants of Contact! Unload. Iristel CEO Samer Bishay is standing far left.)

"Iristel showed tremendous leadership tonight,” said Stephen Gregory of Canada Company, a charitable, non-partisan organization that builds bridges between community and business leaders and members of the Canadian military. It’s one thing to sponsor these performances, but it’s another thing to bring more than 100 business leaders out to support the troops.”

The performance and mural are the result of collaboration between Theatre Director Dr. George Belliveau, Art Director Foster Eastman, and Lead Clinician Dr. Marvin Westwood. Contact! Unload provides veterans an active medium to support one another upon returning home from war. The Veterans Transition Program uses a therapeutic enactment group counselling model to better communicate challenges in order to overcome them.

Tim Laidler, Contact! Unload performer as well as Canadian veteran and community advocate (pictured above right with Samer Bishay and Steve Gregory) commented: “It makes me proud to be a Canadian seeing all the support for the military community through the Invictus Games and especially at the performance of Contact! Unload. The veterans that preform each night do it so that anyone in need of support feels more able to reach out when they struggle. With the help of Iristel, that message came through loud and clear!”

After the performance, Iristel hosted a cocktail reception where guests and performers were treated to hors d’oeuvres and live jazz music. It was here that Samer Bishay was “coined” by current and former members of the military. Under military tradition, coins are given as gifts of honor, respect, gratitude and loyalty.

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s largest and fastest growing carrier. We’re committed to changing the way people communicate, and improving the way they work — connecting employees, devices and applications, to support greater collaboration and better performance.

Founded in 1999, Iristel operates one of Canada's largest facilities-based voice networks extending coast to coast to coast. Iristel offers a host of communication services, such as, cloud voice and carrier services, as well as a suite of services both domestically and internationally. These include wholesale voice, data, 911, SMS and platform services that are supported by Iristel’s unified VoIP and GSM networks. It is the majority owner of Ice Wireless, a facilities-based mobile network operator that delivers state-of-the-art 3G/4G/LTE-A technology to rural and remote areas in Canada’s North.

Iristel Presents Contact! Unload in Support of Our Troops

TORONTO, ON – October, 3, 2017 – Iristel, Canada’s fastest-growing carrier, proudly sponsored Contact! Unload, a theatre piece featuring Canadian Armed Forces veterans who share their stories as they transition home post-deployment.

More than 150 guests attended the performance at the Moss Park Armoury, including speakers Don Cherry and former veterans affairs minister Erin O’Toole.

The play has been performed over 20 times and highlights the sacrifices of men and women in the armed services as well as educating audiences of the support they require when returning home. It was co-written, directed, and performed by Canadian Veterans who served overseas in Afghanistan.



“Iristel is very proud to have sponsored Contact! Unload, we truly believe in this program and the positive impact it has on its audiences,” said Samer Bishay, CEO of Iristel. “It is imperative to have these services available for veterans – something that this performance makes very clear. We will surely continue to support these types of initiatives.”

Each performance offers an expressive vehicle for veterans to publicly examine their struggles and experiences in transitioning from active service to civilian life. Six military veterans, alongside an actor and a musician are featured in the moving and eye-opening performance.

(Don Cherry gives his patented “Thumbs Up” to the military, along with performers and other participants of Contact! Unload. Iristel CEO Samer Bishay is standing far left.)

"Iristel showed tremendous leadership tonight,” said Stephen Gregory of Canada Company, a charitable, non-partisan organization that builds bridges between community and business leaders and members of the Canadian military. It’s one thing to sponsor these performances, but it’s another thing to bring more than 100 business leaders out to support the troops.”

The performance and mural are the result of collaboration between Theatre Director Dr. George Belliveau, Art Director Foster Eastman, and Lead Clinician Dr. Marvin Westwood. Contact! Unload provides veterans an active medium to support one another upon returning home from war. The Veterans Transition Program uses a therapeutic enactment group counselling model to better communicate challenges in order to overcome them.

Tim Laidler, Contact! Unload performer as well as Canadian veteran and community advocate (pictured above right with Samer Bishay and Steve Gregory) commented: “It makes me proud to be a Canadian seeing all the support for the military community through the Invictus Games and especially at the performance of Contact! Unload. The veterans that preform each night do it so that anyone in need of support feels more able to reach out when they struggle. With the help of Iristel, that message came through loud and clear!”

After the performance, Iristel hosted a cocktail reception where guests and performers were treated to hors d’oeuvres and live jazz music. It was here that Samer Bishay was “coined” by current and former members of the military. Under military tradition, coins are given as gifts of honor, respect, gratitude and loyalty.

About Iristel

Iristel is Canada’s largest and fastest growing carrier. We’re committed to changing the way people communicate, and improving the way they work — connecting employees, devices and applications, to support greater collaboration and better performance.

Founded in 1999, Iristel operates one of Canada's largest facilities-based voice networks extending coast to coast to coast. Iristel offers a host of communication services, such as, cloud voice and carrier services, as well as a suite of services both domestically and internationally. These include wholesale voice, data, 911, SMS and platform services that are supported by Iristel’s unified VoIP and GSM networks. It is the majority owner of Ice Wireless, a facilities-based mobile network operator that delivers state-of-the-art 3G/4G/LTE-A technology to rural and remote areas in Canada’s North.

Network transformation helping to close the digital divide, bringing high speed coverage and high quality voice services to Arctic regions of northern Canada



LOS ALTOS, CA–(Marketwired – February 22, 2017) – Cloud native communications software leader Metaswitch today announced that Iristel and its subsidiary Ice Wireless have selected Metaswitch solutions as the basis of a virtualized VoLTE deployment that brings high speed wireless services to previously underserved areas of northern Canada.

“The virtualization is key for us,” said Samer Bishay, CEO of Iristel. “We wanted something that was agile and compact that allows us to layer services as software rather than being tied to proprietary hardware deployments. It’s very expensive to fly somebody up to do a remote deployment in the Arctic, versus creating a service layer that can be provisioned remotely, instantaneously, with no disruption of service. This is going to be exciting, not just for us, but also for the people living up there who are now able to tap into services that they could have only dreamed of just a few months back.”

As the industry’s only real cloud native communications software solution, Metaswitch’s mobile portfolio couples breakthrough economic advantages with the reliability, performance and agility that service providers need to quickly innovate and launch VoLTE services, and beyond.

Key components of the solution include:

• Clearwater vIMS Core – a cloud-native virtual IMS core built on a microservices architecture and open source framework that runs on any cloud infrastructure.
• Rhino Telecom Application Server (TAS) – an extensible carrier-grade TAS designed for cost-effective, agile delivery of consumer and enterprise MMTel services for LTE and 5G.
• Perimeta Session Border Controller (SBC) – a virtualized SBC that distributes signaling and media functionality across commodity hardware in the cloud.

Founded in 1999, Iristel and Ice Wireless, its mobility brand, were the first GSM-based networks in Canada, and the first 3G network among the indigenous people of the far north, who had no prior smartphone access. The companies have spectrum licenses in the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Northern Quebec — all rural communities that you can only get to via ice roads, plane, or boat in summer months.

The Ice Wireless VoLTE network doubles throughput on the available spectrum, and gives users the ability to make a call and surf the Internet or watch a video simultaneously. The network is used by residents, businesses and schools, enabling levels and types of communications that were previously unavailable, including distance learning, unified communications, telemedicine and others.

“Innovative providers like Iristel and Ice Wireless are using virtual network functions to truly transform communications in the communities they serve, cost-effectively bringing advanced services to remote locations where they previously wouldn’t have been available,” said Metaswitch Chief Marketing Officer, Ian Maclean. “This deployment demonstrates our commitment to cloud native communications and to helping our customers realize the benefits that NFV ‘done right’ can bring to them and their users.”

About Iristel
Founded in 1999 and licenced by the CRTC, Markham-based Iristel is Canada’s only carrier with facilities in all 10 provinces and three territories with a network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It is the majority owner of Ice Wireless, a facilities-based mobile network operator that delivers state-of-the-art 3G/4G HSPA+ technology to rural and remote areas in Canada’s North with LTE coming in Q1 2017. For more information, please visit  www.iristel.com .

About Metaswitch
Metaswitch is the world’s leading cloud native communications software company. The company develops commercial and open-source software solutions that are constructively disrupting the way that service providers build, scale, innovate and account for communication services. By working with Metaswitch, visionary service providers are realizing the full economic, operational and technology benefits of becoming cloud-based and software-centric. Metaswitch’s award-winning solutions are powering more than 1,000 service providers in today’s global, ultra-competitive and rapidly changing communications marketplace. For more information, please visit  www.metaswitch.com .

Copyright © 2017 Metaswitch Networks. “Metaswitch” and “Metaswitch Networks” are registered trademarks. Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

But Iristel Inc. warns public investment must go beyond ‘the same old players’ to companies committed to competition and enhanced services for Canadians



Markham, ON, December 22, 2016 – Iristel Inc., Canada’s largest and fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) with operations in all 10 provinces and three territories, applauds the regulator’s ruling that high-speed Internet is a basic service and must be available to all Canadians.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission also set bold targets for upload and download speeds and a new fund that will invest up to $750 million over the next five years to expand broadband, especially in rural and remote areas of the country.

“It is refreshing to see that the CRTC acknowledges the status quo is not working and that it is serious about helping to bridge the Digital Divide in this country,” said Iristel President Samer Bishay. “But it is critically important that the money – coming from customers’ bills and taxpayers – be invested wisely and not simply doled out to the same old players who often aim to stifle competition instead of enhance innovation.

“The Digital Divide is more than geography. It’s also incumbent complacency. One need only look at Canada’s most remote regions in the North where Bell and its subsidiary have squandered hundreds of millions of dollars of subsidies over the years and customers receive worse telecom services than many people in Africa,” Bishay says.

He points to a company he co-founded, Toronto-based Kepler Communications Inc., that is launching mini-satellites the size of footballs within the year for enhanced data communications anywhere in Canada, especially rural and remote areas. Wall Street investors recently ponied up $5 million to Kepler.

“It’s companies like Kepler that can really kick start the CRTC’s goals, not incumbent phone companies with their bloated bureaucracies and anti-competitive tendencies,” Bishay said.

About Iristel

Founded in 1999 and licensed by the CRTC, Markham-based Iristel is Canada’s only carrier with facilities in all 10 provinces and three territories with a network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It is the majority owner of Ice Wireless, a facilities-based mobile network operator that delivers state-of-the-art 3G/4G HSPA+ technology to rural and remote areas in Canada’s North with LTE coming in 2017.

For more information, please visit www.iristel.com .

Toronto-based Trutel and Montreal’s Exelia join fold of Canada’s fastest-growing telecommunications company



Markham, ON, November 22, 2016  – Iristel Inc., Canada’s largest and fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), is pleased to announce the dual acquisition of dynamic telecommunications firms Trutel Inc. in Toronto and Montreal-based Exelia Inc.

“Iristel is committed to providing Canadians with the most advanced Internet-based solutions that deliver reliable and cost-effective voice and data services and both Trutel’s suite of products and services and Exelia’s excellence in serving the SMB market enhance our ability to do so,” said Iristel President Samer Bishay. “Our culture is not one filled with ‘old phone guys’ and neither is Trutel’s or Exelia’s. These two companies are strong strategic fits.”

Terms of the deals between the privately-held companies were not disclosed, but Trutel President Frank Auciello will be joining Iristel as VP Networks and Infrastructure, and Exelia founders Dimitri Stathis and Harry Villeneuve come on board as VP Enterprise Strategy and Operations, and VP Enterprise Sales, respectively. Stathis will also be responsible for managing Iristel’s Montreal office.

“My team and I are excited to be joining such a forward-looking organization that is the only carrier in Canada with facilities stretching from the Atlantic to Pacific to Arctic oceans,” Mr. Auciello said. “Trutel opened its doors in January 2000 and we’ve evolved over the years from a professional services firm to a Managed Services Provider to a CRTC-licensed, facilities-based CLEC. Joining Iristel is the next phase of the evolution in getting to the next level and leveraging the latest technologies to benefit customers.”

Mr. Stathis said Exelia was created to address the growing challenges and frustrations that small and medium-sized businesses face when dealing with information and communication technologies. “We’re excited to be teaming up with Iristel, a rapid-growing entrepreneurial company that understands the needs of SMB owners and managers. Throughout our careers, both Harry and I have delivered services to tens of thousands of small businesses in Canada and found they need more than just service providers. They need responsive partners offering real enterprise solutions to their business challenges. Iristel understands this and if the big, stodgy telco incumbents aren’t already looking over their shoulders, they should be,” Mr. Stathis says.

In the 21st century digital world of cloud-based VoIP technologies, geography means nothing when delivering services. “But building up our presence further in the Toronto-Montreal corridor, the heart of corporate Canada, is important because dealing with customers face to face when needed remains good, sound business,” Mr. Bishay says.

About Iristel

Founded in 1999 and licenced by the CRTC, Markham-based Iristel is Canada’s only carrier with facilities in all 10 provinces and three territories with a network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It is the majority owner of Ice Wireless, a facilities-based mobile network operator that delivers state-of-the-art 3G/4G HSPA+ technology to rural and remote areas in Canada’s North with LTE coming in 2017.

For more information, please visit  www.iristel.com .