Front-End Dissatisfaction (and Backing Off)

Asko Nõmm reached a breaking point with front end:

I want to have a personal life and not have to spend my nights reading up on some new flavour of *.js in fear that if I don’t I would soon be made irrelevant. I don’t want to learn nor use a million different tools. I don’t want to know a bit about everything and a lot about nothing.

Thus, I don’t want to do front-end development anymore. The joy is gone.

They literally spun up this blog to say that, but money-where-mouth-is:

I’ve given in my resignation at my current place of employment and will be seeking an exclusively back-end role for my next adventure

I have some doubts that back end is 100% better in regards to technology churn, but fair enough, I don’t hear about it as much. Front-end dissatisfaction is awfully high. I don’t go a day without hearing someone complain broadly about the state of front end.

Remy Sharp addressed this in The web didn’t change; you did:

If you didn’t gather off the bat from the title, the problem with developing front end projects isn’t that it’s harder or more complicated, it’s that you made it harder and more complicated.

Minor pushback there: a lot of people don’t get any choice in the technologies they are tasked with.

Remy’s point is that literally any simplicity that you hold nostalgia for on the web is still there and there is nothing stopping you from using it. Other than, ya know, if your client or boss prevents that.

Mark (last name appears intentionally not-on-the-internet) says that just HTML is a perfectly fine building tool:

Despite increasing leniency on frameworks being the only way to build for the web, hand-written HTML never disappeared and I feel is still a perfectly suitable way to build a personal website.

Remember Steren Giannini said recently they build websites with HTML alone and zero build process. And Terence Eden praised HTML for its unreasonable effectiveness:

Are you developing public services? Or a system that people might access when they’re in desperate need of help? Plain HTML works. A small bit of simple CSS will make look decent. JavaScript is probably unnecessary – but can be used to progressively enhance stuff. Add alt text to images so people paying per MB can understand what the images are for (and, you know, accessibility).

It’s nice to think that you can build an important website, avoid any sort of wild complexity, and have it do its job without any harm, with HTML.

Personally, I don’t harbor any ill will toward the front-end ecosystem at the moment. I’m aware that I can step backward from complexity if I have to, and that I can lean into complexity when it buys me things (speed, features, DX, etc) and know what it costs me (and users) and why.


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Load Average: An Indicator for Only CPU Demand?

Load Average‘ is an age-old metric reported in various operating systems. It’s often assumed as a metric to indicate the CPU demand only. However, that is not the case. ‘Load Average’ not only indicates CPU demand, but also the I/O demand (i.e., network read/write, file read/write, disk read/write). To prove this theory, we conducted this simple case study.

Load Average Study

To validate this theory, we leveraged BuggyApp. BuggyApp is an open-source Java project that can simulate various performance problems. When you launch BuggyApp with the following arguments, it will cause high disk I/O operations on the host.

Compare The Best Multi-Line Phone Systems For Small Businesses

Want to jump straight to the answer? The best multi-line phone system for small businesses is Nextiva X-835.

Multi-line phone systems facilitate seamless communication. They quickly and easily connect you and everyone in your company, allowing you to get calls to the right person faster.

I’ve scoured the market to find the best multi-line phone systems available today. Read on to find the one best suited to your business needs.

Top 8 Best Multi-Line Phone Systems for Small Businesses

How to choose the best multi-line phone system. Quicksprout.com's methodology for reviewing multi-line phone systems.

Running a small business is challenging enough without your phone system adding to the challenge. Investing in a multi-line phone system makes internal and external communication much easier than with a single-line handset.

I’ve covered the benefits and tradeoffs for each one below. Find the best deal on a new multiline phone system today.

Nextiva X-835 — Best Overall

  • Handles up to 12 lines
  • Great for team leads
  • $160 or $6 per month
  • Financing available
Buy it today

Every phone company on the market offers two and four-line phone systems. But for businesses that need the capacity to handle a fury of calls simultaneously, Nextiva has you covered.

They have three different desk phones that can each handle 12 lines. But the Nextiva X-835 is our top recommendation for most businesses. 

Nextiva X-835 image and brief description with price
The Nextiva X-835 is a wi-fi-enabled multi-line phone that’s versatile enough for varying business use cases.

This multi-line phone system is the perfect blend of value and customization at a reasonable price.

The phone’s 12-line capability is obviously a huge selling point, and rightfully so. But it also has a 2.8-inch color LCD screen with eight buttons that can be customized to fit your needs.

Other key features include:

  • Speed dialing
  • Ethernet connection
  • Wi-Fi enablement
  • USB input
  • RJ-9 headset input
  • Modular expansion capability

Your Nextiva phone is also backed by a three-year warranty.

If a two or four-line phone system just isn’t quite enough for your business, you can’t go wrong with the Nextiva X-835

RCA 4-Line Small Business System — Best for Small Business Expansion

  • 16 speed dial buttons
  • Intercom & two-line conferencing
  • Hearing aid compatible
  • Starts at $99.99
Buy Now at Amazon

The RCA 4-Line Small Business System is a guaranteed upgrade from your current phone. It lets you build a complete office communication system fast.

With a comprehensive list of essential features plus a few extras, it makes doing business easier and more accessible. You get features you’ve come to expect, like a cordless accessory handset, base speakerphone, voicemail waiting indicator, and caller ID. But this system goes beyond the minimum.

RCA 4-line small business system example.
The RCA 4-Line Small Business System is a significant step above basic one and two-line phones.

The caller ID has space for up to 99 names and numbers. And with 16 programmable speed dial settings, you can contact anyone with the touch of a button. The LCD display is easy to read, so you can see who’s on the line at a glance.

The RCA 4-Line system comes with an intercom and two-line conferencing, so you can keep everyone on the same page. Though you don’t have a wireless headset option, you can connect one with a jack for hands-free capability.

The system is also hearing aid compatible, so your hearing-impaired employees can use the phone with ease. The system doesn’t come with some of the high-tech features available, like a digital receptionist, but if you want a comprehensive option without getting too fancy, this is a great choice.

You can get this system starting at $99.99.

Panasonic KX-TG958 — Best for Consistent Service

  • Protected against power outages
  • Make calls from your PC
  • Connects with up to 4 smartphones
  • Starts at $179.95
Buy Now at Amazon

Panasonic is one of the most reputable names in the electronics industry, and the KX-TG958 Multi-Line Phone lives up to the brand’s reputation. 

We also like the phone’s ability to connect with computers and make calls through Microsoft Outlook. You can sync it with up to four smartphones, giving you the option to transfer calls beyond the included headsets. 

One of our favorite parts about this system is that it still works when you lose power. You’ll have 75 minutes of service during an outage, so you and your team can still conduct business until the power gets restored.

Corded version of Panasonic KX-TG958 highlighting its ability to work with no power.
The Panasonic KX-TG958 keeps you connected during power outages.

This multi-line phone system is also ideal for parents working from home. It even comes with a baby monitor, so you can focus on your work and know your child is safe in another room. 

With voice paging, you can even send announcements to all of the handsets. It’s easy to set up, and you don’t even need a landline to use it.

We really like the phone’s backlit LCD screen. It’s easy to read the keys, and you won’t have to squint just to dial a number.

Other standout features of the Panasonic KX-TG958 include:

  • Two lines
  • 3-way conferencing
  • 22-speed dial settings
  • Text alerts
  • Data port

It also comes with DECT 6.0—providing the security you need to prevent others from listening to your calls. You can also block up to 250 numbers, which is great for preventing spam and telemarketers. 

Panasonic added features to this system that go beyond what you’d expect from a physical phone. For example, it has a key detector to help you find lost items.

At $179.95, it’s a bit pricey. But it’s well worth it if you’re looking for a feature-packed multi-line phone system.

Grandstream GXV3370 — Best for Video Calling

  • 7-inch screen for video calls
  • Easy sync with mobile devices
  • 7-way audio & 3-way video
  • Starts at $219.99
Buy Now at Amazon

If your small business does video conferences or interviews, you have plenty of support with the Grandstream GXV3370. A seven-inch 720p touchscreen supports session-initiated protocol (SIP) on 16 lines and 16 SIP accounts.

Grandstream GXV3370 being used for a video call with three faces on the screen.
The large screen on the Grandstream GXV3370 is ideal for video calls.

With HD voice and a phone with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, you have the high-quality sound you need for crystal clear communication. Not to mention, it uses echo cancellation and has double talk performance. The system runs on the Android 7.0 operating system. It also syncs with mobile devices and a headset with Bluetooth.

The TLS and SRTP security encryption protect your calls and accounts from unwanted listeners and keep all your information private. With 7-way audio conferencing and three-way video conferencing capability, you can talk to anyone and everyone at once.

It comes with very advanced telephony technology to support your whole office on one device. It’s not as affordable as other systems at $219.99, but offices that need a phone like this can’t do with something cheaper.

MiVoice 5330e IP Phone — Best for Sales and Customer Service

  • Maximum customization
  • 24 self-labeling keys
  • Large central display
  • Starts at $163.75
Buy Now at Amazon

The MiVoice 5330e IP Phone by Mitel is a full-feature phone with all the programming and capability your sales reps need to offer customers the best experience.

With one-touch web and contact access, hands-free operation, a large graphics display, and embedded gigabit support, it has plenty of ways to make customer service easier.

MiVoice 5330e IP Phone landing page with image of phone
Sales reps love the Features Packed Into the MIVOICE 5330E IP Phone.

The phone’s 24 self-labeling keys give your team plenty of space to program and customize the features they need, including speed dial and lines. Twelve fixed-function keys offer access to specific features, including:

  • Contacts
  • Web browsing
  • Navigation
  • Menus
  • Telephony features
  • User settings

You can customize user settings as needed to include everything from hold and call transfer to conference and message options. Three contextual softkeys make it easy for you to find telephony features and functions.

The system encrypts calls so that you can limit who has access to your conversations. It has a wideband audio handset, along with a duplex hands-free speakerphone for when you need to find customer information with them on the line.

The HTML Desktop Toolkit and app development give you all the tech features you need to reduce your team’s burden while helping customers. Plus, the MiVoice 5330e IP Phone saves energy by reducing its power consumption.

You can find this system for around $163.75 or a single physical phone for around $55.

AT&T 2-Line Corded Telephone — Best for Working from Home

  • Powerful yet affordable
  • 18 speed dial buttons
  • Easy data transfer to your PC
  • Starts at $79.95
Buy Now at Amazon

The AT&T 2-Line Corded Telephone works well if your business has only one or two people. The system has two lines with automatic line selection and three-way conferencing capability.

The ClearSpeak dial-in-base speakerphone means you don’t need a handset and allows more people to join in the conversation. You can also use it with a headset, though unfortunately, it has no cordless option.

Image of AT&T's 2-Line Corded Phone
If you want to go hands-free without a headset, the crystal-clear speakerphone on At&T’s 2-Line corded Telephone has you covered.

You can program up to 18 speed dials for quick access to anyone you need to reach, plus it has a chain dialing feature. You also have space for 100 names and numbers in the contact directory. You even have a data port to transfer the data from your phone to your computer.

Call recording, screening, and intercept mean that you don’t get any calls you don’t want. Voice prompts and memo recording allow you to direct people where they need to go before you even answer the call. The system does have caller ID and call waiting on its display, but you need a subscription through your phone company to access the feature.

This system also works best for businesses that have someone ready to answer the phone. It only has 12 minutes of message storage on its digital answering system.

Despite its lack of other features, the AT&T 2-Line Corded Phone is hearing aid compatible. It also has a multilingual setup in English, Spanish, and French.

At $87.95, this option works well for businesses that need an affordable, basic option for a few people. It’s not ideal for companies that want to expand.

Fanvil X7 — Best for Intuitive Interface

  • Wide 7-inch touchscreen
  • Easy customization
  • Starts at $139
Buy Now at Amazon

The Fanvil X7 supports up to 20 lines and has a robust seven-inch touchscreen display. With Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support, you can conduct video calls and take advantage of the most customizable phone on this list.

The Fanvil X7 has 127 DSS on its touchscreen for quick access to functions and information. You can configure it based on your needs with speed dial, call forwarding, broadcasting, and more. You also have plenty of extensions and a USB connection for charging smartphones and other electronics.

Fanvil X7 home page
Speed dial and other quick functions can be accessed from the Fanvil X7 Touch Screen.

Its gigabit ports mean you can connect laptops and tablets without extra cables. With three-way conferencing and hotspot capability, you’ll never lose touch with those who need your services. The EHS headset allows you to move hands-free.

Setting it apart from other phone systems, the Fanvil X7 allows you to talk to visitors at your front door. You can even unlock the door from your phone. One downside is that you need to buy a separate webcam if you want to use the video calling feature.

Overall, the Fanvil X7 remains a very affordable phone with a price of just $139.

  • Huge wireless headset range
  • HD-quality calls
  • Supports up to 5 lines
  • Starts at $143
Buy Now at Amazon

The Yealink SIP-W52P works well for businesses with teams that often work away from their desks.

It gives mobile employees access to the phone whether they work indoors or out. With up to five handsets and corresponding lines, this system has a range of 150 feet indoors and 950 feet outside.

Yealink SIP-W52P page.
The YEALINK SIP-W52P is ideal if you need to make business calls far away from the phone’s dock.

It uses cutting-edge VoIP technology, and the company stands by its quality with rigorous product testing. The G.722 bandwidth and HD voice ensure that your calls always come through clearly. With three-way conferencing, you can organize meetings on two other lines at once.

The power-over-ethernet (PoE) support gives you flexibility with simple installation and quick deployment. Once you’re all set up, you have everything you need to reach your team anywhere.

Unfortunately, the system has no Bluetooth compatibility, making it a little less functional than other multi-line systems. Its 1.8-inch color display may also be too small for some members of your team to see comfortably.

The system comes at a price of $143 which is quite reasonable given its features, scalability, and ease of use.

How to Find the Best Multi-Line Phone System for You

Running a small business means serving your customers and your team. If your multi-line phone system lacks features your team needs, they can’t do their best work.

When you’re ready for a multi-line phone system, consider the following factors to maximize your business’s capability and efficiency.

Manufacturer Reliability

No matter what type of product you’re looking for, choose a reputable manufacturer. Reliability can mean getting the help you need when you need it through company support. You should also be getting durable, lasting products.

For example, Panasonic is a well-known electronics company. You should be able to expect above-average service and product quality from them. When you’re running a business, getting products from a reliable company dramatically reduces the risk that your equipment will fail and ding your reputation.

Futureproof

You want a scalable phone system so you don’t have to get a new one as soon as your business grows. Unless you plan to stay a one-person operation, you should get a phone that supports at least five lines. Otherwise, you’ll likely need to upgrade your system again within the next year or two.

Many of the systems on this list support up to 20 lines, which should be more than enough for most businesses.

A future-proof phone system might cost a little more. But when your business doubles or triples in size later on, you’ll be grateful not to spend more money replacing your obsolete phone system.

Transfer Features

Transfer features shouldn’t be limited to hardware, like transferring calls to an office down the hall. Mobile transfer features are the way of the future. Most modern phone systems allow transfers to a limited number of mobile phones.

This feature becomes especially useful if you have employees who work from home or out in the field. It also makes for better business flexibility and keeps employees available even when they’re not physically in the office.

You should also consider how easy it is to transfer callers. Some of the best multi-line phone systems have large touch screens to manage directories, which really simplifies this process. It also ensures that you’re actually transferring callers to the right person and avoiding a long, complicated call tree.

Strong Basic Features

It would be nice to have a multi-line phone system with all the bells and whistles. However, advanced features cost more. Plus, you might not use the extra features often enough to justify the steep price.

So, don’t overlook the basics. Some of the must-have features besides high-quality audio and video include:

  • Voicemail
  • Call waiting
  • Speed dial
  • Auto attendant
  • Caller ID
  • Conference calling
  • Call recording
  • Call reporting

The ideal multi-line phone systems should also keep up with your call volumes. For example, your phone system should allow you to add or remove phone lines depending on seasonal spikes or fluctuating call volume.

The Top Multi-Line Phone System For Small Business in Summary

The best multi-line phone systems for small businesses allow you and your team to communicate from anywhere. They can accommodate conference calls and remote employees who need phone access.

Although any of our top eight options will satisfy these needs, Nextiva X-835 is our top recommendation for small businesses.

Transactional Effects in Scala

Introduction

This post was inspired by a StackOverflow answer for the question Compose Futures with Recovery in Scala: Is it possible to compose Futures in a manner where, if one of them fails, a previous Future's execution result will be rolled back via some function?

The Problem

The case with Future can be generalized to some effect F[_], so we can say: How can we compose effects F[_] in a manner where, if one of them fails, the previous F[_] execution result will be rolled back via some function? This behavior is similar to what we know as a Transaction.

Stranger Things in Java: Constants

What you are reading is the fourth in a series of articles titled "Stranger things in Java", inspired by the contents of my book "Java for Aliens". These articles are dedicated to insights of the Java language. Deepening the topics we use every day will allow us to master the Java coding even in the strangest scenario.

Introduction

In this article, we will explore some scenarios involving the use of constants where even experienced programmers may have doubts. Although the topic may be well known, not everyone has explored particular scenarios such as solving multiple inheritance in presence of homonymous constants. Strengthening one's theoretical basis is essential to be able to program with confidence.

Uploading files to forum

Hello. I'm busy with something for which I opened a forum topic. Now, I'm trying to upload some pictures but I can't succeed. It says the files are to big. What are the ways to do this?

Thanks

Leon

Intro to Soda SQL: Open Data Testing and Monitoring

On behalf of the Soda team, I am pleased to announce the availability of Soda SQL, Soda’s first open source data testing, monitoring and profiling tool for data-intensive environments. You can download Soda SQL today for free on GitHub.

With more and more products being built using data as the core input, it’s never been more important to test and monitor the quality of data being used. For data engineers this usually requires extra capacity and the development of a homegrown data testing framework. As we know, these solutions become unwieldy as the volumes of data and size of teams grow.

CDK8S for Kubernetes: How to Interact With Kubernetes Without Kubectl

Introduction

Kubernetes has become the most popular DevOps tools in the industry. From startups to enterprises, everyone is leveraging the power of containerization by running their application in containers inside the Kubernetes cluster.

To work with Kubernetes, you need to create YAML files that contain all the cluster resources, services, deployments detail. YAML is human-readable and easy to learn, but if it becomes very difficult to work with YAML files when the cluster becomes complex. Adding or removing resources from a big YAML file is not an easy task.

The Evolution of Microservices for Modern Software Development

In 2014, the industry finally came up with a definition for the term "Microservice Architecture" — which is "a particular way of designing software applications as suites of independently deployable software."

The people who came up with this definition back then thought that the style could become the future of enterprise software. Fast forward to today, and we quickly realize that they were right – microservices are now seemingly everywhere. An O’Reilly report in 2020 found that several organizations have begun migrating from monolithic systems, applications, and architectures to microservices, and many more are looking to begin that transition.

Software Development Project Postmortem

If you’ve been a part of any software development project, you know things don’t always go as planned. In theory, projects have two possible extreme outcomes: success or failure. In reality, all projects will have a blend of success and failure factors when a large number of factors are considered. And in Apiumhub we believe that the best way to work through what happened during an incident and capture any lessons learned is by conducting a software development project postmortem.

What Is a Software Development Project Postmortem?

Software development project postmortem brings people together to discuss the details of an incident: why it happened, its impact, what actions were taken to mitigate it and resolve it, and what should be done to prevent it from happening again.
A project post-mortem is performed at the conclusion of a project to determine and analyze elements of the project that were successful or unsuccessful, the process as lessons learned.
Project post-mortems are intended to inform process improvements that mitigate future risks and to promote iterative best practices.

Cloud-Native Observability With WSO2 Micro Integrator

In a distributed systems environment, troubleshooting and debugging are critical and also very challenging tasks. WSO2 Micro Integrator offers the possibility to integrate with cloud-native monitoring tools in order to provide a comprehensive observability solution with log monitoring, message tracing, and metrics monitoring.

With WSO2 MI we have two approaches to help us deal with observability: