The next wave of unified communications (UC) will concentrate on automation, according to Eircom’s business solutions director, Andrew O’Kelly. He noted that while the first wave of UC has focused on improved collaboration and flexibility, the next phase will centre on technologies such as “voice-enabling existing applications that are accessible through web technology or using presence to automate the routing of a document or electronic form for approval within SharePoint”.
“The right products have been able to do this for some time now,” continued O’Kelly, “but there is an increased awareness of the benefits. Of course, the need to optimise operations and improve customer satisfaction has never been a higher priority than in the current economic conditions. The increasing use of video and instant messaging (IM), driven by increased familiarity in the toolsets and user experience, will challenge our expectations and modify our behaviours in ways that are still evolving. Newer technologies (Google Wave, for example) will also start to make their mark over the next year or so and change the landscape further.”
CONNECTIVITY OVERLOAD
According to Jason Flynn, country and sales manager with Avaya, many Irish workers face “connectivity overload” throughout a normal working day; juggling multiple information sources – mobile, desk-phone, e-mail, Blackberry and instant messaging. “This will almost certainly change with the introduction of a more streamlined management of communication tools, or what many vendors are calling ‘presence’,” said Flynn.
He continued, “With the click of a mouse, presence enables you to make colleagues aware that you are available on IM but not picking up voice-mail; that you can be conferenced in via your laptop soft phone but are not picking up e-mails. The advantage is that employees can better manage the frequency and method by which colleagues contact them based on their availability.
“The end result is that colleagues save time enabling them to get the resolution they want more quickly, while the end-user increases their productivity since they no longer need to respond to outdated or irrelevant communications. Giving employees greater control over how they manage their work communications puts them back in the driving seat and goes a long way to delivering the 15% productivity gain that (independent technology research and consulting firm) Yankee Group claims UC can deliver.”
Donal Berry of Datapac sees this as a major growth area as well. The business development manager said, “Presence is a very simple thing, if you’re working with 200-300 people spread across several sites how long will it take you per day tracking down specific people in the organisation, whereas the whole presence element will allow you to see ‘oh they’re not available, or they are’. Multiply the previous minutes lost, by each working day each year and that’s a lot of time gone for nothing. The ROI is easy to figure out.”
VENDOR MONEY
Asked where vendors and manufacturers will concentrate their resources over the coming year to 18 months, Flynn said that “Avaya is committed to session initiation protocol (SIP) standards and will continue to focus its efforts in developing best of breed technology that helps customers make the most out of their existing infrastructure whilst still delivering the full business and cost saving benefits that UC affords.”
Similarly, Calyx head of sales for ICT solutions, Tom O’Neill noted that SIP is also a key factor in the adoption of UC, saying that “SIP is going to become front and foremost in the UC equation over the next 18 months as vendors release SIP driven engines that will look to eliminate brand from the UC equation.”
Vodafone Ireland’s director of business and enterprise, Anne O’Leary said that, “with Microsoft being the front runner for UC at present, it is making significant leaps every year in the area of the soft switch; in my opinion most traditional IP PBX vendors will be watching this space intently and trying to mitigate against being overtaken completely.”
In turn, she said there is a race for all of the major vendors to provide full standards-based SIP integration to Microsoft and IBM platforms, and to create their own Linux-based soft switch IP PBXs which can run on any standard server. In short, O’Leary believes the “age of the hardware based PBX” is coming to an end and for Microsoft’s part, it is accelerating it through its investment in the area of creating an end-to-end UC solution.
INTEGRATION
Answering the question on where money will be spent in that time period, CDSoft’s technical architect, John McCabe leaned towards making integration into existing systems easier. “Currently, integration into existing systems can be a little bit tricky and the knowledge out there is not great, especially when you run into different systems of different patch levels,” noted McCabe.
Integration with existing communication systems is happening at present, but at a very slow pace, he noted. McCabe added that easier integration and best value for money will drive many decisions around UC “as a large proportion of Irish companies have invested heavily in traditional PBX infrastructure, and if they can make even better use of this technology, then they will begin to see the benefits of deploying UC”.
With regard to complete end-to-end solutions though, there seems to be a question as to how viable they are in the short term. Complete Telecom’s Neil Wisdom, sales and marketing director with the company, who said that “It’s the biggest goal for everyone, every major company is working in the same area to get complete end-to-end UC solutions – probably over the next year we’ll see the bigger names becoming synonymous with end-to-end solutions as they make the final push towards it and other small companies becoming synonymous with add on valuables.”
HOSTILE AUDIO
Paul Clark, general manager for UK and Ireland with Plantronics believes that the importance placed on having a good quality of audio will become an increasingly significant factor for businesses working with or looking to implement well-rounded UC systems in the near future. Elaborating, he said that if one or both parties on a call were in a hostile audio environment, for example, in a coffee shop or on a train, then the need to ensure clear communication is getting through is paramount.
By utilising headsets with “noise-cancelling technology”, a good audio presence can be established ensuring the focus of the call is on the business at hand. “Given that UC allows for a more connected organisation, even when people are out of the office, headsets can ensure an acceptable audio quality threshold is established, enabling people to operate in a multitude of environments,” he added.
An increase in use of hosted/SaaS software may also be on the cards with regards to UC and Micka
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers