Turning theory into practice: Lessons from the front lines of Unified Communications

Transcription

1 Turning theory into practice: Lessons from the front lines of Unified Communications White paper August 2010 Palma Petrilli Associate Director, Unified Communications Portfolio Management and Kevin Kieller Lead Unified Communications Strategist and Leader of the Bell Unified Communications Centre of Excellence

2 Table of Contents About the authors Making sense of Unified Communications What is UC really about? UC in the real world Unified Communications in action Benefits of UC Overcoming the hurdles UC deployed: lessons learned from the front lines Bell rolls out Unified Communications and saves Cisco: Uncovering a major hidden benefit with move to UC City of Langford expands with UC Best practices in developing a roadmap for UC implementation Examine your business, document your needs Prioritize your goals Plan for interoperability, plan for evolution Prove the business case Launch a pilot program Develop an implementation plan Choosing a partner Planning for success 15 2

3 About the authors Palma Petrilli is an Associate Director, Unified Communications Portfolio Management, with Bell. As leader of the Unified Communications portfolio and strategy for Bell, Palma works with many industry-leading organizations and internal product management teams to help define the company s UC strategy, roadmap and overall marketing plan. She has held leading positions in the IT and telecommunications industries for more than 10 years. Kevin Kieller is Bell's Lead Unified Communications Strategist. He assists organizations in planning a path for UC that will meet their goals far into the future while maximizing use of their existing network, mobile, telephony and desktop infrastructures. Kevin is also Bell s Unified Communications Centre of Excellence Leader. In this role, he works with various groups within Bell to ensure that the company s expertise is delivered in a repeatable, high quality manner. Kevin has led project teams that have achieved a number of Canadian firsts in terms of multi-vendor UC integrations. 3

4 1.0 Making sense of Unified Communications Unified communications is the next major step in the evolution of the workplace. UC improves collaboration between colleagues and partners, increases productivity and job satisfaction, and raises customer experience to a new level. It s also a critical part of bringing full office functionality to employees, wherever they happen to be. Despite all the excitement, some companies are still hesitant to deploy a UC solution due to lingering concerns about the reality of making it work and because they are unsure of how to produce a solid business case. This white paper contains best practices for implementing UC, including building the business case. It also features real life examples of successful UC implementations at three organizations: Bell, Cisco Systems and the City of Langford, B.C. In this paper, you will learn: The real benefits and challenges of implementing UC How to build the business case for UC The steps involved in building an actionable roadmap for implementation How systems integrators are adding value We ve distilled knowledge gained from our own internal rollout of UC and the dozens of implementations we ve managed for clients to give you a better understanding of UC and to help you turn theory into practice. 2.0 What is UC really about? Unified communications is the process of integrating communication tools that currently work independently. This is done to simplify the end-user experience and to simplify infrastructure, thereby improving user and operational efficiency, which can reduce costs. A UC solution can include any of several communication elements: Voice Voic Instant messaging Presence status Audio conferencing Video conferencing Web conferencing Directory Fax The ideal UC solution would allow any of the different communication modes to be accessed from any location on any device, and it would leverage your existing investments in network, private branch exchange (PBX), computer desktops, as well as desktop and mobile phones. 4

5 2.1 UC in the real world In 2009, Forrester Research reported that 57% of North American and European companies surveyed were piloting UC programs. But they also found that penetration of full UC programs among North American companies averaged only 6.2% in This slow growth may be due in part to delays in the widespread adoption of enabling technologies such as session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking. Although the increasingly ubiquitous availability of high-speed broadband and the growing use of private IP networks are positively impacting the adoption of UC, many UC services including messaging, mobility, application sharing and conferencing are most efficiently deployed over SIP trunks. SIP-enabled IP PBXs eliminate the need to invest in expensive gateways and other border control elements on an organization s network in order to connect UC infrastructure with the public switched telephone network (PSTN). SIP trunking not only optimizes an organization s overall cost of communications, but can also accelerate and reduce the cost of UC deployment. Organizations that are currently using UC have found that the technology can deliver substantial business returns of many kinds. A UC solution is not always expensive either, and will often pay for itself in a single year through cost reductions. According to a 2009 Forrester survey of 466 North American UC network and telecom decision-makers, cost savings is the top driver of UC adoption, followed by: Increasing communication flows Time savings Improving customer support Don t be surprised that organizations are implementing UC as a cost savings measure. UC has just as much to do with reducing the burden of IT administration through the unification of disparate systems as it does increasing workplace efficiency and productivity. 3.0 Unified Communications in action Unified communications can take any number of various shapes and forms. While the objective of UC is always to get a broad range of devices to work together, what will work best for your organization depends on its specific needs and goals. However, in general terms, the goal of UC remains the same: instead of many independent systems that only work as standalones telephone and voic , , video and more communications tools are unified to work in tandem with each other in an intelligent manner. 5

6 A complete suite of UC tools includes many different kinds of devices from a variety of manufacturers, but they can be broken down into five broad categories: Voice tools (fixed, mobile, soft phone) Conferencing tools (Web, Audio, Video) Instant messaging (IM)/presence tools (IM, Presence, Rich Presence) Messaging tools ( , Unified Messaging, Voic ) Applications (Collaboration, Contact Centre, Communication Enabled Business Process, etc.) The best way to understand how UC works is to consider at a practical example of UC in action. Consider this hypothetical scenario: On her way to work, Shelley checks her unified messaging inbox for voic s left to both her office and mobile phones, as well as listens to audio playbacks of subject lines. She clicks to listen to a complete and dictates her response, which is sent as she travels. When she arrives at the office, her mobile phone automatically switches from a carrier s signal to the LAN environment. At her desk, Shelley changes her presence status to available and soon receives an instant message from an outside partner with whom she is working. After two IM exchanges, Shelley clicks to upgrade to a voice call from her desktop. When two colleagues join her at her desk, Shelley clicks again to upgrade to desktop video for an impromptu video meeting. Later, going into a live meeting, Shelley changes her presence status accordingly and all calls and messages are automatically routed to unified messaging, although she has chosen to be able to respond to instant messages on her mobile device. When she gets back to her desk, Shelley finds that a colleague has consulted her calendar and scheduled a half-hour call with her for later that afternoon. 3.1 Benefits of UC Unified communications helps to increase productivity that much is obvious. But many other benefits can also be realized. The top benefits of UC include: Increased employee productivity Less time spent checking devices, looking up telephone numbers and contacting colleagues and partners without knowledge of their availability; more time concentrating on work at hand Increased mobility/flexibility When employees can work from anywhere, they are more productive and enjoy a better work/life balance Improved response time This is achieved through reduced latency: less time spent trying to contact colleagues, calling multiple phone numbers, waiting for responses, checking messages, switching devices, waiting to get to the office, and more Better customer satisfaction Customers can reach you by their preferred means of communication and can call you at a single number. And you can tap into subject matter experts (SMEs) in real time in order to immediately address customer issues or questions 6

7 Improved employee satisfaction Less telephone tag, less time spent checking separate systems, the ability to work from anywhere and less need for travel all improve work/life balance Reduced internal cost There are many ways that costs can be reduced. If your UC solution includes audio conferencing functionality, for example, it may replace a subscription service that charges on a per minute basis, and can run into the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Cost reductions can also include: Reduced travel thanks to audio, video and Web conferencing technologies Reduced IT support costs with integrated server management tools Reduced real estate costs, due to improved support for teleworkers Reduced conferencing costs, due to bundled solution licensing Reduced move, add and change costs through user self-administration Understanding your organization s business goals cost savings or improved customer service, for example will allow you to rank the benefits of UC in a way that makes best sense for you. 3.2 Overcoming the hurdles While the benefits of UC are proven, there can be challenges on the way to reaching the desired end-state. The following are some of the stumbling blocks that organizations can encounter (solutions to each are addressed in {section 4.0: Best practices in developing a roadmap for UC implementation} [internal link]): Demonstrating ROI As mentioned above, UC can provide real savings in many areas, both in terms of network costs and productivity savings is the number one reason why North American businesses are adopting the technology. But the complexity of UC makes it difficult to build a business case that clearly demonstrates those savings. See {section 4.4} [internal link] for more detail Complexity UC can be confusing and it can be complicated. Implementations often require significant time, resources and specific expertise Integration and interoperability Keep in mind that not everything integrates with everything else. Technology vendors will tell you that integration is a snap, but few have attempted to integrate their products with another vendor s. It s important to talk to a systems integrator or with other organizations that have implemented a similar solution Business Culture Getting people to change the way they work can be difficult, and that can impact the adoption of UC, especially in the case of older employees Internal resistance For many organizations, combining voice and data entails bringing two traditional fiefdoms together, a move that can raise concerns within those departments or teams 7

8 4.0 UC deployed: lessons learned from the front lines Every UC deployment encounters obstacles some are predictable, and others crop up over the course of implementation. But sometimes, deployments also deliver unexpected benefits. Here are three examples of actual UC implementations that demonstrate how well-planned custom UC solutions overcome obstacles and deliver great results. 4.1 Bell rolls out Unified Communications and saves Bell is currently implementing a company-wide UC solution that involves instant messaging, presence, desktop video IP phones, voice over wireless and unified messaging. This case study focuses on Bell s ongoing implementation of IP telephones and unified messaging. PBX network needs updating With a cross-canada network of 80 PBXs and several contact centre systems, each of which were brought online separately and at different times, Bell noticed that often one telephone system would reach end of life just as another was upgraded or replaced. Because of the cost and effort involved in managing this number of PBXs, voic and contact systems, Bell made the decision to consolidate and standardize. Bell s vision was to implement a common IP-based enterprise system, eliminating the need to rely on multiple technologies. In addition to switching to IP telephony and simplifying administration, Bell wanted to begin making the move to UC and to save money while doing so. Bell s ideal list of telephony features for across the entire enterprise included: A single unified employee directory Single message storage for and voic Single number reach Soft phone Click-to-call Bell knew that these features would increase productivity. But the question remained: Should the business case be built around productivity gains, or straight cost savings? Consolidation to IP After a detailed assessment of its existing telephony environment and requirements, the Bell IT team secured executive approval based on a business case that focused on cost savings alone. For the core build, it chose to migrate most PBX exchanges and all contact centres to a Nortel CS1000 IP PBX infrastructure with Microsoft Exchange for unified messaging, combining voic and . The three-year program is in its first of three years, currently switching on average one thousand seats per month to unified messaging. Because Bell is a telecommunications provider and the in-house cost of TDM calls is low, the plan is to spread the cost of conversion to IP over time. Bell intends to convert 20 PBXs this year, with a similar number in subsequent years. The final result will be a total of eight CS 1000 IP PBXs. 8

9 Technical issues down, user experience up Migration to the new system is moving quickly and feedback is positive. Out of approximately 3,000 users who were converted to unified messaging, two dozen took the time to send unsolicited feedback regarding the increased efficiency they were experiencing. Efficiency gains associated with UC have been notable, especially in the contact centres. Moving to UC also aligns with Bell s business goals, while centralizing PBXs has delivered increased geo-redundancy. But the business case for UC was built exclusively around the cost savings to be gained from retiring existing applications. Those savings have begun to accrue. The decision was made to build the case around savings for two reasons: first, cost savings and simplification align with top operational priorities for Bell; and second, effectively demonstrating productivity gains in departments other than IT is problematic, both technically and from a political perspective. 4.2 Cisco: Uncovering a major hidden benefit with move to UC One of the first global companies to pioneer unified communications, networking technology giant Cisco Systems finished migrating office telephony to Voice over IP (VoIP) in Since then, the company has continually upgraded and added to its UC portfolio, providing all employees with IP voice, data, video, unified messaging, presence and an array of business social media tools. Over the course of this upgrade, which it initiated in 2001, the company has realized a tremendous and unanticipated benefit in addition to telephony cost reductions and increased productivity. Move to IP means organizational challenge With over 200,000 desk phones worldwide in 2000, Cisco knew that a move to IP would produce cost savings by eliminating public branch exchange (PBX) system leases and reducing long distance bills, maintenance and costs associated with moves/adds/changes. But in addition to the technical obstacles typical of the early days of UC, Cisco also had a major organizational challenge to overcome: merging the Data and Voice Services departments. Not only did the two departments not have a history of collaboration, but Cisco also feared a flight of talent, as voice services personnel felt that they were in danger of redundancy. Company puts voice services in charge To manage the organizationally sensitive task of collapsing voice and data services onto the data network, Cisco management made the strategic move of putting the Director of Voice Services in charge, supervising a combined voice services and data network infrastructure team to handle the integration. By mid-2003, Cisco had completely switched to IP-based telephony and voic . Over time, these desk units were further upgraded to support extension mobility: once users enter their password, any set adopts their voic , speed dial, video and other preferences. Huge real estate savings realized Putting the Director of Voice Services in charge of collapsing voice and data onto the data network elicited a collective sigh of relief from voice personnel, reducing tensions. And as the voice and data teams worked on integration, respect for and understanding of each area of specialization grew. 9

10 In the end, the integration was completed ahead of schedule and entailed no redundancy among full-time employees. Moving telephony to IP meant shedding the costs of PBX leases, moves/adds/changes and maintenance, as well as significant savings on phone bills worldwide. But the surprise benefit of moving to IP telephony was a huge global savings on real estate. Extension mobility, along with ubiquitous wireless LAN connectivity, effectively made workstations interchangeable. A 2005 audit revealed a 40% cubicle occupancy rate among Cisco employees. As a result, Cisco radically changed the way it designed offices, moving to a hot-desk model that significantly reduced real estate costs per person the company s second largest expenditure as well as cabling, furniture and other costs. 4.3 City of Langford expands with UC Having outgrown their telephone system, the City of Langford one of the fastestgrowing communities in Canada needed to invest in a telephony environment that provided additional capacity. The City saw this as an ideal time to renew their equipment while simultaneously increasing efficiency, improving customer service and establishing the infrastructure for future growth. Efficiency and mobility a challenge Mike Palmer, Manager of IT for the City of Langford, was charged with sourcing a complete IT system that would permit greater staff mobility and leverage existing infrastructure. At the time, problems included the inability to efficiently archive voic s, customer difficulties in reaching City employees, and poor communication mobility. The City wanted a solution that would: Allow drag-and-drop of s into an existing document management system for permanent record-keeping Enable inbound call routing based on presence and location Provide unified voic , and fax messaging Provide voic , and calendar access by phone Be scalable and flexible in terms of moving lines, and reduce operational costs associated with changes Due to the City s rapid growth, scalability was of particular importance. Making the most of existing equipment After talking with Bell and Microsoft, Palmer realized that he already had a lot of the equipment needed: Microsoft Exchange 2007; Office Communication Server (OCS) 2007 R1 (containing features for enabling presence and IM); and Active Directory. Palmer decided on a Nortel CS1000 as the new PBX, but instead of purchasing the accompanying Nortel voic platform, he decided to take advantage of the integrated messaging capabilities inherent in Exchange The implementation also entailed several other changes: The addition of Primary Rate Interfaces to replace analog lines 10

11 A data network upgrade to support VoIP and UC with Ethernet-based power and quality of service (QoS) prioritization. This upgrade was designed to enable traffic prioritization, help ensure voice/video quality and support the Nortel IP phones As he didn t have the in-house skills necessary for system integration, Palmer engaged Bell Professional Services. The project was divided into two phases: the first to install the new PBX and integrate it with the Exchange 2007 voic platform for unified messaging; the second phase would upgrade the existing Microsoft OCS 2007 environment from R1 to R2 so that OCS could then be integrated with the CS 1000 PBX. Increased efficiency and room to grow The integrated solution answered all of the City of Langford s needs, and provided many business benefits: Unified messaging Particularly useful at busy times, a single mailbox can be used to put all of a department s voic s, s and faxes in one place. These can then be dragged and dropped into an employee s own mailbox as an action item, removing them from the general mailbox and providing an effective workflow process to quickly deal with backlogs Increase flexibility, mobility and productivity From logging into any office IP phone to one-touch call transfer from landline to cell phone, mobility is greatly increased. Even employees with simple mobile phones can now dial into Outlook Voice Access to check s and access their calendar and contacts Simpler IT support In contrast to the slow, laborious process of moves, additions and changes that required the physical services of an outsourced phone provider, with the new system everything is handled by Exchange, including voic , with all users managed through a centralized Active Directory Remote desktop support A good example of a feature that is often overlooked, remote desktop support saves time and money. As part of the OCS deployment, IT personnel can take control of desktops remotely, finding problems and showing users how to fix them In the end, the City of Langford implemented UC within their original phone system replacement budget, thanks in large part to the use of Exchange voic functionality that they already owned. Unified messaging also saved them from replacing fax server hardware, another source of savings and a solution that meant less third-party software to support. 5.0 Best practices in developing a roadmap for UC implementation As the above case studies show, challenges will inevitably arise in even the most successful UC implementation. To focus your efforts and allow your organization to systematically address issues as they come up, it is important to have prepared a thorough implementation roadmap. Following best practices to develop the roadmap is particularly important with UC. Because a UC solution can consist of so many different kinds of communication technologies, any configuration will ultimately end up being uniquely customized to each organization. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to UC. 11

12 In fact, that s a good thing: your organization s UC solution will be perfectly tailored to how it operates. But with all the options and details of competing technologies, it s important to not lose sight of whatever goals you set out for a successful implementation. Some top priorities that nearly every organization adopts include: Leverage the assets you already have Derive the best result for your budget, based on your business needs Plan for evolution and adoption Set key performance indicators to prove ROI The following six steps examine best practices that your organization can apply in the development of its UC implementation roadmap. 5.1 Examine your business, document your needs How is your business structured? Different lines of business and job functions tend to have different UC needs. If you don t already have a UC champion in your organization, you will want to get buy-in with C-level executives. Next, confirm commonalities and specific needs throughout the organization by bringing in the leaders of each line of business and developing a deeper understanding of what their communications needs are today and where they want to be in a year s time, in three years time and beyond. 5.2 Prioritize your goals What are your business goals? Is it increasing customer satisfaction? Accelerating the speed of communication? Or are reducing costs a high priority? Business objectives that are clearly stated are most easily achieved. Many organizations find the greatest benefits in rolling out UC to employee groups that are customer facing, or those that are geographically dispersed and require continuous collaboration and communication. Measurable goals typically include: Better collaboration Improved customer service Increased productivity Better work/life balance Reducing internal costs such as travel, back-end administration and real estate The order of your particular goals, along with your current IT environment, should inform your choice of technology. 12

13 5.3 Plan for interoperability, plan for evolution When planning your UC rollout, there are two things to consider: where you are coming from and where you are going. You already have an investment in ICT hardware and software so how do you leverage that in making the transition to UC? If properly leveraged, your current infrastructure can, in fact, help to further your UC goals. In regards to where you re going, first make sure that the platforms you decide on and the technology components you procure are compatible and will work well together. Some organizations tend to select best-of-breed equipment: device A from company X, device B from company Y. Technology vendors will tell you that everything works together perfectly but in fact they may not know that this is not the case. The reality is that many combinations of different components can result in a partial loss of functionality. In order to avoid this, it is best to do your planning with a systems integration expert rather than with a specific technology vendor. Discover the pros and especially the cons of all technology options to gain an understanding of the limitations of each solution. This will help you to ensure that limitations do not impact your deployment goals and your overall business case. Also, consider talking with others who have gone through the process before, or engage the services of a systems integrator that is familiar with the pros and cons of most vendor solutions. But before making your decision, think of what the future holds. Are you looking to extend UC to more applications in more departments? Plan ahead to the extent that you are able, taking integration of future components into account. 5.4 Prove the business case Before they invest in business improvements of any kind, organizations need assurance that there is a quantifiable business benefit. But because the biggest deliverables for unified communications are increased productivity, better customer service and other hard-to-measure benefits, establishing a traditional, hard-dollar ROI model is problematic. Unless you already have metrics in place to measure productivity gains and losses and can put a dollar figure next to them it s difficult to measure improvements. Note that ROI can be calculated, but you need to have benchmarked where you are now in terms of the most important UC deliverables, so you can measure improvements. The business case, however, doesn t always have to be built around the ROI stemming from top deliverables. UC implementations regularly help organizations cut costs, and savings over the course of a year can often pay for the entire implementation. Cost savings related to technology are easier to measure in terms of licensing fees and management costs. Take audio conferencing as an example: if a UC implementation permits you to bring conferencing in-house, you could potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars. Consider these potential areas for savings in building the business case for UC in your organization: Can video conferencing or other remote collaboration tools, in combination with enforcement of a restrictive travel policy, save on travel costs? 13

14 Will aggregation of system back-ends result in reduced IT administration costs? Would telecommuting remote workers accessing voice, conferencing and other tools from a home office save on real estate costs? Could on-premise audio conferencing options reduce audio conferencing costs by eliminating outsourced provider fees? Would the use of soft phones for certain users save money on the purchase of IP sets? Can existing licenses provide additional functionality without the need to purchase more? 5.5 Launch a pilot program Pilot programs are important for testing a number of factors: technology, usability and adoption. With UC, the most important of these factors is invariably adoption. If the targeted user group doesn t learn to make use of key UC functionality, the benefits are lost. When launching a pilot, be sure to: Engage the users who will actually be using the solution, while ensuring that the end result meets their needs and that they will evangelize the results Establish KPIs to measure performance of salient deliverables: how much more is each user producing, saving etc. than before? Provide adequate training so that employees can make full use of UC functionality insufficient training is the number one reason for low adoption Find out the extent to which the technology was used through back-end analytics, ideally, or at minimum surveys to provide some indication of usage Lessons learned from the pilot(s) will help you to shape a full implementation plan. 5.6 Develop an implementation plan When building a complete plan for UC implementation, consider adopting a flexible approach. For example, you may need to change the way that you measure KPIs or rethink technology components. In the case of A-B testing, perhaps two pilots indicate the better of two options, or one training technique worked better than another. Because it unifies many disparate parts of the ICT environment, a UC project is generally complex. However, it is still a project that needs to be managed just like any other, so all of the same rules apply: Define objectives and decide how you are going to measure success Put metrics in place to measure the kinds of performance you need to track adoption, use, efficiencies etc. Establish current benchmarks and measure cost reductions on travel, conferencing, and more Develop a timeline for technology rollout and testing 14

15 Foster adoption. Solutions that truly address users needs are likely to be put to good use, while good training empowers users, accelerates adoption and causes employees to embrace change, thus boosting productivity Preparing for a UC implementation involves many important steps. You can help ensure success of the planning process and the ultimate rollout by carefully choosing an experienced partner. 6.0 Choosing a partner There are many factors that combine to inform the choice of a partner for unified communications: experience, cost, familiarity with your business and more. But perhaps the two most important qualities to see are: Experience with implementations similar to yours Integration knowledge and capability Companies that specialize in one manufacturer s equipment often lack experience both in how to integrate various manufacturers devices, and also in integrating larger PBX voice platforms and other legacy equipment. The category of partners known as systems integrators, on the other hand, are more likely to have more experience in integrating various manufacturers platforms, and will more likely provide unbiased recommendations in regards to system components, especially if they have relationships with most or all major manufacturers. Consider also a potential partner s ability to work with you to manage overall integration in other words, whether they can provide architectural, equipment, installation and other ongoing services wherever you are across Canada. If financing is a concern, some partners are able to provide leasing and financing options to suit your business. 7.0 Planning for success Unified communications is the next major evolution in the workplace. It increases productivity and job satisfaction, fosters more effective collaboration and improves the customer experience. UC is a critical part of remote work bringing the office to employees, wherever they happen to be. While the benefits of UC have been proven, two factors have caused Canadian organizations concern: the complexity of putting a solution into place, and a lack of knowledge about how to demonstrate the business case. Following best practices to build a detailed roadmap for UC will help overcome those challenges, especially because there are many choices to be made regarding devices and they can be implemented. A carefully planned roadmap will alleviate the risk that you will get lost in the details. Examine your organization s underlying drivers for adopting UC and don t lose sight of the overarching priorities that most implementations have: 15

16 Leveraging what assets you already have Getting the best results for your budget Planning for evolution and adoption Setting KPIs that prove ROI Finally, keep in mind this important point during the planning process: not all UC equipment works together perfectly. Choosing best-of-breed equipment from multiple vendors can still result in some loss of functionality a situation that vendors themselves may not be aware of. For this reason, and because of the complexity of most UC implementations, it s often a good idea to consult with a systems integrator that s long on implementation experience. Talk to Bell Bell is a leader in the field of unified communications. As a national and international systems integrator, we are familiar with the strengths, the shortcomings and the interoperability of technology solutions available today. Bell partners with all major UC vendors and regularly consults on, plans and implements UC solutions for organizations across Canada from smaller companies to the nation s largest. If you would like to know more about our planning and consulting services or our UC solutions, contact your Bell representative today or click here to have someone contact you. 16