Unified Communications. The Technologies, Features & Benefits

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1 Unified Communications The Technologies, Features & Benefits

2 Unified Communications 2 Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 3 What s Trending? 4 Workforce Mobility 4 Desktop Virtualisation 4 Globalisation 4 Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) 5 Cloud Computing 5 Video 5 Benefits of Unified Communications 8 Collaboration 8 Productivity 8 Decision Making 8 Customer Service 8 Cost Savings 8 Business Continuity 8 Scalability 8 Vendor Consolidation 8 Simplified Infrastructure 8 A Greener Approach 8 Unified Communications 6 Real-Time Technologies 6 Any-Time Technologies 6 Presence 6 Who should be considering UC? 9 About IP Solutions 10 IP the platform for Unified Communications 7 VoIP 7 Converged Voice and Data 7 On-Premise, Managed, Hosted or Cloud? 7 Lync 7 T F E info@

3 Unified Communications 3 Executive Summary Unified Communications is probably the most important thing to happen to the office worker since the PC came along Bill Gates Effective communication is the key to success. Not only in terms of delivering your core value propositions to the market but in terms of enabling every aspect of your business operations. Unifying business communications technology is the logical evolution of our fascination with convergence. Convenience aside, organisations need to keep abreast of the latest trends in mobility, virtualisation and globalisation in order to compete effectively in markets that are always on and where customers expect their needs and preferences to be at the heart of business communications. As the internet continues to revolutionise the way in which businesses communicate, the sheer variety of media available means organisations need to maintain a range of synchronous and asynchronous channels of communication. Although challenging, the rewards for successfully managing a unified communications strategy can be significant. Improved productivity, lower operating costs and better customer service are just some of the benefits delivered by UC. If you haven t adopted a UC strategy yet, or think it s only suitable for big business, it s time to reassess. UC is the future of communications and the future is now. T F E info@

4 Unified Communications 4 Introduction UC offers the ability to significantly improve how individuals, groups and companies interact and perform Gartner Technology has always influenced the way organisations operate. Now, more than ever, the way in which we communicate influences not just how successful we are, but how people and businesses work. As the pace of business grows and our workforce becomes more mobile and more responsive, business communications needs to not just keep up, but set the pace for future development. Developments in high speed connectivity, the pervasive nature of wireless LAN technology and the rapid adoption of business applications for instant messaging, WebEx and VoIP have driven a need for a joined-up approach to business communications. Employees, customers and suppliers are all looking for instant access to business critical applications, systems and each other. Unified Communications provides the platform to address a wide variety of stakeholder requirements and leverages the benefits of a range of real-time and any-time technologies to deliver improvements in workforce productivity whilst reducing costs. Unified Communications has been talked about in somewhat exulted tones for the better part of ten years. However, the technology hasn t really been able to deliver on its promises until now. Improvements in bandwidth, connectivity and performance, across both networks and devices, mean we are now in a position to start reaping the benefits of UC. T F E info@

5 Unified Communications 5 What s Trending? Workforce Mobility Technological advances and changing social trends have been working to stimulate the growth of mobility. IT industry analysts IDC expect the number of mobile workers to hit 1.3billion by 2015, that s over a third of the global workforce. The ability to work from home, the car, the office, or even the beach, not only improves productivity but has a positive effect on job satisfaction and is a vital part of a robust business continuity plan. High-speed networks and the latest 4G mobile services have eradicated the performance issues historically associated with remote working, so workers can be just as productive working remotely as they could in the office. In fact, most studies suggest remote workers are more productive than their office-bound colleagues as they stay connected for longer and experience fewer distractions during the working day. Desktop Virtualisation The virtualisation of the desktop environment provides workers with access to business-critical systems and applications anywhere, anytime. Delivering a virtual desktop to any mobile or remote device provides users with a secure, consistent work environment. For IT, adoption of a virtualised infrastructure generates significant savings in terms of management resource and operational expense and dramatically simplifies software provisioning. Globalisation The web has revolutionised the way in which we consume products and services. The ease with which options can be researched and purchased has resulted in a global marketplace; where customers expect 24 / 7 service and support. Advances in communications technologies have broken down international boundaries and resulted in a greater degree of interdependency between businesses and consumers across the globe. The always-on nature of the global marketplace is influencing how businesses provision services and support; which in turn is influencing their choice of communications technology. T F E info@

6 Unified Communications 6 Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) For mobile and remote workers, the option to choose their own device is proving increasingly popular. The shift to users own devices is inexorable and is forcing organisations to formalise their approach to device management. As business and consumer technology becomes increasingly converged, it is no surprise that employees are opting for a single device for their business and social computing. A 2013 study by Gartner Bring your own device: The Facts and the Future, predicts more than 50% of all businesses will be mandating a BYOD strategy by Whilst there are obvious benefits in terms of flexibility and productivity, BYOD doesn t come without its challenges. Costs become difficult to manage and security is a major consideration. Managing a disparate portfolio of smartphones, tablets and laptops can be a real headache for IT. Cloud Computing From infrastructure to platform and software-as-a-service, the Cloud is a genuine revolution in terms of information and communications technology. The Cloud offers significant benefits to business in terms of cost savings and process efficiencies, as well as increased flexibility and resilience. As consumers become increasingly Cloud-savvy, businesses will continue to make more IT services and applications available. Instant access to business critical applications is made easy and the cost of provisioning and upgrading software licenses is significantly reduced. Video Video is becoming more and more prevalent in business communications as a broader range of devices comes equipped with AV capability. The increase in quality of audio and video has been accompanied by significant increases in connectivity and bandwidth, enabling high definition video across a range of devices. As organisations come under pressure to reduce costs and carbon emissions and to encourage greater collaboration across geographical divides, immersive teleconferencing facilities have become increasingly popular. T F E info@

7 Unified Communications 7 Unified Communications UC is still in a development stage, with different vendors offering different combinations of synchronous and asynchronous (real-time and any-time) technologies. For simplicity s sake, here is a breakdown of the key components of a UC solution: Real-Time Technologies Any-Time Technologies Telephony (IP, Fixed, Mobile) Instant Messaging (IM) Audio Conferencing Video Conferencing WebEx Presence Call Centre Services Collaboration Tools Voic SMS Video Presence UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS Voice Directory Services Data Mobility Presence Presence is a key component of Unified Communications and is essential if organisations are to make the most of the technology. It enables users to identify contacts, locate them, view their status and choose the best method of communicating with them. Presence incorporates information from a variety of sources to determine the status of individuals. For example, are they on the phone? Are they at their keyboard? Are they in a meeting? It can also be used to determine how they can best be contacted and what types of data can be sent by leveraging device profiles. Whilst presence offers a number of benefits in terms of internal communication and collaboration, perhaps it has most to offer in the sphere of customer service. By leveraging multiple points of presence (MPOP) a UC system can determine if a contact is available or not, if they at their desk, in a meeting or roaming and connect them appropriately. T F E info@

8 Unified Communications 8 IP the platform for Unified Communications VoIP Voice over IP (VoIP) has been with us since the turn of the millennium and has become the de facto standard for modern business communications. VoIP delivers a number of advantages over traditional PBX and copper wiring solutions, including: Affordability Security Scalability Versatility Resilience The Internet Protocol (IP) is the principal communications protocol used for relaying packets of information across network boundaries. Its routing functionality enables inter-networking and is, essentially, the foundation of the Internet. The adoption of IP has been gathering pace since it first became available to the mass market in Whilst there is still a large installed base of PBX systems in use, most organisations have a migration plan in place and intend to move to IP when their current PBX reaches end-of-life. Converged Voice and Data The introduction of VoIP systems has allowed for the convergence of voice and data networks, allowing businesses to deliver multiple services across a single IP network. The rapid adoption of converged systems infrastructure is a result of the inherent benefits of reduced costs and complexity and increased functionality and performance; which appeals to organisation of all types and sizes. By moving to a converged IP network businesses are able to deliver against the age-old measure of doing more for less and benefit from improved call management, reduced call costs and a simplified ICT infrastructure. On-Premise, Managed, Hosted or Cloud? As with all business technologies, organisations have a choice between investing in an on-premise solution and leveraging one of a range of service providers. If your business is based out of a single office and doesn t need to contact remote or mobile workers frequently then an on-premise solution is the safe option. However, this is a model that applies to very few businesses nowadays. If you are a business that runs multiple offices, employs home-workers, maintains a field sales force, operates a contact centre or a help-desk then a hosted or cloud solution is likely to offer a better fit. Lync Microsoft Lync is a unified communications platform that delivers enhanced collaboration and communication tools. It enables desktop and application sharing and integrates seamlessly with the rest of the Microsoft portfolio. Real-time presence information allows users to access the full suite of communications tools from a single user interface: desktop sharing, telephony, video conferencing, instant messaging and . In addition to user benefits, Lync provides IT with a reliable, secure unified communications solution. Lync is easy to deploy and manage and delivers a scalable, flexible UC solution with a low TCO. T F E info@

9 Unified Communications 9 Benefits of Unified Communications Adopting a Unified Communications solution can provide wide-ranging benefits to any business; not just in terms of user experience, but also from an IT perspective. Collaboration One of the major benefits of UC is the ability for remote and mobile workers to work collaboratively with their office-based colleagues. As collaborative working becomes more prevalent, audio and video conferencing provides remote users with a more immersive experience. Productivity Having immediate access to all of their communications tools via a single interface saves users time and allows them to remain productive whether they are at home, in the office or on the move. Decision Making Projects are often subject to delay if the right decision maker cannot be contacted at the right time. Leveraging the real-time elements of UC can help speed up the approvals process. Customer Service Improvements in productivity and accessibility have a positive impact on customer service levels as enquiries can be routed to the right contact and responded to quickly. Cost Savings UC provides cost and time savings on a number of levels. A hosted solution is typically much cheaper to implement than an on-premise solution, reducing capital expenditure. Operating costs are also driven down with lower call costs and software licensing fees. Business Continuity A hosted UC solution provides much greater resilience as automatic failover and call routing can carry on seamlessly, regardless of user location. By taking communication to the cloud you effectively eliminate the single point of failure. Scalability Unified Communications provided on a per-user, per-function basis is incredibly flexible. Provision can be scaled up or down to meet your changing business needs without the need for additional software licenses and complex roll-outs. Additional functionality can be turned off and on as needed and deployed according to user profiles. Vendor Consolidation Converged voice and data services mean a single vendor and a single invoice for local, national and international calls as well as conferencing, Exchange and Internet access. Simplified Infrastructure Converged voice and data infrastructure results in a significant reduction in infrastructure costs and management time; freeing IT resource to focus on other business-critical activity. A Greener Approach UC can help organisations who are pursuing greener agendas in a number of ways. By reducing the physical number of devices and systems required, power consumption and office space can be reduced. Enabling more collaborative remote working also cuts down on user travel, helping reduce your carbon footprint. T F E info@

10 Unified Communications 10 Start-ups Multiple Offices Mergers & Acquisitions Legacy PBX Who should be considering UC? Unified Communications is not just a solution for large enterprises. In fact, many small and medium sized businesses can realize greater benefits from adopting a unified approach. If you are a start-up business, deploying a unified infrastructure from the outset makes a great deal of sense. It will reduce your capital expenditure on ICT and provide a solution that will scale seamlessly as your business grows. If you are a small business that runs out of multiple offices, UC can deliver significant cost savings and improve productivity. Making your users more easily accessible to your customers and suppliers also helps improve customer service and time management. If you are planning a merger or acquisition, now is a good time to move to a UC platform; rather than being stuck with disparate legacy systems and vendors. If you are outgrowing your current telephony system or your PBX is going end-of-life, it is an ideal opportunity to migrate to a UC platform. Taking your communications to the cloud provides a more flexible, future proof solution. If you are a larger business that is establishing a contact centre, UC can help improve customer satisfaction and agent performance as calls are routed quickly and intelligently. If you are implementing remote working or BYOD strategies, UC can deliver improvements in user productivity, collaboration, cost management and IT provisioning. Contact Centres If you are looking to implement greener working practices, UC offers support in terms of reducing the overall IT estate and helping to reduce the power and cooling requirements for your datacentre. Greater collaboration and a more immersive remote working experience also reduce the need for user travel. Mobile Workers T F E info@

11 Unified Communications 11 About IP Solutions IP Solutions, one of the UK s leading independent communication services providers, has over 10 years experience of providing communication solutions for organisations of all types. Using their extensive market knowledge and analytical tools, they provide cost-effective solutions for businesses that are looking to maximise the benefits of unified communications. By reviewing and accessing the needs of an organisation, IP Solutions can provide critical information and advice their assistance with managing communications costs and implementing new tariff structures has saved organisations hundreds of thousands of pounds. Independent and jargon-free recommendations have helped a host of high profile businesses reduce their annual costs significantly, whilst achieving a flexible and productive communications infrastructure. As one of the largest providers of UC infrastructures in the UK, IP Solutions can implement hosted solutions to help companies streamline their communications; delivering economies of scale, flexibility, greater workforce collaboration and productivity. T F E info@

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