Unified Communications ebook
Unified Communications ebook Chapter 1: Technology Overview Chapter 2: Business Benefits Chapter 3: Top 3 Myths Chapter 4: What Do I Need? Chapter 5: Why World Wide Technology?
Better Communications for Better Business Unified Communications Enhance: Mobility: Get a unified view of calls, calendars, data, and e-mail anywhere, anytime, on any wired or wireless device. Collaboration: Share all types of media with voice, Web, or videoconferencing participants. Security: Extend comprehensive security throughout your network, from infrastructure through call control devices and communications applications. Choice: Facilitate integration with applications from other industry leaders. Customer Service: Maximizes call center performance and customer satisfaction. 3
Chapter 1- Technology Overview Unified Communications increase business agility by helping you integrate communications more closely with business processes, ensuring that information reaches recipients quickly, through the most appropriate medium. With Unified Communications employees, customers and business partners can collaborate in real time using advanced applications from one easy-to-use interface. These applications include: Video Conferencing, Integrated Voice and Web Conferencing, Mobile IP Soft Phones, Voicemail, and More Unified Communications ensure that information reaches recipients quickly, through the most efficient medium. So, you can deliver the right information, to the right people at the right time. 4
Chapter 2- Business Benifits Many of today s businesses are using seemingly infinite combinations of phones, voice messaging, e-mail, fax, mobile clients, and rich-media conferencing. Information overload and misdirected communications delay critical business decisions, slow down processes, and reduce productivity. Unified Communications address these challenges directly. A recent Sage Research study demonstrates cost and productivity improvements. 5 Organizations using Unified Communications clients saved an average of 32 minutes daily per employee because presence technology enabled staff to reach one another on the first try. Use of softphones resulted in an average savings of $1,727 per month in cell phone and long distance charges. Mobile workers also saved 40 minutes each day, enjoyed greater communications convenience, and generated annual productivity gains of 3.5 days per year
through business continuity impact. Organizations using unified messaging reported that employees saved 43 minutes per day from more efficient message management while mobile workers saved 55 minutes per day. Companies using integrated voice and Web conferencing reported a 30% reduction in conferencing expenses (by making integrated conferencing capabilities available in-house and on-network) and an average savings of $1,700 per month in travel costs. Migrating to a Unified Communications system provides a substantial return on investment (ROI) and a reduced total cost of ownership.
Chapter 3 - Top 3 Myths Myth #1: You should wait to deploy IP-based business communications until the standards are more mature. Reality: While technology is constantly evolving, the fundamental standards for IP-based communications are well established. Delaying your company s transition to Unified Communications could impede your success. Myth #2: Implementing IP-based business communications is more expensive than implementing a traditional TDM communications system. Reality: IP phones initially seem more expensive when compared to traditional circuit-switched key systems and enterprise phones. But with IP phones, the intelligence resides in the actual phone rather than in set-line cards within enterprise and key system controllers; which can give the appearance that the bulk of the solution cost is tied to the endpoints. You see a higher phone cost for VoIP, rather than the comparison cost based on averaging the line card and the phone costs for the enterprise.
Unified Communications solutions are proven to offer lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and high ROI. The typical IP phone today costs the same or less than an equivalent digital desk phone set. When you factor in the lower overall TCO that results from running on a converged IP network for voice, video, and data, a Unified Communications solution can save you a substantial amount of money. Myth #3: Deploying IP-based communications means losing your investment in traditional voice solutions. Reality: Unified Communications solutions offer migration at your preferred pace. In the IP communications world, telephony is a service in the network, available from anywhere in the network, independent of location. For example, a multisite business may deploy call-control software only at its central site, then enable the remote sites to access the service remotely over the network.
Chapter 4 - What Do I Need? Through Cisco, World Wide Technology provides a rich portfolio of voice, video, mobility, and IP communications solutions designed to facilitate efficient and effective interaction, while providing the foundation for a collaborative workforce. Our Unified Communications product portfolio includes: IP Telephony Run voice, data, and video communications over a single, converged network. Includes call-processing software, telephones, and endpoint devices. Featured products include: Cisco Unified IP Phones 7900 Series Cisco Unified Communications Manager Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express
Unified Communications Applications Streamline business processes by integrating solutions for messaging, conferencing, and Unified Communications clients to improve communication, mobility, and collaboration. Featured products include: Cisco Unified Personal Communicator Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Cisco Unity Cisco TelePresence Customer Contact Skills-based contact routing, voice self-service, computer telephony integration (CTI), and multichannel contact management help you improve your call center abilities. Featured products include: Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise Cisco Unified Voice Portal Cisco Unified Web Interaction Manager 10
Voice Network Management These tools are designed to improve productivity and reduce total cost of ownership through automation, integration and simplification. Featured products include: Cisco Unified Operations Manager Cisco Unified Service Monitor Cisco netmanager - Unified Communications Cisco Unified Provisioning Manager Communications Infrastructure Routing, switching, and other infrastructure products include voice gateways, switches with inline power, and voice servers for media processing software. Featured products include: Cisco IOS Gateways with SIP Cisco Multiservice IP-to-IP Gateway 11
Chapter 5 - Why World Wide Technology? Founded in 1990, World Wide Technology has grown from a small startup to a world-class organization with over $2 billion in revenue and more than 1,000 highly trained employees. The secret of our success? We provide our customers with a lot more than technology. With annual Cisco sales in excess of a half-billion dollars, WWT ranks as one of the top 5 Cisco partners in the U.S. which gives our customers access to first-rate expertise. And with more than 100 Cisco-certified engineers and over 500 certifications, we specialize in advanced technologies like Unified Communications. And, as a Cisco Gold Certified Partner, we offer our clients: More Value WWT brings a geographic focus with an emphasis on delivering value-added services and solutions. 12
Proven Technical Expertise WWT s commitment to Cisco s training road map ensures specialization in specific technologies that enable us to deliver the newest solutions. Sharper Focus on Customer Satisfaction WWT provides access to on-line customer satisfaction tools that allow our customers to evaluate our performance and allow us to develop targeted plans for continuous improvement. Cisco Authorized Training As a Cisco Learning Partner, WWT delivers specialized training to customers who are interested in pursuing certifications and professional development. To learn more about World Wide Technology and how we can help you migrate to Unified Communications, visit www.wwt.com. 13
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