Audio Interviews
Roberta Mackintosh
Executive Director
Global Voice
Unified Communications
and Collaboration
Verizon Business
Interviewed by
Nancee Ruzicka
Steve Hardy
Director
Product Marketing
Unified Communications
Avaya
Interviewed by
Nancee Ruzicka
National Association
of Broadcasters
Conference
April 15, 2008
Participating companies included:
Alcatel-Lucent, Microsoft Mediaroom, Forrester Research, and IP Prime
Sponsored by
CostAny effort to implement UC must be based on a business case that quantifies the benefits to the company. Productivity that results from collaboration, more accurate data, a single-user interface and more informed decisions is difficult to quantify, but there are ways to measure the impact on business performance. Other measures, including the time saved because a user can remotely access orders, drawings or contact information, are more easily quantified. Fewer truck rolls, shorter service appointments, fewer missed calls and increased customer satisfaction all result in tangible cost savings and even revenue generation.
Management and administration of the
UC network and applications infrastructure
are critical to its success as a tool for
increasing productivity and decreasing costs.
So what are the costs? There’s the network upgrade, the UC applications and the system(s) required for administration and management. However, as with any business or technology transformation project, there are also costs for planning, management, procurement, integration with existing systems, process definition, governance, training, operations and maintenance. Both the return on investment and the total cost of ownership must be calculated and weighed against the savings.
The Last Word
Any UC solution must at least provide parity with existing voice, e-mail, collaboration and video functionality. Beyond that, UC is intended to allow users to take advantage of both existing and new features by using common tools and interfaces. A number of retail Web sites allow the customer to view product information, call the company, e-mail the company or chat with a representative. That is what UC should look like to users. No matter what method they choose, the underlying systems and networks should allow them to communicate quickly and simply with other users.
UC relies heavily on integration of both existing and new applications. As on the Web site, a customer can send an order and the company responds with a link to track the shipment. The customer asks a question and the representative sends an instant message that answers it. That type of integrated communication is very powerful. However, it requires that the underlying processes and infrastructure be not only inte-grated, but also scalable, reliable and secure.
Giving employees control of when, where and how they are connected requires careful planning. As tedious as it sounds, use cases and process models reveal the best and worst ways to incorporate UC functionality. The type and extent of UC functionality that is implemented may vary by business unit, work group or even region. There are some UC functions that every employee will utilize, others that will benefit only a few, and some UC functions that nobody needs. UC applications and infrastructure are business assets that require policies and governance to regulate their use.
As with any new IT or network deployment — and UC is both — it is important to realize that somebody will have to take care of it. On-demand UC services require real-time support. Management and administration of the UC network and applications infrastructure are critical to its success as a tool for increasing productivity and decreasing costs. If the deployment doesn’t work, employees won’t use it and the business is no better off.
Finally, it is vital that enterprises monitor UC deployments to determine business impact. Once the infrastructure is in place, modifications can be readily made to both the UC applications and the user groups. Likewise, new applications can be evaluated, trialed and quickly deployed. UC is an evolving capability that, when correctly implemented, can visibly transform day-to-day work and social routines worldwide.
A Trusted Advisor To Businesses Navigating the UC Maze
As more and more businesses adopt IP communications, they are confronted with the opportunity and challenge to unify their communications. Verizon Business, a leading provider of IP networking, is in a unique position to evaluate emerging technologies and help businesses of all sizes understand what works for them. Roberta Mackintosh, Executive Director of Global Voice and UCC, puts it like this: “We can help you look at what you have, identify your key drivers, and determine where you want to go and how to get there.”
IP network infrastructure for both local and wide-area communications is key to the successful implementation of UC. However, the reality is that legacy networks and elements will be in place for a long time to come. To that end, Verizon Business works diligently to enable enterprise UC implementations to interoperate with existing environments, while making the most of new IP capabilities.
IP Managed Services: Connectivity Around The World
From hosted IP to on-demand networking, Verizon Business is a recognized leader in delivering advanced communications and IT services for business customers around the world. With IP communications, and specifically VoIP, at the center of UC deployments, Verizon Business has released an Integrated Communications Package that works in conjunction with its Hosted IP Centrex service.
The Integrated Communications Package provides the IP voice- and data-management capabilities that enterprises require, along with the integrated applications and collaboration that make UC so valuable. The offering simplifies management of distributed IP users and enables businesses to manage their communications in real time from anywhere in the U.S. To further assist customers in realizing the benefits of IP telephony, Verizon Business offers IP Trunking with Burstable Enterprise Shared Trunks (BEST). BEST helps customers increase network efficiency by purchasing fewer concurrent calls at each location and sharing what they do purchase across locations, providing time-of-day benefits and better management of peak usage. Mackintosh adds, “As IP network utilization increases with UC, managing costs becomes critical to generating a positive return on the UC investment.”
Leveraging the Full Benefits of UC
While many organizations today are beginning to embrace on-demand UC capabilities as part of their overall communications strategy, few are in a position to leverage the full potential of UC, primarily because they are unable to measure what impact UC has on business performance. Verizon Business offers a Collaboration Calculator that measures multiple aspects of collaboration within an organization. By understanding the degree of collaboration, the tool provides recommendations and actions on how to collaborate more effectively.
Businesses looking to adopt UC are driving providers like Verizon Business to help develop the strategies that fit their needs. Putting the IP network in place and understanding how to deliver UC to different types of users is critical to future success. Mackintosh recognizes that there is still a lot of integration to be done, but is confident that Verizon Business can help. “We know how to make sure that it all works together — that all of the cool applications can be accessed by those who need them at any time and from any location. We can help harness the technology for our customers, but it’s up to each individual business to reengineer its business processes to bring UC to life.”