4 DIGITALIRELAND INSIGHT Thursday 24 March 2011 Unified Communications


The biggest thing to


happen to work since email


Unified communications – the set of technologies that will make the phone on your desk look like a dinosaur – will unite voice with data and make the workplace universal, writes John Kennedy


U


nified communications (UC) is set to be the big- gest change agent to be introduced to the workplace since people began getting email and internet access at their desk in the 1990s. it will remove the clut- ter of our working lives – email, smartphones, desk


phones, iPads – and unite them under one cohesive frame- work. Making use of ‘presence’ technology, colleagues will know if co-workers are available to talk by phone, by instant messag- ing (iM) or video conference in an instant. An executive could be strolling down a street in new York but could participate in


a video conference call with executives in London, Paris and Berlin simultaneously. UC is a platform that brings together voice calls, iM, audio conferencing, web conferencing and videoconferencing into a single platform for companies that saves costs and helps teams to work better together. it takes the best of the iCT revolution in business and en-


sures that companies can be lean and efficient without surren- dering on quality or effort. Since UC burst onto the scene in recent years, irish organi-


sations have begun migrating their workers off traditional PBXs to server-based solutions that transform their telephony needs. irish firms are right now successfully reducing costs by introducing voice over iP (VoiP) capabilities and providing rich web conferencing technology, which helps teams to com- municate and collaborate without having to travel. UC supports increased productivity by enabling co-workers


to find and communicate with each other, whether they are in the office or on the road. The next evolution of UC to UC4 (Unified Communications, Collaboration and Call Centre) will see entire enterprises de- velop and evolve around this platform, which will do for busi- ness voice and video communications what email did for the written word. david Lang of Phone Pulse, a firm that has been serving


the communications needs of irish firms for over 21 years, be- lieves unified communications will help SMes become more lean and efficient. “Unified communications is where the business user’s work


space experience is seamless between their voice and data ap- plications and devices,” he says. “in today’s challenging business environment, companies


are focused on obtaining the highest level of productivity from staff to ensure their business remains competitive and cost effective. Many companies overlook the benefits that efficient communications brings to both the bottom line and productiv- ity of staff.


“Companies that seek to collaborate more efficiently deliver


an enhanced customer service experience. With this drives loyalty from customers and the ability to protect the business from a decline in revenue. Customers have naturally been seeking cost savings from suppliers over the last few years. The trend is changing with value and service now the focus as customers realise that they have reached the threshold where


costs have stabilised. “Many companies continue to seek short-term cost savings


within the business to reduce overheads. in fact a more for- ward looking approach is necessary to consider solutions like UC to assist companies become more agile. With flexible fi- nance options available, companies are upgrading their tele- phony system now to quickly obtain the agility and efficiencies to be leveraged from UC. The reality is most find the cost sav- ings greater than expected, making the ROi more compelling. “UC will eventually be a standard feature of a user’s work


space where it will continue to integrate with more work space applications.”


Next generation UC in november Microsoft launched its next generation of UC, Microsoft Lync, which brings a unified iM, presence, audio, videoconferencing capability to Microsoft 365. Lync is a single platform that integrates instant messaging, presence, audio, web and videoconferencing and voice to bring people together through a single interface. Jeremy Showalter, iW business group lead at Microsoft


ireland explains: “With unified communications people and organisations can unify all business communications into a single experience and platform, including email, voicemail, in- stant messaging, Hd videoconferencing, online meetings, and enterprise voice. With a unified communications approach businesses can improve how they work and cut costs (less travel, less commuting, lower telephony costs, etc). “Unified communications enables people to work faster and


easier across all their communication options and provides significant cost savings for organisations. “A simple example is you can receive voicemails, including


an auto text transcript, or missed instant messages directly in Outlook, enabling you to stay in touch while on the road or from multiple devices. Today many companies are explor- ing various aspects of these capabilities, but often in a very fragmented way. “Office 365 provides a unified experience across these capa-


bilities from within Microsoft Office to enable people to work in new ways in the context of where they work today, enabling organisations to adopt new capabilities quickly and easily. “Lync is the next generation of Microsoft’s presence, instant messaging, audio/videoconferencing, online meetings and enterprise voice capabilities with the ability to completely re-


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