BUSINESS INTERVIEW
Reeve revs up in drive for UC
When Alan Reeve became Managing Director for Aastra UK and Ireland in May 2010 his first job was to establish a strategy that would transform a lack lustre performance in the UK market into a bright prospect.
share closer to the levels recorded in Europe. Aastra was ranked as European market leader in 2010 for the SMB market (below 100 extensions) and second across Europe for overall extensions shipped and the DECT market, according to figures released by telecoms and IT analyst firm MZA. Aiming to match this operational performance Reeve has identified UC technology as the path to growth.
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“I know there’s a lot of cynicism about UC in the channel because the term has been bandied about as the next ‘big thing’ for a while now,” he said. “But it really is more than just a slogan. There are real deliverables that produce tangible business benefits for customers. So it’s important for us to educate our resellers on the technology and the applications so they can offer those benefits to their customers.”
Reeve has over 15 years experience in the business
eeve has a
determination to drive Aastra’s UK and Ireland market
telecoms market, having held senior management positions with Nortel, ShoreTel and Panasonic in the UK and the EMEA region. He joined Aastra as the vendor launched its Aastra 400 series of communication servers centred on a one- number UC philosophy, allowing users to receive all calls to all devices using only one number. The system enables users to register several terminals including softphones, DECT handsets and mobile phones, and use one call number with one Aastra 400 voicemail box that provides an email attachment and encryption of the voicemail to send to any email address. “Those are real business benefits for customers that can reduce confusion and increase productivity,” Reeve claims.
But it is fixed mobile convergence (FMC) that Reeve identifies as the key stimulus for UC solutions. “There’s no getting away from the fact that for more and more business users their mobile device has become the comms tool of choice,” he said. “For the enterprise that’s a challenge
because call charges, phone records, contact directories and messaging systems fall outside of the company’s control even though the enterprise is picking up the bill. Given this growing trend to mobile business usage FMC has to be an essential element in any UC deployment strategy to bring mobile usage back under the enterprise’s management.”
The challenge for suppliers and the channel is how to integrate mobile usage into the existing communications infrastructure. “We believe that the simplest way is to provide a client application onto an existing GSM phone allowing it to integrate with the call control management system,” explained Reeve. “Users can then benefit from having access to deskphone features on their mobile phones. For instance, they are able to transfer calls, make conference calls and have access to the corporate directory, all from their mobile handset. They also get presence information on colleagues’ availability.”
In this scenario ownership of all the mobile device
Alan Reeve
For more users the mobile device has become the comms tool of choice
calls pass to the enterprise’s phone system ensuring all calls that are either made or received, go via its PSTN connection. This ensures mobile calls can be logged or recorded using the same technologies as for the fixed phone estate. “Outside of the workplace FMC addresses an organisation’s imperatives for mobile cost control and reduction, especially international roaming,” noted Reeve. “Businesses that use FMC benefit from reduced mobile call charges by using mobile least cost routing functions which determine transparently the most cost-efficient call method for each call resulting in significant savings.”
An FMC solution also addresses the security and contact history issues of
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business mobile usage, claims Reeve. “An FMC solution with one-number contact means that the organisation retains ownership of the number and its callers after its user leaves the organisation.”
Reeve observes that the pace of change is accelerating in business communications and the trend is towards more flexible working patterns and greater use of mobile devices. “We as suppliers and our resellers must meet this challenge with UC solutions that allow our customers to manage change in ways that benefit the enterprise in terms of cost control, management oversight and greater productivity,” he stated. “We believe a UC approach with FMC as an essential element is the way forward.”
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