latest trends in IT – roundtable 21


voice does not have adequate connectivity then you can have at least productivity and at worst a reputational issue, particularly when dealing with customers. That risk of voice blips has put a lot of organisations off until guarantees of service quality can be provided.”


Hosted VoIP has tremendous cost benefits in not having to manage core technology on-premise, but an on-premise telephony system might be operationally more effective, Walker summed up.


Clarke: “It’s true, telephone switches don’t die, but VoIP had a really bad press 10-15 years ago. Internet speed and quality now is a lot better.”


The professional services sector had largely avoided VoIP because it wanted a guaranteed service when dealing with clients, Clarke added. Skype, for example, was often used by SMEs for internal communications, but its quality could not be guaranteed for client contact.


Taylor set about some myth debunking. “We (Content Guru) are very heavily involved in backbone communications and we supply to lots of carriers – BT, Vodafone, Telefonica etc – and every single call we make today is on VoIP. So, the backbone of every single network is VoIP. A lot of networks in many countries, for example Deutsche Telecom, have completely decommissioned their PSTN (public switched telephony) networks in certain countries.


“At carrier level today every single network is completely robust, and there are now a lot of mid and large organisations who are using VoIP, and often end-to-end VoIP.” He mentioned National Rail, low-cost airlines, utility companies and banks.


Harris noted that there was a quality difference between VoIP and Voice over Broadband.


Taylor agreed but said: “In five years time we will have migrated across and will not really think about it.” It was worth noting that many large manufacturers of PBXs (Private Branch Exchanges) are currently managing a roughly 10% year-on-year decline in demand, while cloud adoption generally is growing at over 20% per year.


Clarke: “The challenge is still the experience of the user.”


Taylor: “To the user they have made a voice- call and it didn’t work properly. But, the real challenge is that people don’t understand how to end-to-end deliver it (consistent quality)."


Unified Communications to the rescue?


Unified Communications (UC) enables ‘anyone, anywhere, anytime’ collaboration of all of a company’s voice, video, data, email, messaging and mobile communication applications.


Sykes: “One of the best business decisions I’ve ever made was getting rid of 140 telephones. We went UC 18 months ago using Microsoft Lync and it has transformed our business. We have had teething problems, but basically communication now goes through our PCs or mobiles with us using Bluetooth headsets.”


UC had produced benefits in productivity and some cost-saving, but noticeably in business culture with staff no longer stuck at their desks for much of the day, explained Sykes.


“A lot of our clients in the US are also using LINK and through UC we can now see if they are at their desk or in a meeting.”


Blumenthal saw voice over broadband as a market 2-3 years behind the current cloud journey for most clients, who are currently keener to progress their data to the cloud. “Only a tiny amount are on the voice over broadband journey.


“We (Complete IT) are interested in finding a hosted telephony solution that is really going to work for our clients. For us, it is all about the connectivity our clients have to the public Internet, resilience, quality of service, the telephony solution that proves most reliable, and provides cost-savings for our clients, who are largely SMEs with 20-30 users, located in contrasting areas, some with good connectivity available and some with poor.”


Taylor pointed out that UC was reflecting the business world of modern clients, who are often on the move, using various different Internet-enabled devices, in different locations, and importantly used to business, social, voice, text and visual channels of communication – usually at low or no cost. “In 10 years time we will look back and say: 'How did we do ever do things differently?'


“You would be surprised how many seriously large enterprises, even central government, use this. It is definitely happening, but quality of service delivery is the missing piece at the moment."


Collaboration continues to drive IT development . . .


Sean Taylor THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MARCH 2015


Sykes mentioned how UC had improved relationships and collaboration among his team and clients, creative support and service providers, leading to increased


overall productivity. “It’s not just about better communication. For example, we are now sharing desktops with clients in real-time. It speeds up the whole business process.”


Harris highlighted that much IT development in the past had focused on the desire of companies to collaborate more closely with clients, and business associates “ ... that you might never see, outside or even within your own company”. Video-conference suites were as much to do with increased collaboration and understanding as they were reducing travel and accommodation costs, he remarked.


Steve Clarke


“Video-conference suites,” exclaimed one Roundtabler. “That room that was always empty because the executives were on a flight to Helsinki or somewhere.”


Taylor: “Times move on. A lot of video- conferencing has now gone over to desktops, and the technology has also evolved.” He exampled Ridgeway Motor Group which now provides customers with ‘Workshop Window’, a video-conference style of service. This mobile app allows a mechanic to visually show and explain to the customer the repair that needs to be made to their vehicle.


Operating with 40 UK retail outlets, Wynne said his company had “dabbled with LINK” but the traditional nature of furniture retailing with its important salesperson- customer shopfloor relationship was still strong.


However, he recognised that customers were more accepting nowadays of an ‘omni- channel’ approach – in which they gain the same valued shopping experience whatever communication channel they choose to interact with the retailer. “You can see exciting opportunities for IT applications, like that at Ridgeway, coming into other big- ticket areas where customers want to see or


www.businessmag.co.uk Continued overleaf ...


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