Uncomplicating Unified Communications for SMBs

Transcription

1 Uncomplicating Unified Communications for SMBs

2 Contents Summary...3 Demystifying Unified Communications...3 Unified Communications: The Business Case...4 UC Levels the Playing Field...5 Common UC Terms...5 UC Pre-Purchase Checklist...7 Conclusion...8 ziffdavis.com 2 of 8

3 Summary Unified Communications (UC) has been making its way into the enterprise for a number of years, but uptake has been markedly slower in the small-to-midsize business (SMB) space. Many SMBs are concerned that UC is too expensive, too difficult to set up and maintain, overhyped or, worse, they are simply baffled by UC and its benefits. If you re not completely clear about what Unified Communications encompasses, you aren t alone, and it s not your fault. This paper will discuss what UC is and how it can help small and medium-sized businesses. Demystifying Unified Communications A clearer picture of what UC is and isn t begins to emerge when one understands that, unlike most other technologies, UC is not a specific solution per se, but a strategy enabled by various products that helps organizations to collaborate and communicate more effectively and efficiently. By embracing technologies such as voice over IP (VoIP), voice mail, mobility, conferencing, telepresence, , unified messaging (UM), and instant messaging (IM), this nascent technology can boost employee interchange and help optimize business processes. Nadeem Unuth, a voice over IP expert, explains it succinctly: with UC communication tools are integrated so that both businesses and individuals can manage all their communications in one entity instead of separately. To illustrate his point, he offers this example: [S]ay you have five ways to be contacted (phone, , paging... you name it), would people like to keep or know five different pieces of information to be able to contact you anytime they want? With unified communications, you will (as at now, ideally) have one access point (one number) through which people can contact you, whether they are using their computer s instant messenger, their softphone, their IP phone, etc. ziffdavis.com 3 of 8

4 Unified Communications: The Business Case Imagine arriving at the office each morning and taking care of all of your s, voic s, and other communications in a fraction of the time you spend responding and reaching out now. Picture yourself connecting with colleagues, customers, and partners when and how it s most convenient for you. Imagine how much of your workday you could salvage from the many interruptions that stanch your productivity, so you could spend the bulk of your time in the office getting actual work done. Now picture a strategy that not only helps you achieve all this, but also enables you to collaborate faster, more effectively, and more efficiently with your staff and customers. These are the potential benefits of UC. UC improves productivity because it gives you the power to control when you can be interrupted. Being in control of your communications enables you to handle all your communications at once. Unuth explains how this works: A simple example is the list of buddies you have in your instant messenger. When they are online (meaning they are available and willing to communicate), your instant messenger gives you an indication to that effect. Presence can also be enhanced to show where you are and how (since we are speaking about integrating many communication tools) you can be contacted. For example, if a buddy is not in her office or in front of her computer, there is no way your instant messenger can have you contact her, unless other communication technologies are integrated, like pc-to-phone calling. With unified communications, you can know where your buddy is and how you can contact her... but of course if she wants to share this information. Although it sounds somewhat counterintuitive, presence allows clients, staff, and partners to feel more connected to you, even when you are displaying your virtual do not disturb sign. When others gain insight to your availability, they can reach out knowing when you are receptive, instead of calling you blindly and hoping to get through. Secondly, the blog continues, UC allows you to be available on your own terms. For example, you can push calls to voic while remaining available via , and letting those who wish to contact you know your preferred contact method at the moment. Using a technique called cascade or trickledown, UC allows people to get in touch in the most appropriate way for your needs without driving them to frustration and finally giving up. The UC system will funnel communications to you in the order you choose, across any communications medium. You can set up the UC system to send messages to the most convenient places for you to pick up at your convenience. ziffdavis.com 4 of 8

5 UC Levels the Playing Field Beyond technical capabilities, UC can help SMBs to gain competitive advantage and to differentiate themselves in a marketplace that, in the past, has been likely dominated by large enterprises due to their size and sheer muscle. Non-regulated businesses, for example, can leverage UC as an effective compliance repository. Gaining access to records of contact in date order, regardless of communication mode, affords SMBs with a simplified first step to dealing with compliance or legal challenges. SMBs with employees who work from home can appear as authoritative as larger businesses while affording teleworkers anonymity. For example, if you own a small business, you may not want clients to have your home phone number. But you can give out an office number that, thanks to UC, cascades to your home or cell phone. UC further levels the playing field by extending presence capabilities to roles. Because UC doesn t differentiate a worker s name ( Joe, for example) from his or her role (say, support ) an SMB can appear to be a larger outfit than it really is, no matter how many people on staff wear multiple hats. Common UC Terms As with any technology, learning the UC jargon will move you along the learning curve and give you a better understanding of how elements of UC fit together. The following list, while not exhaustive, will give insight into some basic terminology associated with Unified Communications: Internet Protocol Private Branch exchange (IP PBX): Some vendors classify the IP PBX (or switch ) as the essential enabler of UC systems; others consider UC to be simply an extension of Internet telephony. In lay terms, IP PBX provides the plumbing required for a UC solution. Currently, the IP PBX market is in a state of flux, with vendors moving toward software solutions and away from hardware-centric products. Presence: Presence (also known as telepresence) is the backbone of UC solutions. Presence provides real-time notification of users current availability and ability to communicate. ziffdavis.com 5 of 8

6 Instant messaging: Business-grade instant messaging (IM) is another major component of a UC solution. IM is an old technology, going back at least to the AOL chatrooms of the 1990s. Some businesses have their own IM systems; others use public services like Yahoo or Google Hangouts. Unified messaging: Unified messaging (UM) integrates voice, fax, and messages with message notification. UM provides users with access to their messages, anywhere, anytime, from any device. Speech access and personal assistant: Personal assistants (or virtual assistants) allow users to use speech commands to access their calendars, inboxes, voic , contacts, etc. Mobility: In an ever more mobile world, voice and video communications will increasingly be launched from and connected to mobile wireless devices. By integrating voice and real-time communications services with core enterprise communications, mobility allows end-users to do their jobs regardless of location. Business Process Integration (BPI): By integrating with business processes and workflow applications, UC reduces the human latency that stalls business processes in need of human input or communication. Back-office applications such as customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), sales force automation (SFA), and supply chain management (SCM) are some of the applications that can be UC-enabled. For example, businesses can replicate CRM by using the number from an incoming customer call to identify the caller and then look up the customer s history. Thus, an agent can answer a call with all needed customer information on his or her screen. BPI can also enable someone reviewing a document or spreadsheet to contact the document s author when additional information is needed. By hovering the mouse over the author s name, the reviewer can check the author s presence status, then initiate a clickto-call conversation. Conferencing and collaboration: UC enables conferencing and collaboration, which includes audio, video and Web conferencing, as well as capabilities such as shared workspaces, whiteboarding, file sharing, and document sharing. ziffdavis.com 6 of 8

7 UC Pre-Purchase Checklist Before embarking on your UC initiative, do your homework. The following checklist will get you off to a good start. Investigate the areas of your business that UC can improve. Get input from employees and customers to help you define goals for the UC deployment. Find out which methods of communication your customers prefer, and get their input about which areas of your company s communications need improvement. When you define the goals for your UC initiative, make them as specific as possible. Understand what hardware and software you already have. Inventorying your current solutions sounds like obvious, eat-your-vegetables advice, if you do not know exactly what you have already, a potential UC vendor won t be able to tailor a solution to fit your needs. Knowing your current technology also sets you apart as a serious inquirer when evaluating vendors. Get buy-in from the people who control the money. Without having someone to sign the checks, your UC initiative will come to a halt before you can start. Get top executives on board, and be sure at least one of them holds the purse strings. Research vendors and prepare your short list. Before making your final decision, put together a list of three to five providers to interview. These interviews are important. They will tell you whether a vendor speaks business-language or stays technical even when dealing with a non-technical audience. This will speak volumes about its likely customer service. Arrange demos for interested parties and stakeholders. Even the best concepts won t help your business if they can t be easily put into practice. Gain hands-on experience with the proposed system by taking it for a test drive. ziffdavis.com 7 of 8

8 Conclusion Is your SMB ready for Unified Communications? Of course, only you can be the judge of that. But understanding a few key takeaways should make things clearer: UC is not a specific solution, but a strategy enabled by various products that helps organizations to collaborate and communicate more effectively and efficiently. UC can level the field, helping SMBs to gain competitive advantage and to differentiate themselves in a marketplace once dominated by large enterprises. Learning the related UC jargon will move you along the learning curve and give you a better understanding of how elements of UC fit together. Before embarking on your UC initiative, do your homework. Now, you should not only be able to recognize UC when you see it, but also have the right words to describe it. ziffdavis.com 8 of 8