Ever since the “UC” concept started to gain traction in business communications, I had been bugging Fred Knight to let go of the emphasis on voice telephony reflected in the name of their very successful “VoiceCon” conference.  I also was suggesting that enterprise  text messaging technology providers like Microsoft and IBM bring their customers to  this show to start delivering a common technology message of convergence, flexibility, and UC interoperability to the market place.

Well, today, on the 20th anniversary of VoiceCon, they announced a name change at the show to “Enterprise Connect.” To learn more, go to www.voicecon.com/is-enterpriseconnect.

This simple name change will help open business communication doors wider to include more than a flexible choice of person-to-person voice/video or messaging connections, but to also include “application process-to-person” and “person-to-application process” contacts that exploit the efficiencies of automated (self-service) business processes across all forms of communication interfaces.

Maybe we will see the next name change take us from the real-time traffic-centric label of  VoiceCon’s popular blog site,  “No Jitter,” to something more pertinent to the UC vision of flexible, interoperable, multimodal user interfaces.

Congratulations on the name change!

Tags: Mobile UC, Unified Communications, Unified Communications Information by Art Rosenberg
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I would say that the bulk of attention in the industry is paid to the handful of big vendors and multitudes of smaller ones that create products and solutions, and then sell them direct or through partners, and systems integrators. The industry and analysts talk about “the channel”, but don’t talk a lot about the channel, typically because of the vast amount of announcements that require our attention from the big manufacturers, such as the Cisco’s, Avaya’s and IBM’s of the world. However, the indirect channel is a large and growing group of companies that is intensely valuable to vendors of all types, which is why UCStrategies focuses on the channel as much as possible. In case you haven’t checked it out click on UC Summit on the upper right corner of the home page to see information on our UC channel summit in April. Today let’s focus on a couple of examples of how systems integrators work and the contribution they play in getting solutions to the market.

Systems integrators and resellers are a valuable group of partners that supplement a company’s direct sales and support staff. More importantly, for the customer, they understand how to successfully integrate the systems and applications not just from one vendor, but multiple vendors, which more often than not is the reality of any company’s business infrastructure. They also provide continuous systems and application improvement, maintenance and support over time. Long term they develop deep expertise across a wide range of platforms, products and applications, which is something that the bigger vendors often don’t do as well. In essence they act as a trusted arm of a bigger vendor.

Let’s look at two of these vendors, and one vertical - mobility - to show how this works. Acclaim Telecom Services, Inc., while not billed as a classic systems integrator, acts in some capacity as a systems integrator in that they have broad knowledge across multiple platforms, act as a systems integrator for some of them, such as delivering self-service (IVR) applications on Microsoft Speech Server, and develop and deliver applications on multiple platforms as well.

For example, in the case of mobility solutions, Acclaim has launched the company’s Smartphone Mobile Solutions Division, powered by one of those platforms; Unwired Nation. Acclaim launched this as a hosted service to provide diverse mobile applications for companies wanting to take advantage of the growing use of mobile applications as a customer channel. The Unwired Mobile Platform (UMP) provides access to multiple device platforms through a single integration API, which means that an application can be developed once and deployed across multiple mobile devices, without regard to operating system or device manufacturer. This solves a problem that I touch on briefly in my upcoming April Voice Value column in Speech Technology Magazine. Despite the proliferation of mobile applications, having to write to different devices and operating systems is a deterrent to growth.

As another example, SOFTEL Communications, is a classic systems integrator/reseller in that they have very broad expertise in integrating products and solutions across multiple vendor platforms, such as Genesys, Avaya and Cisco, along with third-party application providers, such as CRM, workforce management, VoIP, etc. SOFTEL also creates complimentary products and solutions to supplement those offered by such vendors.

In the case of mobility, for example, SOFTEL provides location-based services (LBS) to companies, such as Telco’s for their end customers, such as downtown business districts or mall owners. They create the solution and partner with Telco’s to deliver to end user customers.

In both cases these companies partner with other vendors, integrate platforms and products together, and then provide their “value-add”, on top to round out and improve the offering. This is particularly important in area like unified communications as there are numerous applications to tie together, and companies often have one or more initial pieces to build on.

If you are a customer looking for a solution it is well worth checking out the third party providers that work with the big vendors. It works well in the past, and as a proof point, more and more of the bigger vendors are radically changing the mix of direct and indirect sales that they use to a more indirect model.  It shouldn’t be hard to find one that has the right mix of expertise for the of solutions that you might have or be moving towards.

Tags: Mobile UC, Mobility by Nancy Jamison
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Munich has such a beautiful setting.  The strikingly beautiful, snow-capped Bavarian Alps drop suddenly to a gentle plain of perfectly groomed farms and villages.  Postcard picture perfect.  And, there’s no secret that this Germany is leading auto producer - even the taxis are a contest of style, efficiency and power between Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and Volkswagen.  The autobahn ride to the airport leaves one feeling the flight has already begun.

The business environment has the same sense of efficiency.  This UC Road Show event was different because it was attended by Microsoft UC Partners, resellers of Office Communications Server (OCS) and Exchange, rather than by the enterprise customers.  This provided an interesting insight to the customer interests and issues that the resellers need to address in their business development programs. 

The message was interesting and to the point.  German customers require demonstrable business improvements for any investment, including UC.  Thus, it is less likely that a German enterprise will just roll out UC to all their desktops and hope for personal productivity than that they will redesign a specific process for measurable improvements.   In other words, Germany has more of what we at UCStrategies.com call UC-Business Process (UC-B) than UC-User Productivity (UC-U).  

It became clear that the definition of a process can begin with personal and team productivity.   Many firms were already moving their silos of voice, web and video conferencing service contracts into the consolidated on-premise Unified Communications solution provided by OCS.  The Partners reported that their clients are investing to make the conferencing process more seamless and inclusive of supply chain partners and customers all while saving out of pocket costs.  Another process-based theme was that customers in Germany were willing to change their mobile workers’ methods, specifically by transforming from primarily mobile voice calls to mobile presence and IM that avoided the calls altogether or that allowed “click to call” on the mobile device so that the call came from the OCS server to the mobile device, a no-charge, cost-saving call in GSM countries such as Germany.

Beyond that, the Partners described UC-B applications they were installing, where their clients were changing supply chain and logistics processes by extending communications their supply partners and their customers.  Logistics were being transformed, transaction processing was being streamlined and accelerated, and customer service was being increasingly personalized via software rules and presence awareness.

However, the Partners were still very interested in proven applications and justifications, because the proof is demanded by their buyers.   This is part of the excitement of UC today, there is a rich and growing base of case studies that document UC successes and justifications.  The presentation I use has a case study behind every example of cost and resource savings, and I’m usually aware of one, two or more others.  This fact-based approach really resonated with this audience.   I think it does with any business, which is why I encourage everyone interested in UC to dig into their supplier’s case study web sites. 

Take a look, if you haven’t yet.

Tags: Unified Communications Information by Marty Parker
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Italy is a wonderful place.  It sure seems true that Italians know ‘how to live’.  Architecture is graceful and pleasing to the senses, the food and beverages live up to their global reputation, and the business and social settings are congenial and courteous.  A nice place to visit, I can assure you, and the residents seem pretty happy, too. 

But that doesn’t take anything away from the technology savviness in Italy.  The IT Teams are right on top of their game, based on the enterprises attending the Microsoft UC Road Show in Milan.  We were at the Microsoft offices in the suburbs near the Linate airport.  Many other technology firms’ office signs were also visible from the airport shuttle bus, so pretty much in the high-tech neighborhood. 

The enterprises who attended were across the spectrum.  Some were from manufacturing and distribution firms, some from financial institutions, and some were communications service providers.  All had specific, direct interest in the Office Communications Server Solution. 

For the manufacturing firms, the interest was in the improvement of their customer and supply chain communications.  The discussions revealed some very insightful thoughts about how OCS might keep the firms in closer touch with their partners and customers.  Some had the idea that the OCS software clients, which the customers or partners could download for secure access to calls, meetings, training, or collaboration sessions, would improve information flow while also lowering costs.  Others were pursuing the concept of federation with their major partners who already had OCS installed.

For the financial services firms, the interest was in internal communications for productivity and cost savings.  One interest was in the use of OCS with collaboration tools such as SharePoint to improve internal processes for projects, business planning, and various approval processes.  Another interest was on how to improve communications with branch offices both for training and for linking centralized experts with the branch offices when needed, saving both time and travel expense.

For the communications service providers, the interest was both for internal use for customer services, mobile account teams and business planning teams, and for offering as a service to their business clients.  The concept of UC as a Service is a growing trend around the globe and can be especially attractive for small and mid-market businesses who would prefer a monthly per-user fee to the fixed costs of in-house staff and capital spending for hardware and software. 

At the end of the day, it seemed pretty clear to me that we will see Unified Communications flourish in Italy, with a style and graciousness for which Italy is renowned, but with intensity and energy that assure successful results, perhaps the espresso of UC.    

And, PS, it was snowing when I left Milan, and the airport closed for a while later that day; how unusual is that?  Just one more reason that my visit to Milan will be memorable.

Tags: Unified Communications Information by Marty Parker
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Well, it’s still Winter outside in Toronto, but it was Unified Communications “Spring” at the UC Road Show there.  Toronto really reflects the business climate of Canada.  While Canada is so big that there’s really no way to sum it up in one place, Toronto is a financial center and is the headquarters location for many major Canadian companies.  

The financial crisis is palpable in Toronto, with businesses concerned about revenue declines and consumers and government concerned about the financial markets and mortgage availability.  So, the theme of “Cost and Resource Savings through Unified Communications” was right on target.

The companies in attendance were diverse, but all had important interests in UC opportunities.   An educational course hosting company was interested in how UC might be used to enhance both operations and curriculum delivery.   A major cement and aggregate company was looking to get another notch of productivity in their highly competitive industry (though it was interesting to learn that some of their remote cement mine sites can’t even get a phone line to the property and are way out of cell tower range - not very likely UC sites).  A financial information service firm is about to move to new quarters and was looking for the best office and communications suite for their new facility.   A multi-national, multiple product line insurance company was looking to converge the multiple e-mail and communications environments that had accumulated over the years through mergers and acquisitions.

Quite a diverse set of needs, seems to me.  Yet each company found some aspect of the Microsoft UC Suite that interested them.  Some liked the rich APIs that would enable links into their business processes.  Some could see the immediate value of bringing audio, web and video in-house on a single, economical platform as an immediate cost savings, which could then be linked into SharePoint for enhanced collaboration.  Some liked the linkages and integrations with Microsoft Exchange e-mail so that users had as seamless an experience as possible in their daily tasks.  

Also, most attendees seemed to value the extensibility of the Office Communications Server software; once they had justified the installation with one of the applications mentioned above, the expansion to other areas, such as mobility or enterprise voice communications, was essentially a process of training and perhaps some added serve capacity, but not a new software kit with new or additional or upgraded licensing. 

So, the Toronto event lived up to my expectations.   Got to meet friendly Canadian business people who are intent on advancing their businesses in very pragmatic ways.   I would expect to hear about some new OCS applications or case studies from this group in the not-distant future.

Tags: Unified Communications Information by Marty Parker
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