Unified Communications – Unity in Diversity

E Pluribus Unum was the de facto motto of United States before the current motto, “In god we trust” was declared as the official motto. E Pluribus Unum is Latin for “Out of many, one”. Unified Communications(UC), in many ways, is about unifying many distinct and disparate systems into one, to ensure seamless experience for end users.

Let us look at the most common challenges facing business and CIO while considering Unified Communications.

Have Disparate Communication and Collaboration Systems?

In a typical enterprise, communication and collaboration (read messaging) systems are deployed, operational and managed in different isolated islands. The functionality is served but the end user experience is fragmented and thus hampers real time collaboration which is the demand of modern workforce in this hyper competitive world.

The argument for legacy systems is centred on migrating to an all-IP environment and calls for separate attention. The latent potential remains locked thus depriving the organisation a golden opportunity. Let us take an example of unified messaging. Normally, users have to go through the entire voice mail list in a phone based voice mail system (VMS) by going through the entire list in a first in first out manner. All this not before struggling to reach that most critical message and losing precious productive time. Imagine, if the voice mail system is integrated with mail box. instead of having to dial into the voice mail system, user is able to open the voice message from the mail box, listens to it not just once but many times and is able to distribute it to his/her peers. Rendering such seamless experience is possible through UC all while ensuring investments are protected.

Right UC strategy?

UC technology could be overwhelming for enterprises with legacy TDM telephony environments. Collaboration in its basic form is about having the basic communication, conference and messaging infrastructure. The experience is fragmented and the systems are un-unified. Collaboration in its true sense transcends corporate boundaries, extending to organisation’s suppliers, partners and mobile workforce. Collaboration is real-time and media rich with high definition video being the underlying characteristic. These two scenarios are exactly at opposite ends of the spectrum and the journey is very involved in terms of decision making, cultural shift, and investments. Hence a big bang approach is not usually recommended. A phased approach to UC needs to begin with a strategic assessment covering people, process and technology and the anticipated business benefits.

Show Me the Money!

Real time rich media collaboration calls for investments. There are innovative financial and operative models to lessen the burden i.e. capital expenditure. In the end, stakeholders ask for moolah, the hard one. It is easy to build soft ROI by defining benefits such as productivity, customer satisfaction and competitive edge. The real money lies in Hard ROI and there is no substitute for this. It is highly recommended to build a comprehensive and exhaustive ROI with the help of your solution provider. Reduction of travel expenses, reduced operational expenditure, supply chain benefits arising from federation are few examples of hard benefits.

Quality of Experience vs. Quality of Service?

Quality of Service is a thing of networks. In UC, it is Quality of Experience (QoE) which counts. Ensuring QoE calls for a multi-disciplinary expertise in communications, collaboration, networks and end user management. UC and collaboration is about ensuring the investments guarantee an immersive experience. Engaging with an expert solution provider with credibility in management services is the recipe.
Leverage diversity to your advantage. Embrace unity. Unified Communications is about unity in diversity.

Tags: Collaboration, UC, Unified Communication

	Author: Govinda Raj Avasarala Senior Marketing Manager- Mobility Services
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