How Unified Communication Can Improve Your Business

Unified Communications is designed for one thing – to take it easier and more cost effective for employees to connect, and to improve their ability to connect with customers and business partners. The general premise is to merge two or more communications into one easy-to-use interface. Generally, we’re talking about phone calls, instant messaging, conferences and collaboration.

The purpose of this blog is to identify the key drives and pains that small and medium businesses face, and to briefly show how improvements can positively impact the bottom line.

Top Business Challenges

Small and medium businesses are often faced with competition with from larger enterprises. To effectively compete, you need the right tools. Some of the major challenges faced include:

Pressure on Key Employees

Smaller organizations often have a few key “go-to” employees who are in great demand. Because of their critical role, their time is at a premium. What they need are tools that can prioritize their communications.

Owners Who Need to be Everywhere

The need to be constantly available means you’ve got to take calls from anywhere. Technology that stays with you, allows you to identify important contacts, routes communications and enables collaboration is critical.

Multi-Functional Roles

Any employee at a small or medium business leads a busy professional life that requires multiple roles. Juggling customers, partners, colleagues and tasks means you need efficient and time sensitive tools.

Limited IT and Telco Expertise

Small and Medium businesses don’t generally have the same resources and staff to support advanced telecommunication technologies. Have tools that are easy to understand, justify, deploy and manage is essential.

Unified Communications – Improving Business

The integration of voice and other communications makes it easier for your employees to identify and locate people quickly, and access and share critical information. Decision making is faster and better, and customer service is enhanced. By converging resources, the cost of communications, including voice, instant messaging and conferencing, is cut.

The Three Benefits of UC

There are three areas decision makers should pay special attention to:

Customer Services – Skills-based routing, conferencing, and presence within UC make it easier to stay in touch with customers and support their needs.

Improved Productivity – UC uses presence information and “click to communicate” capabilities to speed information to the right people. Collaboration is improved and the numbers of interactions to complete a task are reduced. This means orders are filled faster, decisions are made more quickly, and productivity is increased.

Lower Cost of Communications

A UC Solution may appear expensive, but properly designed and deployed, your communications costs can be reduced. Voice calls and volume is reduced thanks to Instant Message Chats; Travel Time is reduced thanks to audio, video and web conferencing; and Conferencing is delivered more cheaply because you can avoid expensive conference hosting services.

When Do You Consider Unified Communications?

If you’re moving to a new location.

If your old phone system will no longer be supported by the vendor.

If your business is growing and you want to “reach next level.”

If you’ve lost too many sales because opportunities are not getting to the right people quickly enough.

If you hear too many (or any) negative customer service stories.

If your employees work from the road or out of the office—and you can’t reach them when you need them.

Conclusion

Look for partners that can customize a solution that fits your specific business needs and budget. The “one size fits all” or single appliance compromise isn’t going to address what you want, or where you want to go. A competent partner will work with you and address not just the technologies, but the “use case scenarios” that are critical for successful adoption.

Tim Krueger, PEI

Lync Mobile Clients are Here!

Microsoft just announced the update to Lync Server 2010 that enables new Lync mobile clients!

Organizations have been calling for better Lync mobility and the new Lync mobile clients are here to help you stay connected, communicate and conference on the go.  The Mobile clients for Microsoft Lync 2010 take the power of unified communications mobile.  They include rich presence, instant messaging, audio conferencing, and calling features from a single easy-to-use interface.

The key features include:

-         Joining conferences with a single touch – NO access codes or PIN numbers required.

-         Stay connected, while controlling your availability.  See who’s available at a glance and connect over Instant Messaging, email or call.  Set your own status and notification settings so you can stay in touch while protecting your “off work” time.

-         Communicate with others using a single, consistent identity.  Call-via-work allows outbound calls using
your Enterprise Voice number, making it easier to recognize calls from the Lync mobile client.

-         Connect with confidence through channel encryption, transport layer security (TLS) support, and perimeter/internal network protection that help safeguard your communications.

We’ve heard an almost unanimous call from all of our customers to address a mobile strategy for their organization.  Whether you have Lync or are considering Lync, we’ve got some great ideas to make this a reality.  If you need to understand the timing and availability of Lync mobile clients, give PEI a call at 303-786-7474 or contact us at http://pei.com/contact-us/

-Tim Krueger, PEI

Have you Heard About the new Polycom RealPresence Platform?

The Polycom RealPresence Platform was formally known as the Polycom UC Intelligent Core and is the software infrastructure that powers Polycom’ s market leading HD telepresence and video solutions.  It’s a unique “open systems” standards based approach that ensures the integration with hundreds of unified communications applications – such as Microsoft Lync.

It integrates with core networking and security infrastructure to deliver secure collaboration to any number of people across heterogeneous networks, with up to 50% less bandwidth consumption than other solutions.

The Polycom RealPresence Platform is made up of 5 components:

-          Universal Video Collaboration

-          Video Resource Management

-          Virtualization Management

-          Universal Access and Security

-          Video Content Management

Now that we know what it is, what are the benefits?  The Platform delivers open UC and HD video collaboration solutions that work seamlessly across any application, protocol, call control system or endpoint.  This means you can adapt your system as needs change without having to Rip and Replace UC infrastructures.  You have the freedom to choose best-of-breed solutions for instant messaging, presence, call control, web conferencing, video collaboration, mobile or social video knowing that they will work together.

To learn more, I suggest checking out Polycom at:

http://www.polycom.com/products/uc_infrastructure/realpresence_platform/index.html

-Tim Krueger, PEI

Technology is ever-changing, embrace it and love it!

Do you ever notice yourself resisting or complaining about change, but then realize life goes on and you ultimately adapt and embrace the change?  This same human behavior goes for almost anything; recently I have noticed it with Facebook and their huge changes in the works.  It reminds me of the reaction we frequently get with end-users when we introduce new IT solutions.  People complain, complain, complain then find themselves adapting and ultimately loving the changes.  Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, is not an idiot; he is not going to release changes that he doesn’t believe are going to make Facebook’s interface better for their end-users, much like how we operate at PEI.  We know after you have Unified Communications implemented in your environment you are going to wonder how you lived without it!  Think about it, do you think when we first used e-mail we thought it would be life changing, nope we sure didn’t.  Some people used it, some didn’t, but it has become a way of life and we cannot do business or stay connected without it.  Unified Communications is quickly following that same path.

Technology change is good; it keeps us operating as efficiently as possible.  So what it comes down to is, trust the experts, trust new technology and hold on because it’s going to be a wild ride!

-Andrea Leonhardt, PEI

 Reasons For Investment In Lync

For the single integrated client, which is easier to deploy, use, and maintain and will unlock more productivity and cost savings value in the organization; gaining advantage from the next level of integration, e.g., using “click to communicate” from MS Office applications. (Forrester Total Impact of Lync Study)

One-Click Communication

One of my favorite features of Microsoft Lync is the ability of all means of communication immediately available using only their name.  If I am in Outlook, CRM, SharePoint or almost any Microsoft application and I hoover over a contacts name it will allow me the ability to send them an email, instant message, audio call or video connection.  This is an amazing tool and incredibly efficient!  First I can check their presence status to see if they are available.  After finding that their status is green or “available” I can ping them with a quick instant message.  If a short chat is all the communication that is required then I can move on.  Or, if more in depth dialogue is required I can escalate to a voice call.  I did this with a colleague yesterday.  I was looking for a technical answer from one of our talented engineers.  I first checked the presence indicator to see who was available and then I contacted one of them.  We began an initial instant message chat but after a bit I was looking for a bit more in depth communication and escalated our communication to a voice call.  From there we decided it would be most effective to share a Visio diagram of the network in questions.  With another simple click I was able to share my desktop and resolve my question.

Lync is an amazing tool which I rely on every day.  The ability to use the presence and multiple communications tools has greatly increased the speed and efficiency of communication within our organization.  The communications ability of Lync not only benefit our internal communications but also allow us to respond to the needs of our clients much more effectively and efficiently.  Think about how the tools in Lync could benefit you in your daily communications efforts.

-Jon Eyberg, PEI

The Evolution of Communication

I can remember back in the day when there were busy signals, single telephone lines, no voicemail, no cell phones, and no internet and I am only 23 years old. Throughout my short life time the way in which we communicate and at what efficiency has completely evolved. This leads me to the concept of Unified Communications. You hear over and over again how crucial this component is to running a business these days with the younger generations entering the work force and I am here to tell you, that is a completely valid argument.

I grew up with AOL Instant Messenger and utilized e-mail by the age of 10. Texting became my main form of communication by the age of 13. Therefore, when I need to get a hold of someone the last thing I think about doing is picking up the phone and calling.
My generation does not communicate in the same way as the older generations in the work force. We are much more tech savvy and efficient. I can send out a mass SMS message that can tell all my friends about a party in about 30 seconds. I can send out an Instant Message to all of my co-workers about a last minute meeting in a matter of seconds. All of these methods of communication are crucial to the way my generation thinks as well as how we work. I believe that in a matter of a few years desktop phones and landlines will be a thing of the past and Unified Communications will be completely necessary. So ask yourself this, are you going to be a leader or a follower when it comes to staying on the cutting edge of communication methods?

-Andrea Leonhardt, PEI

What’s Green About Polycom?

My blogs over the last year have centered on various aspects of Green IT.  Last time, I changed gears and discussed how Microsoft, as an organization, and through their product offerings helps address a Green IT strategy.  This blog will explore how another PEI vendor partner, Polycom, can contribute to “going green”.

Polycom sees its telepresence, video and voice solutions providing Polycom and its customers with green travel alternatives.  In addition, Polycom adheres to sustainable manufacturing and operations.

As the leader in unified collaborative communications solutions, Polycom announced its original internal and external sustainability initiatives in 2008 to reduce carbon emissions for a greener environment. Polycom’ s commitment is threefold: 1. to show customers how they can reduce their own carbon footprint by implementing Polycom solutions; 2. to build green products; and 3. to minimize Polycom’ s own environmental impact as a billion dollar enterprise with locations in forty countries across the world.

Visual Communications Contribute to a Greener Planet

Polycom’ s award-winning collaboration and communications solutions – from the iconic triangular conference phone to the industry’s only immersive telepresence suite – are inherently environmentally-friendly because they enable people to meet virtually in high definition and on-demand, providing an alternative to business travel and therefore reducing carbon emissions. Companies that communicate virtually reduce operating expenses and increase productivity – all the while demonstrating environmental responsibility.

Consider this example of the reduced carbon impact of using video conferencing (from Conservation International’s carbon calculator at www.conservation.org): Every time two people elect to meet with others over video instead of traveling round-trip between Los Angeles and New York, they save the carbon emissions equivalent of eliminating one car’s emissions for a year.

A Comprehensive Approach to Building Green Products

Polycom builds green solutions. Polycom’ s comprehensive approach focuses on improving the full product lifecycle: from research and development that minimizes the use of potentially hazardous materials and increases energy efficiency to clean manufacturing processes; and from greener product packaging and shipping/distribution models to proper product disposal. Polycom solutions are engineered to require less bandwidth, are software upgradeable for a longer lifespan, and are based on open standards to ensure interoperability in any environment. Polycom products are compatible with renewable energy from diverse sources and are RoHs and WEEE compliant.

Minimizing Polycom’ s Own Carbon Footprint Across 40 Countries

Polycom facilities, operations, and employees are continuously striving to improve our eco-friendliness in energy usage and behaviors. Polycom employees conserve natural resources, recycle whenever possible and Polycom mandates the use of its own collaborative communications products in lieu of travel.  Polycom employees are encouraged to reduce their own personal carbon emissions using Polycom products in the office and from their homes. A recent survey, in which a quarter of Polycom’ s 2,544 global employees responded, found 35 percent either telecommute from a home office or use transportation other than a personal car – such as public transportation, carpooling, bicycling or walking – to commute to work. Polycom employees conduct an estimated 975,000 video conferences each year over Polycom’ s global network.

Given a strong economic and environmental incentive to investigate the benefits of video conferencing and Unified Communications, Polycom has clearly established itself as a leader in the industry.

Tim Krueger, PEI

Exchange 2010 and Cisco CUCM

We recently migrated our production environment over to Exchange 2010 from Exchange 2007.  During the process we hit one snag that caught us a bit by surprise.  When we were migrating our Unified Messaging Dial Plans from 2007 to 2010, we found that even though we were doing a SIP connection from CUCM to Exchange 2010 that we had to set the Dial Plan to be of the TEL URI type.  One of our voice engineers banged his head against a wall for quite a while trying to figure this out. 

In Exchange 2007, this same setup was done via SIP URI.  In Exchange 2010, the only time SIP URI (to our current knowledge) is supported is when integrating with OCS 2007 (RTM or R2) or Lync 2010.  When using another 3^rd party system, we had to go to TEL URI. 

While this turned out to be a simple solution (Occam’s Razor strikes again), it was confusing to us as we thought since we were doing pure SIP that it should be a SIP URI.  Bottom line is, if you are trying to get a 3^rd party integrated with Exchange 2010 Unified Messaging and having issues, try switching to TEL URI and see if it solves the issue.

-Adam Ball, PEI

Looking back to know what is up ahead

Do you remember what life was like just ten years ago?  Gmail?  This was made public in ’04.  Facebook? Nope, that wasn’t even around until ’04.  How about twitter?  Nope, that was in ’06.  Wikipedia?  Yup, that was here 10 years ago, but it had just started.  Sure we had email, the browser, pagers, clunky cell phones and .v90 or .v92 modems.  Do you miss those days?  I know that I sometimes do since it meant that I wasn’t always on/always available.

What is next?  Are you ready for a world where no matter where you are friends can know your location, how long you have been there, what you purchased or did there?  I hope so because that world already exists.  Both Microsoft and Cisco are helping us move business to an always connected, always available world with their Unified Communications suites.

Lync is Microsoft’s updated Unified Communications platform which I have been playing with for the past couple of weeks simply as an end user.  The user interface is clean, intuitive and easy to customize so that those contacts that I often interact with are easily found.  Co-workers can also find me and ask questions and get answers much more quickly since they already know my status and don’t have to wait like we used to with e-mail.  Call quality is great, as is the ability do all of this off of my laptop no matter where I am.

What do you see coming?  What do you use now on a daily basis that you didn’t 10 years ago?

-Josh Sidwell, PEI

The Lync Experience

Microsoft Lync ushers in a new connected experience transforming every communication into an interaction that is more collaborative, engaging and accessible from anywhere. A single interface unites voice, IM, audio-, video-, and web-conferencing into a richer, more contextual offering. This includes a visually compelling experience that is consistent throughout Microsoft Office and other business applications, including color-coded presence icons, pictures, high-resolution video and desktop sharing. End-users can instantly see the availability of their contacts, start a conference call from right within Office applications, or sit down for a “face-to-face” video-conference. A single identity connects users to contacts inside and outside of the organization with communications that are federated with corporate and leading public IM networks. And a single experience across the PC, phone, web or mobile means that users have the choice to connect from many devices. For IT, the benefits are equally powerful, with a highly secure and reliable system that works with Active Directory, Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SharePoint and uses Microsoft management tools to facilitate easier management and lower cost of ownership. Interoperability with existing systems enables smoother deployment and migration.