Today's globalized world has created a communications
environment that is chaotic, cost-conscious, and demanding. This poses several
business challenges including the need to increase employee productivity and
efficiency, reduce costs and ensure return on investments made in the
communications infrastructure. It is ironic that the multiple modes of
communication-e-mail, voice mail, cell phone, instant messaging, conferencing-that
are supposed to make people easier to reach are instead causing information
overload. Already information workers are becoming overwhelmed by the
complexities of dealing with multiple phone numbers, voice mail boxes, user
identities, passwords, and device requirements.
The challenges are also for IT infrastructure managers, who are
forced to manage multiple communications systems for telephony and
software-based communications. But, is this improving user productivity? The
answer is a big 'No'. A Harris Interactive Service survey has found that
two-thirds of business phone calls end in voice-mail messages. As a result, 25%
of information workers spend the equivalent of three full workdays each year
playing phone tag and leaving voice-mail messages. This underscores the
inefficiencies of the standard telephone communication.
IT decision makers have so far been investing in two parallel
communications infrastructures: voice communications through PBXs and email
communications through PCs. Both investments have delivered significant business
value to their organizations. This is often fragmented, comprising multiple
applications and hardware from different vendors. Therefore it's time
consuming, inefficient for employees to use, and also expensive for IT
departments.
So, here is a situation where infrastructure is working at
cross-purposes toward organizational goals and bottom lines. So, in today's
always-on, always connected global workplace environment, how to get a global
organization to act in concert across boundaries? How to prioritize and react to
the sheer volume of communications and be more productive? How to leverage
existing enterprise infrastructure and the Internet to lower communications
costs?
Future Trends
Before answering these questions, it is important to highlight some
interesting trends that will define the communication landscape of the future.
First, the PC has displaced the phone as the primary communications mode in the
workplace. It is the first place employees look for messages each morning and
the desk phone is beginning to lose its functionality-at least in its current
avatar. A Harris Interactive Service survey has found that 61% of workers cite
emails as their primary mode of communications at work as against 31% who use
phones. Furthermore, 40% prefer using instant messaging instead of a phone for
business communications. Second, business communication is rapidly moving to
software. It is important to note that the PC infrastructure has seen more
innovation than the desktop phone, despite a evolving PBX systems and
standardization of IP networks. In fact, a May '06 Gartner report predicts
that by 2010, 80% companies will integrate communications (voice/messaging) into
business applications or processes.
The arrival of software—based unified communications will
change the way enterprises use the convergence of VoIP telephony, email, instant
messaging, mobile communications, and audio/video Web conferencing to deliver a
superior communications platform. This approach will ensure better
manageability, more economical voice communications, and greater opportunities
for innovation to customers.
It is important to note that PC infrastructure has seen more innovation than the desktop phone. The arrival of software based unified communications will change the way enterprises use convergence |
For example, a PC software makes it possible to see if someone
is available before you call them, send them an instant message, or an e-mail.
This ability to see a person's availability is what we call
"presence," and it can be easily embedded in office productivity as
well as line-of-business applications. Calling someone can be as simple as
clicking on his/her name. With another click, one can initiate a Web conference
or a video call. Unified Communications enable teams to work together in
real-time and increase personal productivity. It keeps people in sync, enabling
them to share information quickly and easily, allow teams to work together from
distributed offices, while on the move, and thereby expedites business
decisions.
Further, with a software-based approach, IT departments get a
uniform platform to deliver communications support. In fact, Gartner has
endorsed the strength and completeness of the software-led approach for Unified
Communications in its recently published "Magic Quadrant 07 for Unified
Communications: A Competitive Mapping of Multiple Vendors". The importance
of this is underlined in the fact that the cost of branded IP handsets-typically
40-45% of the cost of telephony installation-continues to remain an obstacle
for companies adopting IP telephony, states a Gartner report. And, a rich
partner ecosystem that can provide telephony hardware, handsets, and devices
will further reduce the deployment cost.
World over, companies like Volvo, France Telecom, Qualcomm,
Godrej, and AMD are benefiting from the software—based unified communications
platforms. They have streamlined secure communications to end users, increased
operational efficiency, and have built a future-ready communication foundation
for their organizations.
World over and in India, companies like Volvo, France Telecom,
Qualcomm, AMD, Godrej, NIIT Technologies, and Marico Industries are benefiting
from the software—based unified communications platforms. They have
streamlined secure communications to end users, increased operational
efficiency, and built a future-ready communication foundation for their
organizations.
The market for unified communications is just emerging, and it
is a big opportunity worth $40 bn worldwide. Software will be a key driver for
this. Unified communications will be based on an open and secure, software
platform that will create a broad eco-system. This eco-system is device and
network agnostic, which will result in communications centering around people-not
devices. And, it enables users to have one common identity and is cost-effective
for IT to manage, with a single directory and common management.
Software will be the key to delivering this promise, resulting
in a more powerful end-user experience, real productivity enhancements, return
on investments, and compelling business value for customers and partners.
Vibhu Ranjan
(The author is business lead,
Unified Communications, Microsoft India)
vadmail@cybermedia.co.in