Get Ready to Smile

(News Today) - Videophones are about to become the norm in business as workers monitor each other's movements 24/7 and usher in a fundamental cultural change in business practices.

Business communication is about to undergo a revolution. In the not too distant future we will all use videophones on our computers to talk to colleagues, suppliers and customers.

There will be no need to play telephone tag and we will no longer feel overloaded with emails and voicemail messages that need urgent attention once we get back to our desk. That is because as soon as we fire up our PCs or look into our smartphones, we will be able to see where our contacts are and know how long they will be away.

Some ad-hoc versions of this are available today through instant messaging and software plug-ins, but it is not yet universal. When it is totally integrated, it will be the communication utopia promised by 'unified communications'.

Unified communications offers telephony services, video conferencing, presence technology (tools like messenger that allow people to see if their contacts are online) and collaboration tools, from a single interface.

Les Williamson, vice-president, Cisco Australia and New Zealand, says a catalyst for the increasing interest from business in unified communications is the post-financial crisis environment.

"Businesses are exploring how collaboration can drive innovation and productivity to take advantage of emerging business conditions. They want to know how information technology and communications can be an enabler for this change," he explains.

Many organisations are already embracing unified communications. For example, the Council of Australian Governments plans to use video conferencing for arranging its next round of meetings.

Williamson estimates the move to video conferencing will result in public servants involved in COAG taking up to 450 fewer flights, a significant saving for government.

According to Williamson, Queensland Health is another organisation benefiting from a unified communications environment. Some of its doctors now conduct certain psychiatric, paediatric and outpatient consultations using video conferencing, allowing it to deploy these services to remote areas such as the Torres Straight Islands that previously did not have access to specialist doctors.

But it is not just the public sector that is benefiting from unified view of their communications sytems. Microsoft business development manager Jaron Cohen says US telco Sprint Nextel was able to consolidate its 18 different voicemail systems into a single platform using unified communications, generating annual savings of $US9.5 million ($10.5 million).

In Australia, Cohen says Lion Nathan's move to a unified communications environment helped its IT desk reduce telephone tagging with staff, resulting in time savings of up to 30 minutes a day for helpdesk responses.

Although there are numerous benefits to unified communications, one of the biggest hurdles to its implementation is employee attitude. It demands a cultural shift so that people feel comfortable being seen rather than just heard when videophone technology becomes more commonplace. People will also have to accept that their movements will be known by their contacts 24/7.

Graham Williams, managing director of video and audio conferencing specialist iVision, agrees the biggest obstacle for universal adoption is cultural change. He says helping people become used to unified communications requires extensive training.

"It's about implementing the technology with people not to people," Williams says.

He says firms need to draw on their younger staff to help older employees understand the benefits of the technology and encourage them to use tools like instant messaging and video conferencing.

Cohen also says not everyone needs to have the same access to other people's movements. Systems can be set up so only certain people see what others are doing.

"My colleagues can see my calendar and the location of my meetings, but suppliers only get to see when I'm busy," he says.

From a technical perspective, the challenge of moving to unified communications is ensuring legacy systems work with new systems and that different components work seamlessly together.

Brendan Maree, country manager of call centre software firm Interactive Intelligence, says getting the most out of a unified communications environment means taking a platform approach "rather than purchasing a number of different solutions."

He cautions against "buying a range of components from different vendors, which can make it difficult to administer the system from a single area. The idea is to get as much as you can from a single vendor, although no one vendor will be able to do it all."

It is also important to recognise that, although some investment in technology is required, there is no need to throw out all the existing technology in the business. NEC business manager Steve Wotts says "you need to leverage your existing infrastructure to take advantage of unified communications opportunities. Take a step-by-step approach. It will just confuse users if you try to do everything at once."

Although gradual implementation is the secret to building a successful communication environment, systems have to be implemented throughout the organisation for maximum impact.

Cameron McNaught, general manager solutions, Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand, says enterprise-wide deployment is essential.

"You can't just implement it country-by-country. If users can see all the contacts in an organisation people will use it. You need to get complete coverage or you'll dilute the benefits," McNaught says.

From the executive perspective, unified communications also needs sponsorship from the highest levels of the organisation to be a success. Says Williamson: "unified communications is such a big shift, senior leaders have to be willing to drive the cultural change behind it. You need to have conversations about how unified communications is linked to the business vision and strategy and peg everything to that."

Source : kompas

Posted in: