AV Technology - January 2009 - (Page 23)

component in virtually every aspect of modern life. We are in the process of transforming the communications industry in a similar way, with layers, standards, and an ecosystem of business partners, applications developers, and systems integrators. This transformation will bring widespread changes in both business and personal communications. As before, there will be emerging communications products and capabilities, and legions of developers and products, but more important, there will be new ways of thinking about how communications helps get things done. These changes are driving unified communications concepts and capabilities. And UC is changing the way communications works in business. CAPABILITIES AND USE CASES UC enables the right kind of communication (voice, email, IM, conference or other collaboration, etc.), using the right device (terminal, mobile, deskphone, etc.), with access through one name or other identifier. Presence provides information about the availability and accessibility of someone we need to conGLOBAL UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS tact. This could be either an individual or someone SUMMARY, 2007-2013 PRODUCTS FORECAST with a particular skill or knowledge whom you need to contact. Increasingly, presence information will be updated automatically by other business applications, and this information will be shared among multiple presence servers within companies and between servers in different companies. Finally, rules and policy engines tune presence data to provide appropriate accessibility information, while managing security and privacy concerns. The promise of UC is that it facilitates timely communications between people, and timely access to information. These capabilities support two broad ways to use unified communications. The first “use case” is all about individual productivity, helping individual users manage their communications more effectively. Users can easily grasp the concept of hovering over a name in an email or selecting an appropriate resource from a list, right-clicking to determine avail- Source: Wainhouse Research ability, and instantly launching a communication. The second type of UC implementation is a little more complex. It isn’t seeking an individual; it’s looking for a particular skill set. This techinvolves integrating communications functionality into business processnique — looking for skills rather than specific individuals — is one differes to change how work gets done. Rather than just focusing on individual ence in how UC-B and UC-U opportunities are often deployed. productivity, this use concentrates on removing communications bottleA good place to start is to identify communications bottlenecks necks to accomplish business goals more efficiently and effectively. Often, throughout an enterprise’s value chain (see sidebar, “Impacts and this means building communications functionality and accessibility Benefits”). Five UC-B opportunities are common in many organizations: directly into business applications software to streamline workflows. contact management, resource identification for problem resolution, collaboration acceleration, information for mobile workers, and job-specific IMPLEMENTING UC APPLICATIONS communications portals. Opportunities for both major UC use cases — individual user productivSuccessful companies often deploy two additional ways to help spread ity (UC-U) and transforming business processes (UC-B) — exist in most the UC concepts. First, they identify and provide extra information and enterprises. UC-U concepts are easier to understand and deploy. Once training to individuals who then help others within their departments. users understand presence-based communications access, many expand Second, users begin to incorporate UC functionality into how they their usage to incorporate conferencing and collaboration functions. accomplish many of their business process communications functions. Starting with user productivity applications often builds acceptance and In today’s economic environment, measuring the benefits and buildunderstanding among user communities. ing a solid justification case is critical. There are clear benefits from impleThe steps to add UC-U functionality can be straightforward, dependmenting UC, but it’s important to tailor them to the company’s specific ing on the existing environment and the capabilities that are needed. They applications and use (see sidebar, “The Real Benefits of UC”). We’ve include [1] acquiring the needed central servers that manage the UC found that the benefits from business process transformation are often www.avtechnologyonline.com applications, [2] buying the licenses, [3] installing client software on the user’s devices, and [4] training. The UC-B use cases start with the same capabilities and functionalities, but organizes them around changes in business process and streamlining business activities. Frequently, groups of employees follow a process controlled by a workflow system or an information portal. Communications bottlenecks can occur because someone in the process needs information or approvals from someone else. UC can minimize disruptions in these situations. In some cases, communications functionality can be incorporated directly into the workflow or process or portal application software. For example, an insurance adjustor who is working on a claim may need the assistance of an expert to evaluate a customer situation. The workflow logic knows the type of claim being analyzed. When an expert is needed, the adjustor clicks on a “help” box, and the system automatically identifies and engages the appropriate expert. In this case, the presence system january 2009 | AV TECHNOLOGY | 23 http://www.avtechnologyonline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AV Technology - January 2009

AV Technology - January 2009 Contents Precedent Corporate: Hunkering Down Government: The Great Unifier Education: Technological Self-Sufficiency Integrating Communications into Your Business Process DVI/HDMI Signals over Twisted-Pair Cable AV Helps Explain the Unexplainable AV Enhancements at the Coliseum Product Forum Tech Horizons Product Spotlight New Products Ad Index AV MO

AV Technology - January 2009

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.