Those of you who joined us for our first-ever UCStrategies.com webinar last week know that we covered a lot of information in a short amount time, and we were unable to answer all of the questions submitted due to time restraints. Here are our responses to the questions we did not get to during the event. Some of these questions lead to larger discussions about UC, and we’ll be sure to write blogs and columns about some of these issues in the weeks to come.
1) What makes platform a Unified Communications Platform? We currently have Genesys deployment and it can be used to deliver all of the services you describe.
This is the $64k question that the industry is struggling with – what makes something “unified communications?” From our perspective, there is no such thing (today) as a UC platform – there are platforms that can be used for UC applications, and platforms that have UC capabilities and components, but there is no single UC platform. With that said, we believe that what makes something “UC” is when it is “communications integrated to optimize business processes.” This means that if you buy an IM system as a way to chat with colleagues, that is not necessarily UC. But, if you integrate IM in your contact center and back office so that call center agents can interact with subject matter experts in order to get the information needed for the customer so that their inquiry can be responded to during that call (as opposed to the call center agent researching the information and calling the customer back at a later time), then that is UC. The key is to use the UC elements and capabilities such as presence, messaging, IM, conferencing, mobility, call control, etc., to help improve or optimize your business processes by enabling you and your company to reduce costs, increase revenues, or improve customer service and satisfaction.
There will be lots more to come on this important topic.
2) We are a system integrator working with the federal government. The agencies do not really care too much about increasing productivity by using UC. How do we position the ROI for the UC solution that will get their attention?
Our experience is that government agencies make investment decisions based on factors such as: critical to the mission, required by law or regulation, cost containment/reduction, and/or improvement of service to the constituency. While those are not precisely ROI metrics, the same techniques can be applied to evaluate the agency's processes to find the "communication hot spots" in which UC will produce a measurable improvement. When such improvements have been found, then the investments can either be funded from existing appropriations (i.e. for cost reductions that will pay off within a single year), or can be proposed for budget reallocation or new budget funding.
3) What about "management?" This always seems to trail the equipment/applications deployment, yet it's a big enabler for enterprises.
Yes, the management of the UC technology is a key factor in two major ways.
First, since the solutions are often "integrated" with an existing well-managed system or with an enterprise directory, it is often possible to use existing tools to manage and control the UC solution, often automating that management with scripting, synchronization, etc. Also, the newer UC solutions often allow the users to self-serve for administrative updates. So, it is key to examine what is provided and to expect that good interoperation will include good management tools.
Second, a good management system is very important for metrics, i.e. to measure the system use and performance so that you can prove that the benefits of the system are actually being realized. With good metrics, you'll quickly know if you are getting the expected ROI.
4) Voicemail messaging seems like a necessary evil - the last resort when a real-time contact cannot be established in the new UC paradigm. What are the expectations of, and future for voicemail going forward given the definition of UC today?
Yes, it is true that use of voice messaging (specifically, the recording of a message and addressing it to the mailbox of another user, on the same system or over a voice mail network) is declining as use of instant messaging and mobile e-mail increase. However, the use of call answering with "find-me" services is on the increase, whether built into the voice mail system or into the PBX, based on the benefits to customers, the information control (of calls and messages), and the efficiency of using only one number for contact. What is clear is that voice messaging systems need to evolve rapidly to meet the changing needs of the callers and users. So long as there are telephone calls being made, there will be value in assisting the callers when the call is not immediately answered. (Microsoft's investment in a call answering feature for their Unified Communications solution is solid evidence that calls still need to be answered, even when they are between PCs.)
5) What about the ML 'monday morning' point of emphasis? I believe this ties closely to Fred's early slide which referenced the challengs of deployment. Does anyone know how ML solved the Monday Morning problem?
Yes, you're correct that Alok Kapoor did talk about the "Monday Morning" problem, i.e. the impact of change on users the first morning they come to the office to find a new telephone, new voice mail, or new application capability. Mr. Kapoor said that Merrill Lynch did several things:
1) They put the new phones on the users' desk about a week in advance of the cutover; the new phones were live and the users could experiment with them in advance. This gave the users good advanced warning that something was about to happen and gave the users some time to get familiarized with the new technology.
2) Merrill Lynch paid close attention to the specific, high-volume use cases for the Financial Advisors. From this, they were able to produce very specific training for the users, which I recall Mr. Kapoor saying was delivered as electronic documentation, supplemented with on-site support for Monday Morning and a few subsequent days.
In any case, the Monday Morning topic is important and will be different for almost every enterprise based on their past experiences, their culture and their unique business processes.
6) What about SMBs (small and medium sized businesses) and UC?
Most SMBs do not have the resources (either financially or human) to implement UC solutions today, and we expect they will turn to hosted or managed offerings. Microsoft and Cisco are both making moves in this arena, as are other vendors who will offer their UC solutions and capabilities as a service that SMBs can subscribe to, rather than having to purchase, implement, and manage the premise-based equipment. The SMB market is really heating up, and all of the vendors will be scrambling to offer price-effective services for this market. Some vendors will offer lower-priced (and lower featured) products for this market as well, but most UC solutions are fairly complex and will require knowledgeable IT staff, which not all SMBs have.
We hope this answered your questions from the webinar. If you have other questions, please submit them to “Ask the Expert” on the UCStrategies.com website, and we’ll try to address them.