The New Face of Unified Communications VoIP Services Watch
by Melisa LaBancz-Bleasdale
Unified communications (UC) is not a new concept. But, like many good ideas for enabling efficiency and flexibility, it sat on the backburner awaiting standards and technologies that could support its potential. The term itself also remained somewhat unused- waiting for realistic, cost-effective and user-friendly ways of integrating multiple business communications systems into a single streamlined process. The International Engineering Consortium (IEC) notes that UC have repeatedly been the center of discussions involving the future of communications, and that the phrase encompasses a broad range of technologies and many potential applications. At the time of this article, there are numerous definitions being used by the messaging industry to describe UC. However, modern vernacular defines it as: providing seamless communications across email, instant messaging (IM), voice, data, video and conferencing.
Gartner's June 2006 UC Magic Quadrant defines UC as, "offering the ability to significantly improve the ways that individuals, groups and companies interact and perform. Key technologies include Internet Protocol-Private Branch Exchange (IP-PBX); Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP); presence; email; audio and Web conferencing; voice mail; unified messaging; and instant messaging (IM)." Gartner further states that the largest single value of UC lies in its ability to reduce "human latency" in business processes.
Most major UC vendors offer unified messaging (UM) as a necessary adjunct to an overall unified communications effort. UM is the ability to retrieve and send voice, fax and email messages from a single interface-including mobile phone, fixed network phone or personal computer. At its most basic, UM takes the form of a unified mailbox and/or alert service that allows the end-user to have a single source for message delivery, repository, access and notification.
In the corporate environment, the goal of UM implementation is to improve the overall operational efficiency of the organization while also improving service levels. UM solutions targeting enterprise customers integrate with existing mail systems such as Microsoft Exchange and SAP, as well as customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications. "Unified communications will drive the next major advancement in individual, team and organizational productivity in today's 24x7, always - connected and increasingly mobile work environment," says Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division.
Meet the Players
Major technology vendors have stepped up to the plate to provide solutions that support UC and UM for forward-thinking businesses. These vendors include the traditional enterprise telephone system providers who have moved away from legacy TDM (time division multiplexing) PBX, voicemail, and call centers and have made the switch to UC- Avaya, Cisco, Mitel and Siemens in the telephony market, as well as Microsoft, which has UC and UM offerings in partnership with Nortel, HP, Motorola and Siemens. Providers such as Interactive Intelligence and Citrix offer application-specific solutions that fit into the UC model, while Adomo offers a UC solution based on an appliance platform.
In 2007 Microsoft's UC and UM partner ecosystem will kick into gear. HP will provide hardware devices and systems integration services for new and enhanced products based on Microsoft's UC platform. Motorola will deliver mobile devices and network hardware based on Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile. Siemens will advance the transformation of telephony, audio-, video- and Web-conferencing, instant messaging and email into a single UC platform. Long a fixture on the UM front, Cisco's UC solutions are focused on streamlining business processes by integrating effective communication and collaboration solutions that include messaging; voice, video and Web-conferencing; as well as UC clients. Cisco's standards based applications integrate with Microsoft Outlook and IBM Lotus Notes.
Cupertino, California-based Adomo differentiates itself by offering an easy-to-implement appliance that unifies messaging integration of Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory with Cisco CallManager and other IP-PBX and legacy PBX systems. "The Adomo solution eliminates the cost of maintaining separate servers, databases and message stores. When we tell potential customers that our solutions don't require them to make any changes to their Microsoft Exchange schema, that's usually all it takes to get their attention." says Kelly Abner, director of product marketing for Adomo. "Our solutions don't require any desktop installation or Windows servers and provide their own onboard caching. Organizations looking to streamline their existing communications systems, with minimal impact to personnel and network resources, are looking beyond the big vendors-toward easy-to-implement solutions, such as ours."
Moving Past Legacy Systems
In June 2005, Avaya announced end-of-life plans for its legacy voicemail systems, notifying customers that it will no longer sell or service Octel Aria, Octel Serenade and Intuity Audix systems. Nortel has also announced end-of-life for many Meridian and Norstar PBXs. These notifications by manufacturers of traditional TDM systems have caused many organizations to seek out UC technologies to replace them.
According to industry analysts, VoIP sales are growing by more than 30 percent per year. By contrast, they note that sales of TDM PBX systems decreased 20 percent. VoIP has established itself as a reliable performer and, in conjunction with the slowdeath of PBX technology, this has given rise to leading-edge vendor solutions that outperform their predecessors. Cisco's UC applications were designed to integrate with existing PBX or voicemail systems, with the intent that organizations replace components according to their individual schedule and budget-enabling an 'as-needed' migration to IP-based communications.
Adomo provides universal, PBXindependent voice messaging and UC solutions that leverage the existing corporate infrastructure for consolidated administration. Adomo Voice Messaging separates the voicemail application from the PBX, and is designed to work seamlessly across any mix of legacy and IP-PBX technologies. Adomo's voice messaging appliances support 500, 1,000 or 2,000 users and can be stacked and clustered alongside private branch exchanges to convert voice streams into text based Exchange data. "There are key consider-ations that a company should make when looking to replace their legacy PBX systems with UC solutions. Both scalability and flexibility are important, but ensuring that your new solution is future-proof is critical," notes Abner. "Adomo Voice Messaging works with any existing PBX system, whether traditional TDM PBX or new generation IP PBX's. It integrates the Octel telephone keypad interface while adding UM functionality (e.g., access via email and Smartphones). For many organizations, the ability to seamlessly integrate with Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory are non-negotiable requirements. Our solutions support their implementation objectives."
Avaya is meeting UC demands with the Avaya IP Softphone. Their VoIP offering allows users to receive calls made to their office- either at their home or remote location. They can access office communications features such as call transfer, abbreviated dialing, conference and hold. Avaya Extension to Cellular and Avaya one-XMobile Edition enable mobile workers to have calls routed to their cell phones and perform similar functions. Avaya's IP Telephony allows a mobility server to be added to an existing PBX, or the PBX can be IPenabled to gradually scale up its capabilities throughout the enterprise.
The Future of UC
As organizations look for better, more cost-effective means of enhancing communications processes, accessibility and reliability; they are moving away from traditional TDM PBXs. Legacy standalone voicemail systems are fast becoming obsolete. In a business environment that demands immediacy and flexibility, companies continue to migrate toward UC and UM solutions that deliver an all-inone, efficient user experience. The shift toward UC means that voicemail systems will need to be replaced.
Organizations are faced with a myriad of possible vendor solutions to solve the problems, but migrating to a new solution warrants careful consideration.
"Companies are looking for ways to maximize their initial investments with minimal impact to the business. When it comes to replacing their legacy voicemail systems, UC solutions are part of the natural progression," says Abner. "The question is: 'What will they replace them with? Another standalone voicemail platform, tied to an individual telecom vendor?' provides a bridge-between the legacy PBX systems used today by hundreds of millions of corporate employees, and the VoIP and wireless technologies of tomorrow." MB/MNP