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Breaking down barriers with unified communications

Companies need a UC strategy to meet the needs of the digital workplace, says Stuart Hardy, business unit manager at EOH-NS.


Johannesburg, 08 Apr 2015

The way companies operate has fundamentally been altered in light of new digital forms of communication, particularly mobile. The barriers between work and home are increasingly hazy, thanks to smartphones and tablets, and people have a wider choice on how and where to communicate.

Where, in the past, communication was limited to landlines and snail mail, then to e-mail and cellphones, modern communication occurs through a wider variety of endpoints than ever before.

According to Stuart Hardy, Business Unit Manager at EOH-NS, unified communications (UC) breaks down the barriers between these, allowing for seamless contact, regardless of location, via a choice of different mediums. With UC, one number allows a person to be reached on any device.

"Not only does UC make contacting people easier through the single number concept, but it allows for presence profiles that provide an easy way to see whether a person is 'away', 'busy', or 'available'. In addition, it allows you to access information from other sources, such as a calendar, allowing for status updates according to whether the person is in a meeting, on holiday and so on," Hardy explains.

UC systems are generally managed through a single interface, also making the IT department's lives easier, since there is only one system to manage rather than a number. And because UC runs through an Internet connection, there is no need to diagnose and distinguish between problems with a data or phone network.

However, Hardy points out, this makes having access to a first-class network essential, particularly one that offers effective integration of the wired and wireless worlds. He also highlights the fact that companies looking to achieve the benefits offered by UC must have BYOD policies in place.

"UC platforms are accessible through various devices, so security must be taken into consideration. Since many companies allow staff to use their own personal devices as work tools, management of the devices is essential. In these cases, a BYOD policy must form the foundation of a UC system, allowing for the effective configuration, control and protection of mobile devices," Hardy says.

UC is effectively a conglomeration of communications initiatives, and therefore need not be implemented in one fell swoop. Hardy says there are a number of starting points, including softphones, computer applications on the telephone, unified messaging, and video conferencing.

Industry analysts at Frost & Sullivan expect 2015 to be an "inflection point year", forecasting that UC will continue to grow strongly in 2015 as organisations look to refresh both legacy TDM and IP-based infrastructure. Hardy believes UC will become central to the operations of businesses in the future, as companies increasingly require flexibility and functionality.

He adds that communication is essential to getting business done, and since UC facilitates other services such as CRM, content management and file sharing, it enables the collaboration and responsiveness essential in today's business environment.

"UC is more than just an assortment of tools or features. It's a way to enable collaboration through dynamic communication. However, businesses will require a strategy to fully exploit the capacity to connect various systems, tools and devices in order to meet the needs of the digital workplace," Hardy concludes.

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Editorial contacts

Mia Andric
Exposure
mia@exposureunlimited.net