Too many local enterprises fail to realise that unified communications can be implemented in stages, incorporating legacy systems, says Avaya senior solutions architect Brett Butler.
Butler, who will speak at the upcoming ITWeb Unified Communications conference on 15 March at The Forum in Bryanston, says there is a misconception that unified communications has to have an 'all or nothing' approach.
“Enterprises can absorb legacy equipment and move towards an open standards-based platform; approaching unified communications at their own pace,” he says.
Butler says South African enterprises still have many misconceptions about unified communications, and are failing to realise the benefits their overseas counterparts are enjoying.
“Many people think of unified communications as unified messaging and forget about the real-time applications,” he says.
He notes that many still believe HD video conferencing needs to be prohibitively expensive, or requires the intervention of the IT department to manage. None of this is true, he says.
“Now the underlying infrastructure is in a better position to support peer to peer and group video conferencing. We are now able to do high-definition video conferencing at around 30% less cost than a few years ago because the same or better quality video uses a lot less bandwidth.”
By failing to look at unified communications and all its advantages, local businesses aren't benefiting from the efficiencies and cost-savings being delivered in more developed countries, says Butler.
“Those that have deployed comprehensive unified communications strategies overseas see benefits in terms of green IT, travel savings, improved efficiencies and, of course, instant communications.
In situations where time is crucial, unified communications comes into its own. You can't have communications latencies like you'd find with e-mail, when millions of dollars are at stake or a disaster must be managed,” he points out.
Related story:
Communications gets an agility facelift
Share