In his Keynote speech at VoiceCon, Avaya CEO Lou D’Ambrosio said unified communications tools should be given to the masses. I’m not sure I agree with his theory that such a move will get us out of the current economic slump, but I wholeheartedly support the notion of giving UC applications to all knowledge workers who currently have e-mail. To me, that’s the best way to size the potential market for UC as well. Continue Reading »

Companies looking to deploy unified conferencing & collaboration without a complete UC overhaul might want to check out Dialcom,a Spanish company entering the North American market. I got a quick demo of the on-premises software today, and it looks good. A couple things I really like:

The ability for users to see and manage bandwidth and other infrastructure-related issues, so that they get the best experience possible.

The ability for users to click on a clear, simple interface to add voice, data and video to the session.

And the best part for me, after a week of tech mishaps? The application worked great in the demo, with no maneuvering on my part or the vendor’s.

As companies deploy technology to allow employees to take advantage of video communications, IT managers must implement a total solution that will deliver the capabilities required by everyone in the enterprise. Just as companies wouldnt focus on telephone handsets before deploying the platform and networks to support them, they shouldnt focus on videoconferencing endpoints when it comes to implementing videoconferencing technology. Instead, they should deploy a total solution that lays down a foundational platform for management, control and performance. Continue Reading »

As more companies deploy technology to allow employees to take advantage of video communications, IT managers should think about implementing a total solution that will deliver the capabilities required by everyone in the enterprise, on a consistent, manageable platform. Just as companies wouldnt focus on telephone handsets before deploying the platform and networks to support them, they shouldnt focus on videoconferencing endpoints when it comes to implementing videoconferencing technology. Instead, they should deploy a total solution that lays down a foundational platform for management, control and performance. That, in turn, will support whatever features and endpoints they, and their end users, need. Continue Reading »

Obviously, I’m a big believer in Enterprise 2.0 technologies, especially the core communications applications: VoIP, IM, presence and conferencing. But it’s still amazes me that even basic conferencing apps often doen’t work as they’re supposed to right out of the gate.

Today I participated in yet another web conference that started 15 minutes late because of problems with the audio bridge. Shortly after we got that solved, the video feed stopped working (mine never worked to begin with, but eventually, everyone else’s dropped, too).

In the end, the meeting went off just fine, but if these next-generation technologies are really going to make inroads into the enterprise, they still need to work out the kinks.

As Irwin notes below, Nortel and Microsoft made a joint announcement today around their Innovative Commuications Aliance (ICA), announcing four new UC solutions. All four help companies deploy a complete UC solution, with telephony from Nortel and various data-related communications from Microsoft.

What struck me as most interesting about the news weren’t the product offerings, but the fact that the vendors have signed more than 600 customers on the platform. How many users are actually licensed within each of those organizations is an open question, but clearly, companies are seeing value in UC. That said, the customer Nortel chose to quote in its press release highlighted the cost-savings benefits, rather than increased productivity. Continue Reading »

Over on NoJitter.com, Shiela McGee Smith and Eric Krapf have written about Aspects new focus on unified communications in the contact center, and why thats a good thing. Aspect isnt the only company to tout the benefits of UC in the customer service arena; Avaya, Cisco and others have been beating that drum for a while.

Continue Reading »

The talk about Microsoft entering the SaaS market (see posts from Steve and Irwin) has me thinking about a couple key points.

First, theres a difference between software as a service and hosted applications. SaaS is based on web applications that are specifically designed to be delivered over the Internet as a service. Hosted applications are traditional client-server apps that are hosted off site. SaaS is a new model of software deployment and delivery that is changing the way technology gets consumed and managed, whereas hosted applications have been around for a while and seem to rise and fall with the economic and technological tides (anyone remember the great ASP movement at the turn of the century?).

More important than either model for UC are managed services, which allow companies to deploy a mix of hosted, SaaS and on-net applications, integrate them all, and have someone else manage everything from implementation to performance. I think companies that go down the UC road in the next few years will be looking for more than consulting services from their vendorsmore than ever, theyll be interested in managed services, too.

There’s been lots of discussion about possible acquisitions in the telephony/communications industry of late. My favortie scenario: Microsoft acquires Nortel, and IBM picks up Siemens’ enterprise software business. Given their close relationship around UC, the Nortel/Microsoft works nicely. Same goes for IBM/Siemens–IBM already OEMs Siemens’ technology for its upcoming Unified Telephony product, and the two companies have hammered home the idea of openness in the market.

Of course, such deals would create some challenges. Microsoft would suddenly find itself in the hardware business, since it would have to support Nortel’s legacy PBX customers for many years to come. IBM would, too, but at least the company has experience in the space (albeit, not recently, but still…). On the other hand, IBM would clearly have to back-track on its messaging that it is NOT in the telephony business.

All this is just musing… what potential M&As do you like in this space?

Siemens has announced its new unified communications software platform, OpenScape Unified Communications (UC) Server, available at the end of April. The suite includes OpenScape Voice Application (HiPath 8000 V3.1 R2, enterprise grade voice and IP least cost routing), OpenScape Video (integrated HD, desktop and client video conferencing) and OpenScape UC Application V3 (role-based UC).

The move is meant to highlight Siemens Enterprise Communications transition from hardware manufacturer to software provider, and the UC Server can operate in virtually any existing IT or telephony environment, from any vendor. Siemens has long supported 100% SIP applications, and OpenScape has traditionally been one of the most open UC platforms around. The move is good for customers of both Microsoft and Siemens; it would seem unnecessary for IBM/Siemens shops, since IBM is OEMing Siemens technology for its upcoming Unified Telephony solution. Continue Reading »