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SPECIAL REPORT: UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS ■
New lines
communication
Thanks to the advent of converged
networks, organisations are able to
use unified communications to change
the way they work. IAN CAMPBELL
reports on the latest developments
of
DESPITE the fact that communications are
integral to every business, it took the advent
of digital technologies to shake things up.
After decades of dependence on trusty old
tools like the fixed phone and fax machine,
the market is now going through unprece-
dented change. Following the first rush of
email adoption, we are now poised to harness
the power of unified communications (UC).
Voice, video, email and instant messaging
(IM) offer a suite of communication channels
that can be mixed and matched on a UC plat-
form, enriched with features like ‘presence’
that tell you which one to use. Putting an end
to telephone tag – which a Damovo survey
claimed lost Irish workers 73 minutes a week
– presence, along with conferencing and col-
laboration tools, can fundamentally change
not just the way people communicate but also
the way they work.
According to John McCabe, managing
director of Damovo, the starting point for
organisations looking to avail of these new
applications is a thorough audit of existing
networks and an analysis of what they want.
“You need to set your quality expectations
and, in the case of videoconferencing, decide
on whether you are going for desktop or
boardroom facilities. High-definition is
another factor. It delivers fantastic quality
but it is bandwidth hungry and you do
>>
need a big ‘pipe’. All these things have to be
considered.”
Underpinning it all is convergence and the
adoption of IP networks. “The technology has
matured and is working now,” says McCabe.
“Setting it up is a technical challenge but
once it’s up it’s very simple to run and add
more people.”
September 2008 Knowledge Ireland 43
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