7445_42-46_SRINIFIED COMMS.qxd 15/9/08 18:22 Page 26
■SPECIAL REPORT: UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS
Unified upgrades part of
the natural cycle
WHERE once UC might
have been seen as the sole
Video
preserve of large corpo-
rates, it is now becoming
increasingly available to
comes
smaller firms. At IT Force,
director Joe Molloy puts it
down to the natural
of age
upgrade cycle rather than
the out-and-out pursuit of
shiny new technologies.
“UC consists of a number
Joe Molloy, IT Force
of different technologies,
WHILE the benefits of videoconferencing have long
but it is voice that is actually
been recognised, the time has never been better for
driving it in our experience,” he says. “Our typical clients are
organisations to realise them, according to Michael
small consultancy houses and service companies that need
Tierney, managing director of Service Solutions, a
a new telephone system. Instead of buying a traditional box,
specialist in the presentation and display market.
we advise them to look at UC because it brings in other
“In the past two years, videoconferencing has
technologies.”
become a much more important part of communica-
The fact that they are being driven to upgrade by failing,
tions in most corporates and Government,” he says.
old systems rather than the lure of the new is typical of the
“This is partly due to the connection price between
IT Force experience with SMEs. “They are getting the bene-
two points becoming much more competitive
fits of new ways of working by simply upgrading,” says
because of IP networks.”
Molloy. “There is lot of fluffy talk about productivity and
The challenge with the technology has always been
functionality, but things like presence and IM (instant
about consistency and quality of service. “ISDN can
messaging) go over the heads of most SMEs.”
generally deliver that across Europe. The advent of
David McKane, sales manager with Ardencom, a telecom-
broadband and IP certainly offers new opportunities,
munications supplier focused on SMEs and small corporates,
although broadband of the type that many compa-
agrees that voice is the starting point. “In the past six
nies use still doesn’t offer the consistency of perform-
months, we have seen a lot of sales in new IP telephony
ance in terms of bandwidth because of contention,”
systems. The main drivers have been cost and economies of
says Tierney.
scale. A lot of our customers have multiple sites and with
Now, with the advent of higher-capacity IP net-
VoIP you have free calls between all sites so it makes sense.”
works, it is much easier for a company with branch
He says there has been a significant watershed in communi-
offices to connect them all together and use video as
cation technologies. “It’s bringing the SME and small corpo-
a way of cutting down on time and travel. “Saving
rates into a world that only the bigger players could afford in
time is really important. Cutting back on travel costs
the past. The market has moved towards them as opposed
has been well documented but if you have meetings
to excluding them. There are more plug-and-play solutions
where people have to physically come together, it
than there used to be so it’s much easier to deploy.”
takes up people’s valuable time. It is a much more
One of the features that strikes a chord with smaller firms
intangible cost but it is one which can be very signifi-
is how converged networks can better enable remote working.
cant. Videoconferencing allows you to be much more
“We have a lot of executives who want to work from home
efficient.”
occasionally and use web conferencing,” says Molloy. “It’s
Another big benefit is that it is a more effective way
something that will really start to take off as broadband
of disseminating information across an organisation.
becomes more reliable.”
“In today’s climate, it’s important to keep everyone
Ardencom has seen enough demand to justify launching a
informed quickly. I was talking to one multi-branch
teleworking product. “A lot of businesses actively encourage
customer that would have a face-to-face meeting in
people to work from home using IP telephony over broad-
one location and it would be like Chinese whispers
band. Rather than go though the public network, they dial an
across the organisation,” says Tierney. By contrast, a
extension number directly into the office,” says McKane. And
videoconference enables management to communi-
SMEs are finding the richer functionality of VoIP useful, with
cate quickly and effectively with all employees and
features such as call logging and recording to hard disk prov-
leaves no room for misinterpretation.
ing valuable to any company which talks to end users or
When it comes to rolling out a solution, it is impor-
consultancies and financial institutions that need a more
tant to get buy-in from the IT department. In the
rigorous record of calls.
past, IT has tended to treat it as a burden and an extra
In general, Molloy thinks the UC market has reached a
cost. “If you have a large organisation with 10 to 15
turning point for small firms. “We’re only at the tip of the
sites, videoconferencing becomes the remit of a
iceberg. The market is still growing and this year it’s really
central IT department, which has to go along with it,
beginning to take off.”
otherwise it isn’t going to work,” warns Tierney.
46 Knowledge Ireland September 2008
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