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magazine - Connect-World
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Unified communications<br />
fact that no single person or business ever sits<br />
still. Today’s organizations seldom operate<br />
from a single monolithic location. Rather,<br />
their offices, systems, and information assets<br />
are distributed throughout the world - whether<br />
down the block, or downtown, or across<br />
cities, countries, and continents. In addition,<br />
they increasingly rely on a workforce that can<br />
prove just as widely distributed, if not more so,<br />
with remote teleworkers conducting business<br />
from wherever they happen to be. With so<br />
much distribution to span today, with so much<br />
territory to be efficiently and cost-effectively<br />
covered - both physically and virtually - it’s<br />
little wonder that the rally cry for the last<br />
decade has been “Unified Communications!”<br />
But again, for content to rule as king in<br />
our circles, systems need to be continually<br />
integrated to ensure its non-stop delivery.<br />
UC to the rescue<br />
Now, an enterprise or their trusted system<br />
integrator can certainly deploy a UC solution<br />
that glues together all of the different parts<br />
and pieces of business processes, systems,<br />
and networks - and many have done so using<br />
media gateways, routers, PBX platforms,<br />
session border controllers, and a broad range<br />
of database engines, dialers, call servers, and<br />
workflow management systems. However,<br />
as time and technology continue to march<br />
on, and businesses continue to focus on<br />
serving customers with the effective use of<br />
content, the skills necessary to knit together<br />
a patchwork of disparate elements are<br />
becoming more difficult to find in any one<br />
organization. For many, overarching solutions<br />
that can take the complexity out of deploying<br />
UC will be the key to getting the most out of<br />
the resources and information available.<br />
Over the years the UC solutions developed<br />
by global UC leaders, has given us the<br />
means to deal with the challenges that<br />
bubble to the surface in nearly every<br />
implementation. Even though these<br />
providers sell technology suites and<br />
comprehensive solutions, there is still an<br />
incredible amount of complexity involved<br />
in deploying and implementing them. The<br />
‘out of the box’ experience does not really<br />
lend itself to a ‘set it and forget it’ mindset.<br />
Almost every installation has unique<br />
requirements and ecosystem tie-ins that<br />
require additional pieces that facilitate the<br />
seamless bridging of old and new systems<br />
and networks. It’s these little chinks in the<br />
armor of the total solution that can present<br />
the biggest challenges - and where vendors<br />
can apply what they have learned to hammer<br />
out these final wrinkles.<br />
To put this argument into tangible<br />
perspective, let’s consider for a moment, as<br />
a working example, the latest innovation<br />
in Unified Communications (UC) from<br />
Microsoft - Microsoft Lync. This is a<br />
powerful suite of business process tools and<br />
features that easily combine communications,<br />
common files and databases, real-time<br />
collaboration with the convenience of desktop<br />
sharing, presence management capabilities,<br />
multiple forms of messaging and media<br />
interactions, as well as business processes<br />
such as those typically used in contact centers<br />
and service bureaus just to rattle off a few<br />
scenarios. Now, that’s a great deal of stuff<br />
to pack onto a single platform - a heck of a<br />
lot of content! - and it’s almost never spread<br />
across easy ‘greenfield’ landscapes. In fact,<br />
in most enterprises, a UC solution such as<br />
Lync will have to seamlessly integrate with<br />
multiple disparate platforms and systems<br />
within the business ecosystem, both old and<br />
new, both proven and emerging, and must<br />
likely make multiple and varied network<br />
connections to the outside world. And yet, of<br />
course, we assume all of this heterogeneity<br />
will merge neatly, unify seamlessly, and work<br />
without a hitch, completely transparent to all<br />
who use it. Because if not, what’s the point<br />
The complexity of such an undertaking<br />
was once considered daunting. Today,<br />
such unification is not only doable, and<br />
preferable, but expected. Working on the<br />
front lines of business communications<br />
we see this dynamic manifesting itself in<br />
multiple ways every day. In fact, according<br />
to reports from the global systems integrator<br />
Ingram Micro, small and medium enterprises<br />
see the efficiencies and flexibility offered by<br />
UC as not just a business preference, but,<br />
indeed, a competitive necessity. However,<br />
without large in-house IT staffs, most of<br />
these companies require a solution that can<br />
bridge not only the server and application<br />
environment in the LAN (and sometimes in<br />
the Cloud), but can also unify the different<br />
outside world connections, including SIP<br />
trunking, Internet access and security,<br />
Public Switched Telephone Network<br />
(PSTN) connectivity, and multiple video and<br />
application sharing features.<br />
The good news for many is that, along<br />
with the crush of technological innovation<br />
across the industry, a focus has emerged<br />
from unique market leaders for bridging<br />
these varied and disparate ecosystems in<br />
simple and efficient ways. The Lync Express<br />
appliance from Sangoma is one such all-inone<br />
solution that covers all of the common<br />
integration pain points that can make UC<br />
and Lync a major headache for smaller<br />
companies that are running lean. This<br />
was precisely the case for Euroline AS, a<br />
distributor of telecommunications equipment<br />
and solutions based in Drammen, Norway.<br />
A small enterprise with locations in Norway<br />
and Denmark, Euroline’s management<br />
team was eager to replace a failing PBX<br />
and gain the advantages of UC through<br />
deploying Lync. However, without the correct<br />
internal expertise, they required a simple<br />
and comprehensive solution. According<br />
to technical manager Rune Jacobsen, who<br />
had no previous experience with Lync, the<br />
configuration was quite intuitive and easy<br />
to navigate, and the change was completed<br />
without disruption to everyday business.<br />
Without consistent delivery, content is<br />
inconsequential<br />
What has driven the need for this and so<br />
many other innovative solutions for unifying<br />
communications in the business world The<br />
same hunger we have in our personal worlds:<br />
an ever-constant demand for delivered<br />
content. Think about it. Every professional in<br />
the business world is also an avid consumer<br />
of content in their personal worlds, and<br />
the same expectations that drive them at<br />
home are those that, either consciously or<br />
unconsciously, are also driving them at work.<br />
There exists a constant demand for immediate<br />
access to rich content, delivered in ubiquitous<br />
and unimpeded ways. Granted, this is easily<br />
said, but not so easily done; however, and<br />
at the risk of invoking yet another cliché,<br />
necessity is the mother of invention.<br />
Thus, in markets around the world,<br />
enterprises of all sizes continue exploring<br />
UC-like solutions such as Lync to satisfy<br />
their content-hungry workforce. They want<br />
that familiar unified frontend that accesses<br />
the myriad of applications, networks, and<br />
technologies residing in the backend -<br />
separate, but connected - to deliver the<br />
seamless and consistent content we all so<br />
commonly crave.<br />
The desire and expectation of the business<br />
owner is not just for content, then, but<br />
for continuously connected content, with<br />
dependable distribution and delivery to all<br />
company-related constituents and consumers<br />
- both internal and external - without the<br />
prohibitive costs and complexities associated<br />
with such connectivity. This is why, for my<br />
money, sure, content may be king… but<br />
delivery will always reign! •<br />
12 • EMEA 2013