UCStrategies Spotlight – August 6, 2010
Channel Implications: The SuperVAR
By Dave Michels
Unified Communications represent numerous changes in technologies, practices, tools, and processes; and the channel implications are significant. The survivors of past transitions know that change creates an opportunity; voice mail, analog to digital, digital to VoIP, voice mail to unified messaging all created demand for upgrades or system replacements. New dealers and vendors emerge with every transition. Also, such disruptions mean the end for some. Read the rest of this article on UCStrategies.com.
My Take on the Importance of Social Media in Contact Centers and Unified Communications
My colleagues at UCStrategies and I have often talked about how unified communications came from the contact center as both "markets" share common functionality, such as presence capability, reporting, chat, etc. We also have talked about the drivers behind getting companies to adopt unified communications with discussions about ROI, business benefits, end-user benefits, and infrastructure upgrades, for example. Social media/networking has now provided us with more fodder for these discussions because of the potential to be applied in contact centers and UC, because:
- Adoption of social media by the general population is soaring
- Usage of social media is spilling over into the workplace, just as it did with instant messaging
- Most users are passively, if unknowingly pushing social media as a customer service channel for businesses
- Savvy users are beginning to understand how to influence companies by what they say (post, tweet, etc.) on social media sites
Read the rest of this article on UCStrategies.com.
Exploring the Many Flavors of UC Federation
By Andy Zmolek
As federation concepts have entered the unified communications landscape over the past few years, the notion of what is actually meant by the term has been hard to pin down. Within the Instant Messaging world (now dominated by XMPP, which has specific standards for federation among XMPP servers), federation is synonymous with multi-vendor interoperability while federation in the Microsoft OCS realm is typically associated with connecting one enterprise OCS deployment to another. Peering providers like to associate federation with brokered communications while some enterprises expect all federated relationships to be direct to their peers. Sometimes it can feel like federation is everything to everyone, like the term "cloud computing" these days (or the term "soft switch" back in the early days of VoIP). Read the rest of this article on UCStrategies.com.
Be Careful What You Wish For: Thoughts on the FCC's Net Neutrality - Framework for Broadband Internet Service
By Lisa Pierce
In reviewing the FCC's NPRM on Net Neutrality, several items caught my attention. That FCC is trying to find a legal justification to clarify and expand its control over broadband access and Internet services. I'm not going to comment on that - there are many experts who spend their whole professional lives on telecom regulation and are much better qualified to weigh in, bless their hearts.
I'm going to comment on two things:
- The FCC's focus on finding a ‘third way' to do this.
- Should this occur, the likelihood of success.
Read the rest of this article on UCStrategies.com.
The Tablets' Wider Impact on Enterprise IT
With the introduction of the Apple iPad, Cisco's announcement of the Cius (pronounced "Me-too"), and plans for similar tablet devices from HP, Avaya, and others, it is clear that the industry is catching on to the idea of a new, intermediate size mobile computing platform. Based on that we are now seeing the beginning of a second wave of developments, as Juniper Networks announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Columbus, Ohio-based SMobile Systems, Inc., a privately held software company focused on smart phone and tablet security solutions. The total transaction will be approximately $70 million in cash. Read the rest of this article on UCStrategies.com.
Before it became a necessity during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, many companies had already begun realizing the benefits inherent in embracing remote work. These benefits are substantial and signal that (even when the pandemic is but a memory) remote work will continue to flourish and become a mainstay in the redefined workplace - particularly when it comes to VoIP. This guide will demonstrate how the workforce is changing and leaning toward remote work as a permanent business choice, explain the critical role VoIP will continue to play in supporting remote work, and highlight some of the new trends and innovations coming in 2021 for VoIP. more
