the top five ways hosted pbx with uc can help your enterprise

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The Top Five Ways Hosted PBX with Unified Communications Can Help Your EnterpriseAuthored by: Steve Shepard, President, Shepard Communications Group, LLC

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Authored by:

Steve Shepard, President

Shepard Communications Group, LLC

Commissioned by XO Communications

Introduction 1

1 - Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) 3

2 - Self-Management 4

3 - Productivity 5

4 - Business Continuity 6

5 - Focus on Core Competencies 7

In Summary 8

Hosted PBX 9

About XO Communications 10

About Steve Shepard 10

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The Top Five Ways Hosted PBX with Unified Communications Can Help Your Enterprise XO Communications

Make no mistake about it: Hosted Voice over IP (VoIP) with Unified Communications technologies are here, they’re real, and they’re the answer to your most vexing communications problems. You want ways to enable employees at multi-site offices, teleworkers, and mobile workers to achieve peak productivity and communicate in the ways they prefer on any of their devices—while you simplify and cut costs of business communications across the company.

Let’s begin our discussion with a quick overview of generic

hosted technology. The resources required to deliver processing

power, enterprise storage, complex applications, functional

enterprise application platforms, or corporate communications

are complicated, expensive environments. Most corporations

have one or more data centers dedicated to the delivery of these

and other capabilities. Applications are being moved into the

cloud, for example, because by hosting them centrally, the client

can provide access to all employees, regardless of location, and

can guarantee that the applications are not only the most current

version, but also completely free of viruses, malware and other

intrusive elements.

The truth is that corporations have these data centers because

they have to – until recently there has been no cost-effective

alternative. Today, however, that is no longer the case. The

astute enterprise must pay attention to a question being asked

by hosted providers: If you’re not in the business of running data

centers, why are you running data centers?

Today’s IT environment has adapted to this reality, one

result of which is the emergence of companies dedicated to

delivering storage, processing power, applications, platforms,

and communications from a centrally-managed, universally

accessible place – the cloud.

Introduction

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The companies that offer these services are numerous and

capable. Amazon® Web Services offer on-demand cloud

computing services. VMWare® provides computing power-

on-demand. SalesForce.com® offers a suite of sales support

applications, all delivered to roving or fixed sales personnel,

regardless of their physical locations. Google Apps® provides

an entire platform that offers communication, collaboration,

and cooperation to all employees within the enterprise. And

XO Communications offers a hosted Voice over IP with Unified

Communications solution that allows multiple locations to

communicate as if they were physically adjacent.

In a hosted environment, all of the functionality resides “in the

cloud” – within Web-accessible data centers that are centrally

managed. The resources behave as if they were on the user’s

computer, when in fact they could be across town, across

the continent or on the other side of the world. While hosted

computing, applications, platforms and storage have received a

lot of attention in the last few years, one of the most exciting new

entrants – and the one that will fundamentally change the way

businesses communicate – is Hosted PBX.

A reliable, business-grade solution that integrates Hosted Voice

over IP (VoIP) with Hosted Unified Communications tools will

lower your total cost of ownership, enable self-management,

improve productivity, streamline business continuity and free up

your IT resources to focus on more important requirements.

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Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

1 Seven Best Practices for Cloud Computing. Cumulus Technologies; http://www.cumulus.com.au/pervasive-news/pervasivenews/19-seven-best-practices-for-cloud-computing.

1Today, the enterprise relies on a variety of communications modalities: voice, texting, e-mail, and video chat, even social media applications like LinkedIn Facebook, Twitter and Yammer.

In fact, according to research from technology strategy

firm Cumulus Technology, one-quarter of business process

improvement initiatives today include integration of information

from enterprise social computing solutions1. Connectivity options,

therefore, must evolve beyond standard enterprise applications,

legacy systems, and databases, to forward-looking Web services.

This is where hosted UC services shine.

Consider this: the cost elements of a voice solution are not trivial.

They include the monthly fees associated with multichannel PRIs

required for site-to-site connectivity; the potentially significant –

and variable - cost of monthly local and long-distance usage; the

people, software and systems required to administer, manage,

operate, monitor, and maintain what can be an extraordinarily

complex communications infrastructure; and perhaps most

important, the capital expense associated with having to own

and operate a collection of depreciable assets.

With a hosted solution, however, this cost structure flips on its

head. The capital expense (CAPEX) associated with network and

terminal equipment follows the communications application into

the cloud, leaving the customer with operating expenses (OPEX)

only – and far less oversight and management activity, which in

turn leads to lower costs.

This is the benefit of the converged network that a hosted

solution makes possible. Each of the communications modalities

listed earlier is delivered from a different source, and each must

be separately managed and administered. For precisely this

reason the concept of Unified Communications emerged a few

years ago, thanks to the arrival of IP as a central unifying force in

the world of enterprise communications. Thanks to IP, all of these

disparate methods of communication can be unified under a

common system, thus reducing the complexity of operations and

the total cost of ownership (TCO) involved in administering the

daunting task of effective, multi-site enterprise communications.

There are no up-front equipment costs (other than a possible

LAN upgrade to handle voice); there are no costs associated

with network management or infrastructure maintenance; there

are no access charges, since all voice and data communications

are carried across a single converged IP network; and the risk

of technological obsolescence, always a behind-the-scenes

fear of IT budgeters, completely disappears, since maintenance

of technological currency now becomes the responsibility

of the Hosted PBX provider rather than the enterprise. The

network literally becomes future-proof, something that makes IT

managers smile for days.

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Remember our earlier admonishment:

“If you’re not in the business of running data centers, why are you running data centers?”

Nowhere is this a more appropriate question than in the area of

Self-Management. In today’s hyper-competitive communications

marketplace, companies benefit enormously when they place

as much control of the relationship as possible between the

service provider and the customer into the customer’s hands. It

is clear that service providers in today’s competitive environment

are being pushed by their customers to place a great deal more

emphasis on simplicity, transparency, the ability to customize the

relationship between the customer and the network, and real-

time choice of delivered services.

Self-Management as a central element in Unfied

Communications speaks directly to this. Needless to say, there

is a certain amount of up-front work required to prepare your

network for the arrival of IP, but the very fact that you are thinking

about a hosted UC communication solution means that you have

probably already done much of this prep work, so any additional

required support will be minimal.

With a hosted solution, any required activities such as adding or

modifying profiles of users or modifying features – the infamous

“moves, adds, changes and deletes” – are accomplished via

a simple Web interface, and are therefore as scalable as the

enterprise itself. And because the enterprise is in control of all

functions related to managing the relationship between itself

and the network cloud, there is no need to be dependent on a

service provider to handle routine tasks nor are there any fees

associated with the changes.

2

Self-Management

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What would be the point of moving to a unified communications solution if it failed to deliver a significant leap forward in terms of organizational productivity?

With a hosted unified communications solution,

the “tyranny of twisted pair” disappears,

because enterprise communications

functionality can now be delivered to any

device, at any location, with a single phone

number, dial plan, and guaranteed voicemail

forwarding to an e-mail account regardless of

geography. In other words, the enterprise can

enjoy complete IP-PBX functionality without

having to buy an IP-PBX.

Calls made in the environment, regardless of

the originating device, appear to the called

party as if they were made from the main

office, thus preserving brand identity and

customer intimacy.

And because of the power of truly unified

communications, calls and other frequently

used modes of communication can be

transparently moved between desk and mobile

phones to ensure seamless communications

and uninterrupted customer service. The

result? A leap in organizational and personal

productivity, as the functional playing field

among fixed phones, mobile phones and video

devices is leveled – permanently. Instead of

having to focus on the infrastructure, users can

focus on what it does for them.

Productivity

“ And because of the

power of truly unified

communications, calls

and other frequently

used modes of

communication can

be transparently

moved between desk

and mobile phones

to ensure seamless

communications

and uninterrupted

customer service. ”

3

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Business continuity, formerly known as “disaster recovery” or “disaster avoidance,” earned its stripes in the early days of hosted infrastructures when data storage made its way into the cloud.

The ability to back up critical data on multiple servers in different

geographic areas as a way to avoid disruption by geopolitical

events or natural disaster went a long way toward assuaging IT

managers’ concerns about business continuity following such

an event. When companies like XO took that same concept and

applied it to enterprise communications, a whole new level of

reliability emerged. Suddenly, weather and natural disaster – both

of which seem to have become more common of late – pale into

relative insignificance in terms of their ability to adversely affect

enterprise communications. Even in situations where weather or

other disruptions prevent employees from going to their primary

work location, they can still be fully productive because the cloud

houses all of the functionality they need to do their jobs, and that

functionality can be delivered to them, regardless of where they

are physically located. Calls can be routed to mobile devices or

to fixed facilities that are unaffected by whatever problem

is occurring.

Furthermore, the infrastructure is completely secure. There is

no physical hardware required at the enterprise location, which

means that even in the event of a complete loss of the facility,

full-featured communications can continue in an uninterrupted

fashion as long as employees can find a working phone.

Business Continuity

4

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5Running a corporate communications infrastructure is an expensive, complex, and human-intensive process – not to mention a heavy consumer of CAPEX.

By shifting the expense, capital and operational burden of

communications to the Hosted PBX provider, those same

financial and human resources can be redirected to core

business activities. In some companies, IT can represent as

much as 3-5% of total revenue.

Imagine the impact of redirecting a large portion of that to other

activities that positively affect customer service, intimacy or

stickiness? That would be a well-received decision by senior

leadership, and its strategic value would be equally well-

received. Moving non-core business functions such as VoIP

and UC to a reliable outsourcing entity means that resources

that would otherwise be spent on these non-core functions can

be redeployed into activities that provide a clear competitive

advantage, without sacrificing service quality in any way.

Focus on Core Competencies

2 Gartner, Inc. IT Metrics: IT Spending and Staffing Report, 2011. Published 25 January 2011

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HOST

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Corporate communications is considered by most IT directors to be an important but largely tactical activity. In fact, basic IP telephony is now considered by many companies as a must-have cloud application, especially as other types of unified communications—instant messaging, text, presence, videochat, and more—take hold, driven by a generation of young, tech-savvy workers.

When voice moves into the cloud, enterprise communications

rapidly becomes a strategic function because of its ability to

directly affect a significant number of revenue and service-

impacting functions in the enterprise.

The five ways Hosted PBX with Unified Communications can help

you are strategically important: the ability to lower the total cost

of ownership of the communications function, the ability to move

control and management away from the service provider and

put it in the hands of the customer, the enhanced productivity

that results from the irrelevance of physical location, the ability

to not only survive a major disruptive event but to in fact be fully

functional in spite of it, and perhaps the most important of all,

the ability to focus valuable human and capital resources that

would otherwise be consumed by non-core functions on those

functions that influence revenue and customer service.

Yet all of them result from one simple change. creating a trusted

relationship with a best-in-class Hosted PBX with Unified

Communications provider. Work with that provider to create an

IP-based unified communications infrastructure that supports

multi-site offices, teleworkers, and mobile workers, allowing them

to achieve their highest possible levels of productivity.

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Even if your head is already in the cloud, you can work with a provider with proven VoIP and hosted communications capabilities: with the right products, the expertise and the business sense to help you succeed.

XO Communications can help you migrate to the cloud simply,

flexibly and cost effectively. XO Hosted PBX helps businesses

with locations across the U.S. integrate complex voice and

IT environments, centralize voice applications, and take

advantage of the productivity and economic gains of hosted

communications.

The company’s IP-based Hosted PBX service allows multi-

location businesses to scale their communication requirements

as required, while at the same time reducing the CAPEX and

OPEX spend typically associated with the management of

enterprise-wide communications. In fact, for those companies

that can classify the one-time setup and installation fees as

capital expenditures, the conversion to Hosted PBX could be

done with no CAPEX at all.

At the same time the service allows enterprise customers

to accelerate the deployment of VoIP and the rollout of a

comprehensive unified communications strategy. And

because the XO solution is an end-to-end IP environment,

client companies enjoy a wide array of tangible and

measurable benefits that result in a significant return on their

communications investment. These benefits include:

• The ability to transfer the operations and management of the

enterprise communications function to a capable and trusted

partner, thus freeing up resources for redeployment.

• The knowledge that the monthly per-employee cost is

predictable on an enterprise-wide basis. Calling features and

telephones are included in the overall price.

• Awareness of the fact that because of the hosted

architecture, site-to-site calling will incur no additional cost

across the entire enterprise.

• The ever-present ability to upgrade to a full suite of IP-PBX

features and to VoIP telephones without the need to

purchase new PBX equipment, and the attendant ability

to avoid technology obsolescence and benefit from

“fuure-proofing.”

• A broad range of calling features, local and long-distance

calling, enterprise-wide, multi-site high-definition voice and

video, secure online feature management, and SIP-enabled,

high-definition phones.

• Eliminate the frustration mobile device management with a

UC app that gives workers multiple ways of communicating

with each other, yet securely separates work and personal

information on their personal smartphones.

XO has been in the communications business since 1996,

developing an enterprise-centric network that satisfies the

growing and evolving needs of enterprise customers.

Hosted PBX

http://www.xo.com/services/voip/Hosted-PBX/Pages/overview.aspx

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About XO Communications

About Steve Shepard

Dr. Steven Shepard, Ph.D. is president of the Shepard

Communications Group. A professional writer, educator

and industry analyst with more than 25 years of

experience in the technology industry, Dr. Shepard

specializes in international telecommunications issues,

the social implications of technological incursion and

the analysis of financial issues related to technology-

dependent businesses. He is the author of 45 books on a

wide variety of topics and regularly speaks to audiences

throughout the world, and has clients in more

than 50 countries.

Mr. Shepard can be reached at:

[email protected].

XO Communications is a leading nationwide provider of

advanced communications services and solutions for

businesses, enterprises, government, carriers and service

providers.

XO customers include more than half of the Fortune 500,

in addition to leading cable companies, carriers, content

providers and mobile network operators. Utilizing its unique

combination of high-capacity nationwide and metro networks

and fixed wireless capabilities, XO offers customers a

broad range of managed voice, data and IP services with

proven performance, scalability and value in more than 85

metropolitan markets across the United States.

For more information, call your XO sales representative,

visit www.xo.com or call: 800.474.1703

For XO updates, follow us on:Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Slideshare | YouTube | Flickr

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