unified communications what works and what doesnt kim hamilton strategic accounts manager

Unified Communications

What Works and What Doesn’t

Kim HamiltonStrategic Accounts Manager

Unified CommunicationsWhat is it? • Voice, video, data & internet• Voicemail, email & instant messaging• Audio, web & video conferencing• Presence

– see who is available or not• Collaboration and application sharing

– team spaces, sharing of files and desktops

• Centralized Control and Management– Available to all users in any

location

© 2008 CYPRESS COMMUNICATIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2


Unified CommunicationsWhere is it going?

• Standards-based software

• Integration

• Collaboration

• Worker mobility

• Need for business continuity

• Network complexity

• Reliance on hosted / managed communications

Increased Decreased

• Proprietary hardware

• Multiple disparate systems and applications across the enterprise

• Distributed communication models


New Paradigms

• Over 25 percent of small to mid-sized enterprises have/or are rolling out unified communications. Another 57% are piloting UC.

• Enterprises are embracing virtualization, models — SaaS,

• Hosted VoIP market will increase from $375 million in 2006 to $3.2 billion in 2011.

• Wireline handsets will increasingly become historical relics facing a similar fate as fax machines and ashtrays.

• Wireless and soft phone functionality will be mainstream by 2010.

Source: Gartner, Inc. and Forrester Research

Unified CommunicationsBenefits

• Increased productivity• Less phone tag, more communication• Simplifies and speeds up communication• Use the most appropriate communications tool

– Answer a voice mail with an email,

– Or, respond to an email with a voice call with one click

• All users on one platform– Send a blast voicemail to all employees

• Overcome geography issues


Unified CommunicationsHow to get there

Do-it-yourself

• Buy, install and manage the hardware, software and services required

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS)

• Outsource the complexity to a communications service provider


Hybrid: Hire third party to manage your network

Do-It-Yourself Unified Communications

Advantages

• You control your network• Add features on your

schedule• Integrate with proprietary

business applications

Disadvantages

• Complexity• Not likely a skill set your IT

staff now has• Capital intensive• Expensive and complex

management• Difficult to predict costs• Disaster recovery is costly• Obsolescence risk


Unified Communications as a Service

Advantages

• Capital avoidance• Guaranteed voice quality,

network availability and security

• Business continuity and geographic redundancy

• All locations nationwide have the same services

• No maintenance, upgrades or management

Disadvantages

• Dependant on one or two vendors

• Not in direct control of feature roll-out

• Limited customization



Key Drivers of UCaaS Adoption

• Technology management- Rated #1 benefit by SMBs

• Improved productivity & collaboration• Technology risk avoidance• Capital avoidance• Economies of scaling• Business continuity


UCaaS


UCaaS Drivers#1: Technology Management

• Service Provider:

- Does the complex integration

- Manages the phones, LAN/WAN, QoS and carrier-grade network

- Handles problem resolution and user support

- Leverage best-of-breed providers like Cisco, Microsoft and Nortel

• Internally supported unified communications too complex and expensive

UCaaS



UCaaS Drivers#2: Improved Productivity & Collaboration

• Ties geographically distributed offices together

• Integrates and centralizes communications

• Provides insight into activities of distributed workforce

• Streamlines communications, helping employees respond to customers more quickly

• Improved reaction time to dynamic market events

UCaaS

UCaaS Presence provides insight into activities for dispersed employees.

UCaas facilitates collaboration and real-time sharing of information.


UCaaS Drivers#3: Technology Risk Avoidance

• You don’t own anything• Service Provider takes all the

risk of technology obsolescence

• “Wireline handsets will increasingly become historical relics facing a similar fate as fax machines and ashtrays.”

• “Enterprises should therefore purchase only basic wireline handsets [or lease them], given that Wireless and/or softphone replacements will become mainstream by 2010.”

With UCaaS, firms lease handsets & softphones, eliminating risk of obsolescence.

Source: Gartner, Inc.

UCaaS



UCaaS Drivers#4: Capital Avoidance

• No upfront capital expense.

• Pay for only what you use now.

• Predictable monthly expense.

UCaaS

“CaaS.. users benefit from a predictable cost structure that relieves

them from supporting an internal VoIP and UC team. [Firms] benefit

from a flexible contract arrangement that enables them to add and

subtract end-points on an as-needed basis. And this does not factor in

the stronger customer service and the more flexible contract terms.”



UCaaS Drivers#5: Benefit from Economies of Scale

• Robust and resilient data center. Includes backup power, geographic and physical redundancy, fire suppression, 24/7 physical and IT security.

• Economical. The expense of building and supporting UCaaS is equally shared across many firms.

• Greener. Reduces power consumption demands.

• Faster and more economical deployment. New locations and features don’t require the installation of a whole new platform.

UCaaS


UCaaS Drivers#6: Business Continuity• Unlike a premises-based PBX,

there’s no single point of failure

• Hardened carrier-grade sites

• Resilient IP network with many points of egress and access

• Premises-based equipment redundancy (routers and LAN switches) and WAN failover

• Geographically diverse data centers

• Users can access UC from anywhere they have internet access


Case Study: Global Law Firm

• 11 locations,1,800 employees, 2,600 handsets• Considered the world’s largest hosted UCaaS

deployment• Conducted extensive UC research• Came to the realization that UCaaS was best

approach• Solution includes desktop phones, soft phones,

collaboration, unified messaging, conferencing, real-time presence, unified dialing plans, ACD, customized business continuity plan, etc.

Business Highlights:


Case Study: Financial Services Firm

• 100+ employees at 8 U.S. locations• Wanted standardized dialing and better collaboration

between locations• Required business continuity strategy and Sarbanes-

Oxley compliance• Needed uninterrupted voice and data communications• Needed flexibility for future growth• Solution includes converged desktop and soft phones,

collaboration, file sharing, Web conferencing, real-time presence, business continuity.

Business Highlights:


About Cypress Communications

• 20+ years of experience managing enterprise communications

• Over 6,500 customers and 65,000 handsets in 29 major markets

• Over 6,000 unified communication seats installed

• Leading in-building communications provider with 800+ Cypress-powered office buildings.

• Operates nationwide private network optimized for VoIP and Unified Communications

2007 Frost & Sullivan Product Innovation Award

for Telecom Business Continuity

2007 Unified Communications Product of the

Year

2008 Von Magazine Innovator Award

C4 IP Communications

Cypress helps businesses to effectively connect, communicate, collaborate and continue by managing their phone, voice, data and Internet and providing advanced IP communication features and services.

CONNECTCONNECT COMMUNICATECOMMUNICATE

COLLABORATECOLLABORATE CONTINUECONTINUE

CONNECTCONNECT


CONTINUE

COMMUNICATE

COLLABORATE

connect

Connect to Cypress’ private IP network for exceptional call quality and high-speed data transfer.

– Provides access to all communication services

– Don’t purchase separately

– Built into the solution:• Local• Long Distance• International (usage charges apply)• Internet Access


CONNECT

COMMUNICATECOMMUNICATE

COLLABORATE

CONTINUE

Enterprise-Grade PBX Features 4-digit dialing Account Codes One-Button Transfer

Hunt Groups Receptionist Handsets Shared Call Appearances

Advanced IP Phones Multiple phone types to

match user needs Bluetooth integration

communicate

Unified messaging Synchronize voicemail and email

Communicate with enterprise-grade PBX features, IP phones and unified messaging.

CONNECT

COMMUNICATE

COLLABORATECOLLABORATE

CONTINUE

collaborate


Collaborate with anyone, anytime, anywhere. Transform your Microsoft Outlook® into a complete collaboration center.

Outlook integration

CommunicationsToolbar

Real-Time Presence

Audio/Web/Video Conferencing


CONNECT

COMMUNICATE

COLLABORATE

CONTINUECONTINUE

continue

• Business Continuity is more secure under a Cypress.– Network and circuit diversity– Equipment redundancy and WAN failover– Geographically diverse data centers – No single point of failure– Customized for your needs

• Continue to communicate– anywhere, anytime

– Make and receive calls– Get voicemail– Communicate using any

Internet connection– Java-based soft client

Continue business-as-usual in the face of any situation.

C4 IP Network—Reliability, Survivability, Redundancy and Quality of Service

Private nationwide IP-based voice network engineered for 99.999% availability

Cypress C4 IP Core Switching Platforms

CS2000:

Carrier-grade softswitch

Call control for IP phones

Enterprise-grade PBX features

MCS5200:

Multimedia user experience

Softphone call control Web and video

collaboration & conferencing

File sharing Chat Real-time presence Functions:

Unified Messaging Auto Attendant

Media Gateway

Cypress manages: Equipment—Routers, LAN Switches and UPS

Devices Version releases, patches and upgrades Desktop IP phones Voice LAN

Cypress can also manage: Data LAN Premise-based Firewall Private Data Networks

Remote Worker

DS3

Bundled T1s T1 Unmanaged Cable or DSL

Cypress C4 Customer Configuration Example

Cypress Private Network

PSTN

Internet

IP Unity

CS 2000

Cypress Voice & Data LAN• Cisco Router• Cisco Switch• UPS

HQ Location100 Phones

Branch Office 150 Phones



Branch Office 215 Phones

MCS5200

6,500 businesses with 65,000 employees are more productive under a Cypress.

You can be too.

Kimberly HamiltonStrategic Account Manager

Cypress Communications

Four Piedmont Center, Suite 600 Atlanta, GA 30305 Phone: (404) [email protected]

unified communications what works and what doesnt kim hamilton strategic accounts manager

Documents

cypress communications

service ucaas

ucaas drivers

hosted managed communications

network slide

forrester research ucaas

ucaas caas

expensive ucaas source