What to look for when buying Unified Communications

Any 'How to' Guide for Unified Communications (UC) will inevitably raise more questions than it answers, starting with the most important ones such as 'what exactly do you mean by unified communications?' and 'do we really need to do this?' Unfortunately, neither of these questions have simple answers, and – as always – it depends where you're starting from.

At its simplest, Unified Communications is all about removing the barriers that have separated voice calls, instant messaging, SMS texts, e-mail and conferencing, and putting in place a converged infrastructure that allows all these different media to be carried over a common network. According to Gartner, the goal is to manage all these messages or interactions from a single point, access them using standard devices, and then use these improved communication flows to help organisations transform key business processes.

Focus on standardisation

Such integration highlights the importance of standardisation, which needs to be a key focus for any major UC implementation. We're already seeing with the SIP (Session Internet Protocol) how open standards can free organisations from being locked into proprietary IP-based hardware and software solutions. While SIP is only one part of the overall UC standardisation framework, it brings two distinct benefits: streamlined infrastructure costs because of the lower barrier of entry for open standards device manufacturers, and the concept of presence, which provides information about the availability and status of individuals or shared resources.

Because SIP can be used for any type of communications session – whether it's traditional voice, instant messaging, video or any combination of these – the implications for contact centre technology are significant, opening up considerable freedom of choice in hardware and applications, enabling far greater flexibility, as well as the faster deployment of new services.

Reducing human latency through presence

We often find that more established call centre environments can't immediately relate these benefits to their current operations. Because the bulk of their interactions are still voice-based, and are fielded by agents who tend to be in front of their PCs for the duration of their shifts, it's easy for organisations to overlook the potential of the UC approach while they remain focused on more traditional performance measures and ACD statistics.

Presence, however, can play an important role in extending the capabilities of the contact centre operation – for example by providing agents with immediate visibility about which specialist resources are available to support the resolution of their call. An example might be in the financial services sector, where certain products can't be sold except by FSA-certified advisers. If these advisers weren't immediately available then agents had no choice but to offer a callback to warm customer leads. Presence allows them to identify suitably trained professionals, establish their availability using IM, and then conference them into the call to conclude an interaction.

Gartner sees this kind of responsiveness and agility as one of UC's most significant benefits, and highlights this ability to reduce human latency within corporate processes as a real step forward. Another commentator described presence as the 'dial tone of the 21st century, given its ability to support greater collaboration and team working.

Choosing the right UC approach

Unfortunately there isn't yet a fully standardised approach to designing and building UC implementations. Network-centric vendors will offer one approach, telephony-centric vendors another, while IT-oriented applications companies also look at the challenge differently. All of them have valid approaches, and only a detailed assessment will reveal which is right for your business, and what might work best alongside you current infrastructure.

If UC was easy we'd have probably all done it by now. Instead we have to recognise that any successful UC approach needs to be evolutionary, needs to co-exist with your existing IT and telephony infrastructure, and provide you with a framework within which you can start to unlock some of the acknowledged UC benefits.

That's one of the reasons why at Sabio we've set up a SIP Testing Laboratory to help organisations valid their SIP and UC approaches. At Call Centre Expo this year we demonstrated three separate platforms: Avaya, Cisco and the Genesys SIP Server, all interoperating and working as a virtual contact centre – demonstrating how existing platform commitments don't prevent you from inter-operating with solutions from other vendors. Choosing the right UC approach is complicated, but we're convinced the journey will be worth it.