Endpoints Demystified

February 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A layperson’s guide to the array of desktop and mobile communication devices

Remember when a telephone sat on the desk, didn’t light up, didn’t get carried around, and certainly didn’t talk to the PC sitting right beside it?  If you’re younger than 50, you might not.  In mainstream business environments, digital telephony has been around since the 1980s, mobile workplace phones since the early ‘90s, and IP communications since the mid ‘90s.  It has been a long time since the basic telephone and its cousin the fax machine were the primary means of connecting in the workplace.

Today business users have an impressive range of choice in phones.  In fact, telephones are now so versatile, diverse and smart that they are often called endpoints.  (They don’t like to be mistaken for those soulless, legacy devices that couldn’t do much more than transmit the human voice.)

Facing a new wealth of options in endpoints, how do you make the right choice for yourself?  For employees throughout the office?  For remote or traveling employees?  Here’s a quick look at the first steps to narrowing down the choices.

To what type of business communications system will the endpoints connect?

Where will the endpoints be used?

If the user stays more or less at a desk – whether in a local, remote or home office…
A desktop phone with microphone and speaker (with mute options, headset interface and programmable feature buttons) is the logical choice.

If the user needs to roam around the building…
Choose a wireless handset or mobile phone that uses your wireless LAN or wireless base stations to connect into the central communications system, such as Toshiba IP4000 wireless mobility phones.

If the user travels to other locations outside your company’s phone or data networks…
Choose either: (A) a softphone client (software that empowers a PC to perform the features of a desktop phone), or (B) a network option that enables your smartphone to function as a PBX extension via the office wireless LAN while in the office and via a cellular network out of the office.

Having narrowed down the choice to digital or IP, desktop or mobile, you still have a wide range of choice in features and functionality, to find just the right model at the right price point for each user/role in the organization.

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Web Conferencing, In-house vs. Hosted, the ROI

July 26, 2011 By

By Sandra M. Gustavsen, Analyst Business VoIP, TelecomTactics, T3i Group

The current trend toward a more distributed and more global business environment has been well-discussed. The number of remote workers and telecommuters is growing fast, and at the same time, there is the expectation that we are on-call and available 24×7. Web and video conferencing is a natural fit since it enables a viable alternative to travel, effectively allowing colleagues and customers to communicate with ease, anytime and from anywhere.

In addition to the collaborative advantages, vendors of Web and video conferencing solutions are highlighting the cost-cutting aspect due to reduced travel, but also the benefit to the environment in terms of lower carbon emissions. Some governments in Europe and Asia are now mandating environmental policies, and many companies in the United States have begun their own initiatives, actively using collaborative conferencing to reduce travel costs and help our planet. Some are going as far as instituting company travel policies that require virtual meetings instead of travel.

So, the benefits are easy to see. The question becomes whether to deploy an in-house conferencing server or to use a hosted conferencing service from an outside vendor. Of course, there are hardware equipment costs and maintenance issues for the in-house solution, while the hosted service will entail monthly fees or fees per use. In-house solutions are limited in terms of capacity and features with a fixed maximum for the number of participants in the conference. Hosted services, on the other hand, can handle large numbers of participants, and new features can be added as these emerge. Businesses can quickly take advantage of new technologies as needed without the hassle of deploying additional software or equipment.

For businesses, the decision point rests on what their particular conferencing needs are and which option will be more cost effective in the long run. What is the business objective? For businesses that have a regular, predictable need for meet-me audio and/or Web conferencing meetings such as among internal sales groups or executives, it may make good sense to invest in on-premises hardware that will pay for itself over time. In-house conferencing solutions can guarantee privacy and security as well. For businesses that routinely engage in large-scale webinars, or those whose conferencing needs are infrequent, a hosted service may be the answer.

It’s really all about the Return on Investment (ROI) based on a business’ conferencing objective. What are the actual savings that will result from purchasing equipment versus making an ongoing payment for a hosted service? More and more, small and mid-size businesses with regular conferencing needs will likely opt for an in-house solution, or at least seriously consider this because of manufacturers like Toshiba. Keep an eye on Toshiba and some of its competitors as they make the in-house Web conferencing option even more attractive by offering Web conferencing functionality integrated with an IP communications system.

Sandra M. Gustavsen has over 18 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and currently conducts research and analysis of business telephony products, including IP PBX systems and applications. Gustavsen also publishes articles on trends in the business telephony industry which have appeared in TMCnet publications, TelecomTactics, PHONE+ Magazine, Telecom Resellr News and The Voice Report. Gustavsen is currently a Senior Analyst at T3i Group, and previously, was a Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories and a Staff Manager for AT&T’s Data Processing and Corporate Telecommunications Division. In addition to experience within the telecommunications industry, Gustavsen has been an abstractor, writing for computing and physical sciences journals. Educational credentials include a B.A. in Mathematics from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA and an M.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.

 

Filed Under: Audio-Conferencing, Collaboration, Videoconferencing, Web Conferencing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Equipping the Telecommuter

June 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Communications and connectivity requirements for remote and work-at-home employees.

Telecommuting eliminates the high cost of commuting—as well as the costs of maintaining conventional office space.  It increases employee satisfaction and reduces absenteeism.   It enables organizations to better serve customers across time zones at minimum cost, and to have part-time employees who are on call for peak work times.  Telecommuting options are also powerful recruiting incentives for caregivers, the disabled and people living in remote areas.

With modern IP networks, it is easier than ever to support telecommuters with the communications and connectivity they require to do their jobs.

The right home-office configuration will depend on the telecommuter’s job responsibilities.  For instance:

  • All telecommuters will benefit from IP phones, such as Toshiba Strata IP 5000-series telephones or SoftIPT soft phones, for cost-effective remote connectivity over IP connections.
  • Most, if not all, telecommuters will need a laptop or desktop computer—such as Toshiba Tecra®, Qosmio® and Portege® models— to use office applications such as word processing, spreadsheets and email.
  • All telecommuters will need a broadband Internet connection to connect to the office and beyond for email, file sharing, text messaging, Voice over IP (VoIP), videoconferencing and Web access.
  • Telecommuters whose work relies heavily on meetings should also be equipped for audio and video collaboration, with a digital camera, video card, videoconferencing client software, and microphone/speakers on the laptop or PC.
  • Telecommuters who serve as call agents should also be equipped for computer-telephony integration (CTI), with software that enables them to use their PCs to manage calls and integrate with customer management applications in the office.

On the network side, the right IP business communications system should support telecommuting features as well.  Then it is easy to extend the reach of the company network to remote offices and home offices.

How does your organization support its telecommuters?  Has it seen any limitations with remote communications for these employees, and if so, how has it resolved them?

Filed Under: Mobility, Telecom, Uncategorized, VoIP Tagged With: , ,