posted by: Paul DeBeasi
Individuals increasingly work from nontraditional office environments and expect to use their mobile phones wherever they work. At the same time that the mobile workforce is growing, enterprises are deploying Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony (IPT) and unified communications (UC) solutions. IPT systems provide new capabilities to virtualize communications across the enterprise, breaking the linkage between a user and a single physical telephone. UC integrates many forms of communication such as email, voice, instant messaging, and presence across various hardware and software platforms and also integrates communication into business applications and processes. Many organizations have begun the process of integrating their various communications applications and services.
Unfortunately, the mobile phone user still largely operates outside of this environment. For most people, the mobile telephone is simply a means to make and receive phone calls, nothing more. Smartphones—such as the iPhone—may offer additional features such as mobile messaging and calendar synchronization, but they lack the ability to offer mobile users the same access to communications services offered by a desktop phone in their office. In effect, the mobile phone operates outside of the enterprise private branch exchange (PBX) or telephony service.
These mobile users must endure numerous inconveniences that include dependence upon two phones (desktop and mobile), two phone numbers, two voice mailboxes, and two contact directories. When a user is away from their desk, a call to the desktop phone can result in a missed call, voice mail, and caller frustration. Similarly, a call to the mobile phone when the user is busy can result in voice mail, but in a different voice mail system, frustrating both caller and user. In addition, mobile users do not have access to corporate phone directories and they must often use full 10-digit dialing when calling another employee who may only be down the hall.
Numerous vendors and service providers are introducing products and services to enable mobile users to access many of the same features and services that previously could only be accessed through a PC or fully-featured desktop IP telephone. The goal is to enable enterprises to extend telephony features to their mobile users, while making mobile users more productive regardless of location. Some products and services take advantage of the increasing intelligence of the mobile phone, while others insert themselves between the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and users’ various communications services.
If you’d like to learn more about mobile UC products and services join me at the Catalyst Conference in Prague on Monday April 19. Mark Cortner and I will provide a ½ day workshop on Mobile UC products and services. Click here to learn more: http://www.catalyst.burtongroup.com/EU10/.
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