A recent Frost & Sullivan Market Insight says the overall “Green IT” trend is likely to be a key factor in the adoption of UC, despite the fact that with the economic recession still hanging on, fewer companies are currently making “green” the priority it had been before the downturn.

Still, Frost analyst Dorota Oviedo says, telepresence and conferencing tools are one area where there is significant enterprise interest regardless of the economy. These, she says, “offer virtual meeting alternatives that reduce the necessity of traditional face-to-face contact. Collaboration features, in addition to the integration with voice and data networks, as well as other business applications allow for significant productivity enhancements. Telepresence solutions create a lifelike experience among meeting participants.”

She also says more and more companies are recognizing the benefits of teleworking, increasingly offering employees the option to work outside the traditional office.

“The companies that are actively pursuing a green strategy understand that letting employees work from home (or close to home) not only contributes to lowering CO2 emissions, but also brings direct benefits to the company, like increasing employee satisfaction, decreasing employee turnover, and attracting highly qualified professionals who may not live in a reasonable daily commuting distance. Advances in technology and introduction of new collaborative applications facilitate teleworking while keeping the virtual workforce productive.”

When you start tallying the ways UC can contribute to the environment, you can also see how it helps the bottom line, too. The employees who are working at home, for instance, are burning less gasoline thanks to their non-commute, but the company also doesn’t have to provide office space for them, either. In Sprint’s own case, our UC implementation has made it possible for 4,000 employees to efficiently work outside the office and helped us eliminate more than a million square feet of office space, with its associated real estate, power, and other costs.

Another example: SIP Trunking, as a foundation of UC, converges all communication onto a single link, streamlining the network and enabling the elimination of local telco trunks. Where’s the environmental benefit there, you ask? Well, pointing again to Sprint’s own experience, we have eliminated hundreds of PBXs in favor of SIP trunks. A study last year found that we achieved a 98 percent reduction in power usage as a result. The SIP Trunking system uses only 237,600 kilowatt hours per year, compared with 13.5 million kilowatt hours for the 489 PBXs that used to be the core of our enterprise network.

The important thing is that UC has matured to a point where people working outside the office don’t have to feel like they’re coping with second-class tools. With their headset and laptop, plus a good wireless or wired connection, they are just as effective as in a corporate office, especially with all the collaboration and presence tools UC offers. They can start with IMs or texts and easily click their way into multi-party, collaborative meetings with their peers, and do it more effectively than if they went cubicle-to-cubicle at headquarters rounding up those same people.

Green … is good (apologies to Gordon Gekko), but we all realize that companies won’t embrace green solutions if they don’t either improve productivity or reduce costs. UC hits the trifecta: more productivity, lower costs, and environmental benefits.

This is meant as more of a basic training, in the form of a few short questions and answers that we hope will provide a foundation for understanding some of the more advanced discussions we will be having in the next several weeks prior to the Sprint webinar entitled UC Without Borders: The Union of SIP Trunking & Mobility on August 10, 2010.

OK Then, What Exactly is SIP Trunking?
Let’s start with SIP, the Session Initiation Protocol. It is the tool that enables SIP Trunking, which is the use of the enterprise’s broadband network as a replacement for the traditional telco trunks connecting the enterprise’s communication system and the public switched telephone network (PSTN). SIP sets up a communications session (hence the phrase session initiation) over your corporate data network that is the equivalent of a phone call going out from the PBX/Unified Communications platform over the telco line (trunk) and into the PSTN.

What’s the Advantage of SIP Trunking?
If you use the existing broadband network, SIP Trunking enables you to leverage multiple layers of savings starting with converging voice calls and data transport over the same network. There isn’t a need to contract with a local telephone company for trunks, which can be costly. That’s the first step; SIP Trunking is a key element of a transition to Unified Communications (UC), which can totally transform for the better the way an organization communicates.  Additional levels of savings occur over time as companies eliminate layers of unnecessary legacy voice equipment, applications, and support by converging these to their data network equipment; leveraging their UC and telephony applications.  Many customers do not realize how much space, electrical power, and air conditioning can be saved by leveraging the convergence movement.

If It’s So Good, Why Doesn’t Everybody Do It?
Actually, more and more companies are moving to SIP Trunking, but like any technology approach, it isn’t for everyone. A very small business, that currently does not have a PBX or multiple locations, may not see much benefit.  For some companies the progression to a SIP-enabled communication system or call gateway requires a scale large enough to provide a return on investment in order to justify the internal approvals for capital expense within a financially constrained economy. Many companies want to leverage as much of their existing legacy PBX/UC platforms as possible until they see how the potential savings can outweigh the costs of multiple networks. And some customers are just too uncomfortable with the technology changes to make the convergence leap, despite the cost savings they could gain by eliminating telco trunks, legacy equipment, legacy maintenance, and support, not to mention the multiple vendor contracts.  Capital costs are real, expenses are real, and cost savings must be analyzed to determine how quickly the savings can be realized over time and into the future.

Is it Really Getting More Popular?
Definitely. The analyst organization Infonetics Research late in 2009 announced the results of a survey they had done among companies, asking them about their use of SIP trunks. Their news announcement has more details, but even at that time, nearly four out of 10 companies had deployed SIP Trunking, and not just in limited trials or small deployments. And the analysts predicted that this year (2010), SIP Trunking would become the second most commonly deployed trunking type.

Can You Show Me a Real Company Using SIP Trunking Solutions?
Here’s an example, one that not only shows SIP Trunking solution benefits, but also demonstrates that Sprint uses and believes in the capabilities that SIP Trunking solutions offer. You can get the details here, but basically, Sprint has deployed SIP Trunking solutions to nearly 500 offices nationwide. A single SIP trunk in each of those offices replaces the three previous connections (an ISDN PRI circuit, a voice virtual private network circuit, and a voice mail circuit) that were used to provide to each office. The savings: about $6 million a year in local carrier charges, with another $1 million or so in savings on PBX upgrades and maintenance that are no longer needed.  Additionally, this effort supported Sprint’s Going Green efforts by reducing space, power, and air conditioning requirements. Sprint is considered the top green solutions telecom provider for our efforts within our company as well as our wireless and wireline offerings for our customers.

So SIP Trunking Really Lets You Eliminate ALL Telco Trunks?
Yes. Implemented correctly, it can completely free an enterprise from monthly telco charges. A company that converges all its voice, data, and video onto a single network (the Sprint MPLS network being a perfect example) wave goodbye to the telco, and enjoy reductions in total telecom expenditures.

There Has to Be a Downside, Though, Right?
Change can be difficult, but the future is bright; some investment (e.g., infrastructure or people power) is needed to realize this future. The transition to SIP Trunking can mean some organizations would have to buy a new PBX/UC platform or call router. While that can appear costly on the surface, it is reduced by the elimination of legacy voice vendor equipment and separate maintenance contract costs, multiple local and long distance access circuits, training and experience on legacy voice solutions, and legacy devices.  The reduction of these costs can support the ROI required to upgrade existing routers and purchase UC-enabled solutions.  Customers can eliminate many hard desk phones replaced by telephony software or UC applications.   The transition to a converged network will likely require some user retraining, but that in itself can be managed in light of the savings and network streamlining.   Customers shouldn’t just look at the capital costs when considering adopting the convergence solutions, but it is one element to consider. Some customers will be able to see the conversion benefits exceeding the costs right away while other customers may not. Either way, customers should evaluate all of the costs and benefit options available to them to determine when to move forward.  Sprint understands this perspective and works with customers to leverage the movement from a legacy voice environment into the new converged SIP Trunking environment while maintaining a reasonable cost to benefit ratio during the process.

How Does SIP Trunking Enable UC?
In a couple of ways. SIP-based communication offers a common language that can link wireless and wireline communications, enabling an enterprise to truly integrate its wired and mobile calling. This is the premise for Sprint Mobile Integration, and it’s our contention that communications aren’t really “unified” until they fully incorporate mobility. Also, you can’t hope to achieve UC and enjoy its benefits – collaboration, presence, the ability to communicate in the optimal way at any given time – unless there is an all-IP infrastructure in place. SIP trunks serve as the bridge between enterprise IP telephony infrastructures and provider IP networks, extending UC throughout the organization. Lisa Pierce, president of Strategic Networks Group, wrote a very informative article on SIP Trunking as a foundation of UC, if you’d like to know more.

Cisco’s tablet play, the Cius, includes Unified Communications and collaboration tools.  The introduction will definitely have an impact, because more than half of the battle with a cloud computing paradigm is making the information available anytime and anywhere. That requires connectivity; but the corporate world requires significantly more: complex authentication and encryption as information passes through networks of “boxes.”

Cisco, of course, makes those boxes. And if you’ve ever tried to get one vendor’s security implementation to work with another’s, you will see why Cisco could have such a leg up in this area. Cisco develops proprietary protocols whenever industry standards don’t quite cut it or haven’t been determined yet. When it comes to authenticating thin clients through a wireless access point, something tells me there will need to be a few more handshakes to make it all work smoothly. Cisco shines when it comes to boxes that shake hands politely and play nice together in the sandbox.

There is no doubt that Apple’s iPad will have a significant impact as well, so it isn’t really as much of a “Beta vs. VHS” issue as one might think. The point is that enterprise-class tablet computing is a whole new beast. It’s not Windows in a tablet, it’s not a bigger iPhone, and it’s not a Cisco IP deskphone that is now flat and has a bigger screen. It will be a combination of all these things. I just hope they all take the same power adapters.

Teresa earned the recognition for her impressive work in Sprint’s 4G business.  FierceWireless, in a nutshell, describes her this way:

Teresa Kellett - Tops in Wireless

“Teresa Kellett, a long-time Sprint Nextel veteran (she started with the company just prior to its PCS network launch in 1996) is a very visible player in Sprint’s 4G unit … Kellett is no stranger to challenging projects. Under her initiative, Sprint developed a successful support program for CDMA carriers around the world, assisting them in getting devices quickly and inexpensively…

“.. Kellett also was an early advocate for WiMAX; she led Sprint’s global advocacy strategy, participated in many discussions with foreign carriers and helped the carrier establish strategic partnerships to ensure its success in 4G.”

As Fierce pointed out, the women that it selected for the 2010 Top Ten list are on it because of their accomplishments, their technical savvy, their leadership, and their influence on the industry. Teresa deserves big checkmarks in all those categories.

By the way, Teresa isn’t the first Sprint female to earn a spot on the FierceWireless Top Ten. In the inaugural list in 2008, they selected our chief network officer at the time.

Congrats Teresa!

Recently, I came across an industry-specific SaaS application that I think exemplifies a “best in class” approach to cloud-based services. Last week, I talked to Paul Deschenes, founder and COO of Advologix, whose company takes advantage of Salesforce.com’s cloud computing platform to deliver its cloud-based practice management software for the legal profession.

When I asked Paul about mobile platform support, he pointed out that one of the wonderful things about building on the force.com platform is that mobile clients for virtually any device already exist. So, if one user has a Blackberry Tour, another a Windows Mobile device, another a HTC EVO 4G based on Google’s Android operating system, and yet another an iPhone, they may already have the ability to access Advologix’s solution so long as clients for those operating systems are available for the force.com platform overall.
 
Even though some old-school software development companies still don’t get cloud computing, Advologix managed to capture the attention of one of the deans of practice management. In May, Steve Stockstill, former director of software engineering for Lexis Nexis and author of “Inside Time Matters” (Lexis’ premier practice management offering), came on board as Advologix’s Chief Technology Officer. With most smaller law firms still using “old school” client-server approaches to software management, it is pretty clear that the firms thriving in the decade to come will likely be those that recognize early on the productivity gains of mobile-enabled, cloud-based applications.
 
In a case study on salesforce.com’s web site, Deschenes points out that using a cloud provider like force.com means his company’s app automatically provides integration with other cloud-computing apps from force.com’s AppExchange that can extend an Advologix customer’s practice. In that case study, he points to NetDocuments’ document management system, Drawloop’s document automation, and Ribbit’s voice to text conversion tool as apps that might be particularly attractive to Advologix’s clients.
 
If there is anyone out there developing cloud based apps who still hasn’t read Russ McGuire’s book, The Power of Mobility (available on Amazon), please consider it required reading. You can also read a summary of his viewpoint’s at Network World, by clicking here and then clicking on the “Featured Resource” link titled McGuire’s Law of Mobility. I sincerely doubt I would have anywhere near the kind of appreciation that I have for cloud computing if not for Russ’s mentoring and tutelage.

There are numerous comments in the InformationWeek article from users involved in UC, as well as those avoiding or downplaying UC, and some of those are revealing and instructive. For example, more than half the non-UC-deploying companies and users InformationWeek surveyed simply see it as a lower priority than other projects, and a third – 34 percent – say they don’t even see definitive business value in UC. Only one out of seven – 14 percent – consider it a high priority to integrate UC with enterprise applications.

When you’re in the position Sprint is, as a company that uses UC to improve the productivity of our business operations, in addition to providing UC network solutions, it’s hard to understand negative or noncommittal mindsets about UC. We suspect it’s mostly a matter of education about UC’s benefits.

The article also offers some good advice. For example, video and telepresence are touted as UC benefits, but too often a company sets up a sophisticated videoconferencing system, then doesn’t train its people well in how to use it, nor does it track usage or even necessarily encourage usage. “Build it and they will come” only works in the movies.

Other sound advice is to emphasize training in all aspects of UC and pay attention to the user experience to make sure it’s a good one, which encourages further usage and acceptance. Also, fully understand and test a WAN provider’s service and SLAs, to make sure all the UC applications, including bandwidth-hungry video, work as they should.

In other reports, such as one conducted by Aberdeen Group, companies that have deployed UC are experiencing improved customer satisfaction and workforce productivity. This report evaluated UC within 299 companies. The top 20 percent surveyed stated workforce productivity improved by 49 percent and customer satisfaction increased by 53 percent. You can download a free copy of the Aberdeen study by clicking here.

How has UC helped or hindered your organization? Please share your comments.

In a recent webcast, Gartner says we are entering the age of the cloud and the mobile web. Here’s how these technologies are driving the enterprise IT strategy:

Cloud Computing and the Mobile Web are enabling technologies
Through the cloud, enterprise IT has multiple abilities to bring things in from different places. Think about the power of mash-ups, which takes data from different sites and brings them together in a unified way. Just look at Google Maps and think about how enterprises can use the same model. Add in the power of the mobile web, and the way we do business is being transformed. 

The Mobile Web refers to the use of Internet-connected applications, or browser-based access to the Internet from a mobile device - such as a smartphone. While devices, applications and operating systems are not always interoperable, mobile web content and applications are themselves becoming more user friendly. The good news too is that cloud computing is device agnostic. Anyone can access the cloud with any mobile device connected to the Internet, and this is a powerful enabler for business. Cloud computing and the mobile web are also the ultimate enablers for unified communications (UC). 

Consumer behavior is an indicator of the future of the enterprise
Enterprises should pay attention to the consumer world – not just devices, but especially their behavior. Most often, disruptive behavior begins with a change by consumers, which enterprises later adapt. Think about social networking. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were once a consumer phenomena. Today, most corporations have a social networking strategy for marketing, PR, branding, and community-building.  Even more, the consumerization of the public Internet has taken corporations by storm.  What once began as consumer niches are now embraced by enterprises: email, Google apps, blogs, etc. 

The cloud captivated consumers without them even knowing. Furthermore, consumers are becoming expert users with mobile web technology. By focusing on the needs and behaviors of the various end-users (employees, customers, fans, friends, and other constituents), IT can empower the entire enterprise through Web, Internet, and cloud computing technologies. Above all, as the cloud delivers its technologies, applications, and services through the Internet, the opportunities for the enterprise are boundless.

“We’ve seen quick, early growth in both the consumer and business space,” Bowman told Forbes, adding that the business-friendly aspects of EVO are grabbing corporate and small business eyes.

HTC EVO is perfect for business users.

Forbes pointed out some of the same business features that we cited in our earlier post. There’s the two cameras, one facing front and the other facing back, that enable videoconferencing; the mobile hotspot capabilities, in which you can connect up to eight WiFi-enabled devices to the Sprint network through EVO; and the simultaneous voice and data capability, enabling a business user to view files in the course of a conversation. Or EVO’s support for Microsoft’s Exchange ActiveSync Server.

Add all that to lightning fast (Sprint) 4G network, and you’ve hit yourself a business home run.

Forbes also talked about the way specific apps will further enhance EVO’s appeal and usefulness to mobile workers. They mentioned the sharing of medical images and records in the cloud, but there are many more.

EVO comes with truly useful Android-driven mobile applications such as mobile workforce management, extending mobile access to a Citrix-hosted environment, or processing of credit card transactions. And with developers cranking out more business applications every day, EVO will be an ever-evolving Swiss army knife of a business tool, especially with its 1 GHz processor and a 4.3-inch touchscreen display. 

Bowman made another interesting point about how EVO is being touted as not just another mobile device, but as a substitute for laptops or desktops. As he put it, “A lot of people don’t want to use laptops for work; they want to be highly mobile. We see EVO as a utility device.”

Well said.

The Greater Chicago Food Depository, a non-profit enterprise that feeds 142,000 people a week, is using Sprint 4G to broaden its outreach to the needy in Chicago and surrounding Cook County. You can check out the whole story at Wi-Fi Planet, but here’s the quick-read version:

Part of the food bank’s outreach is to make sure that people who are eligible for food stamps know about the program and are signed up for it. So the food bank gave 4G-powered laptops to more than a dozen outreach coordinators; these folks travel all over Cook County, visiting churches, community centers, food pantries, and government agencies. They contact the needy and help get them signed up for food stamps on the spot, thanks to the reach and bandwidth of 4G.

The food bank workers are seeing average download speeds of 3 to 4 Mbps, and the food bank’s IT director said the bandwidth improvements are making a difference. The outreach coordinators had been using 3G, but the move up to 4G has accelerated their ability to help more people in their limited time at each stop they make. The whole move to 4G has been so successful that the food bank is broadening its use of 4G, putting it into the hands of more employees and tying it to a customer relationship management application.

This is another example of an application that 4G takes to the next level. Many of these types of applications can be done with 3G, but when you leverage the 4G advantages, you get more work – sending and/or receiving more data – accomplished in the same time.

In the old non-IP PBX world, you often have many different types of trunks coming into a PBX. There may be POTS lines – analog single-circuit copper pairs that run entirely on the central office’s battery. Or local T1 trunks, which provide full-featured switched service over a digital connection. There are often tie lines to interconnect two PBXs at different physical locations. You might see off-premise extensions (OPXs) to provide a station off a PBX to some remote location. Or there might be WATS or dedicated long-distance trunks to provide lower cost international or inter-LATA calling. Routing tables in the PBX would determine which routes to use when, just like in the IP data networking world.

Because of this approach, it is quite easy to integrate lower-cost SIP trunking into a corporate network. SIP has never been an all-or-nothing proposition. For example, if a certain SIP provider does not provide the kind of toll-free routing your company needs, that does not mean that you can’t deploy SIP. What it means is that you can’t use that trunk group for inbound toll-free calls, but you can still take advantage of SIP’s other features. These include lower-cost IDDD, tie lines to audioconference providers, and redundancy to the central office via perhaps a different physical demarcation out of your building.

I once had someone ask if they could try SIP with their employees before rolling it out to customers. With the sophisticated routing available in today’s PBX, that’s pretty easy to do to. In fact, I would encourage most intra-company communications to migrate to full Unified Communications sooner rather than later, so employees start to understand why full computer-telephony integration could be such a productivity boost in their interactions with customers. The sooner employees recognize the time savings of SIP communications, the sooner enterprises will feel the dollar savings as well.