Monthly Archives: July 2012

Building Virtual Organisations Part 2

Posted by Gintel on 18/07/2012 None comments

We wrote about virtual organisations recently to illustrate how companies can strengthen their virtual teams by providing appropriate communications tools and infrastructure. Adoption of Mobile PaBX services is particularly beneficial in this regard, as they enable companies to integrate all devices into the common PBX service and they remove any differentiation between termination devices.

In addition, there are other means through which virtual organisations can be strengthened. Sometimes, organisations consider mobile calling costs to be a premium service and that increased mobile usage may increase overall communications costs. In our experience, that’s a misconception.

While it is true that some hosted services that simply divert calls to mobiles can be expensive, that’s because the mobile is an add-on to the core fixed offer. Many providers are not equipped to properly manage mobile communications. They do not support a mobile centric proposition. But mobile network operators can – most enterprise mobile calling packages from MNOs come with significant airtime allowances and tend to be extremely cost effective.

But there’s more to it than that. If an employee is working from a particular remote location on a frequent basis – for example, from their home office – use of mobile geofencing techniques can offer significant advantages.

Geofencing allows users to nominate different zones in which they place calls and for mobile operators to offer special charging plans for calls made within these zones. An operator can use geofencing to augment their Mobile PaBX offer and help organisations reduce costs.

What’s more, they can also offer “on-net” and “off-net” charging, meaning that calls within the user group are charged at a special rate (or not at all), while calls to other destinations are charged at the rate covered by the plan (or use the airtime budget).

Mobile operators are uniquely placed to add value to the virtual organisation. By offering geofencing and special charging plans, they can remove barriers to the adoption of hosted services and help organisations deliver clear advantages through virtual working plans.

A truly Mobile centric offer has many benefits that are not available through legacy IP Centrex models. Today’s workforce needs enhanced communication, but, in turn, that needs the right tools. Mobile PaBX offers unique advantages and represents the next phase in the evolution of workplace communications.

Mobile VoIP Growth to be Driven by the Enterprise: But Why Wait for VoIP?

Posted by Gintel on 11/07/2012 None comments

Research suggests that a significant driver in the adoption of mobile VoIP will be enterprise markets. According to analyst firm In-Stat, one of the reasons for this is the extension of desktop phone functionality to mobile devices. Business VoIP solutions will allow mobiles to become extensions of desktops, within the same PBX user group.

While that’s interesting, it also misses the point that it’s achievable today. You don’t need mobile VoIP to enable full integration between mobiles and desktop phones. All you need is to leverage what’s already present in the network – whether it’s GSM, GPRS or 3G – and to deploy the right Mobile PBX solution to manage and co-ordinate delivery of calls between devices.

It’s great to look to the future, but one doesn’t need to wait. Sure, delivery models may evolve as more and more phones use all IP networks, but that’s still some way off. Rather than sitting on the sidelines and watching others take advantage of the opportunity, isn’t it better to jump in now and start delivering services that are proven to generate revenue on today’s networks and with technology that’s already proven through successful network deployments?

The interesting thing is that true mobile integration can also increase ROI on existing investments – driving usage of IN / CAMEL triggers to achieve seamless service control, while at the same time paving the way for migration to the all IP world of LTE and IMS.

Forecasts are great – we use them all the time to help generate strategic insights and gain an additional perspective on market development. But occasionally we need to think not only of the great opportunity that is predicted, but also of the opportunity that’s right here, now. Put simply, you don’t need mobile VoIP to deliver the enriched communications experience that’s promised.

With the right Mobile PaBX solution, you can do it today and be positioned to capitalise on future growth. Why wait?

 

Building Virtual Organisations Part 1

Posted by Gintel on 04/07/2012 None comments

While for many the office remains critical to business life, it’s equally true that companies want to support different ways of working. There are good reasons for this – a general trend towards increased mobility, cost savings, productivity and efficiency gains.

Despite this, there can be scepticism about the participation and involvement of remote colleagues, as a recent article from Quocirca points out. Remote workers may be seen as not fully engaged or missing out on key elements of company life and society.

But virtual organisations have many benefits and remote employees can contribute as much as those in the office. Remote employees in the field are often closer to customers and can operate at the coalface. Additionally, as organisations grow, remote working options can both be a long-term solution and a key first step to the establishment of new permanent teams and offices via pioneers.

Such employees need solutions that enable them not only to be part of the same communications infrastructure, but perceived to be part of it. They must be a seamless element of the complete team and not seen as someone reachable only via their mobile phone. As the article notes, a Mobile PBX solution can achieve this, but only if the mobile is treated as an equivalent of a desk phone.

The mobile needs to be a fully integrated part of the PBX and the best way to achieve this is via a cloud-based solution that enables all devices – mobile, fixed, soft, IP – to be treated as extensions of the same platform. The user simply nominates the preferred device on which to receive and place calls and the solution ensures that the same functionality is available across all devices, for both inbound and outbound calls.

Such a fully integrated solution isn’t easy to achieve with today’s IP Centrex platforms, but new, mobile centric solutions are able to manage the complex routing and call control necessary to deliver this.

Only by removing the distinction between fixed, mobile, IP and soft phones can truly virtual teams be enabled and empowered – and deliver the expected productivity gains. For virtual teams, the focus should be on communications, not devices.