The rising demand for UC and the 5 essential benefits that have businesses talking

1. Five essential benefits driving
UC adoption by SMBs
Companies of all sizes are increasingly
being challenged to beat tight
operational schedules and meet
customer demands — all while walking
­ ­
that tightrope of diminishing IT budgets
and limited staffing resources. As much
as technology has advanced in the last
few decades, there are still only 24
hours in a day.
That’s where Unified Communications
(UC) comes into play.

2. What is
Unified Communications?
Unified Communications (UC) allows an organization to
seamlessly integrate, or unify, its typical business processes
with both real-time communications (such as instant messaging/
chat, presence information, telephony/VoIP, call control, and video
conferencing) and non real-time communications (such as unified
messaging — integrated voicemail, e-mail, SMS and fax).

3. It is often assumed
that UC is a
single product
UC is actually made up of a set of products that provides a
consistent, unified user interface and user experience across multiple
devices and media types. In its broadest sense UC can encompass
all forms of communications that are exchanged via the TCP/IP network.

4. Five essential benefits driving
UC adoption by SMBs
Do more with less — with a
solution that is easily managed
* to connect the
Incorporate mobility
growing mobile and remote workforce
* operating costs
Substantial savings on overall
* service capabilities
Significant uplift in customer
Move beyond basic
* functionality

5. Do more with less ­— ­with a
solution that is easily managed.
Particularly important to smaller businesses is the ability to
implement any technology that provides enhanced functionality
while also being both affordable and relatively simple to manage.
As expected, smaller organizations typically have fewer or more
limited resources, from budgets to staffing, and a technology, as
is the case with a UC solution, is especially appealing if it enables
the organization to operate as a bigger business, but without
the same costs. UC is increasingly recognized as a technology
that allows SMBs to take advantage of proven increases in
productivity and functionality while realizing significant savings.

6. Industry analyst, Gartner, points out in
Gartner Marketscope Report:
Magic Quadrant for Corporate Telephony...
“SMB buyers require simplicity and intuitive use in their UC solutions.
Simplicity requirements extend through multiple stages (or touchpoints)
of the UC acquisition — from initial consideration
through ongoing maintenance and management Digium, ShoreTel and Microsoft
of the UC environment. SMBs will favor working are positioned in the Visionaries
Quadrant of Gartner, Inc.’s
with providers (typically via their channel partners) 2011 Magic Quadrant for
that can demonstrate the solutions’ ease of use Corporate Telephony report.)
early on in the sales cycle. Full-featured UC
functionality can be positioned, but solutions that require complex
integrations will be less favored than solutions that can easily be
deployed with a minimal cutover time.”*
*Gartner, Marketscope Report Magic Quadrant for Corporate Telephony, 9/15/11
Written by: Jay Lassman, Steve Blood, Geoff Johnson

7. Incorporate mobility to connect the
growing mobile and remote workforce
Implementing a An office is just about anywhere you need it to be, today,
UC solution makes and it is increasingly important for remote and mobile workers to
it easy to stay access the same phone system features, whether working form
connected to a desktop or a mobile device. By implementing a UC solution,
customers and it makes it easy to stay connected to customers and prospects,
prospects, from from any location, from any device. It also provides flexibility in
any location, managing off-site employees, using features like presence and
from any device. conferencing, and having additional monitoring capabilities.

8. Important elements
of a mobility feature in a
UC solution include:
* fixed mobile convergence and
find me/follow me call capabilities
* mobile applications for iPhone,
Blackberry and Android
* having access to company
directories from any device
* the ability to make calls from
your mobile device as if it is from
your office extension
* the capability to transfer and
record calls from your mobile
phone to another number or
extension too.
* Look for UC solutions that offer
this as an included basic feature;
you should not have to pay extra
for the capability.

9. Substantial savings
on overall operating costs.
One of the greatest benefits of implementing the right UC
solution is taking advantage of the cost savings it provides.
This includes both savings on the initial cost of the system, as
well as savings on the long-term costs that lead to a good
Return on Investment (ROI). To achieve the greatest opportunities
for savings, it’s important to understand how to accurately
compare vendor quotes. It’s easy to look at multiple quotes from
UC vendors and assume that the final cost quoted includes the
same parameters. But not all UC solutions are created equal,
and not all UC vendors can offer the same cost savings.
Another way to help SMBs achieve cost savings is to consider
using a hosted solution which provides UC features in the cloud.

10. To get a true
apples-to-apples comparison...
SMBs need to be aware of key differences
in quotes that can add thousands of dollars
to the cost of implementing UC solutions —
both in near-term and long-term costs, and in
both hard and soft costs. For example, many
vendors offer a quote for base features, but the
business-critical features that an SMB needs,
and the the features that make UC so useful
— like mobility and third-party integration,
require an additional fee. Licensing fees also
often drive up costs, as well as maintenance
and upgrade costs, down the road.

11. Significant uplift in
customer service capabilities
The right UC solution should be more than a phone system,
it should be a better communications system that provides
improved operational efficiency. A quality UC solution allows
SMBs to serve customers more effectively using features such as
call queues and IVRs, for example. SMBs should be able to use a
UC solution to know more about every incoming call, in order to
route each call appropriately, ensuring there are no more missed
calls or lack of visibility.

12. FOR EXAMPLE:
Jobbers Warehouse Supply
Jobbers Warehouse Supply (JPW) is a leader in the automotive
aftermarket. This established SMB needed a UC system that would
“At JPW, 80 percent of our
allow them to prioritize incoming calls from their customer base.
revenues come from 20
The UC solution that JPW selected offered an intuitive, user-friendly percent of our clients, and we
web interface that allows the operator to drag-and-drop calls while required a solution that would
chatting online with co-workers, conferring over calls, reciprocating facilitate priority treatment
requests, and assigning instructions. for that reigning minority.”
JPW was able to get an integrated customizable database software using Tom Marks,
SugarCRM, with two inbound call queues. The customer service agent CEO, JPW
simply clicks a selection box next to the customer name in SugarCRM to
set a “preferred”, “general”, or “new customer” status, which determines
into which of the queues the calls are routed. General callers move into
the non-priority cue and remain on hold while preferred status callers
move into the priority cue and take precedence.

13. Move beyond basic functionality
Too often, SMBs evaluate new technologies based on
whether or not the system can meet the organization’s
current needs — in reference to both basic features included
with the technology and in reference to the current size and
structure of the business. That type of decision can cost an SMB
thousands of dollars in future upgrade costs. “Future expansion,”
may not mean something as extensive as expanding physical
locations; it could be as simple as adding or moving an employee.
The right UC solution allows SMBs a flexible system that provides
extended functionality and that will grow with the business.

14. When evaluating UC
solutions, consider
systems that can:
* Easily accommodate future
growth/operations needs of the
business, without an additional,
heavy investment down the road
* Systems that include detailed
reporting options that provide
business-critical information
about business operations and
customer needs
*
Ability to integrate with
third-party business applications,
such as CRM, for a better
user experience

15. Conclusion
The adoption of UC solutions by SMBs is being driven
by far more than a current trend in the marketplace.
UC is a business communications solution that meets
critical business needs for organizations of all sizes.
UC can be a competitive advantage for businesses
that need a single system to manage multiple tools and
platforms. UC allows businesses to be more productive,
enhance customer service capabilities, and offer
substantial near- and long-term cost savings.

16. Switchvox . Digium’s Powerful UC Solution
®
In an effort to provide a similar solution A full-featured UC solution, fueled by the innovation
accessible to everyone, Digium offers of open source technology and open standards,
Switchvox — a full Unified Communications Switchvox allows users to integrate their phone
solution, built on the power of Asterisk. system with their existing networks and get all of
the advanced features they need at a price they can
Switchvox is a business phone system specifically
afford. Most importantly, by using Asterisk open
developed for small- and mid-sized businesses
source software as the foundation for Switchvox,
and organizations that want the power of the open
Digium is able to provide a communications system
source Asterisk solution, but without the need for
with superior capabilities for a fraction of the cost of
custom development skills for installation. The
proprietary systems.
advanced features, ease-of-use, and simple out-of-
the-box setup make Switchvox an ideal solution for Digium’s Switchvox solution delivers UC features
organizations with limited technical staff. everywhere you need it: on-site, in the cloud, and
with mobile.

17. Digium. We’re changing the way businesses communicate.
®
Founded in 1999, Digium is the creator The award-winning line of Switchvox IP Want more information
and primary developer of Asterisk, the PBX phone systems provides more than on Switchvox?
industry’s first open source telephony a phone system — it delivers a Unified Take a virtual tour of
platform. More than one million customers Communications platform that integrates this powerful Unified
in 125 countries have deployed Asterisk- multiple features that increase productivity Communications platform:
based systems. Digium is committed to and lower monthly communication costs. www.digium.com/switchvox
ending the days of expensive, proprietary It’s the affordable solution with a proven
telecom. The Switchvox family of Unified return on investment for businesses Contact us —
Communications solutions is built on with 10 to 400 users. we’re here to help.
Asterisk and is designed to provide Talk with a Switchvox specialist:
Learn more at digium.com/switchvox
enterprise class features at affordable 1 877 344 4861
prices for small and medium businesses. 1 256 428 6271
sales@digium.com
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