We may not be back to pre-financial crisis activity, but all signs are that the economy has taken a distinct turn for the better. And, it’s what you do early on in an economic recovery that can make a difference later. A smart move now will be amplified later, so it’s the perfect time to seize a competitive advantage. Collaboration and communication can provide a great starting point for implementing the tools that will lead to an outsized edge down the road. So, here are five tips from Cisco on how to take an early lead that will become a big one later.

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Cutting travel expenses has always been one of the top objectives for collaboration solutions. With the commercialization of the internet came the belief that we could connect effectively and make virtual meetings almost the same as the ol’ fashioned kind. As the underlying technologies have matured, we’re now able to do a lot more online than we were even a decade ago. The progress has been incredible … but could it be threatened by a recovering economy?

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You’re deep into the sales cycle. Your prospect is at the point where tough, detailed questions are the norm, and they’re coming at you at a rapid pace. Every second counts, especially when you’re competing with other companies for a specific opportunity. In fact, your ability to respond is being evaluated, even if informally, and you’re eager to put your best foot forward. At moments like this, Cisco Unified Communications can change your ability to compete profoundly and deliver a return on investment that’s incredibly easy to measure.

When a question comes in from a client, Cisco UC can give you swift and direct access to all the information resident in your organization. If it’s on a server, a desktop or inside an employee’s head, the tools from Cisco can help the right people get together, regardles of where they are located physically, in order to understand the inquiry, formulate the right response and support it with all the data available. Specification documents, presentations, diagrams and performance data – along with everything else you can imagine – can be shared quickly to facilitate planning and discussion.

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We’ve all made that dreaded customer care phone call, wondering while dialing how long we’ll be stuck on hold. Whether it’s for tech support or to check on an airline reservation, one thing is certain: it won’t be short. For companies that provide customer care, this is a vexing problem. It puts your reputation at risk, but unpredictable call volumes and the occasional curve ball make the process difficult to fix.

What you need is a way to marshal all the knowledge in your company – across borders and business units – quickly to get to the bottom of a customer’s issue. The challenge may seem daunting, but Cisco’s Unified Communications platform can tip the odds in your favor.

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The hardest part of improving employee collaboration is cultural: you need to make it habit to communicate. For too long, the contrary has been the case. Not knowing where pockets of expertise reside, employees have had to do more on their own, spending time looking for solutions that their colleagues may know immediately. It’s not their fault, though. Without the tools to collaborate effectively, people have had to become more self-reliant. Even in businesses where collaboration and sharing tools have been implemented, they’ve often failed to deliver on the ease of use, specific functionality and performance necessary to make collaboration a reality.

Cisco Unified Communications changes the technological barriers, delivering integrated video, voice and data and applications to make genuine real-time collaboration possible. History, however, has shaped perception, resulting in a hefty dose of skepticism that will have to be overcome in order for collaboration to become a reality. So, to gain employee buy-in, you’ll need to make the case for collaboration. With Cisco UC, you’ll have the resources you need to demonstrate that collaboration isn’t just possible but effective.

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Key value propositions for a Unified Communication strategy is lower TCO and the simplicity of a converged network infrastructure. However, this single infrastructure is the underlying success or failure of all business-critical technologies of the organization.

Understanding the potential impact is not new to most of you, nor are the concepts to mitigate risk. Yet, we still see a high percentage of firms deploy UC technologies without taking the required steps for ensuring the long-term health of the solution including assessment and design, implementation, management and monitoring.

Assessment & Design – most networks were built to support data applications that were tolerant of poor network conditions.  So, it’s critical to validate network readiness and then design, or re-design, and optimize the network, factoring in performance, resiliency and quality of service (QOS).

Implementation – UC deployments can create significant project and budget overruns if best practices and manufacturer guidelines are not followed. End user perceptions also have a significant impact on the overall success of the project. It’s important to follow best practices so potential issues are anticipated and mitigated before they have a negative impact on the project.

Management & Monitoring – A 24×7 monitoring solution is increasingly important to minimize business disruption and should provide real-time alerts and historical trends for full FCAPS (Fault management, Configuration management, Accounting, Performance management and Security) management and monitoring.  

 While UC technologies have been around for the past decade, they’re continually evolving and maturing. Keeping up with these changes is a daunting task. Ask us how we can help with the full solution lifecycle from our UC/VoIP Readiness Assessment, design, implementation, end user training, 24×7 Monitoring and Remote Support Services.

New directions and new ideas at VoiceCon last week in San Francisco at the Moscone Convention Center. The Yankee Group estimated there were about 3,000 people who attended the premier communications event, about the same as 2008, a good turnout given the cloud of trepidation hanging over the industry about the economy and corporate investment in technology.
New directions for business communications revolved around the integration of social media into the corporate world. The potential impact and dangers of meshing interactive sites into the mainstream marketing, operations and administration were hot topics at VoiceCon. One interesting idea was bringing Twitter into the enterprise as a true working communications tool rather than a novelty marketing application, a starting point for many companies. IT teams are faced with a daunting challenge in meeting expectations and assumptions of an increasingly social media savvy workforce with the security, management and support requirements of the corporation. This will be a fascinating, rapidly-changing dynamic to follow between end-users and tech staff.
New ideas for Unified Communications focused more than ever around solving business processes and operational issues through applications available under the UC umbrella. As we discussed a couple of weeks ago, it’s our responsibility as trusted advisors to our clients to expand conversations outside IT to every key area of the business so we can understand the potential impact of UC and ensure we’re designing and deploying the right solution with a return on investment that makes good business sense.
Expanding UC to mobile communications was another key point for customers. We’ve spoken for years about building demand for seamless communications from anywhere from any device and it’s now a pre-requisite for businesses with mobile phones appearing to be the consensus pick for the primary end-user device in the years ahead. The key for us is proving the value of that flexibility and mobility – how does that make our clients money? Save money? Make their employees more productive? What is the value of reaching the right person the first time at any time? Another challenge will be supporting clients in the design, deployment and management of a challenging technology environment.
By the time we hit VoiceCon 2010 in Orlando next March, we should see tremendous inroads of social media into the corporate infrastructure with some deeper ground rules and guidance on best practices for integration and support as well as further announcements from vendors on mobility enhancements for collaboration and presence.

The time has come for you to replace that old PBX, that legacy museum piece that barely trudges along every day on life support. You need the latest and greatest, a system with redundancy and reliability, a total solution that energizes you with the same excitement and intrique as the newest four-wheel equipment on the showroom floor. Your infrastucture is Cisco, so a migration to a converged voice and data system is a natural, but your business, your credibility and your position depend on your next decision. That’s why you call MTM, a Cisco Masters Unified Communications partner.

The Cisco Master Unified Communications Specialization recognizes an elite group of partners with in-depth technology skills and proven customer success in selling, deploying and supporting UC solutions. There are many Cisco partners who can get behind the velvet rope, but only a select few that have earned entrance into the VIP section. The Masters UC is Cisco’s stamp of success, for expertise, experience and excellence.

To earn the Masters UC, MTM has to demonstrate proven customer success – every year providing five customer references for successful delivery of integrated, multiple unified communications solutions and applications integration in contact centers, unified messaging, rich media, mobility and presence. We have to continue our investment in our technology expertise, including additional CCIEs, industry-recognized project managers and third-party application integrators. Also, we have to maintain our services capability and methodology for post-implementation support for our MTM’s Managed Services team.

Cisco requires an annual audit so independent authorities can validate these challenging requirements and certify that MTM works dilgently every day as a trusted advisor for helping you trash that eyesore in your telecom closet. We’ll even recommend a museum to provide tender care of your old reliable hardware while you celebrate your new UC solution.

The tremendous growth of advanced technology such as Unified Communications, Collaboration and Borderless Networks has dramatically changed how we work with our clients, expanding our influence beyond the IT department to every area of the business. It’s now imperative we immerse ourselves in a client’s total business because the drivers and motivators behind the migration to the latest and greatest technologies reside outside the technical side of the house. It’s sales, R & D, the contact center, that’s where the true business, financial and operational justification is proven.

Clients freely open up to us about existing internal barriers, within functions and across functions, in their organizations. Account executives demand immediate access to technical specialists, to purchasing, to accounts receivable, to vendors and suppliers. That’s where we reach beyond IT. Often we’re changing the fundamental structure and culture of a company since our recommendations may revolutionize, or evolutionize, how a company runs it business. It’s our responsibility to truly understand every area of a client’s business, how our proposals will impact that area of the firm and draw a direct correlation between the implementation of technology solutions and the associated financial and operational benefits.

Unified Communications, borderless networks and unified computing can improve a company’s profitability, operational effectiveness and competitive strategy and it requires the involvement of everyone from the CIO to the CEO and CFO and VPs across the organization. That communication and commitment is essential if a company is serious about transforming itself successfully and taking advantage of advanced technologies. So now more than ever, IT has a vital role in the strategic direction of a company and can be the key driver within a firm for change.