What Changes Will I Have to Make When Switching to OCS?
The Unified Communications Strategies Blog makes a great point in its “OCS: The Tech is the Easy Part” post from last week:
“OCS is not simply a phone system replacement, it’’s more accurately a phone system alternative made possible by many emerging technologies.”
“Alternative” is right. Normally you have two lines “going out” - Internet connections and phone lines. One powers the computers, one the phones sitting beside them. If you switch to OCS-based VoIP, you”ll be running both services, IT and telecom, through Internet connections alone.
Incorporating telecom capability into the computer like this changes things. I don”t just mean the network, either. People’’s ingrained behaviors about using phones will have to adjust.
I”ve written out some of the adjustments we”ve seen with new OCS 2007 clients below. Some are positive (they help you get things done), some are negative (adjustment will take a few tries).
There’’s no longer a phone on every desk
(Negative)
VoIP capability now comes through every computer available. Desktop, laptop, smartphone. So long as there’’s a mic and a speaker, you can talk. There are VoIP phones of course! But you won”t need them at every desk.
Out with the phone, in with the headset
(Positive)
If you”re making calls through your computer, you”ll naturally use a headset. For those of us with Bluetooth-enabled cellphones, this barely qualifies as an adjustment. (I included it for Larry in Accounting who hates any new technology and wants things like they were in 1990.)
All offices are closer
(Positive)
OCS runs its member list off Active Directory. So transferring calls to “the other office” means clicking a name instead of typing out memorized codes. A bit easier.
The interruption comes from the monitor
(Negative)
If the phone rings while you”re buried in work, you can let it go to voicemail. The ringing stops; no more reminder of the outside world. With OCS VoIP though, a new call pops up right there on your screen. Bzzzt, new call!
That will irritate you the first few times. You”ll realize you forgot to switch your Presence status to Busy or Do Not Disturb. You fix it and go back to work. (Or answer the call if it’’s your boss!)
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The easiest way to head the negative adjustments off at the pass? Ask everyone for feedback before you start implementing OCS. “Get buy-in,” as the gurus say. If you know ahead of time you need to make such-and-such adjustments, you”re prepared to do it.
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Is Moving to VoIP a Smart Thing to Do in a Recession?
Sifting through LinkedIn Answers the other day (our company profile is here, if you”d like to look), I came across several Questions about IT in the economic downturn. No surprise; everyone’’s thinking about it.
A lot of people are thinking about VoIP too, it turns out. I found questions about not only its technical aspects, but its business value too. Two examples:
What Does A Business VoIP Solution Mean To You?
What are the business drivers behind VoIP buying decisions today?
(Must be a LinkedIn member to view.)
It makes sense. Everyone wants to (or must) get 105% from every dollar spent.
We”ve actually received more inquiries for new OCS 2007 installs (with VoIP) in the past 6 months than we had the whole year prior. So I”m wondering. Companies are switching to VoIP more. Why? Do they perceive it as a cost-saver? Is it a good move to make?
After reviewing more Answers and talking with our engineers, I think I can give some reasons why moving to VoIP is a smart thing right now. Not a perfect solution for everyone, but it could work depending on your business needs.
The Reasons People are Looking to VoIP
First, the positives. If these appeal to your business, then VoIP will make a good investment.
- Cost over PBX — Yes, a VoIP system can save a lot of money over PBX. That saving is NOT guaranteed, however. Large-scale, multi-office setups can cost almost as much as installing a PBX. In smaller networks, VoIP will usually save you more (see “What About Hidden Costs?” below for more).
- Integration with Software — OCS 2007 integrates with Outlook, SharePoint, & Office. Integration means fewer steps to talk with someone, so there’’s a time savings here.
- Unification of Communication Systems — This is the top benefit a complete VoIP system can provide. Unified Communications, as I”ve blogged about before, builds more communication options around regular old voice. Instant Messaging, working with smartphones, Presence indicators…you know the drill by now.
- Mobility (People, Offices) — Let’’s face it, you can”t pick up a PBX with your hands. But you can move a VoIP phone from one office to another with them. And it”ll work there too.
- Consolidation of Services — In the past you”d need a third-party solution for things like conferencing (e.g. WebEx), IM, even long distance. Switching to a VoIP system with Unified Communications nowadays, you get those built-in.
VoIP Concerns Everyone Has
Even aside from cost (by far the #1 worry these days!), VoIP has stirred up its own concerns. I don”t think these are enough to discourage a VoIP switch, but just in case:
- Will the Phone Ring? — Switching to VoIP means you”re using Internet lines instead of standard phone lines. A disruption of service means the phones go down too. It’’s a small risk; uptime is close to 98% by standard. But people like to magnify this into an arms-flailing horror story too often.
- Does Voice Mail Work? — In OCS, voicemail is not turned on by default. It must be enabled, and set to funnel voicemails to Outlook. I”m mentioning it here because people just forget to do this much of the time!
- Can You Hear Me (Now)? — Call quality can fluctuate, depending on network conditions. Sometimes people complain of an echo on the line, or brief silences (caused by packet drops) lasting a second or two.
- What About Hidden Costs? — Generally speaking, VoIP cost comes from 3 places: High-speed connection to manage the VoIP in/out (monthly); Setup cost for hardware/software (one-time); and Account fees to run the VoIP system, internally or through a hosted provider (monthly). That’’s it.
Any VoIP system must do one of two things: It must provide a direct business benefit, or it must reduce operations costs. If you find that VoIP brings you one (or both!) of these, then it’’s a good investment. If not, hold off for now. Write it in for a revisit when the economy gets some steam behind it again.
Are there other VoIP factors you think make a difference in today’’s economic climate? Leave them in the Comments!
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Line is Busy, Please Try Again Later
No OCS Insider post this week, readers! We just got a big new contract (yay, a good sign!).
Check back next week for, “Is Moving to VoIP a Smart Thing to Do in a Recession?”
More Companies Joining the VoIP/Unified Communications Market: Is This Good for OCS Users?
Filed under: Instant Messaging (IM), OCS 2007, Unified Communications, Voice over IP
I received two interesting articles in this morning’’s Google Alerts for “Unified Communications.” (Got to stay informed!) What was interesting was that both articles discussed UC services others than Microsoft’’s. Both represent different ways to introduce the Unified Communications idea to businesses.
Both could also pose a problem to the whole Unified Communications/VoIP market.
The first article is: Skype Taps ShoreTel for Skype-to-SIP UC
Skype for SIP allows businesses to receive incoming calls from Skype users via SIP-enabled UC systems. ShoreTel customers can also make outgoing calls from their ShoreTel UC systems to other phones at Skype rates (very cheap).
The second is: Avaya Positioned in “Leader Quadrant” for Unified Communications by Gartner Inc.
Avaya’’s Aura is a UC package that interoperates with legacy communication systems like PBX. Much like OCS, it offers presence, IM, and SIP-based calling. It even works with Microsoft Office Communicator if you like.
What’’s Good About These Offerings
First off, it’’s competition in the Unified Communications market. Competition (even indirect competition) helps spur product improvement. Business users get better pricing, and more options.
Second, Skype for SIP makes for an interesting bridge between corporate Unified Communications and Skype. Skype, while mostly a consumer-level service, is popular for cheap international calls. This new offering could provide businesses a cheap-and-easy way to make those calls from now on.
What Problems These Offerings Could Cause
The UC market will get more confusing. With more and more UC services (some picking & choosing what they”ll offer) customers are left unsure of what they”ll get. That uncertainty will carry over onto other products, like OCS. When you don”t know if you”ll get what you need, you tend not to try.
Issues of security and scale crop up too. I”m sure Skype will take every precaution they can to protect business communications through their network. But the fact that Skype originated in the consumer arena (and most of its users are still consumers) will call their security effectiveness into question.
The consumer base raises questions about the very future of Skype, in fact. Will Skype make a further push into the business arena than this? Or is it just an add-on to nab business users? The latter may be true, according to comments on the topic. SkypeJournal.com actually decried the new Skype-to-SIP offering as “abandoning Skype’’s central tenets”!
So, IS This Good for OCS?
Actually, I think so. There’’s some competition (mostly from Avaya), but that can improve things for everyone. OCS 2007 also presents a very unified Unified Communications solution (if you”ll pardon my repetition there).
The best products aren”t necessarily the ones who are there first. They”re the products who are there to last. And with OCS 2010 on the horizon, this one’’s sticking around.
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How Do You Determine the ROI of an OCS Setup?
Filed under: Instant Messaging (IM), OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, Unified Communications, Voice over IP
Using Office Communications Server 2007 in a business does have a lot of advantages, some of which I”ve covered in this blog so far. But what if you”re dealing with a numbers guy, someone who constantly repeats phrases like, “Bottom line,” “maximize profits” and “ROI?”
How do you please a hardcore-numbers manager/CFO when it comes to OCS? They”ll want to know lots of specifics. And you can be sure the question of ROI will come up. “What’’s the return on investment here?” they”ll probably bellow, pounding a fist into the desk hard enough to rattle their pen cup. “How do we know we”re getting a good value from this software?”
It’’s a fair question. So let’’s see about answering it!
What Kind of ROI Should We Expect from OCS?
I”ve talked about replacing PBX with a VoIP setup in OCS before. In terms of direct expense, that’’s the biggest ROI for OCS 2007 in terms of cash–you don”t need a PBX if you use OCS VoIP. Other related services (voicemail extras, additional phone/data lines, third-party conferencing software) also add up to monthly cost savings.
Sometimes companies buy OCS for the VoIP capability, or the conferencing capability. The fact that they get all the other services - instant messaging, presence, email plug-ins - is icing on the cake to them. However, I”d say this is another form of ROI too. Several clients found that as they began using these additional communications methods, the more valuable they became. (So did we, in fact.)
ROI of Time Savings
But a better way to look at ROI for OCS 2007 is in productivity. This is harder, maybe impossible to give numbers for. But you can illustrate it by showing what its benefits will lead to. For example.
- Conferencing Anyone Can Start. Leads to: Live records of who said what, fewer project mistakes due to clearer directions.
- Mobile information Sharing. Leads to: Fewer bottlenecks/delayed deadlines.
- Quicker, Easier Inter-office Conversations. Leads to: Faster turnaround on projects.
So, What DO We Tell the Numbers Guy?
Tell him you”ll save an estimated X each month on not paying for a PBX, conferencing systems and extra lines. Tell him employees will be able to complete projects more easily, resulting in pleased customers & more repeat sales. Tell him OCS 2007 even has hosted & virtual options, if he wants to stick to flat rates.
It’’s not a strict-dollars-and-sense type of ROI measurement. But it’’s a great way to demonstrate that the office would get value from OCS 2007.
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