Unified Communications

Alcatel-Lucent pushes big business communications enhancements

Doug Mohney — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:41:26 -0500

Alcatel-Lucent announced a bunch of enhancements Monday within its portfolio of enterprise products under the Corporate Communications banner.

Since launching Corporate Communications Solutions two years ago, Alcatel-Lucent has added more than 5,000 new enterprise customers. The company positions the move as riding the wave of IP centralization and leveraging open standards solutions with SIP enhancements.

A 9.0 release of OmniPCX Enterprise new supports up to 100,000 users and expanded SIP trunking. The new OmniSwitch 900E has been designed for high-capacity and scalable deployments, along with multi-virtual routing and forwarding.

Alcatel-Lucent also threw in a lot of upgrades and enhancements around unified communications. The OmniTouch Unified Communication Solution Release 5.1 and OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator provide multimedia, multi-session collaboration, mobile device integration (hello cell phone) and support for third-party apps like Microsoft Office Communicator. On the call center side, OmniTouch Contact Center Premium and Standard Release 9.0, and CC Teamer applications also get mention.

For more:
- A-L lays it out in a press release.

Verizon Business offers managed telepresence

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:16:28 -0500

Verizon Business has teamed up with Nortel Networks to offer a managed telepresence service that will be part of the carrier's unified communications strategy. The service, "provides complete setup and management of telepresence conferences, including pre-connected and configured video circuits, and the ability for users to make conference reservations online," according to a Verizon press release.

The telco is making use of Nortel global infrastructure of Multimedia Network Operations Centers (MNOCs), and it uses the vendor's video-bridging and gateway services to create interoperability. The deal is especially significant for Nortel, as it looks for bright spots following a weak third quarter that included announcement of further jobs cuts. The company has been active in the telepresence sector from early on, and this carrier announcement is the latest in a handful of high-profile deals.

It has been a big week for telepresence, as several publications also reported that Cisco Systems is now eyeing a potential consumer market for the technology a year or so from now.

For more:
- here's the Verizon press release
- here's the Nortel press release

Sprint goes FMC with Cisco

Doug Mohney — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:56:09 -0500

Sprint has launched a new business FMC offering that taps into Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

Sprint Wireless Integration extends Cisco UC Manager functionality to Sprint mobile phones, so customers now get calls within the enterprise to be "on net." The service is delivered via Sprint's IMS architecture within the company's MPLS network, and it utilizes a customer's Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco's Unified IP phones - Sprint provides a Cisco Unified Border Element. A Sprint MPLS connection provides connectivity into Sprint's IMS core so Sprint CDMA phones can be fully integrated into the Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

Sprint's Wireless Integration service targets business enterprises with a minimum of 100 users and is set up as a "pay-as-you-use" service. Calls from mobile phones get abbreviated dialing functionality, and calls can be transferred seamlessly and transparently between devices, such as a Cisco desktop IP phone and a Sprint mobile phone.

The system's benefits include extension of classes of service restriction to mobile devices, the ability to track mobile calls through Cisco UC manager, single number access for employees, unified voice mail, call transfer between mobile and desk phones, and a reduction of trunks, because calls get moved to an enterprise's IP network and avoid trunk usage .

For more:
- MarketWatch carries Sprint Cisco FMC press release.

Nortel to cut 1,300 jobs on $3.4 billion loss

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:16:53 -0500

Nortel Networks has already been through its share of tough times, but the long-time Canadian technology supplier again took it on the chin in the third quarter, reporting that ongoing economic and competitive pressure and declining carrier spending pushed it to a revenue drop and a $3.41 billion loss. Nortel also said it will cut 1,300 jobs, and freeze salaries and hiring. In addition, several executives will depart, including Chief Marketing Officer Lauren Flaherty, Chief Technology Officer John Roese, Global Services President Dietmar Wendt and Executive Vice President Global Sales Bill Nelson.

Roese has been a champion of Nortel's unified communications strategy, which at times has seemed poised to deliver Nortel at least partly away from the pressures of the rocky carrier market and its long sales cycles. The company had issued a third quarter revenue warning recently, and reportedly wanted to sell its Metro Ethernet division. Nortel also had announced massive job cuts at the beginning of this year, and also now is saying it will evaluate its real estate holdings.

In late 2007, it seemed like the vendor had put some previous troubles behind it and might even be set to conduct an acquisition spree. It has made some interesting moves in 2008, eschewing WiMAX for LTE, acquiring VoIP player Pingtel and teaming with LG to buy WDM-PON developer Novera Optics, but its ongoing shrinkage suggests Nortel is far from re-gaining what was once its status as one of the top network equipment makers in the world.

For more:
- The Wall Street Journal reports

Survey: Teleworking pads workers' wallets

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:44:20 -0400

It stands to reason that if you work from home instead of traveling to an office located outside the home, you are bound to save money on gas, or at least on whatever public transportation you use to get to work. So, it's not much of a surprise that a recent study found that about 60 percent of white-collar survey respondents said working at home allows them to save at least $25 per month on fuel costs. The U.S. Unified Communications Survey, sponsored by Mitel and conducted by Zoomerang Market Research a couple of months ago, also found that another 25 percent of those surveyed said they save more than $100 per month overall by working at home.

It's an endorsement for workers to want to work at home, though the decision usually isn't up to them. Network World reports that another recent survey showed that 42 percent of companies participating said they offer teleworking programs, compared with about 30 percent last year.

For more:
- Network World covers the surveys

Cisco unveils UC, collaboration updates; Verizon buys in

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:10:08 -0400

Cisco Systems has announced the latest version of its unified communications software, along with a new software-as-a-service offering from its WebEx platform and enhancements to its telepresence solution. The announcement is being treated by some publications almost as if this were Cisco's first entry into unified communications and collaboration. Cisco actually was among the first vendors to target UC, it acquired WebEx back in early 2007, and it also has long championed telepresence.

Among the new moves, Cisco's Unified Communications 7.0 release supports interoperability between desktop communications products from IBM and Microsoft; the new WebEx Connect supports enterprise instant messaging, document management, calendars, wikis, mobile client software and other functions; and the telepresence offering now includes TelePresence Expert-on-Demand, which enables connection from telepresence systems to contact centers for customer service, according to ComputerWorld.

Verizon Business said in conjunction with the Cisco announcement that it will leverage Cisco WebEx Connect in the small and medium-sized business market as part of hosted applications. The telco also will support the new UC software as part of its managed services offerings.

For more:
- see this report at ComputerWorld
- read this coverage at The Wall Street Journal

BT acquires Ribbit for $105 million

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:52:48 -0400

U.K. telco BT said it has acquired Web voice platform company Ribbit, one of several companies that had emerged in recent years to allow developers to create new VoIP-enabled Web applications. The U.S. company often was mentioned in the same breath as GrandCentral, the voice applications company acquired by Google.

Voice applications have been incorporated in an increasing number of different online and unified communications approaches, to varying degrees of success. Depending on who is offering these applications, they can present a competitive threat to telcos that are seeing landlines continue to drop off from one quarter to the next. That makes BT's move interesting, aggressive and risky, but BT has made a point of pushing itself and its network toward a new Web-influenced services model. The company has been trying to encourage service mash-ups over its network, and while this effort is still in its infancy, the Ribbit deal shows how committed BT is to such strategies.

For more:
- read this story at The Washington Post

Related articles:
Ribbit had called itself "Silicon Valley's first telephone company." Ribbit report
Telco APIs have been getting more webby. Telco report

Embarq takes UC flexibility to SMBs

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:36:20 -0400

Independent telco Embarq, via a partnership with vendor IPcelerate, is targeting the small and medium-sized business market with new unified communications applications based on the Cisco Systems IPSmartSuite offering and CU500 Unified Communications platform. One of the SMB-specific benefits includes a dashborad for small companies to customize desktop phone applications. Embarq is aiming to especially bring this new flexibility to customers with between four and 25 lines.

For more:
- read this story at Telecommunications

Related articles:
Embarq is outsourcing voice network management to focus on such market moves Embarq report
Will Embarq engage in further M&A moves? Embarq report

BT acquires two IT units from German firm

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:17:03 -0400

U.K. telco giant BT, which has been busily buying up enterprise IT expertise the last few years, is now acquiring two more IT firms that are part of a German enterprise software company. Those companies, Stemmer and SND, were part of German company net AG, and offer services such as unified communications, IP telephony, network integration, security, storage and video surveillance. The buys will give BT better exposure to potential enterprise IT customers as the carrier looks to grow its customer base outside the U.K. and get more of its growth from enterprise initiatives.

For more:
- check out this coverage at ZDnet.co.UK

Related articles:
BT acquired Wire One Holding earlier this year BT report
BT is planning a telepresence service launch BT report

Carriers can clarify UC confusion

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:39:06 -0400

A report from Forrester Research pointed out that about 55 percent of almost 2,200 corporate enterprises surveyed said they were confused about the value of unified communications for their companies. Is this a knock against unified communications, which has been a key technology and service theme in the industry over the last year, and likely will star again at this week's NXTcomm trade show in Las Vegas?

Not necessarily. When a market gets confusing, that is exactly the right time for smart companies rich in technology expertise and strong customer relationships to step out and take advantage. The confusion about unified communications means that it is exactly the right time for carriers to step out and help corporate customers make sense of a unified communications trend that may not be so much more than convergence by another name.

It is true that beyond typical convergence, unified communications involves an increasing degree of collaboration and systems alignment to help create enterprises that feel seamless, and where awareness of user presence is a key feature. However, the ongoing network and service convergence that carriers are involved in is well-equipping them to handle such demands.

Forrester also reports that an increasing number of enterprises are launching unified communications pilot projects, but that those tests are not necessarily turning into commercial installations. Carriers thus far arguably have been overshadowed in the unified communications sector by major vendors and systems integrators, but perhaps they can now make sense of the sector where others have not by tying capabilities to real services and network reliability and availability reputations. In a land of confusion, they can provide the clarity.

And, what a better place to launch a mission to provide clarity than at NXTcomm during our Unified Communications Conference Wednesday and Thursday. Hope to see you there.

For more:
- read this story at Network World

-Dan