Residential | Small Business | Enterprise | Wireless Region / Language
The Business Challenge
It is not often that a collective set of technology benefits converges to bring the potential for significant and sweeping transformation of enterprise worker interaction. That is the promise of Unified Communications. Because of the confluence of events happening across voice and messaging infrastructures, there is a "perfect storm" of opportunity for enterprises new ways to improve productivity, both in the office and abroad. But in spite of its powerful potential, Unified Communications is still a very broad and somewhat vague set of standards and technologies, as well as diverse and competing vendor approaches which can be confusing and risky to implement. In addition, because the benefits statements are premised on improved productivity, the business case for investment is harder to quantify.
The AT&T Solution
AT&T Consulting is uniquely positioned to address this challenge because of our rich and extensive knowledge of not just messaging but also IP voice, video, enterprise directory and networking technologies. Our extensive vendor credentials also provide us early access to some of the newest technologies being developed in this space from Microsoft, Cisco, and others. We help maximize your existing investment by balancing new technology introduction with multi-vendor integration services, for example between your established voice and messaging platforms. Finally, we provide independent guidance to present alternatives including hosting and managed services that offer secure and enterprise scalability at a predictable cost.
Our Unified Communications Services span the life cycle, beginning with a Strategy and Roadmap service which may include these activities:
- Capture future requirements and vision for enterprise communications
- Review and assess how effectively existing communications systems support enterprise business requirements
- Document the business case considerations to prioritize the potential solution alternatives: cost reduction, enhanced service delivery, improved productivity, etc.
- Evaluate potential approaches for enhancing and/or integrating:
- IP Voice systems including switch, gateways, and voice mail
- Messaging – email, instant messaging, text, unified
- Web and Video Conferencing
- Presence
- Productivity enabling applications
- Contact Center
- Assess how the technology alternatives might improve existing business processes. For example, how will contextual presence information help improve workflow, or improve "first call" resolution in the Contact Center?
- Review wireline as well as wireless access technologies that can enable the office, mobile and tele-worker to fully reap the expected benefits
- Optional comparison of selectively hosted solutions versus in-house investment and upgrades
- Consideration of security and management requirements
- Development of a roadmap including near, mid, and long term solutions
- Optional development of a business case and presentation to executive management
Based on the outcome of the Roadmap, we can provide any number of relevant services from our portfolio including:
- Competitive product vendor evaluation
- Pilot deployments
- Upgrade of existing point solutions
- Architecture and Integration of voice mail, messaging, directory, identity, and mobility solutions
- Migration to hosted and managed solutions
- Migration planning for next generation architectures, such as IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)
Solution Benefits
- Fit-for-purpose approach: ensures consideration of technology solutions aligned to business need and vision
- Investment protection: because all enterprises have well-established investments in their communications infrastructure, we offer vendor independent analysis and integration of those assets wherever appropriate
- Stepwise strategy: introduces newer technologies as they are commercially viable, minimizing risks and realizing incremental and tangible benefits
Services Summary
- Strategy and Roadmap
- Architecture and Integration
- Implementation and Migration
