Hosted Unified Communications: a.k.a. I Just Want a Box in the Sky
Posted by Jarmo Paukkunen on Wed, Feb 17, 2010
This is, word for word, what a customer recently shared with our team.
Stripping away industry hype, what most end-customers are looking for are business solutions.
Most likely that solution is business hosting of applications, communications and other services, and the smaller the company, that solution becomes increasingly more appealing. It is difficult for a small business to invest resources-in terms of headcount and capital-into technology, which paradoxically is essential for the business to prosper.
Often the idea of "outsourcing" is thought of as solely the province of large companies. However, businesses in the US with fewer than 100 employees actually employ almost 40 million people in the United States. These enterprises today have access to business hosted applications and services that are equivalent to the tools the largest companies are using: email, customer relationship management, accounting, project management, collaboration and many others.
Save on Capital Costs
Business hosted solutions are based on a subscription business model that does away with up-front capital outlays, the need for internal IT expertise, and continual upgrades. Customers pay for exactly what they consume each month, particularly useful for businesses having significant seasonal fluctuations in employee or contractor numbers.
Collaborate
Sharing of information between employees as well as external parties is critical. Business-hosted applications like Exchange email, SharePoint and Office Communicator provide the means to share documents, calendars and other collateral. They allow you to hold an impromptu meeting with voice and video while avoiding the cost of conference calls or travel. It's possible, today, to add a complete unified communications (UC) solution that fully integrates business applications and telephone and includes a very competitive calling plan.
Work From Anywhere
Business hosted applications allow for true location transparency, since you can work from anywhere with an Internet connection. Similarly, you can connect with your cell phone or other device. With workforces moving to telecommuting and an increasing number of professionals rarely coming to the office, hosted applications provide the same user experience-regardless of where you are. No need to establish virtual private network (VPN) connections, since all data is encrypted by default.
The bottom line
Finally, small and mid-sized businesses can avail themselves of technology that reduces costs and increases productivity, at less than the cost of the average cell phone bill.
Tell us what you think
How will Unified Communications drive your business? What are your expectations?