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UC is a concept/strategy, not a product
Unlike the perception of most vendors and analysts, UC is a portfolio of components/solutions and not merely a product. Benjamin Green, UC&C Solutions Manager, Asia Pacific, Verizon Business, agrees: “UC is a not a product, but a concept or a strategy. It is a set of tools that brings together disparate or previously separated communications and collaboration systems into a unified architecture.” These include communication media such as voice services (telephony and audio conferencing), video services (video conferencing, desktop conferencing, and telepresence), and data services (web conferencing, IM, and e-mail).
The beauty of UC is that people are not tied down to devices or applications. “A person could seamlessly move from IM to e-mail to a video chat, which could be integrated into the application that this person is working on,” says Shivasankar K, Country Manager, LifeSize (India). Shivashankar says that the intelligence in the UC system will enable messages to be routed based on policies set by the user. For example, if you wish to make a video call to a person in a UC environment, and this person is not available to take the call, then this call could be routed to the individual’s cell phone. If this is also not answered, it could be routed as a voice mail to the person’s inbox.
| Who is Using UC for What |
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COMPANY
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USAGE
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Wipro |
Uses UC tools for collaborating on projects, interacting with customers and partners,
knowledge acquisition, customer interfacing engagement, virtual trainings and leadership meetings |
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Infosys
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UC tools are being used in design and architecture reviews, in large deal pursuits and for co-creating Intellectual Property using its large distributed workforce. Using the same platform, Infosys holds virtual meetings for activities related to cross-functional initiatives and discussions related to regional and global sales activities |
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Mahindra & Mahindra
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Uses UC tools in the areas of remote training, getting real-time updates from regional offices and for improving collaboration especially in the area of R&D |
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Barry-Wehmiller International Resources
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Uses UC tools for quicker problem resolution, to quickly locate global experts across locations without any delays |
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Patel Engineering
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UC tools are used for interviewing candidates remotely, and for sharing presentations and training-related activities |
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Vedanta Aluminium
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Uses a UC system to monitor sites in remote locations |
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Dolphin Group of Hotels
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UC systems are used by the MD to do live reviews with senior management staff across different locations |
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Obeetee |
Uses UC to participate virtually in trade fairs abroad |
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The true essence of UC lies in providing a unified experience and in removing the complexity of the multiple modes of communication channels. Vinod K, Director- Unified Communications, Avaya GlobalConnect, explains this perspective by comparing UC to a utility bill payment mechanism. “A good comparison would be how most of us do our utility bill payments from a single account via the web instead of taking four bills and going to the nearest utility organization payment counter to make these payments,” concurs Vinod.
“UC is a philosophy which unifies all means of communication, instead of working in silos. By breaking these silos, UC tools bring in a synergy that allows organizations to free the communication from the device,” says Minhaj Zia, National Sales Manager, Unified Communications, Cisco India & SAARC.
Depending upon the size of the organization, the adoption of UC tools can begin in different phases. For example, compared to a large enterprise, SMBs will start small, taking baby steps before they are fully confident of the ROI. Sanish K B, Research Analyst – Gartner, agrees: “In India, many organizations in both the SMB segments and large enterprises are considering IP telephony as the stepping stone for their future UC investment plans.”
Once confident of ROI, organizations gradually start expanding. “A few years ago, UC meant only ‘voice.’
Then it evolved into messaging. Now, more critically, as the demand for cost savings go up and the call for green technology gets louder, video has been thrown into the mix,” opines Dinesh Sehgal, Regional Director, India, Tandberg.
Recessionary environment powers UC adoption >>
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