Businesses are increasing their productivity and cutting down on costs through integrated communications.In a world where time is of essence, the quest for real-time business process integration has given rise to products that provide a consistent unified user interface and user experience across multiple devices and media types. It therefore follows that businesses have no choice but to adopt the integration of real-time communication services such as instant messaging (chat), presence information, video conferencing and IP telephony with non real-time communication services such as unified messaging (integrated voicemail, email, SMS and fax). In short, unified communications is increasingly becoming a popular cost-saving mechanism for businesses that want to maintain a competitive edge.As the thirst for virtual working environments gathers momentum, a number of companies have been at the forefront of providing unified communication solutions to businesses that need them. One such company is Dimension Data. Founded in 1983 in South Africa, the company today operates in 47 countries on six continents. 

Intelligent network

“Our growth has been driven by our clients’ need to operate efficiently in an environment where collaborative partnerships and the intelligent network have emerged as the two most important business enablers”, says Mr Rakesh Parbhoo, the company’s Managing Director for East Africa. According to Mr Parbhoo, unified communications has been the company’s focus for a long time now, with visual communications taking the lead.

“Moving forward into the future, our focus has evolved to adapting the design, management and development of business technology to be a better servant to the greater business and use it as a tool to drive innovation, enable market leadership and make companies tighter, better, more cost-effective and competitive”, says Mr Parbhoo.

Notably, the company’s video on the desktop solution enables its customers to communicate in real-time across networks.

“Not many players had a focus on video conferencing. Initially only high end corporates or multinationals used video conferencing facilities. It took time before business adopted visual communications and we had to move in to fill that gap”, says Mr Parbhoo, adding that the company has also been promoting telepresence, digital video signage and IP telephony.

Benefits are numerous

The benefits of adopting unified communication solutions are numerous, key among them being cost-saving. According to Mr Parbhoo, the company has seen a reduction in communication costs, resulting in more productivity as the company uses its Internet capacity for VoIP instead of making international calls. Besides, there is no need to buy additional telephone sets.  The company has also saved on travel costs using its video conferencing solution.

“If there is a customer in Uganda who wants to find out more about a solution, we do not need to put a specialist on the next flight to Entebbe. We simply arrange a video conference and within minutes the problem will have been solved”, says Mr Parbhoo.

The Dimension Data boss notes that one of the company’s most successful deployments has been with a leading bank which managed to reduce its travel costs by KES one million (US$13,000). The same bank also cut its international call costs in all its branches from KES 100,000 (US$1300) to almost zero.

Mr Andreas Pedersen, Microsoft’s Regional Solutions Sales Manager for West, East, Central Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands shares the same sentiments on cost reduction components of unified communications. According to Mr Pedersen, most of Microsoft’s clients have seen savings of up to 40 percent on travel and 50 percent on communications.

Call costs have been reduced

“Here at Microsoft, we have saved tremendously in flight, hotel accommodation costs as well as time. We no longer need to travel to our satellite offices in Namibia and South Africa. With video conferencing, we are able to communicate regularly. Our call costs have been reduced to almost zero since we use the same interface as the one we use for browsing and receiving emails”, says Mr Pedersen.

Still on call costs, Mr Pedersen says that with IP telephony, the company no longer needs to invest in a telephone set because everything is done from a laptop.

“We no longer need to make international phone calls. We do it PC to PC on our platform. When it comes to conferencing, we use the same solution for video and voice conferencing at the same time”.

Microsoft’s unified communication solutions revolves around streamlining communications using different ways, be it voice, fax, email, or web chat. The company also ensures that the solution is safe and well protected.

Office communicator solution

A simple interface office communicator solution configured on Microsoft Outlook enables employees in different countries and their clients to chat, exchange emails or hold video conferences depending on their availability in the office. With the solution, it is possible to tell whether the person you want to communicate with is online, out office or busy in a meeting and make a quick decision on how to reach them. If the person is online, a chat via instant messaging would do. But when the person is out of office or is offline, the best thing to do would be to call them on their mobile phones since they wont be able to chat or reply to emails instantly. The interface also contains all the contact details of the person, hence there would be no need to open a separate phone book. All one needs to do is a direct computer to computer call using Outlook.

“If I have a laptop with a unified communication solution, I dont need to pick up a phone, to make a phone call; I dont need to go somewhere else to send a fax. I can do that using my laptop. So my laptop becomes my voice, video conferencing and email solution. I do not need to invest in new hardware”, says Mr  Pedersen, adding:

“What we are talking about is utilising the fact that you  have a laptop or a desktop. At low costs, you can now acquire the capability to use existing laptop and existing networks to make voice call, receive emails and do instant messaging. So that is where we see unified messaging—being able to bring all these methods of communications together into one solution”.

Solution records chats

One advantage with this solution is that it it is configured in a manner that it records chats and saves them for future reference.

“Key to us is that the communication has to be flexible and reliable to make sure that you have different ways of interacting. The core solution must also be cost-effective, easy to use, maintain and upgrade”, says Mr Pedersen.

Computer Revolution Africa, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, has also successfully implemented unified communication solutions, mainly the Office Communication Server and Exchange 2007, and Exchange 2010 to be launched in November.

“With Exchange 2007, you are able to chat instantly, exchange documents and hold a video conference.  With Exchange 2010, the technology is converged on a mobile phone”, says Mr Harry Chager, CEO, Computer Revolution Africa.

Challenges still abound

Even so, challenges still abound. Key among these has been low bandwidth, as well as its cost. Mr Pedersen observes that like all other communication solutions, unified communications calls for heavy investment in infrastructure. Dimension Data’s Mr Parbhoo concurs:

“The technology has become quite mature. Five or six years ago, the traditional voice platform was not an issue. But connectivity and quality of connectivity remains a challenge. Even last mile connectivity to those in underlying areas poses a challenge”.

But there is some light at the end of the tunnel following the landing of the submarine cables.

“As long as the Internet is up and running, the solution works effectively”, says Microsoft’s Mr Pedersen.

Still, one question remains on the lips of observers: is the East African market ready for unified communications? Mr Chager does not think so.

“I think people tend to underestimate the underlying technology around unified communications. For one, your PABX  has to be compatible . With the office communications server, you have your video conferencing, and your VoIP on your laptop or phone. Besides, you must have microphones and a video camera. The cost of setting up this infrastructure is enormous”.

Mr Isha Kasule, Computer Revolution Africa’s Product Development Manager agrees.

“We have done a lot of presentations in conjunction with Microsoft. A lot of customers get interested but when they look at the budgets, they have to think twice”.

While the benefits of  unified communications cannot be gainsaid, customers should be on the lookout for the technologies they opt to deploy. According to Mr Parbhoo, most customers end up with technology that is not suitable for them.

“You need to make sure that your network has the capacity to host the solution that you want to deploy. The IP telephony has to be configured correctly. For us, we first look at what the client wants to achieve with the video facilities before we recommend a solution”, says Mr Parbhoo.

Mr Kasule advises customers to only spend on technolgy that will remain relevant to them over the next few years.

Security issues

Besides, issues of security have also to be taken into consideration. Whereas the solutions that Microsoft deploys sit on secure platforms, clients are advised against sending certain sensitive information via email. Even though Microsoft can build as many security solutions as possible, including encryption of both incoming and outgoing emails, it becomes a futile exercise if the username and passwords are entrusted with dishonest employees.

“Anything that is over IP has a vulnerability. If the platform is not encrypted, the organisation runs a lot of risk”, Mr Parbhoo observes.

Future is very exciting

According to Mr Ram Kumar, General Manager, Value Divison, Redington Gulf, unified communications can help increase overall productivity of the African market.

“IT has a huge potential in Africa and professionals in Africa would benefit from the tried and tested technlogies available globally such as unified Communications”, he says.

As more businesses move towards converged platforms, unified communications remains the buzz word.

“I think the future is very exciting. A lot more people will be using voice and video conferencing to save on costs. The future is definitely unified communications”, enthuses Mr Parbhoo.

He says the East African region is ready for unified communication solutions.

“I have seen in this market the adoption of  more progresive technologies quicker than I have seen in more advanced countries. Whereas Africa lags behind in some cases, we can catch up very easily and even go to the front. It is amazing to see how fast so many banks, financial institutions and telcos have deployed these solutions. A lot more companies will also adopt them soon”, says Mr Parbhoo.  Mr Chager of Computer Revolution Africa concurs:

“Unified communications is the future. We either go with it or we are left behind. In Europe, companies are already giving their employees an option to work from home due to what we call presence”.

Employees to work from home?

But are employers in Africa ready to allow their employees to work from home? According to Mr Chager, this calls for a complete change of mindset, given that some employers still believe that workers can only deliver when they are physically present in the office.

“To me, it doesn’t matter whether you are in the office or working at home. As long as you know your job description and can deliver within deadlines, I don’t care where you are working from”, says Mr Chager.

While acknowledging that the cost of deploying unified communications solutions is an expensive affair, Mr  Kasule observes that the landing of the submarine cables will bring down the costs considerably.

“With the high bandwith, it will be cheaper and quicker to hold video conferences and save on travel expenses”, says Mr Kasule.

Bleak future for landline operators

Mr Charger paints a bleak future for landline operators with the advent of IP telephony.
“Given the high cost of laying and increased vandalism of cables, landlines will soon become obsolete, considering the low cost of making VoIP calls”.

However, Mr Pedersen argues that landline operators still have a crucial role to play. According to Mr him,  landline operators have an opportunity to provide infrastructure  to support the growth of unified communication solutions.