[LINK] Unified communication/collaboration
stephen at melbpc.org.au
stephen at melbpc.org.au
Thu Feb 21 01:19:06 AEDT 2013
Regards Skype .. the first Microsoft Lync 2013 unified comms conference:
http://lync.microsoft.com
"Microsoft Lync is an enterprise-ready unified communications platform.
Lync 2013 connects people everywhere, on Windows 8 and other devices, as
part of their everyday productivity experience. Lync provides a consistent,
single client experience for presence, instant messaging, voice, video and
a great meeting experience. Lync 2013 users can connect to anyone on Skype,
enabling rich communication with many millions of people around the world."
And http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/454277/ "Microsoft is launching new
capabilities in its Lync communication platform that ties Lync and Skype
together to enable HD video and audio call and Instant Messaging
interoperability as well as shared presence (and) room-based conferencing
systems Microsoft announced today at its Lync Conference 2013, the first
such conference. During the opening keynote Microsoft vice president of
Lync demonstrated VoIP over Wi-Fi and video on a Windows phone, as well as
on an Android phone and an iPhone. Another demo brought voice and video to
an iPad, a device that lacks native cellular voice support and video-
conferencing capabilities. With a larger screen than mobile phones, the
iPad can simultaneously display video of other meeting participants as well
as a whiteboard, desktop sharing or data presentations such as PowerPoint
slides.."
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Cisco are gearing up for a battle ..
Cisco Blog > The Platform, "What Really Matters in Collaboration"
By Rowan Trollope, February 18, 2013 at 5:00 am PST
http://blogs.cisco.com/news/what-really-matters-in-collaboration
On the eve of Microsofts first Lync User Conference, I think its a great
time to start a frank and direct conversation about whats changed in
collaboration and, because of those changes, whats really important for IT
decision makers to consider as they evaluate collaboration vendors and
solutions. This conversation, which Im confident will spark a lively and
healthy debate, will last for weeks and will include input from a variety
of Cisco Collaboration leaders.
So, to start, what has changed in collaboration?
At the macro level, I would argue that collaboration has evolved from a
tolerated office tool into the single most important technology investment
that an organization can make.
Why?
Because the next breakthrough levels of performance and productivity needed
in business wont come from a better-looking web portal or a bigger Inbox
theyll come from the ability to tap into the collective knowledge and
creativity of our people.
But, heres the catch: not all collaboration solutions are designed to help
people engage the way they want to engage, and theyre also not architected
from the ground up to cater to ITs needs and requirements.
Customers tell us time and again that a modern collaboration platform needs
to deliver more than the basics like IM, conferencing and VoIP.
It needs to offer flexibility and choice in support of trends such as BYOD
(Bring Your Own Device), high-quality video, and cloud-based deployments
(private, public, hybrid, and hosted).
The modern collaboration platform needs to be usable not just by office
workers but by anyone, from physicians to customer care agents, executives,
mobile and desk-less workers. And it needs to be as complete of a solution
as possible including the underlying infrastructure, a wide choice of
compatible endpoints, and world-class support and maintenance to maximize
business and IT value.
Which brings me back to Microsoft and Lync. We believe that a solution
thats primarily been developed for a desktop PC user experience is less
able to meet these wider post-PC requirements than one that has been
designed and optimized for them from the outset.
For instance, Microsofts approach with Lync leaves out several important
collaboration elements many enterprise organizations find critical today
such as phones, video endpoints, voice and video gateways, networking and
cloud PSTN connections. These components need to be procured, integrated
and supported separately for those who choose to use Lync. And, in our
opinion, that could lead to increased complexity, cost and risk, not to
mention the hours spent trying to figure out whos on first when
troubleshooting is an issue.
There are other important topics that we think should also be discussed.
Does your collaboration vendor have any conflict of interest with other
BYOD device vendors? Can you move from an in-house deployment to a cloud-
based service and get the same functionality? We would encourage you to
explore these points with us and any other vendors you are considering.
As mentioned earlier, this is a discussion that cant be wrapped up in one
blog. Thats why were making this the first of a series of posts where
Cisco leaders will examine questions like these, comparing Ciscos approach
to enterprise collaboration with Microsofts, highlighting a different
topic in every post.
You will also hear (and can read about) about the results of a global
survey released today where 3200 IT leaders pinpointed what really matters
to them when it comes to enabling collaboration in the enterprise. And, to
complement these discussions, starting today, you will find an entire
microsite dedicated to this conversation, which we hope will help in your
evaluation efforts. There you will find customer case studies, research
reports and a variety of other materials.
Again, as I stated from the beginning, Im quite sure some of it will
generate controversy but thats OK its a conversation worth having in
our opinion, and we welcome your comments.
To reiterate, I believe that technology specifically designed to improve
the collective creativity and productivity of the workforce is a critical
investment, and one that shouldnt be left to a narrow decision based on a
convenient licensing bundle, or a capability such as desktop IM.
Thanks for reading, and we look forward to the debate. Rowan
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