Dispelling UC Myths & Misunderstandings

Many companies, including resellers and end-users, still are struggling with the challenge of articulating why a unified communications solution makes sense. It’s safe to say that there are some broad misunderstandings about UC in general, and it’s safe to assume that selling a UC solution would be much easier if some of these misunderstandings were dispelled.

In this article we will explore some of the myths and misunderstandings associated with UC. These myths, which are based on erroneous yet well-socialized perceptions, have very little if any factual grounding yet have the potential to become a sore spot over the course of the sales process.

1. UC is a new technology. Sometimes it’s easy to treat natural technology evolutions as “new events.” The fact is, UC is simply the confluence of other technologies that have existed for a long, long time. Voice traffic was initially handled over circuit switched PSTN and now an ever-increasing amount of this traffic has moved over to the Internet. Today, thanks to advances in digitization, packet switching and other technologies, voice is virtually indistinguishable from other communications transported across the network. As a result, it becomes relatively simple to treat communications like any other application on the network.
2. UC requires a “rip and replace” approach. Not true. UC solutions can play nicely with existing PBX and IP infrastructure. As mentioned above, we’re talking about a natural evolution here, so many of the investments that have been made along the way still have an entirely valid place in your wiring closet. The important thing to remember here is that UC — in addition to being able to handle voice — interfaces for a variety of non-voice desktop applications making these existing investments many times more useful than they were in the past.
3. UC is more expensive than maintaining a TDM communications system. While there is always an investment needed to upgrade technology, there are many tangible returns when considering UC. For example, companies can significantly reduce their travel costs by realizing more effective communication capabilities across the network. Additionally, team members around the world can leverage and benefit from shared resources over the network rather than dedicated TDMs. UC also enables companies to save as much as a 30 percent reduction in phone bills (by using instant messaging), a 40 percent reduction in e-mails and a 15 percent reduction in voice mails. Greater efficiency equals cost savings — what TDM system offers these kinds of efficiencies?

     4. Justifying UC to CEOs and CIOs is an uphill battle. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is only the case for those who look at a UC implementation as simply a “technology sale.” CEOs and CIOs are under more pressure than ever to reduce expenses, streamline business processes and improve productivity. By enabling a flexible and scalable communications backbone that can integrate with existing technologies, companies have the potential to serve their customers with a much more personal experience. When you consider the functionality that UC enables — Web chat, file and document sharing, video and audio conferencing as well as traditional voice and e-mail capabilities — it’s easy to see how arming employees with such a centralized communication capability could strengthen customer ties. What CEO or CIO wouldn’t want that?

     5. UC is too complicated. More and more companies are adopting UC solutions, and in the next three years, the majority of enterprises already will have done so. Why? Because UC helps “untangle” the network and helps create a more integrated infrastructure that aligns with a particular organization’s business process. This ultimately means that employees and teams will be able to look beyond the technology challenges and focus on the business challenges.

Now that we’ve dispelled some common myths associated with UC, let’s review some of the benefits:

• Enterprises need to look at UC as a way in which they can tightly integrate their service offerings around their customers’ and employees’ needs and work habits.
• The powerful communication capabilities that UC enables not only improve employee effectiveness and productivity, but also have tremendous cost savings benefits.
• UC can help align an organization’s business process — and people — to help deliver the best value possible to customers.

The key point to take away is to look at a UC implementation as a means to streamline business processes and realize cost savings. The fastest way to lose the attention of a CIO is to try to sell UC without being able to articulate the underlying business value and cost benefits.

Duncan Potter is chief marketing officer for Westcon Group Inc., a specialty distributor of advanced network technology solutions.