Unified Communications
February 6th, 2009Unified Communications is another commonly (mis)used techno term. Like many technical concepts, the aspiration is far ahead of the reality with marketing departments running rampant through R & D departments in search of the next big thing. However there is a clear trajectory emerging which traces its path from simple telephony through email and messaging, mobile and presence, leading to VoIP and IP technologies.
The idea that all methods of communications could converge on a single device is beginning to crystallise, particularly with new phones like the iPhone providing email, text, instant messaging and of course voice. One missing ingredient has been a single portal to manage the availability of each method – a concept such as presence which enables a prospective caller to determine how best to make contact – email or voice, instant message or text. This is beginning to emerge with applications which log on to all your IM services along with your VoIP service provider and can show prospective callers which contact options are available.
Blueface was founded in Dublin in 2004 to provide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone services to the Irish & UK Markets. As this telephone service works over a broadband connection, the availability and quality of broadband is central to the success of VoIP. Although the provision of broadband continues to be a hot topic for debate, there has been a marked improvement in the past 2 years. (ADSL2+ and SDSL, Wireless, 3G) .The increased availability of un-contended broadband connections in particular has been a very welcome development for business customers who are considering adopting VoIP for their Business. There are a number of reasons to adopt VoIP including improving efficiency and reducing costs.
VoIP provides the ability to obtain international geographic numbers and route them to any other phone, anywhere in the world. Hence a Virtual office in the US or UK, or even China is both cheap and simple. Re-routing out of hours calls to mobile phones or enabling teleworking is greatly simplified and becomes almost trivial. Getting voicemail delivered by email or free call conferencing are just some of the immediate benefits of VoIP. Combine this with a good IP device, particularly a mobile device and suddenly Unified Communications becomes part of the present rather than the future.
For those ISP’s wishing to provide VoIP themselves, Blueface have developed a white label platform that enables a company to offer these services under their own corporate brand. Several Irish ISP’s are already providing a telephone service to their customers using the Blueface White Label Platform. The White Label concept enables ISP’s to move along the unified communications trajectory by adding VoIP services to their existing portfolio, and enabling their customers to start reaping the benefits of the latest communications tools.
The cost benefit analysis for a white label platform is often only evident after an ISP has tried the in-house development route. Many of the Blueface customers tried this route and realised after many months, and sometimes years, that it is far more difficult to provide VoIP than it at first appears. While setting up an open source platform for a hundred users is relatively simple, supporting tens of thousands of users and providing them with a reliable telephone service using a broadband connection is extremely difficult. Hence the white label route is both a quick and a cost effective means of getting to market. Adding VoIP to an existing broadband service is also one of the best means of increasing customer retention.
There is no doubt that within the next few years unified communications will cease to exist as an aspiration and most devices will support Instant Messaging, VoIP and Internet connectivity. Until then it is still possible to get the benefits in advance with a good VoIP and broadband provider, and if you’re reasonably tech savvy you can get going now with devices like the N-series Nokia phones, the iPhone and some of the latest Samsungs. You can get a free VoIP trial account at Blueface Free Trial along with instructions on how to configure many of these latest devices. If you haven’t got one, you can still try out VoIP with a softphone on your PC, or buy an ATA to convert an existing phone – free and a cheap options respectively to getting started in Unified Communications.
Feargal Brady Blueface Ltd
















