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This story appeared on Network World at
http://www.networkworld.com/supp/2009/outlook/hottech/010509-nine-hot-techs-unified-communications.html

Unified communications: Hot technology for 2009

Unified communications is one of those technologies that's seemingly forever been on the verge of exploding but has never really become hot.

Maybe the reason is that the term "unified communications" means different things to different people. To the telecom manager, it means replacing the tried-and-true PBX with an IP-PBX from a traditional telephony hardware vendor or from an open source start-up - or maybe even jumping to a software-based platform from Microsoft.

To the desktop user, it means switching to an IP-based phone and taking advantage of a variety of such UC-based productivity applications as audio- and videoconferencing, instant messaging and presence, integrated voice and e-mail.
To BlackBerry-toting mobile workers, UC means being able to use the mobile devices to perform all the business functions associated with an office phone. They want calls made to their desktop phones to bounce to their mobile phones. They want to dial into the office and have their e-mails and voice mails read to them. They want all their devices to sync up seamlessly.

The good news is that all these features are available today from vendors including Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, Nortel and Siemens.
UC technology isn't setting the world on fire, but it is spreading inexorably across enterprise networks. Nemertes Research recently found that just 16% of the 120 companies it surveyed are doing nothing with UC. More than one-third (36%) are in an initial planning phase; 28% have a limited deployment of specific applications that make up the technology, or a full deployment to a limited number of people; and 19% have developed their strategies and are implementing the technology companywide.

What are the drivers of UC? Years ago, the decision was all about saving money and about moves, adds and changes. Last April, when Gartner asked early adopters to list the three biggest benefits of deploying UC, the top answers were employee collaboration, employee productivity and communication for distributed sites. Lower total cost of ownership came in last.

 

This story appeared on Network World at
http://www.networkworld.com/supp/2009/outlook/hottech/010509-nine-hot-techs-data-protection.html

Data protection: Hot technology for 2009

In today's world of mobile workers, teleworkers, thumb drives, BlackBerries and social-networking sites, IT executives can't worry about devices - they need to focus on protecting data wherever it is.

The obvious place to start - considering that an estimated 5,000 laptops are stolen or lost each year - is the laptop hard drive: It needs encryption. (Read a column about the Drive of shame.)

Software vendors and such open source projects as TrueCrypt offer whole disk encryption across all operating systems, and Microsoft offers disk encryption in Vista, so IT executives have no excuse for not encrypting laptop data. In addition, such hardware vendors as Fujitsu, Hitachi and Seagate Technology offer hardware-based disk encryption.

Another trouble spot is e-mail. A variety of e-mail encryption methods are available, but all of them run into the same problem - they require the recipient of the encrypted e-mail to go to a secure server and enter some form of identification before they can gain access to the decrypted e-mail. For most people, this is a nuisance that rises to the level of a deal-breaker

Another way to approach e-mail security is through data-loss prevention. DLP tools scan outgoing e-mails for such information as Social Security numbers, sensitive keywords or other possible breaches. Then they flag the offending e-mail. Companies dictate how offending e-mails are handled: They can be returned to the sender, bounced to an IT manager or encrypted.

DLP products, however, can be difficult to get right. That's because companies have to hammer out policies for determining which types of data need watching, what happens when an e-mail is flagged, and whether the individual user should be required to decide whether to encrypt specific e-mails or types of e-mails. For example, the CIO might not appreciate it when he sends an e-mail to the CFO and it gets flagged, bounced back or held up.

Other potential problem areas - everything from thumb drives to smartphones - abound. Nevertheless, vendors today are offering encrypted USB drives and business phones with encryption features. IT executives need to make data security a requirement every step of the way.

This story appeared on Network World at:  http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/10/26/HNciscovoip_1.html

 

VOIP boosted in Cisco PBX Encryption featured in CallManager upgrade

By Phil  Hochmuth Network World October 26, 2004

Cisco this week launched an upgrade to its CallManager IP PBX platform, broadening its encryption support for IP phones and other VoIP devices, such as VoIP gateways and voicemail servers. Version 4.1 of CallManager allows Cisco 7940G and 7960G IP phones to encrypt signaling and voice streams over an IP phone call. This can help organizations using VoIP to protect against IP phone eavesdropping or connection spoofing, the vendor says.

IP phone traffic encryption was first introduced to CallManager 4.0, which was released in February of this year. But the 4.1 software upgrade extends this encryption support across multiple Cisco VoIP products, such as voice gateways as well as the vendor’s Unity Unified Messaging voicemail platform.

Call encryption on Cisco VoIP gateways allows users in remote offices to conduct secure IP phone calls, whereas VoIP encryption was limited to only LAN-based IP phone users in the past. On the Unity platform, encryption can also be added to voice messaging traffic. This encryption can be used to help prevent malicious users from stealing voicemail files off of a corporate Unity server. It can also help prevent interception of voicemail streams as users communicate with a Unity server via a Cisco IP phone.

Also added to CallManager 4.1 is expanded Q.SIG support. First introduced in version 4.0, Q.SIS support allows a Cisco IP PBX to communicate with a legacy PBX via the Q.SIG protocol — a standard for PBX interoperability. Enactments in the new Cisco software allow CallManagers to talk to a wider array of PBXs and translate more features between the platforms, the vendor says.

Cisco CallManager 4.1 is a free upgrade for customers with CallManager 4.0 licenses.

 

This story appeared on Network World at
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/121008-cisco-unified-communications.html

Cisco to broaden unified communications package

SAN JOSE -- Cisco next year will unveil a new release of its unified communications software that will let companies more effectively collaborate with each other.

The new 2009 release will enable intercompany collaboration among business partners, suppliers and customers, according to Barry O’Sullivan, senior vice president of Cisco’s Voice Technology group. Currently, Cisco’s Unified Communications System 7.0, which was unveiled in September, enables companies to collaborate internally. “In 2009, you’ll see business-to-business unified communications” from Cisco, O’Sullivan said. “We have 60,000 customers and there’s a huge opportunity to connect them all over the Internet.”

O’Sullivan made his remarks during an interview at Cisco’s C-Scape analyst conference here this week.

Unified communications companies are currently hammering out standards for intercompany collaboration, O’Sullivan says. But those efforts will take a while, and Cisco will ship a prestandard intercompany version of its Unified Communications Systems next year, he says.

The software will let IT organizations configure security and quality of service policies for communications with companies they trust, O’Sullivan says. It will employ the Session Initiation Protocol for call set up and allow companies to establish presence “federations” for groups of collaborative workers.

Cisco’s WebEx Connect product, which also debuted last September, will be the tool by which these companies can federate, O’Sullivan says.

Cisco currently has prototypes to demonstrate the capabilities of the new software but no trials as yet. Target trial customers include those in the supply chain and manufacturing verticals, O’Sullivan says.

The system will allow users to build hybrid on-premises/on-demand intercompany collaboration networks which combine the capabilities of Cisco’s Unified Communications Manager IP telephony platforms and WebEx Internet conferencing system. Video will also be a key component of the system but may not be accessible from mobile devices due to bandwidth limitations of wireless networks, O’Sullivan says.

Sales of Cisco’s Unified Communications products grew 22% year-over-year in the company’s fiscal first quarter. Cisco has deployed 18 million IP business phones since entering the market in 1999; O’Sullivan says there’s an opportunity to deploy 320 million more.

 

This story appeared on Network World at
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2006/071706-hosted-voip-yes.html

Go with hosted VoIP rather than an IP PBX

My company focuses on one product: a hosted IP phone system. Here are 10 reasons clients give as to why hosted VoIP is better than an IP PBX:

1.) "We can focus on our core business." Smart companies focus on growing their business and don't have time to manage complicated IP PBXs.

2.) "IP PBXs can be hard to manage." Implementing the same phone system hundreds of times has taught hosted vendors how to avoid pitfalls of deploying VoIP. Companies also save time and resources because hosted providers use proactive and reactive monitoring systems to resolve problems faster than an in-house solution.

3.) "Our phone system is a service, not a product." Hosted providers develop long-term relationships with clients and have a vested interest in keeping them happy, instead of selling the system once and making more money on fixes or upgrades.

4.) "Our total cost of ownership is lower." The only equipment required for hosted VoIP is a switch, router and user handsets. Companies that buy and install an IP PBX face large upfront capital expenditures, as well as maintenance and upgrade costs.

5.) "Our phone calls are secure for remote employees." While an IP PBX uses unmanaged broadband connections to connect telecommuters to the phone system, hosted providers can leverage facilities and expertise to do this securely.

6.) "We can easily add/manage office locations." Hosted VoIP systems are designed for almost limitless scalability and can treat multiple locations as one office. The benefits of connecting all offices to the same phone system include the ability to share a centralized receptionist and use free four-digit dialing between locations.

7.) "There are fewer vendor headaches." A single point of contact eliminates finger-pointing among service providers. Clients deal with one vendor and one bill.

8.) "We have better insight into monthly telecom spending." Hosted solutions' flat monthly fees eliminate the guesswork of operating expensive IP PBXs, which require spending 10% to 15% above the purchase price for annual maintenance contracts.

9.) "We're guaranteed access to the latest technology." Hosted VoIP providers handle software upgrades at no additional charge. If a company purchases an IP PBX now, in a few years it will be stuck with an outdated phone system.

10.) "Hosted VoIP satisfies our business continuity and disaster-recovery needs." Hosted providers house their equipment in carrier-grade collocation facilities with high levels of resiliency, back-up power and advanced safety features. An IP PBX resides in the client's office where it is susceptible to emergencies such as fires, floods or natural disasters.

Companies looking to implement VoIP have two choices: hosted VoIP or an in-house IP PBX. Hosted VoIP simplifies life for the business executive, making it a better solution, especially for organizations without extensive IT resources.

This story appeared on VOIP_NEWS at

http://www.voip-news.com/news/why-customers-may-prefer-hosted-voip-050306/

Why Customers Prefer Hosted VoIP
 

Hosted VoIP can make sense for the right service provider.

By Theo Ludwick on May 3, 2006

If you are a service provider interested in providing VoIP to your customers, you essentially have two options: offer them premise-based equipment or provide them with a hosted service. It has been estimated by research group InfoTech that the hosted IP market will grow from $319 million in 2005 to $5.9 billion by 2010. Clearly the hosted market is growing, but why?

Traditionally, enterprises preferred premise-based equipment because of the control and possible long-term cost savings that such an arrangement afforded them. It is important to emphasize that, for enterprises where the ability to quickly modify telephony configurations is a mission-critical process, control over the telephony system should not be outsourced. However, for businesses that don't depend on the ability to quickly manage and configure their telephony system, the right hosted solution can offer advantages over traditional premise-based PBX.

Hosted PBX vs. Premise-Based PBX
The comparison between hosted PBX services and premise-based PBX services can be separated into four categories: Installation, Maintenance, Configuration Management, and Customized Application Development.

Installation

Hosted solutions are less likely to have post-installation problems because pre-installation site reviews are usually conducted by experts. Simply through a lack of experience, errors can be made in the course of a company's self-appraisal process. Further, hosted solutions require fewer customer premise elements. The combination of expert site reviews and less complex equipment installation can mean smoother transitions and decreases the need for trouble-shooting.

Because there is less need for customer participation in a hosted solution, hosted providers can provide a project time-frame with a good degree of accuracy. This benefits both customers and service providers by removing uncertainty in the deployment schedule.

Hosted services can be deployed on a line-by-line basis, which means that they are easily expandable. They allow for flexibility during the transition from premise-based equipment to a hosted service because they can co-exist with previously existing premise equipment. This means that an enterprise doesn't need to transition all of its equipment at the same time,which would usually be the case with a premise-based PBX. In this way, hosted transitions can be scheduled and implemented to best fit an enterprise's schedule.

In a hosted solution, initial capital expenditures are lower because the amount of customer-premise equipment is reduced.


Overall, the installation/implementation costs for hosted solutions are almost always lower than for premise based solutions. However, because hosted solutions do have recurring fees, the total cost of ownership on a multi-year basis should be evaluated to determine if this is creates an actual net saving over the planned operational life of the system.

Maintenance

With a hosted solution, any problems that do occur can sometimes be fixed more quickly because of the centralized nature of the service. Premise-based solutions often require a truck-roll (on-site visit) to the premise, a requirement that introduces a period of delay in any trouble-shooting endeavor. Hosted solutions circumvent this delay and can reduce down-time from a potential four hour minimum (which is often the case in a “truck-roll” scenario), to a few minutes. Further, hosted solutions usually have 24x7 monitoring and management. To get that same level of service in a premise-based solution can require a higher (and therefore more expensive) service level agreement.

Most maintenance contracts for hosted solutions are based around per-seat licenses, and only charge for seats in use. This contrasts with premise-based solutions, which often charge “per-active-port” fees. In the hosted situation, a customer only pays for what they use; in the premise-based solution, a customer pays for everything that they could use. The latter situation opens the door for increased costs.

Hardware and software upgrades can be managed more easily via a hosted solution than a premise-based solution. The vendor manages the upgrade and rolls it out once it is ready, making for a pain-free transition. On the other hand, hosted providers, while motivated to stay up-to-date, cannot roll out an improvement as fast as a premise-based solution where the update can be driven internally.

With a hosted solution, operational expenditures are made more predictable, which in turn aids in planning cash flow. With premise-based solutions, operational expenditures while usually lower, can also spike unpredictably when issues occur.

Maintenance issues can be more quickly and efficiently addressed in hosted solutions because the majority of equipment is centrally located. A premise based solution could achieve the same service speed if it maintained a set of expert technicians on-site, but the cost of that scenario would most likely be prohibitive.


Configuration Management

Most network configuration errors are caused by human error. In the hosted environment the likelihood of problems arising due to change can be reduced if the vendor is experienced and makes use of well-scripted change management procedures.

A customer doesn't have to worry about managing growth, because the service provider does that. Both increasing and decreasing capacity become a simple matter of contracts with a service provider, rather than buying or selling premise-based equipment. This flexibility can make a hosted solution more attractive to a customer. At the same time, it doesn't hurt service providers because excess resources can be transferred to other deployments.

However, configuration management is one of the areas in which a premise based solution can make more sense for a business. This will be the case if administrative functions or control are mission-critical to the success of the business.


Hosted solutions allow businesses to concentrate on the areas of their business that they do well, rather than having to expend resources on an area that someone else (a hosted provider) could do better.

Customized Application Development
In the past, one of the weakest areas for hosted solutions was their ability to support customized advanced applications. However, companies like LignUp, Broadsoft, Tekelec, and Sylantro now offer customer site API interfaces that bridge the gap considerably.

Conclusion
It is true that premise-based solutions allow customers to have the most control over their systems, but that control brings with it added costs associated with the responsibility for and management of premise equipment. Because of this, for many customers, the benefits of hosted telephony solutions will be greater than those associated with premise-based solutions. Finally, for those customers who like the idea of a hosted solution but want to maintain control over certain features, it is often possible to create umbrella solutions that combine both premise and hosted components.

As Bruce Young, Senior VP of Engineering for platform and application vendor LignUp, put it, “the trick is that it's not an either/or proposition. You want to have an outsourced solution that puts an umbrella over your in-house solution.” The best of both worlds, this situation allows customers to achieve the control they desire while still having the support provided by a hosted service. Whether it's a hybrid or a solely hosted solution, outsourced business telephony is an option many businesses should consider.