DiVitas CEO Vivek Khuller has walked the enterprise social networking walk, and now it’s time for him to talk the talk – by speaking at next week’s Enterprise 2.0 conference that is.
Vivek is participating in the “Future of Social Networking in the Enterprise” panel at the Enterprise 2.0 conference in San Francisco. Others on the panel include Avaya, IBM, Socialtext, Yammer and Voxeo Corporation.
The panel is described as addressing the following issue: “.. the rapid rise of social messaging services such as Twitter creates challenges and opportunities for end-user organizations. How can end-user organizations utilize social messaging to improve external and internal collaboration? What's the role of social messaging in a unified communications and collaboration architecture and how are UC&C vendors incorporating social messaging into their products? How can organizations embrace social messaging in a way that is consistent with needs for security, governance and compliance? Will the rise of public social messaging services render investments in unified communications moot?”
In context of enterprise social networking, Vivek will be talking about how DiVitas mobilizes the existing deskphone number and integrates it on a smartphone with IM and social-networking applications (Mobile Presence and Status). DiVitas Enterprise Social Networking enables colleagues to stay engaged and to connect with one another on first attempt and in real-time.
Expanding on TechTarget’s article, Presence, IM power mobile UC with or without fixed mobile convergence – absolutely! DiVitas agrees that being able to broadcast your Mobile Presence and Status is the best way to ensure you connect with colleagues on the first try. In fact, we’ve developed our Enterprise Social Networking solution around this issue.
However, not all Mobile Presence is created equal. DiVitas’ Presence technology provides a uniquely deep level of information about an individual’s availability. For Presence to be truly useful, it must convey far more than simply “available or unavailable.”
Mobile Presence is displayed on the DiVitas phone’s interface as an icon similar to Yahoo IM (showing a happy face to say if you are available, not available.) However, DiVitas' Presence icon also shows whether you are reachable by voice or IM chat, or maybe you are temporarily on a call, and you are all together unavailable for communication (in which case calls go straight to voicemail).
DiVitas Mobile Presence also communicates a person’s location, activity and network connectivity. Various Presence components allow people to obtain information about others and use that information to engage in the most efficient and economical way. For example, if I can see via your Mobile Presence that you are in London and on cellular, I would much rather IM you than talk -- to save on international calls. However if I know we are both on WiFi, I could choose to talk instead because the call is a free WiFi call and I might prefer a voice conversation.
Status message is coupled with the Mobile Presence icon on a DiVitas smartphone, which provides an additional level of detail to availability about where you are and what you are doing (i.e. at the airport waiting for a 5pm flight). Indicating the window of opportunity for a call or chat is powerful knowledge and a great contributor in the quest to reduce missed calls and connect on the first attempt.
DiVitas takes the Presence and mobile Instant Messaging (IM) aspect of Mobile UC farther by making it an Enterprise Social Networking platform. By mobilizing the business number onto a mobile phone and tying it to voice, IM and Social Networking - Mobile Presence and Status - DiVitas ensures that the mobile workforce is always reachable, whether individuals are in- or out-of-office.
In her article, TechTarget’s Jessica Scarpati writes: “Mobile unified communications (UC) has become more than just voice over Wi-Fi [and cellular]. Enterprises can improve communication and collaboration by investing in other mobile UC applications, such as presence and IM that can integrate with smartphones, whether enterprises rely on their cellular data networks or fixed-mobile convergence to do so."
(Footnote: The key thing is that these mobile social networking tools must be integrated. Just having a bunch of tools on your phone does not provide total story.)
Agreeing with TechTarget’s Scarpati, Vanessa Alvarez, a unified communications analyst at Frost & Sullivan, is quoted as saying: "…the last [place] you want [employees] to be is behind a desk. You want them on the move, but at the same time you want them connected as if they were in the office."
Alvarez also says: “… as [presence] evolves it'll state what you're doing and the best way to reach you.”
Well, Vanessa, Mobile Presence has evolved and it is here today. Welcome to DiVitas.
Delivering Mobile UC (deskphone number, social networking, voice and IM) onto smartphones as a Web-based application lets organizations inexpensively transform themselves into a secure collaborative, mobile community.
The business market is currently underserved on both the mobility and social networking fronts –frequently leaving billions of employees out of touch and unproductive. Without mobile phones, colleagues can’t collaborate with one another when they are away from their desk, which makes it difficult to do their jobs. And all too often employees close the mobility gap by using their personal phones for business communication.
The fact is, only 30% of the people using their mobile phone for work get compensated. On the other hand almost everyone is provided a desk phone for use at work.
Given that total mobile market penetration in the US has almost reached 90%, there is a massive benefit to mobilizing existing work deskphones on to smartphones. This will give people single number reach, letting them use the same device to make and receive business and/or personal calls.
By using a Web-based Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC) app to deliver deskphone number, social networking (Mobile Presence and Status), voice and IM (mobile Instant Messaging) onto personal smartphones, companies reduce cellular costs while gaining productivity. This is because these businesses gain mobile VoIP while avoid having to buy additional smartphones for non-mobilized employees.
At the same time they have the assurance of enterprise security because the Mobile UC solution is delivered to personal mobile devices as a Web app that is under IT control. Just as with phones on the PBX system, only authorized users with a PBX managed extension or DID can be part of the community.
In addition to mobilizing their deskphone numbers, users have access to social messaging tools that create a collaborative community that is equally secure.
Mobile Presence is displayed on the phone’s interface (icon similar to Yahoo IM showing a happy face to say if you are available, not available, etc.), which communicates a person’s location, availability, activity and network connectivity. Various Presence components allow people to obtain information about others and use that information to engage in the most efficient and economical way. For example, if I can see via your Presence that you are in London and on cellular, I would much rather IM you than talk (to save on international dialing costs). However, if your Mobile Presence information said that you were on WiFi, I could choose to talk because the call is free and I might prefer a voice conversation.
Status – a Status message is coupled with the Mobile Presence icon to give an additional level of detail to availability about where you are and what you are doing (i.e. at the airport waiting for a 5pm flight).
Secure Social Networking - Similar to corporate email, this is a closed, enterprise 2.0 solution so access is limited to authorized group of people (colleagues within your organization).
Mobile devices by their very nature (first-and-foremost a communications device) are the perfect delivery platform for integrating voice, IM and the deskphone number with secure social networking. Using a Web-based solution, companies can securely mobilize more of their workforce – and realize the benefits of mobile enterprise mobility and collaboration – without purchasing additional phones for every individual.
Anybody second guessing the benefits of telecommuting is in for some enlightenment. Networking giant Cisco – and the $10 million annual savings it’s enjoying by letting employees work from home – is proof that telecommuting works as advertised. It helps reduce mobile telecom costs.
According to a recentNetworkWorld article, Cisco Sends Employees Home to Work, the networking giant has already realized productivity savings of $277 million thanks to its 18-month-old telework program. The company based its productivity savings on the “number of billed hours at an average of $91 per hour.”
Ironically, the original intent behind Cisco’ Telework program – a program requested by CEO John Chambers and which began with 20,000 employees – was to “… evaluate the social, economic and environmental impacts associated with telecommuting …”, according to NetworkWorld. The actual cost savings, says Cisco, are a bonus.
While Cisco’s productivity savings are significant, just imagine if you were to add DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC), which runs seamlessly in a Cisco environment, to the telecommuting equation. You would begin to see hard cost savings from reduced cellular costs as well.
For example, because a DiVitas smartphone behaves just like a deskphone (carries the corporate phone number and performs call forward, extension dialing, etc.), telecommuters would be reachable by a single device – a mobile phone that runs over WiFi, which would result in several telecom cost reducing benefits:
Free WiFi phone calls - callers benefit from free international calls on WiFi and local calls on WiFi.
Only one device (a smartphone) needs to be purchased and managed for each telecommuter.
Companies can discontinue subsidizing home-phone service for telecommuters.
Costly cellular data plans are only necessary for highly mobile telecommuters i.e. sales; telecommuters working strictly from a home office can place and receive voice calls strictly via WiFi.
In addition to traditional desktop collaboration tools used for enabling telecommuting programs, DiVitas offers specific Mobile UC-related benefits:
Single Number reach and Caller ID on the DiVitas handset shows the company direct dial number – nobody knows that the individual is working from home.
Has integrated mobile social networking capabilities such as Mobile Presence and mobile Instant Messaging (IM) and Status message.
Is integrated with the corporate directory, so placing a call or addressing an email or IM can be done directly from the smartphone interface.
Supports Dual Persona, which allows personal calls to be routed through a native cellular number (Personal Persona) and business calls to be routed through a mobile phone (Business Persona ); highly mobile telecommuters need only carry one device.
Supports Fixed Mobile Convergence (seamless roaming), allowing phones calls to hand off seamlessly between WiFi and cellular.
Has landline-like voice quality over WiFi.
Is under IT control and supports remote over the air (OTA) installation, configuration and update management.
Supports Visual Voicemail and Single Voicemail Inbox, allowing individuals to retrieve messages directly from their smartphones and eyeball which messages have priority status.
Cisco’s telecommuting results are very promising in the argument for companies instituting telecommuting policies.
According to NetworkWorld, “91% of the nearly 2,000 respondents to a late 2008 survey [of Cisco] believed the ability to telecommute is “somewhat or very important” to their overall satisfaction on the job.”
Also, “69% of employees surveyed cited higher productivity when working from home and 75% said the timeliness of their work improved.”
Like Cisco, we at DiVitas practice what we preach – we use our own solution to the point that our company can share the news about productivity and cost-savings benefits.
DiVitas is rolling with the social networking trends, adding Facebook to the list of venues letting you know what we’re up to (i.e. website, blog and newsletter).
In addition to providing you with lively (news and fun!) information about DiVitas and its team, our Facebook page will keep you posted on what's happening in the Mobile Unified Communications industry.
About DiVitas
DiVitas offers Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC), an enterprise-class application, which is comprised of several individual technologies:
Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) for seamless roaming over WiFi and cellular networks.
Unified Communications (UC), which enables Presence, Status Update messages (micro-blogging), Instant Messaging (IM) and Visual Voicemail.
Smartphones such as the Nokia ESeries (E71), devices that carry the business (deskphone) number and enable single-number reach when mobile.
Integration with the corporate PBX, which enables smartphones to behave like deskphones (extension dialing, calll forward, call hold, etc.).
WiFi support (corporate, home office or public hotspot), which enables free WiFi calling (domestic and international).
Support for cellular networks, which means deskphone functions and UC apps available via DiVitas smartphones are extended to mobile workers, regardless of location (in the office or on the road).
Earlier this month Avaya made a major announcement, naming DiVitas as its preferred dual-mode solution. This is exciting news for the Mobile Unified Communications space given Avaya’s size (number one in North America’s PBX market) – and given the fact that DiVitas is a startup company in an hot market.
And if that news wasn’t exciting enough, we already have a joint customer to talk about – a leading railroad company based in Jacksonville, Fla. – to demonstrate how the integrated Avaya-DiVitas solution can save companies $10,000+ dollars per month in cellular costs. Free WiFi phone calls go a long way toward reduced cellular costs and creating affordable telecommunications.
Freightrail-giant CSX has turned to Avaya and DiVitas to help reduce cellular calling costs and eliminate multiple handsets used by train operations personnel who roam the workplace and communicate frequently on urgent events.
For more than five years, Dori Meade, senior telecom architect for voice systems at CSX, sought a wireless dual-mode solution to reduce communications costs and eliminate the need for users to carry multiple mobile devices. One long-standing business need has been to enable rail operations employees at the Jacksonville train dispatch center to be instantly reachable to help resolve urgent problems that might slow on-time arrival or reduce safety margins. Routine duties in the dispatch center often cause key personnel to be away from their desks.
CSX supported these workers with both desk phone and cell phone, but cell coverage was spotty in the hardened facility. In the late 1990’s, CSX deployed a carrier-based in-building cellular antenna system to solve the problem. Then five years ago when the in-building cellular system was no longer supported, CSX began to explore the possibility of dual-mode capabilities. At the time, a stable dual-mode solution was not yet available and CSX adopted a 900-Mhz in-building only voice solution instead. Handling multiple devices and contact numbers remained a nuisance for the users.
From a cost-control perspective, users did not always use the lower-cost 900-Mhz handset and expensive cell minutes were still consumed in-building. Besides adding cost, the multiple systems did not provide a seamless mobile communications experience or the unified communications (UC) functionality that CSX was looking to adopt.
Last year, a solution meeting Meade’s goals became possible. As CSX standardized and began to deploy a popular wireless LAN offering, she also learned about the dual-mode telephony capability of DiVitas Networks’ Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC) solution. At the same time, upgrades to Avaya Communication Manager were underway, which will eventually support more than 5,000 Jacksonville employees.
They linked to the DiVitas Mobile UC solution via Avaya’s SIP Enablement Services and the result is that Avaya user extensions are transparently supported on a dual-mode mobile phone. The Mobile Unified Communications solution gives mobile users the ability to access corporate enterprise voice communications via WiFi on CSX premises with a single device via a single number. The solution further enables WiFi access from home or potentially from any WiFi hotspot and takes advantage of seamless roaming between WiFi and cellullar to avoid call interruption.
Today users at the dispatch center connect to the system through Nokia dual-mode E-51 and E-71 handsets loaded with the DiVitas Client. When dispatch managers are on the move, DiVitas automatically makes roaming decisions between WiFi and cellular networks to sustain the call, using the best voice quality and least-cost connection available. Meade identifies a potential rollout to hundreds of campus employees over the next two years as the Avaya Communication Manager upgrades are completed.
Savings from reduced cellular minutes: With dual-mode communications, cell plan minutes can be substantially reduced for on-campus mobile workers and even more so for field-workers. CSX calculates it has the potential to reduce cellular calling costs by ten to thirty percent, and foresees that a single user community within the company could alone generate savings of up to $10,000 per month.
Mobilized deskphone, Presence and Instant Messaging: The DiVitas Mobile UC solution gives access to Avaya Communication Manager features including call transfer and conferencing, as well as access to CSX’s low-cost long distance and international calling plan. The DiVitas solution also includes Unified Communications capabilities such as mobile Presence and mobile Instant Messaging (IM) to provide yet more options for improving reachability and productivity among mobile workers. Visual Voicemail is another feature users can take advantage of in their quest for affordable mobile telecommunications and a fast Fixed Mobile Convergence ROI.
One number for all your calls (single number reach): CSX professionals can manage their availability when away from the office and can receive their calls via their corporate number on their DiVitas dual-mode handset. Callers don’t need to know CSX workers’ cell numbers or home numbers, enhancing privacy, security and work-life balance. When calls are unanswered, the call is delivered to the corporate Avaya voicemail system, not the cell phone voicemail. This eliminates the wasteful (time and money) practice of missed calls and having to check multiple locations for business messages.
CSX is an innovator when it comes to being a green transportation company, and it makes it a priority to reduce its footprint on our planet. Now CSX is following this same green strategy with it's cost-reducing mobile-communications strategy.
RIM is a proven winner in the market for enterprise smartphones. And DiVitas is the leader in Mobile Unified Communications. You stated the need to offer this technology to your customers in your interview with Financial Times'Ingrid Lunden. Why reinvent the wheel? Integration between DiVitas and Blackberry will enable you to quickly deliver a competitive edge in a cutthroat market.
We are convinced this would be a win-win for both parties. And judging by your comments about discussions with CIOs, you probably agree. “There is a “real urgency” around wanting more mobile unified communications … having the ability to integrate the BlackBerry devices with their existing PBXs,” you told Ms. Lunden.
Your perceived demand among your customers for Mobile UC/PBX integration makes perfect sense to us. We know CIOs want to reduce their mobile communications costs. At the same time, they want to make their employees more reachable. Mobile Unified Communications (Fixed Mobile Convergence technology combined with Unified Communications apps) lets companies reach these goals (cost cutting and increased mobility) by providing several capabilities:
1- WiFi calling to reduce monthly telecom bills (WiFi minutes don’t count against the cell plan):
WiFi calls placed or received on-campus calls are free.
International calls are free when placed or received over WiFi.
WiFi calls placed or received from hotspots (home office, airport, coffee shop, hotel, etc.) are free.
Mobile users can additionally create their own WiFi hotspot in any hotel room with WiFi – they can place free calls via WiFi and use their laptops simultaneously.
Bridge vendors (who can charge thousands of dollars per month) can be eliminated by using DiVitas for free, in-house bridge lines for conference calling (international and local).
Support for the Single-Number Reach capability makes a mobile device behave like a deskphone. This means mobile workers are available by a single phone number – the deskphone number – which results in fewer missed calls and helps eliminate the waste of expensive cell minutes
3- Companies leverage their existing communications investment:
Deploying voice over the existing WLAN gives companies more bang for the WiFi buck.
PBX integration provides support for existing deskphone features (call forward, extension dialing, call waiting, etc.).
Mobile workers are available as if they were seated at their desks, regardless of where they are located (on-campus, in cellular mode or in a WiFi hotspot) when they place or receive calls.
4- Taking advantage of productivity gains through Unified Communications applications:
Presence ensures that mobile workers are consistently reachable by allowing them to broadcast their availability and how best to be reached (phone, text, not available, etc.).
Micro-blogging provides status details about where the mobile worker is and what they are doing (in a meeting, catching a flight, in the office, at the dentist, etc.).
Instant Messaging (IM) can replace expensive text messaging for brief, discreet communication … but at no additional cost (provided there is a data plan).
Visual Voicemail allows mobile users to eyeball messages sitting in their inbox, and decide which should be read first. This saves expensive cellular minutes and time.
Single Voicemail Inbox Managementmeans that mobile workers have only one voicemail inbox to manage -- the corporate mobile phone and corporate deskphone inboxes are one and the same.
Mr. Balsillie, the smartphone market is white-hot right now. And RIM needs to act quickly to maintain Blackberry’s position as the leading enterprise smartphone. There’s no quicker way to getting there than by dropping a proven solution into the Blackberry mix and offering it to your existing and prospective customers ASAP.
If you are one of the myriad organizations feeling the brunt of this economic downturn, it seems like you should be able to qualify for an Economic Stimulus Package. But you can’t qualify unless you are part of the elite: A cash-strapped bank who gave out bad loans, an automaker who totally took its eye off the ball, a local or state government whose tax revenues just dried up. Or you need to be in the business of creating a green revolution, in the business of curing the incurable...
But if you are just trying to run a decent enterprise that is forced to control costs and increase productivity to survive this downturn, sorry, you are on your own. There ain't no Economic Stimulus Package to bail you out. The average Joe-Enterprise has to bail itself out in order to survive and emerge out of this downturn.
If this describes your organization, it's very likely that you are making the tough choices of downsizing your workforce and of lowering your other operating costs. You know that you've got to live with this economic mess for some time to come. And amid all this, you have also come to realize that the only way you are going to maintain and grow your customers and revenues is by making the most of your surviving employees. In short, you must learn to use the double-edged sword of cutting the costs while maintaining, or increasing, productivity.
But things are not as impossible as they seem. At least not when it comes to controlling your telecommunications cost. There are some valuable tools out there to help you cut your enterprise communication cost while actually increasing your employee productivity in the process. And the Mobile Unified Communications solution from DiVitas Networks, for one, has the right ingredients to help make this happen. DiVitas provides an enterprise with several means for slashing costs while still unleashing employee productivity:
1- Free WiFi calling to reduce monthly telecom bills:
WiFi calls placed or received on-campus calls are free.
International calls are free when placed or received over WiFi.
WiFi calls placed or received from hotspots (home office, airport, coffee shop, hotel, etc.) are free.
Mobile users can additionally create their own WiFi hotspot in any hotel room with WiFi – they can place free calls via WiFi and use their laptops simultaneously.
Bridge vendors (who can charge thousands of dollars per month) can be eliminated by using DiVitas for free, in-house bridge lines for conference calling (international and local).
2- Taking advantage of productivity gains through Unified Communications applications:
Presence ensures that mobile workers are consistently reachable by allowing them to broadcast their availability and how best to be reached (phone, text, not available, etc.).
Micro-blogging provides status details about where the mobile worker is and what they are doing (in a meeting, catching a flight, in the office, at the dentist, etc.).
Instant Messaging (IM) can replace expensive text messaging for brief, discreet communication … but at no additional cost (provided there is a data plan).
Visual Voicemail allows mobile users to eyeball messages sitting in their inbox, and decide which should be read first. This saves expensive cellular minutes and time.
Single Inbox Management means that mobile workers have only one voicemail inbox to manage because the corporate mobile phone and corporate deskphone inboxes are one and the same.
3- Companies leverage their existing communications investment:
Deploying voice over the existing WLAN gives companies more bang for the WiFi buck.
PBX integration provides support for existing deskphone features (call forward, extension dialing, call waiting, etc.). Mobile workers are available as if they were seated at their desks, regardless of where they are located (on-campus, in cellular mode or in a WiFi hotspot) when they place or receive a call.
4- Mobile workers carry a single device and a single number to make them consistently reachable:
Support for the Single-Number Reach capability makes a mobile device behave like a deskphone. This means mobile workers are available by a single phone number – the deskphone number – which results in fewer missed calls and helps eliminate the waste of expensive cell minutes.
DiVitas doesn’t yet have President Obama’s ear, so we don’t have control over where the U.S. government’s economic-stimulus dollars are spent. But we do offer a bailout … Silicon-Valley style. Companies deploying the DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications solution can dramatically reduce their cell phone bills without sacrificing productivity. And they can realize ROI in a matter of months. Now that’s some stimulating news!
Unified Communications (UC) is making headlines this week thanks to IBM’s surprisingly popular Lotusphere 2009 conference. I say “surprisingly” given the economic slowdown, slashed travel budgets and the general trend toward low-attendee turnout at conferences.
But regardless of the woeful business news, IBM claims Lotusphere conference attendance was actually up 2 percent this year. And this increase was testimony to just how strategic collaboration has become to corporations, according to a No Jittercolumn posted by Yankee Group’s Zeus Kerravala.
“Providing the right access to the right user community as fast as possible is absolutely strategic to organizations and the mood and atmosphere at the conference indicated that,” says Kerravala.
The show’s main theme was collaboration, and IBM’s Sametime Unified Communications software (which integrates Presence, IM, email, telephony, etc.) was the center attraction. Considering Unified Communications is half of the DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC) solution name, we think this is pretty important stuff.
Kerravala also predicts that very soon – considering how feature-rich smartphones are getting and how much mobile networks are improving – workers will simply have a laptop and mobile phone to work with, and all the stuff on the desk will go away. “Many users I talk to say they really only use their desk phones to pick up voicemail (unless they have Unified Messaging, then the phone sits idle).”
Additionally, No Jitter’s Eric Krapf posted an interesting column from Lotusphere. In his post, Krapf cites some solid ROI figures on Unified Communications. IBM’s generic case study was comprised of a 5,000-employee deployment of Lotus Sametime Unified Communications software, at a cost of $450,000 for software, servers, administration and installation. IBM claims that:
The more efficient communications of Sametime saved that group of employees 5 telephone calls a day, at 2 cents a minute and 4 minutes per call.
Annual savings would be $480,000 (achieving ROI by a $30K margin).
Avoiding international roaming would save an additional $95,000 a year.
Integrating Presence with the company website for customer self service was additionally estimated to save $120,000 in contact center expenses.
These are interesting figures, especially when you consider that a mobility component – seamless roaming between WiFi and cellular networks (Fixed Mobile Convergence) – would further benefit any company looking for competitive gains from deploying Unified Communications. The additional cost savings from being able to place free WiFi calls whenever you are in range of a wireless LAN (WLAN) really adds up.
ROI blog series (#4 of 4):DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications can achieve ROI based on international toll-cost savings alone.
Professionals living outside the United States pay incredibly high cellular costs on outbound calls. But inbound calls are significantly less expensive -- and in some cases even free. Transparent Callback™ is a capability offered by DiVitas that lowers the cost of outbound cellular calls, making them equal to the cost of inbound calls. International travelers can take advantage of Transparent Callback while traveling on business as well. But it is important to note that in order to benefit from the lower incoming call rate (and avoid additional cellular roaming charges); the caller must have a SIM for the country in which the caller is currently located within and calling from.
How Transparent Callback works
As stated in my previously posts in this blog series, calls placed via DiVitas are always executed and managed by the DiVitas server. This process enables the DiVitas server to honor rules and policies that have been instituted by the PBX. It also allows DiVitas to bypass the expensive cellular carrier in many cases
When an individual places a call via the DiVitas client, it initiates a call request to the DiVitas server.
The request is processed by the DiVitas Unified Communications server, which then simultaneously places one call to the intended recipient and one call back to the originating requestor. This happens transparently to the caller and is performed in a matter of seconds. Technically both the caller and the recipient are now communicating via two inbound calls.
All outbound calls made internationally in this manner using DiVitas are now billed as inbound calls – which are significantly less expensive (or even free) than the outbound call would be. It is interesting to note that Transparent Callback is used for virtually all calls placed through DiVitas, but because of the fee structure imposed by international carriers, it is only those calls where the savings is so significant.
ROI blog series (# 3 of 4):DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications can achieve ROI based on international toll-cost savings alone.
A fact of life companies have to deal with today is the fact that cellular roaming charges jack up the cost of international business travel. However, not placing that business call because it’s expensive is not an option. As we all know, maintaining communication is what keeps business moving.
In my last blog, I addressed free international dialing from the U.S. and now we're going to tackle the free costs associated with the "oh-so" convenient hotspot calling. (Our cost-comparison charts in this blog series are very illuminating, so be sure to scroll down and check them out. Also, click on links to related blogs on his topic.)
There is a solution to this business challenge. The way to avoid high cellular charges while travelling internationally is to place calls over WiFi using a DiVitas Mobile Unified Communication handset vs. standard cell-only device (which lack Unified Communications ass i.e. Presnce and IM). Although it is difficult to predict when and where WiFi will be available when in mobile mode (traveling internationally or domestically), there are two ways an individual can avoid roaming to cellular, hence saving companies gobs of money:
• Find a WiFi Hotspot • Create a WiFi Hotspot
Finding WiFi Hotspots
Business professionals can find WiFi hotspots in several locations while traveling – both domestically and internationally. Travelers will find WiFi hotspots (enabled gy seamless roaming, which is enabled by fixed mobile convergence etechnology) in some airports and in public places such as coffee shops and book stores. Although some of these WiFi connections are private and require a password, many are public and do not. (There are solutions that automatically log you in to WiFi networks that you regularly visit. For more info read Current Analysis analyst Brian Riggs' blog addressing partners that enable DiVitas' hotspot flexibility). Some hotels offer WiFi in public areas, such as the lobby, that can easily be leveraged for free. Leveraging free WiFi hotspots enables calls to be made at zero cost to the calling party, significantly reducing cellular costs while traveling.
Creating a WiFi Hotspot
Anyone who has WiFi at home has essentially created their own personal WiFi Hotspot and reap the benefits of Mobile VoIP, regardless of location. Home WiFi can be both protected and unprotected based on the decision to or not to enable security. Hotspots can be created anywhere there is access to live Ethernet/Internet connection. It is easy to create a WiFi hotspot in any hotel room where the establishment offers in-room WiFi – either free or for a nominal charge. All that is needed is a portable Wireless Ethernet router and a live Ethernet cable. Simply plug the cable into the wireless router and proceed to make free mobile calls over WiFi. A laptop can simultaneously share the wireless router with a DiVitas Mobile UC client, allowing the caller to participate in calls where a laptop computer is needed to display supportive information, such as slides.
ROI blog series (#2 of 4):DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications can achieve ROI based on international toll-cost savings alone.
As I mentioned in my previous blog, making international calls from a mobile phone is a standard part of many jobs. There are numerous situations where it’s simply not practical to wait until you get back to your deskphone to make, or return, a call to an international customer, partner, co-worker, etc. Placing international calls from cell phones is a significant part of skyrocketing mobile communications costs, and it’s one that companies struggle to control.
Imagine if those calls were free. Enter the DiVitas Mobile Unifications (Mobile UC) solution and its ability to let you make free international calls over WiFi. Because there are no costs – mobile or otherwise - associated with calling over WiFi, DiVitas always favors WiFi over cellular networks for managing calls whenever possible.
To maintain a call connection, DiVitas will perform seamles roaming (using Fixed Mobile Convergence technology) only when quality WiFi is not available at your current location. Most organizations have WiFi access points installed throughout their campus, enabling mobile calls to be made completely free of cellular charges. It is when the individual steps away from the organization’s campus that they will most likely roam to cellular.
All calls made while in WiFi apply to this scenario including those made in the workplace, home office or a Hotspot such as a hotel, airport, coffee shop, etc.
WiFi hotspots reduce international call costs to ... free DiVitas has an exceptional ROI story. And by exceptional, I mean extremely fast. In fact, a company deploying a DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC) solution can achieve a return on their investment based on international toll-cost savings alone. Skeptical? I have the proof and I will be dedicating a few blogs to this topic. DiVitas can save organizations thousands of dollars on international cellular costs (whether they are made from within or outside the United Status) … and the magic doesn’t happen by limiting the number of calls being placed. Saving money by not placing international business calls is simply not an option.
Scenario #1:
Mobile call initiated from the United States to an international destination. In this example, it is important to note that all cellular calls made from a mobile handset are billed at *international cellular call rates.
Without DiVitas
USA to:
Cost per minute
Typical cost for 5 hours a month
Cost per Year
Cost for 100 Employees per Year
Canada
$0.19
$57
$684
$68,400
Europe
$0.69
$207
$2,484
$248,400
South America
$0.99
$297
$3,564
$356,400
Japan
$0.69
$207
$2,484
$248,400
China
$1.49
$447
$5,364
$536,400
India
$1.49
$447
$5,364
$536,400
With DiVitas
DiVitas integrates with any IP PBX, taking on all of the attributes and capabilities offered through that PBX. When placing or receiving a cellular call via the DiVitas Mobile UC handset, all calls are routed through the organization’s PBX, which avoids the high price levied by the wireless carrier. The cost of the international call will be based on the PBX-based calling rates negotiated with an organization’s carrier of choice. In this example we used the rates we negotiated with our carrier.
USA to:
Cost per minute
Typical cost for 5 hours a month
Cost per Year
Cost for 100 Employees per Year
Savings per Year Using Divitas
Canada
$0.02
$6
$72
$7,200
$61,200
Europe
$0.04
$12
$144
$14,400
$234,000
South America
$0.17
$51
$612
$61,200
$295,200
Japan
$0.06
$18
$216
$21,600
$226,800
China
$0.15
$45
$540
$54,000
$482,400
India
$0.25
$75
$900
$90,000
$446,400
*The numbers used in the scenarios below were taken from a large carrier’s published pricing. Because this carrier offers very aggressive and competitive pricing – comparing DiVitas with other carriers will result in even greater savings. This information is not meant to indicate the competitiveness of the carrier. Rather, it is to support our claim that in every case an international call made through DiVitas will be less expensive than calls made by a cell phone at carrier rates. And in some cases international calls made through DiVitas will actually be free.
Doug’s blog was music to my ears. I feel like I’m up to my eyeballs with news reports on our “tough economy” and how retail sales are down, unemployment is up, blah, blah, blah. Yes, it’s significant stuff, and it’s affecting everybody, worldwide. But I’m a glass-is-half-full person, and I’d rather concentrate on solutions rather than dwell on problems.
Hence my respect for Doug’s blog. A couple of my favorite excerpts:
• ... at VoiceCon San Francisco 2008, executives from IBM and Microsoft said that a bad economy is good for the adoption of Unified Communications.
• UC, when done right, can make it easier to find the right people to collaborate with in order to make smarter business decisions more efficiently. A dash of social networking might help the adoption of UC within a corporate network… Of course, what's UC without some cost-savings talk … by getting groups to work together, travel needs can be reduced and telephony costs can go down as well through reduction of call volume.
Enter DiVitas Networks' Mobile Unified Communications solution. Doug's blog precisely outlines our value proposition: Our mobile, collaboration solution creates profitability in an economic climate where companies are looking for cost-cutting measures that enhance – not hinder – their business. We agree that Unified Communications will be a savior in a bad economy – especially when those UC applications are mobilized on a smartphone that roams seamlessly between WiFi and cellular networks (thanks to the native DiVitas Fixed Mobile Convergence technology).
The DiVitas Mobile UC solution extends the deskphone by duplicating its functionality onto a smartphone —and then complementing it with key business communication applications (voicemail, contacts, IM and Presence). DiVitas supports true Dual Persona by offering a business number that is completely separate from the personal cellular number that comes native with the phone. The DiVitas Mobile UC solution operates seamlessly over WiFi and cellular networks to significantly reduce the amount of cellular minutes used each month.
This mobile VoIP solution is also inexpensive to deploy and it is cost-effective. Most importantly, it offers multiple ways for companies to cut mobile communications costs and offers an ROI in a matter of months:
• International calls are free when placed or received over WiFi. • Instant Messaging (IM) can replace expensive text messaging at no additional cost (provided there is a data plan). • Mobile users can create their own WiFi hotspot in any hotel room with WiFi – call free via WiFi and use your laptop simultaneously. • WiFi calls placed or received on-campus calls are free. • WiFi calls placed or received from home offices or other hotspots are free. • Companies leverage their existing WLAN investment, which gives them more bang for the WiFi buck • Workers are more productive, hence companies improve the bottom line
Thanks Doug for the incentive to write on this topic! It’s important for everybody to keep our eyes on the prize by focusing on solving problems.
One of the biggest financial hits that companies take each month is in overseas toll fees – an area where DiVitas Mobile Communications (Mobile UC) solution is cutting costs for customers today.
In the case of a television production studio using the DiVitas solution, the company has about 150 mobile workers – and they are on the road a lot. The company’s executives frequently travel internationally. Also, television production teams of about 20 members are almost always outside of the U.S. This has resulted in astronomical phone bills due to multiple employees continuously placing international calls.
Prior to the using DiVitas solution, a single executive from the television studio traveled to China for ten days. During that time he racked up a mobile phone bill of nearly $2,000.
How did this happen? It’s easy with today’s international calling fees.
·The cost of calling the U.S. from China is $2 per minute.
·The executive uses his phone about 90 minutes a day – amounting to $180 per day in mobile costs.
·Total mobile phone bill for a ten-day trip: $1800
Meanwhile, the television crew spends $1,800-$2,500 per person, per month, year-round.
Solution: The DiVitas Networks Solution Pays for Itself Almost Immediately
The studio uses Avaya’s SMB PBX (IP Office), an Aruba WLAN for WiFi capabilities and is currently using Nokia E71 (E-series) smartphones with AT&T as its carrier. This was an ideal setting to take advantage of Unified Communications (UC) mobilized.
·Because the company already has a wireless LAN (WLAN) installed they are able to do seamless roaming (FMC). This means they are leveraging their investment - getting more bang for their buck.
·When using the DiVitas Mobile UC solution, mobile workers spend zero cellular minutes when they are connected to WiFi.
·Even if mobile workers can’t connect to WiFi for every call, the system pays for itself by gradually using fewer cellular minutes per day. Seamless roaming capabilities (FMC) in DiVitas ensures that the least expensive network is chosen for each call (provided mobile VoIP call quality is there).
·Companies can realize ROI in a few months or less – if the television VP spends 30 of his 90-minutes-per-day on WiFi, he saves his company $60 per day.
·The more mobile workers use WiFi vs. cellular, the faster they achieve ROI.
Other benefits: Save on Text Messaging by relying more on free IM
By using the DiVitas Mobile UC solution, the television studio mobile employees communicate with Instant Messaging (IM) for free in WiFi, and there is no additional charge for using IM in cellular because the fee is included in the monthly data plan. This is huge when you look at the cost per text they were spending.
·Text messaging costs 20-to-30 cents per message in Europe.
·Text messaging costs 20-to-30 cents per message in China.
As many as eight out of every 10 Americans are stressed over the economy, according to a recent poll posted on the CNN website. That’s a whopping 80 percent of the country! Well, companies are stressed out too, which is why they are most likely looking for cost-cutting measures that enhance – not hinder – their business.
The DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC) solution is inexpensive to deploy, is cost-effective … and it offers multiple ways for companies to save real money. Cost savings are always important, but this is especially true now given the current economic crisis. With DiVitas:
Companies reduce monthly cellular bills by replacing cell minutes with WiFi minutes
International calls are almost free when placed or received over WiFi
WiFi calls placed or received on-campus calls are free
WiFi calls placed or received from home offices or other hotspots are free
Workers are more productive, hence companies save money
Companies leverage their existing wireless LAN (WLAN), which gives them more bang for the WiFi buck
In the next series of blogs, I will explain how DiVitas enables each of these benefits, and I will provide user examples as living proof of the many Mobile UC capabilities:
Dual Persona: allows personal calls to be routed through native cellular number (Personal Persona) and business calls to be routed through the DiVitas client (Business Persona).
Voice Quality: Assures that information is communicated clearly and efficiently.
Presence: Broadcasting your availability eliminates costly telephone tag.
IM and Email: Reduces use of expensive voice or text messaging for quick communication.
Seamless Roaming: A call that starts on the cellular network can roam seamlessly to free WiFi once the caller is in range of a WLAN.
Customer Choice – Choose a mobile handset, select a carrier, utilize existing investments in PBX and WLAN infrastructure.
At one point in time, having business voicemail made the difference between making or losing a sale, getting or losing a new customer or even letting IT know that a bug is on the loose and causing problems internally, or at a customer location. You were able to leave a dedicated message for the person you’re trying to reach – no answering service, secretary or any other middle man interfering with the exact words and tone you want to convey. Voicemail’s rival has been email. But still, voicemail can feel more proactive. There’s something about leaving a message in your own voice that feels like you have control over your business-destiny.
Now fast forward to today’s multi-modal, on-the-go climate for business-communications. It’s not enough to know that you’ve done your duty and left a voicemail for that key person. You want assurance that leaving voicemail is in fact the best way of getting your message through. And you would actually like to know that your message will be considered a priority, which means it will be heard based on its contents, rather than based on where it sits in the queue (last message left = last message heard).
Voicemail is also a key perpetrator in that tedious-and-time-consuming game: telephone-tag. Leaving a message and waiting for a reply costs businesses time and money, especially when returned calls are repeatedly missed. The telephone tag game can go on and on, wasting an employee’s time and racking up costly cell minutes when those calls are placed from a cell-based mobile phone.
How can you ensure your message is viewed as a priority, and how can you avoid phone tag? Enter Unified Communications (and mobile VoIP) apps, Presence and visual voicemail.
With Presence, mobile workers can broadcast their availability, indicating the best way to be reached (voice & text, voice-only, text-only or unavailable.) By setting Presence according to availability, mobile workers indicate to colleagues which method of communication is the most likely to be answered on the first try. They eliminate the time-consuming and costly (cell minutes) game of phone-tag, and they will have the opportunity to answer a question immediately. This means problems can be resolved in as little time possible.
Adding visual voicemail to the equation, mobile workers are able to eyeball messages waiting in their inboxes. This often means they can identify priority-messages immediately and respond to those first. This is far preferable to listening to each message (and there can be many after a cross-Atlantic plane flight) before learning who left each message and what level of urgency is attached.
It’s not so much that the sun has set on the time of voicemail. But rather this unified communication tool has reached a new, more sophisticated era. One that will help streamline business the way voicemail originally set out to do. Presence and visual voicemail are two advances in communication that will make reaching mobile workers a more efficient, and less expensive, process. These are core capabilities of the DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications solution.
DiVitas CEO, Vivek Khuller, recently spent some time with a medical intern at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC demonstrating how the DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications solution works. This morning we received an unsolicited blog submission from that intern, which includes insight about how Mobile UC is a must-have for physicians. By Sam, Medical Intern
After meeting with you a few weeks ago and trying out DiVitas, I was thinking about your mobile phone technology and how I could have both my cell and work numbers on my one-and-only mobile phone. It is such a practical concept. I really think DiVitas is a great idea for doctors because we are so mobile as a profession that it doesn’t make sense to be tied to any one phone number (home, cell or office). Doctors are rarely seated in front of a deskphone.
What happens is doctors get calls from the answering service at home or on their cell phone all the time. They call that patient back, but often the patient doesn’t answer because they don't recognize the number. Instead they screen the call first, and then call the number back. The problem is doctors often call after-hours when they aren’t seeing patients and so they are less busy. But this means they are calling from their cell phone or home phone. Doctors don’t want to give patients their home number or cell number, they want to be called on their professional line, which is the office number. But with the phone technology today, they have had little choice: They either call from home/cell phones or don’t call patients back (and obviously the latter isn’t an option).
Worse yet, if doctors and patients don’t answer each other’s calls (because phone numbers aren’t recognized), they get into a game of phone tag. And phone tag is just such a huge waste of time, nobody wants to play that game – personally or professionally. If doctors were to use DiVitas phones with single-number reach [a.k.a. dual persona], they would be able to answer the phone anywhere, anytime and phone tag would be a thing of the past.
I think it'd be great to tell doctor's about Mobile Unified Communications, seamless roaming [Fixed Mobile Convergence] and the concept of dual persona so they can use your product on their cell phones. I know I will want to use it when I am done with residency.
oration? What's the role of social messaging in a unified communications and collaboration architecture and how are UC&C vendors incorporating social messaging into their products? How can organizations embrace social messaging in a way that is consistent with needs for security, governance and compliance? Will the rise of public social messaging services render investments in unified communications moot?”
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