Mobile VoIP is a hot commodity despite global economic woes, according to consultancy Research and Markets. This is because the Voice over IP technology reduces telecom costs for companies, even as they invest in their mobile workforce.
The researcher sites “improved technology solutions” as a major factor leading to “a robust VoIP market in recent years.” The researcher is also anticipating growth to continue throughout the year, despite the economic downturn of 2009.
Noting the cost-saving benefits offered by VoIP, Research and Market said, “… while security and reliability concerns still need to be resolved; consumers and business are turning to VoIP in an effort to save costs.”
Continuing, the company noted global market trends, saying, “Japan, China and the USA continue to be some of the world's hottest markets for IP telephony. Over the last couple years, Europe has also become a prime innovator in VoIP services, whether stand-alone, bundled as a triple play offer, or through fixed mobile convergence packages.”
DiVitas’ VoIP solution helps companies reduce their cellular costs by mobilizing the business number onto smartphones in order to make it easier and less expensive for colleagues to reach one another. Companies can leverage DiVitas’ seamless roaming (FMC) to allow VoIP calls to hand off seamlessly between WiFi and cellular networks, which results in substantially reduced cellular costs.
Posted Thursday, October 15, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
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.”
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.
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.
Posted Friday, July 17, 2009 by
Richard Watson
Deploying a Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC) solution is a very straightforward process. However, before you get started, you want to make sure your WLAN is up to spec in terms of being mobile VoIP-ready. Following are five survey questions to ask yourself first, and some answers to help fend off any potential problems.
1- Do you have an adequate number of WiFi Access Points (APs)?
Typically the answer to this question is “no.”
Organizations that have an existing WiFi infrastructure installed have most likely configured it for data. Because voice is a real-time application, a WLAN that is configured for data will not be adequate for VoIP (Voice over IP). Research suggests that businesses typically have as much as 20% fewer APs installed than what they really need for reliable VoIP coverage. This means there can be major coverage gaps in areas in between APs, which will cause WiFi calls to drop (similar to how cell calls drop when you roam in to gaps between tower coverage).
Be sure to create overlapping AP coverage in order to avoid WiFi signal gaps – and dropped calls.
2- Have you overlooked any high voice-traffic areas in placing your APs?
Businesses typically forget to include off-hand locations such as storage rooms, stairwells and elevator shafts in the AP plan. However, these are examples of quite popular areas where people tend to pass through during their busy day while on their phones. These places also offer weak or no cellular and may therefore benefit from WiFi for extended coverage in order to take advantage of seamless roaming and the benefits of reduced cellular costs (and hence reduced telecom costs).
Your voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) scheme needs to prepare for the idiosyncrasies of mobile VoIP – like the fact that mobile calls rarely happen at a predictable moment or location (like inside a storage room.) It is a common oversight because people typically think data first, and then plan around that need. These are key considerations when seeking to maximize enterprise mobility.
The lesson learned is: Watch traffic patterns among your own company’s mobile phone users when assessing your AP coverage. If your top sales people tend to use their phones in the stairwell, for example, or in front of the office building, you will want to put up some APs in those locations to make sure their calls don’t drop before closing a deal! Also, you want to give emlployees as much opportunity as possible to take advantage of free WiFi calls.
3- Is your WLAN future-proofed?
Choose a vendor that doesn’t require you to eventually replace your existing infrastructure. Some of the older WLANs required that businesses do a rip-and-replace in the event of a mobile VoIP-driven upgrade. Choosing a switched-based WLAN means you can extend your network very easily – a good thing because you want to be able to leverage your existing infrastructure.
4- Is your campus exactly like every other?
The answer is “absolutely not” because no two implementations are alike. Therefore, plan for the unexpected.
One installation I did in Hawaii, for example, dealt with an Army hospital that was built in the 40’s, and which therefore had walls so thick they had to put an access point in every room. (There was no hope for cellular penetration so WiFi was a wonderful mobile-communications alternative.)
Lesson learned: The older your building is, the harder it is to bring RF into it.
5- Make sure you are not trying to implement on the cheap.
The lowest cost AP from even a highly reputable vendor may not be suitable for VOIP. Read case studies and do other research to identify a proven solution first.
Voice over WiFi Lessons Learned
One of my favorite WiFi-coverage mystery stories of all times, and one which can easily provide a learning lesson for anybody preparing their WLAN for the VoIP onslaught, is this one …
There was one deployment –a popular chain of lingerie stores – that called us for support one day (I was working for a well-known WiFi-phone manufacturer at the time.) We got the “911” WiFi-emergency alert when calls suddenly started dropping like crazy at one of the lingerie store locations, after having worked perfectly for months. Guess what we found? They had put up a dressing room with mirrors in the middle of the store. This caused shadows of RF that weren’t originally there, and Voila, a rash of dropped calls.
The solution: Adding more APs completed their WiFi coverage. In general, the more complete your coverage, the better your mobile VoIP experience will be.
1- Do you have an adequate number of WiFi Access Points (APs)?
Typically the answer to this question is “no.”
Organizations that have an existing WiFi infrastructure installed have most likely configured it for data. Because voice is a real-time application, a WLAN that is configured for data will not be adequate for VoIP (Voice over IP). Research suggests that businesses typically have as much as 20% fewer APs installed than what they really need for reliable VoIP coverage. This means there can be major coverage gaps in areas in between APs, which will cause WiFi calls to drop (similar to how cell calls drop when you roam in to gaps between tower coverage).
Be sure to create overlapping AP coverage in order to avoid WiFi signal gaps – and dropped calls.
2- Have you overlooked any high voice-traffic areas in placing your APs?
Businesses typically forget to include off-hand locations such as storage rooms, stairwells and elevator shafts in the AP plan. However, these are examples of quite popular areas where people tend to pass through during their busy day while on their phones. These places also offer weak or no cellular and may therefore benefit from WiFi for extended coverage in order to take advantage of seamless roaming and the benefits of reduced cellular costs (and hence reduced telecom costs).
Your voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) scheme needs to prepare for the idiosyncrasies of mobile VoIP – like the fact that mobile calls rarely happen at a predictable moment or location (like inside a storage room.) It is a common oversight because people typically think data first, and then plan around that need. These are key considerations when seeking to maximize enterprise mobility.
The lesson learned is: Watch traffic patterns among your own company’s mobile phone users when assessing your AP coverage. If your top sales people tend to use their phones in the stairwell, for example, or in front of the office building, you will want to put up some APs in those locations to make sure their calls don’t drop before closing a deal! Also, you want to give emlployees as much opportunity as possible to take advantage of free WiFi calls.
3- Is your WLAN future-proofed?
Choose a vendor that doesn’t require you to eventually replace your existing infrastructure. Some of the older WLANs required that businesses do a rip-and-replace in the event of a mobile VoIP-driven upgrade. Choosing a switched-based WLAN means you can extend your network very easily – a good thing because you want to be able to leverage your existing infrastructure.
4- Is your campus exactly like every other?
The answer is “absolutely not” because no two implementations are alike. Therefore, plan for the unexpected.
One installation I did in Hawaii, for example, dealt with an Army hospital that was built in the 40’s, and which therefore had walls so thick they had to put an access point in every room. (There was no hope for cellular penetration so WiFi was a wonderful mobile-communications alternative.)
Lesson learned: The older your building is, the harder it is to bring RF into it.
5- Make sure you are not trying to implement on the cheap.
The lowest cost AP from even a highly reputable vendor may not be suitable for VOIP. Read case studies and do other research to identify a proven solution first.
Voice over WiFi Lessons Learned
One of my favorite WiFi-coverage mystery stories of all times, and one which can easily provide a learning lesson for anybody preparing their WLAN for the VoIP onslaught, is this one …
There was one deployment –a popular chain of lingerie stores – that called us for support one day (I was working for a well-known WiFi-phone manufacturer at the time.) We got the “911” WiFi-emergency alert when calls suddenly started dropping like crazy at one of the lingerie store locations, after having worked perfectly for months. Guess what we found? They had put up a dressing room with mirrors in the middle of the store. This caused shadows of RF that weren’t originally there, and Voila, a rash of dropped calls.
The solution: Adding more APs completed their WiFi coverage. In general, the more complete your coverage, the better your mobile VoIP experience will be.
Posted Wednesday, July 15, 2009 by
Richard Watson
Service Provider Clearfly Communications is now offering DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC) as a managed mobile VoIP service to SMBs.
With DiVitas, Clearfly’s users are able to use WiFi to reduce cellular costs (free WiFi calls) and improve mobile voice quality. In enabling this mobile workforce, these users are also leveraging their PBX investments because DiVitas transforms a smartphone into a mobile deskphone – a DiVitas phone carries the corporate phone number (and caller ID) and mobilizes deskphone features (extension dialing, call transfer, hold, etc.).
Read more about how Clearfly and DiVitas are making enterprise mobility affordable and pervasive here.
With DiVitas, Clearfly’s users are able to use WiFi to reduce cellular costs (free WiFi calls) and improve mobile voice quality. In enabling this mobile workforce, these users are also leveraging their PBX investments because DiVitas transforms a smartphone into a mobile deskphone – a DiVitas phone carries the corporate phone number (and caller ID) and mobilizes deskphone features (extension dialing, call transfer, hold, etc.).
Read more about how Clearfly and DiVitas are making enterprise mobility affordable and pervasive here.
Posted Wednesday, July 1, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
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 recent NetworkWorld 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:
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.
According to a recent NetworkWorld 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.
- 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.
Posted Wednesday, June 10, 2009 by
Richard Watson
Managed Service Providers are leveraging DiVitas for a major revenue opportunity that is particularly timely given the down economy.
Clearfly Communications, an infrastructure-based provider of integrated communications solutions for the small and medium business community, is among them. The company is selling its Mobile UC solution branded, “Mobile SIP”, as a managed service to its customers throughout the Western United States.
Clearfly offers integrated service packages in 14 Western states, excluding California and Nevada. It is deploying DiVitas Mobile UC to its customers, which range in size from 10 to 500 employees, as a managed service; the DiVitas solution is helping these organizations reduce cellular costs and improve productivity while leveraging their PBX and WiFi investments.
“Layering DiVitas Mobile UC on top of an existing mobile-communications infrastructure is painless for our customers, and they begin realizing benefits from day one,” says Mauro Calvi, CEO, Clearfly Communications. “Cellular bills drop immediately, and voice quality improves right away – our customers are on the way to realizing cost savings and improved productivity as soon as they start using DiVitas.”
This managed-services model for Mobile UC is practical for the SMB-sized customer Clearfly serves. As IT organizations downsize, or are expected to do more with the same staffs, they are turning to third parties and managed services.
This cost saving benefit has great appeal to companies needing to cut costs without sacrificing productivity. With Mobile UC, voice calls are mobilized and coverage is increased, but free WiFi calls offload cellular minutes to reduce costs. For example, the average Clearfly customer spends about $90 to $100 per mobile user, per month, and saves up to 30 percent off that cost by deploying DiVitas to displace cellular with WiFi.
“The tougher the financial conditions, the harder organizations look for ways to stretch their dollars,” continued Calvi. “Companies want to take advantage of the significant investment they’ve already made in their PBXs and their wireless LANs, and they want maximum value from their corporate smartphone purchases. DiVitas Mobile UC meets these challenges head on.”
Clearfly Communications, an infrastructure-based provider of integrated communications solutions for the small and medium business community, is among them. The company is selling its Mobile UC solution branded, “Mobile SIP”, as a managed service to its customers throughout the Western United States.
Clearfly offers integrated service packages in 14 Western states, excluding California and Nevada. It is deploying DiVitas Mobile UC to its customers, which range in size from 10 to 500 employees, as a managed service; the DiVitas solution is helping these organizations reduce cellular costs and improve productivity while leveraging their PBX and WiFi investments.
“Layering DiVitas Mobile UC on top of an existing mobile-communications infrastructure is painless for our customers, and they begin realizing benefits from day one,” says Mauro Calvi, CEO, Clearfly Communications. “Cellular bills drop immediately, and voice quality improves right away – our customers are on the way to realizing cost savings and improved productivity as soon as they start using DiVitas.”
This managed-services model for Mobile UC is practical for the SMB-sized customer Clearfly serves. As IT organizations downsize, or are expected to do more with the same staffs, they are turning to third parties and managed services.
This cost saving benefit has great appeal to companies needing to cut costs without sacrificing productivity. With Mobile UC, voice calls are mobilized and coverage is increased, but free WiFi calls offload cellular minutes to reduce costs. For example, the average Clearfly customer spends about $90 to $100 per mobile user, per month, and saves up to 30 percent off that cost by deploying DiVitas to displace cellular with WiFi.
“The tougher the financial conditions, the harder organizations look for ways to stretch their dollars,” continued Calvi. “Companies want to take advantage of the significant investment they’ve already made in their PBXs and their wireless LANs, and they want maximum value from their corporate smartphone purchases. DiVitas Mobile UC meets these challenges head on.”
Posted Friday, May 22, 2009 by
Richard Watson
I read a GigaOM blog earlier this week where the writer was advertising the industry need for a mobile device that will help balance today’s all-too-common 24x7 lifestyle. It was a well-written blog, but I couldn’t help but get a good chuckle out of it. DiVitas addresses every wish on his list – sort of a fairy tale ending to a “Someday My Prince Will Come” themed blog.
According to this blog titled Wanted: One Mobile Device, for a 24/7 Life, the search is on for “a smart device to support my diverse lifestyle, one that doesn’t compromise either my IT department’s sleep schedule or — more importantly — the integrity of my personal data.”
The writer, Balaji Natarajan and senior IT strategist for Capgemini, goes on to suggest a “targeted re-engineering of mobile devices and device management technologies” as the answer to his problem.
This seems a little like taking a wrecking ball to kill a spider (and hence the chuckle when I read it). The industry doesn’t need a bunch of new hardware re-engineering. It simply needs a solution like DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC)– which is here today and leverages existing smartphone technology.
DiVitas runs on smartphones, such as the $99 Nokia E71x, and addresses all of these work/life balance issues. And it does this on a single device and without causing IT headaches. DiVitas also has a plethora of other advantages such as saving money (WiFi calls don’t count against the carrier plan and are free of charge), it fully migrates a deskphone number along with its capabilities to a mobile device and it uniquely supports integrated Unified Communications.
DiVitas Mobile UC:
While Natarajan is correct when he refers to the mobile workforce in his blog. “... as our work and personal lives become increasingly harder to separate, we will become increasingly unwilling to tote around more than one mobile device.
However, I couldn’t disagree more with his statement, “one truly mobile device for a 24/7 life will remain out of our reach.” Mr. Natarajan, that solution is here today and it is offered by DiVitas Enterprise Social Networking.
According to this blog titled Wanted: One Mobile Device, for a 24/7 Life, the search is on for “a smart device to support my diverse lifestyle, one that doesn’t compromise either my IT department’s sleep schedule or — more importantly — the integrity of my personal data.”
The writer, Balaji Natarajan and senior IT strategist for Capgemini, goes on to suggest a “targeted re-engineering of mobile devices and device management technologies” as the answer to his problem.
This seems a little like taking a wrecking ball to kill a spider (and hence the chuckle when I read it). The industry doesn’t need a bunch of new hardware re-engineering. It simply needs a solution like DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC)– which is here today and leverages existing smartphone technology.
DiVitas runs on smartphones, such as the $99 Nokia E71x, and addresses all of these work/life balance issues. And it does this on a single device and without causing IT headaches. DiVitas also has a plethora of other advantages such as saving money (WiFi calls don’t count against the carrier plan and are free of charge), it fully migrates a deskphone number along with its capabilities to a mobile device and it uniquely supports integrated Unified Communications.
DiVitas Mobile UC:
- Supports Dual Persona, which allows personal calls to be routed through a native cellular number (Personal Persona) and business calls to be routed through the DiVitas client (Business Persona).
- Mobilizes the deskphone number, which enables single number reach.
- Is under IT control and supports remote over the air (OTA) installation, configuration and update management.
- Has integrated Mobile Social Networking capabilities, letting you use UC apps such as corporate Mobile Presence and mobile Instant Messaging (IM) directly from your smartphone.
- Supports Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC), allowing mobile phones to perform seamless roaming between WiFi and cellular.
- Supports WiFi calling, which means mobile calls have landline-like voice quality. No choppy cell phone calls when you are in WiFi range.
- Enables free WiFi calls, enabling quick mobile convergence ROI.
- Makes mobile phone behaves just like a deskphone (same number, call forward, extension dialing, etc.)
- Supports Visual Voicemail and Unified Messaging, allowing users to retrieve corporate messages directly from their smartphones and eyeball which messages have priority status.
While Natarajan is correct when he refers to the mobile workforce in his blog. “... as our work and personal lives become increasingly harder to separate, we will become increasingly unwilling to tote around more than one mobile device.
However, I couldn’t disagree more with his statement, “one truly mobile device for a 24/7 life will remain out of our reach.” Mr. Natarajan, that solution is here today and it is offered by DiVitas Enterprise Social Networking.
Posted Friday, May 15, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
We have a new addition to the list of analysts who have participated in our Enterprise Social Networking hosted trial program. This time we gave Yankee Group’s Zeus Kerravala some one-on-one time with DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC) running on a Nokia e71 smartphone. Blogging on his test-drive with DiVitas secure collaboration software solution, Kerravala says, “I consider [DiVitas] one of the more advanced FMC vendors, so it’s a good litmus test of where the industry is at.”
Here is an excerpt from his blog:
“The seamless roaming worked as advertised although this wasn't much of a surprise. This is a feature they’ve had around for a couple of years and they've always done a good job handing off calls between WiFi and cell service and vice versa. For me, this is a HUGE feature. At my home in the Boston area, my cell phone works like crap in my apartment so I rely on calling over WiFi to make calls. Without it, I'd have to get a traditional home phone (gasp!) and who wants to do that? With the traditional UMA type of software that I have on my T-Mobile phone, the call drops every time I go outside and I get out of WiFi range, so there is some practical applicability to it.
The other big change to just making calls is that the phone they sent was much better. They have the software on a Nokia E71 which is so much better than the older versions of the Nokia phones (E62, E61 etc.). The keyboard and screen are much better than older versions and it actually has a camera too (welcome to 2009, Nokia). I still think the Blackberry Curve is the best smart phone out there, but it's a matter of opinion and this device isn't all that far behind it yet. The other thing Nokia fixed is that it has a real headphone jack instead of some goofy proprietary port that you need a special cable for to connect headphones.
The big feature with the DiVitas software, though, was the unified communications features. Again, I've seen the presence, chat and visual voice mail before, but it was quite different when actually using it. I currently run IBM's mobile Sametime on my Blackberry so I'm sold on the concept of mobile presence. In fact, because I'm normally engaged with another activity when mobile (driving, walking, etc) I think mobile presence is actually more important than desktop based presence.
On the positive side, the experience was great. I was able to set my availability by selecting preset presence icons such as available by voice only, text only, voice or text, do not disturb etc. Because I spend far too much time in meetings or traveling around the world I can see this feature being very handy. Co-workers will not only know if I'm available but how to reach me. What happens now is when I’m mobile, I'll be on the phone and someone will call. I'll then need to grab my other cell phone and text the person back (if they're on a mobile) that I'll call them when my call is over. If it's not a cell phone, then I try and send an email on the other phone (I have two BBs which some people think is overkill, but hey, I like to be fully redundant). Even when in the office, I'm rarely at my desk, so being able to set status when mobile will definitely let people know where to find me (hmm… maybe I don’t want that). The other way I could handle this is to continually update Twitter or Facebook (or both using TweetDeck) but honestly, I get tired of seeing people Tweet stuff like "Enjoying two for one margaritas with Bob and Steph"). My community of people is pretty big now and not everyone needs to see where I am at all times.
The client also lets you create custom status updates, which is kind of mobile microblog. This feature allows me to tell people I'm busy and then maybe text or IM me if they need to reach me.”
To read the entire blog, visit the No Jitter website.
Here is an excerpt from his blog:
“The seamless roaming worked as advertised although this wasn't much of a surprise. This is a feature they’ve had around for a couple of years and they've always done a good job handing off calls between WiFi and cell service and vice versa. For me, this is a HUGE feature. At my home in the Boston area, my cell phone works like crap in my apartment so I rely on calling over WiFi to make calls. Without it, I'd have to get a traditional home phone (gasp!) and who wants to do that? With the traditional UMA type of software that I have on my T-Mobile phone, the call drops every time I go outside and I get out of WiFi range, so there is some practical applicability to it.
The other big change to just making calls is that the phone they sent was much better. They have the software on a Nokia E71 which is so much better than the older versions of the Nokia phones (E62, E61 etc.). The keyboard and screen are much better than older versions and it actually has a camera too (welcome to 2009, Nokia). I still think the Blackberry Curve is the best smart phone out there, but it's a matter of opinion and this device isn't all that far behind it yet. The other thing Nokia fixed is that it has a real headphone jack instead of some goofy proprietary port that you need a special cable for to connect headphones.
The big feature with the DiVitas software, though, was the unified communications features. Again, I've seen the presence, chat and visual voice mail before, but it was quite different when actually using it. I currently run IBM's mobile Sametime on my Blackberry so I'm sold on the concept of mobile presence. In fact, because I'm normally engaged with another activity when mobile (driving, walking, etc) I think mobile presence is actually more important than desktop based presence.
On the positive side, the experience was great. I was able to set my availability by selecting preset presence icons such as available by voice only, text only, voice or text, do not disturb etc. Because I spend far too much time in meetings or traveling around the world I can see this feature being very handy. Co-workers will not only know if I'm available but how to reach me. What happens now is when I’m mobile, I'll be on the phone and someone will call. I'll then need to grab my other cell phone and text the person back (if they're on a mobile) that I'll call them when my call is over. If it's not a cell phone, then I try and send an email on the other phone (I have two BBs which some people think is overkill, but hey, I like to be fully redundant). Even when in the office, I'm rarely at my desk, so being able to set status when mobile will definitely let people know where to find me (hmm… maybe I don’t want that). The other way I could handle this is to continually update Twitter or Facebook (or both using TweetDeck) but honestly, I get tired of seeing people Tweet stuff like "Enjoying two for one margaritas with Bob and Steph"). My community of people is pretty big now and not everyone needs to see where I am at all times.
The client also lets you create custom status updates, which is kind of mobile microblog. This feature allows me to tell people I'm busy and then maybe text or IM me if they need to reach me.”
To read the entire blog, visit the No Jitter website.
Posted Friday, May 8, 2009 by
Richard Watson
Over time I had grown accustom, maybe even entitled, to the incredible amount of battery life I got with my cell phone. Over the past few decades, the carriers have been working closely with the handset providers to optimize battery life. So much so that today most people take for granted the fact that standby times are so generous. We’re talking about standby battery lives of weeks, not days! Worst-case scenario, we are also talking about 3 to 7 hours of talk time on a basic cell phone. Wow! This means you may only have to charge the battery every day or so, depending on the number of phone calls you make or receive.
However, time marches on and so does technology. Today’s multifunction smartphones offer us SO much more than the voice-only cell devices of yesteryear. In addition to being mobilized telephones, smartphones are cameras, GPS locaters, music players, video players and platforms for business applications such as the DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications solution. Some smartphones even have built-in WiFi, giving you access to the Internet free of charge, as long as you’re in range of a WiFi network (home, office, hotspot, etc.).
One Hitch
Nothing in life is free, and this goes for battery-life as well. There is a battery life price to be paid for all of these new bells and whistles. The good news is there is also a solution to this problem that will help you get much improved battery life out of your smartphone.
My point of enlightenment about smartphone battery life, and how to maximize it, came when I charged up my new smartphone and began making use of all the cool features. I drained the phone’s battery in no time. Because of this, I quickly discovered that I had to plan around recharging the battery, or else risk missing calls due to a dead phone.
Devices with multiple radio circuits that allow us to reach out to a networked world – GSM/CDMA, 802.11/WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS – all compete for battery power. Also, the wireless networks themselves conspire against us. 3G WANs place more power demands handsets than 2G or 2.5G networks did. And WiFi is more power hungry than any cellular network, which compounds the power demand problem. And how about this fun fact that most people don’t realize … you know that law about only being able to talk on a cell phone while driving if you’re “hands free”? Bluetooth (hands free) devices are an enormous battery drain.
Maximizing Battery Life
The first thing to do is reset expectations regarding battery life: If you are using your smartphone for more than voice, just getting through an entire workday on one charge is a reasonable goal.
Here’s a brief battery life optimizing check list that has allowed me to get through a business day on a single charge:
You can reasonably expect that with 2+ hours of conversation plus texting, mobile email, Web browsing, Presence updates and application execution, you can get through an 8 to 10 hour business day. While we have yet to reach battery Nirvana with smartphones, it’s possible to optimize your experience with what we have available today. All you need to do is manage your phone usage as well as your expectations.
However, time marches on and so does technology. Today’s multifunction smartphones offer us SO much more than the voice-only cell devices of yesteryear. In addition to being mobilized telephones, smartphones are cameras, GPS locaters, music players, video players and platforms for business applications such as the DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications solution. Some smartphones even have built-in WiFi, giving you access to the Internet free of charge, as long as you’re in range of a WiFi network (home, office, hotspot, etc.).
One Hitch
Nothing in life is free, and this goes for battery-life as well. There is a battery life price to be paid for all of these new bells and whistles. The good news is there is also a solution to this problem that will help you get much improved battery life out of your smartphone.
My point of enlightenment about smartphone battery life, and how to maximize it, came when I charged up my new smartphone and began making use of all the cool features. I drained the phone’s battery in no time. Because of this, I quickly discovered that I had to plan around recharging the battery, or else risk missing calls due to a dead phone.
Devices with multiple radio circuits that allow us to reach out to a networked world – GSM/CDMA, 802.11/WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS – all compete for battery power. Also, the wireless networks themselves conspire against us. 3G WANs place more power demands handsets than 2G or 2.5G networks did. And WiFi is more power hungry than any cellular network, which compounds the power demand problem. And how about this fun fact that most people don’t realize … you know that law about only being able to talk on a cell phone while driving if you’re “hands free”? Bluetooth (hands free) devices are an enormous battery drain.
Maximizing Battery Life
The first thing to do is reset expectations regarding battery life: If you are using your smartphone for more than voice, just getting through an entire workday on one charge is a reasonable goal.
Here’s a brief battery life optimizing check list that has allowed me to get through a business day on a single charge:
- Do I need all the radios on?
Do I need GPS? Do I need Bluetooth? Do I need WiFi? Disabling RF circuits that are not essential goes a long way toward optimizing battery life. (Note: Also be aware that in a weak cellular coverage area, the cellular radio will work harder to find a good signal and burn more of that precious battery power.)
- Consider turning off the back light
You don’t need this if the phone is held to your ear and you aren’t looking at the screen.
- Turn off the vibrate feature
Let the ringer do its job. The vibrator can be a big drain on the battery.
- Set mobile email for periodic refresh instead of the real-time update
- Disable the WiFi “scanning’ function
Once WiFi profiles are defined, power hungry WiFi search can be disabled.
- Minimize use of the camera/flash
These peripherals have a direct bearing on observed battery life.
- Minimize video watching
Youtube and other online video applications are energy intensive.
You can reasonably expect that with 2+ hours of conversation plus texting, mobile email, Web browsing, Presence updates and application execution, you can get through an 8 to 10 hour business day. While we have yet to reach battery Nirvana with smartphones, it’s possible to optimize your experience with what we have available today. All you need to do is manage your phone usage as well as your expectations.
Posted Monday, April 20, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
When defining Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC), it’s the sum of the parts that makes the whole ecosystem. This enterprise-class application is comprised of several components, many of which are offered as individual products by individual vendors.
“Fixed Mobile Convergence” (FMC), for example, is typically offered as a product by vendors who focus on seamless roaming between WiFi and cellular. Similarly, “Unified Communications” is offered by vendors that develop Presence, Instant Messaging, Visual Voicemail and Unified Messaging.
It is only when FMC, UC and the deskphone number + features are combined, and accessible by a single GUI on a smartphone, that a Mobile UC solution results. Mobile Unified Communications is therefore an umbrella term for an enterprise-class application, which is comprised of several individual technologies: Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC), Unified Communications (UC), smartphones, PBXs, WLANs and the carrier’s cellular network.
The remaining components in the Mobile UC ecosystem – smartphones, WLANs, PBXs and cellular network – comprise the infrastructure over which communication takes place.
While individual Mobile UC components can be developed and marketed in their individual space (i.e. FMC, UC, smartphone, WLAN, PBX, carrier plan), it is only when they are working together in a common ecosystem that they comprise a Mobile Unified Communications solution.
“Fixed Mobile Convergence” (FMC), for example, is typically offered as a product by vendors who focus on seamless roaming between WiFi and cellular. Similarly, “Unified Communications” is offered by vendors that develop Presence, Instant Messaging, Visual Voicemail and Unified Messaging.
It is only when FMC, UC and the deskphone number + features are combined, and accessible by a single GUI on a smartphone, that a Mobile UC solution results. Mobile Unified Communications is therefore an umbrella term for an enterprise-class application, which is comprised of several individual technologies: Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC), Unified Communications (UC), smartphones, PBXs, WLANs and the carrier’s cellular network.
- FMC unifies fixed-line and wireless (WiFi and cellular) voice on a smartphone, which enables seamless, uninterrupted roaming between WiFi and cellular networks. FMC is only a single component of the Mobile UC umbrella set of technologies – as a standalone technology, it is not considered to be the equivalent of Mobile UC.
- UC is a set of integrated applications intended to unify, and therefore simplify, communication thereby increasing productivity in the workplace. Voice, Presence, Instant Messaging, email and voicemail are accessed by a single interface, on a device most convenient to the end user (desktop, deskphone, laptop, smartphone, etc.). As an application set existing without a mobile (FMC) component, it is not considered to be the equivalent of Mobile UC.
- Deskphone number and features (extension dialing, call forward, hold, etc.) are features that make a smartphone behave like a deskphone. Extending the deskphone untethers office workers from their desks by offering single-number reach (the phone carries the same number as deskphone), and the availability of deskphone functions means individuals have in-office-like capabilities necessary for efficient business communication, regardless of their location. This capability is required for an existing solution to be considered as part of the Mobile UC category.
The remaining components in the Mobile UC ecosystem – smartphones, WLANs, PBXs and cellular network – comprise the infrastructure over which communication takes place.
While individual Mobile UC components can be developed and marketed in their individual space (i.e. FMC, UC, smartphone, WLAN, PBX, carrier plan), it is only when they are working together in a common ecosystem that they comprise a Mobile Unified Communications solution.
Posted Monday, April 13, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
We are doing something in marketing that could be a career limiting move in most high tech companies: We are letting experts loose with smartphones running our Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC) software. They are testing out how it feels to use Enterprise Social Networking to become more reachable and productive.
The analyts' phones were hosted by our customer Sawtel, a mobile VoIP carrier in Hartford, CT which has rolled out a hosted Enterprise Social Networking service based on the DiVitas Mobile UC solution.
The experts participating in our testing project are located across the U.S., and they are able to play with the full range of DiVitas features: seamless roaming between WiFi and cellular, deskphone number and features (extension dialing, call forwarding, call waiting, etc.), voice, (mobile Instant Messaging) IM and social networking (Mobile Presence and Status.)
They use their DiVitas phones to first check status of their colleagues, and then place calls or chat straight from the directory of contacts that is accessible directly from the smartphone's interface.
The idea behind our hosting project is to let some experts in the Mobile VoIP (mVoIP) space get a real-life feel for the mobile social networking solution – without having to lay down cold hard cash. The goal is to help them better understand how DiVitas enables enterprise mobility. DiVitas Mobile UC is real (vs. vaporware), it works … and judging by the feedback we’re receiving, it works great. We’ve gotten kudos for the voice quality (powered by the DiVitas Voice Quality Engine), the easy-to-use GUI, the convenience of Visual Voicemail as well as single number reach (smartphone carries same number as the deskphone).
And they now understand – first-hand – how DiVitas really is a mobile extension to the deskphone, but with collaboration and productivity Enterprise 2.0 tools that improve the way mobile workers can do their jobs.
First up are several analysts. We’ll post blogs from all of our testers as they roll in, letting our readers live the DiVitas experience vicariously through them.
Testing Divitas' MUC - I Want One (Craig Mathias, Farpoint Group)
DiVitas Test Drive (Michael Stanford)
Voice Quality Rings True (Brent Kelly, Wainhouse Research)
Forrester Gets First Hand DiVitas Experience (Chris Silva, Forrester Research)
Current Analysis Takes DiVitas for a Test Drive (Kathryn Weldon, Peter Jarich, Rob Arnold and Brian Riggs, Current Analysis)
My Mobile FMC Experience (Zeus Kerravala, Yankee Group)
Experiencing the Totally Connected Lifestyle (Ted Stevenson, VoIP Planet)
But watch this space for more. We our confident about our secure collaboration software, and want the media to have an opportunity to experience what we here at DiVitas get to experience every day as far as enterprise mobility. Staying continuously connected through single number reach, Mobile Presence, Status Updates and IM increases collaboration, making us more productive.
The analyts' phones were hosted by our customer Sawtel, a mobile VoIP carrier in Hartford, CT which has rolled out a hosted Enterprise Social Networking service based on the DiVitas Mobile UC solution.
The experts participating in our testing project are located across the U.S., and they are able to play with the full range of DiVitas features: seamless roaming between WiFi and cellular, deskphone number and features (extension dialing, call forwarding, call waiting, etc.), voice, (mobile Instant Messaging) IM and social networking (Mobile Presence and Status.)
They use their DiVitas phones to first check status of their colleagues, and then place calls or chat straight from the directory of contacts that is accessible directly from the smartphone's interface.
The idea behind our hosting project is to let some experts in the Mobile VoIP (mVoIP) space get a real-life feel for the mobile social networking solution – without having to lay down cold hard cash. The goal is to help them better understand how DiVitas enables enterprise mobility. DiVitas Mobile UC is real (vs. vaporware), it works … and judging by the feedback we’re receiving, it works great. We’ve gotten kudos for the voice quality (powered by the DiVitas Voice Quality Engine), the easy-to-use GUI, the convenience of Visual Voicemail as well as single number reach (smartphone carries same number as the deskphone).
And they now understand – first-hand – how DiVitas really is a mobile extension to the deskphone, but with collaboration and productivity Enterprise 2.0 tools that improve the way mobile workers can do their jobs.
First up are several analysts. We’ll post blogs from all of our testers as they roll in, letting our readers live the DiVitas experience vicariously through them.
Testing Divitas' MUC - I Want One (Craig Mathias, Farpoint Group)
DiVitas Test Drive (Michael Stanford)
Voice Quality Rings True (Brent Kelly, Wainhouse Research)
Forrester Gets First Hand DiVitas Experience (Chris Silva, Forrester Research)
Current Analysis Takes DiVitas for a Test Drive (Kathryn Weldon, Peter Jarich, Rob Arnold and Brian Riggs, Current Analysis)
My Mobile FMC Experience (Zeus Kerravala, Yankee Group)
Experiencing the Totally Connected Lifestyle (Ted Stevenson, VoIP Planet)
But watch this space for more. We our confident about our secure collaboration software, and want the media to have an opportunity to experience what we here at DiVitas get to experience every day as far as enterprise mobility. Staying continuously connected through single number reach, Mobile Presence, Status Updates and IM increases collaboration, making us more productive.
Posted Monday, April 13, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
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).
Posted Monday, April 13, 2009 by
Richard Watson
Mobile Presence is a cornerstone component of Unified Communications (UC). It is also one of several UC features that set Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC) apart from Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) solutions. UC and Mobile UC focus on applications, whereas FMC primarily offers seamless roaming between WiFi and cellular networks — no UC capabilities.
Mobile Presence has become an important application to businesses today because it helps mobile-colleagues stay apprised of one another’s availability. Using Presence to broadcast and read a Status message (i.e. available by phone, text or currently on the phone), individuals can make more intelligent communication choices and eliminate time wasted making and/or returning missed-calls. Individuals in a highly mobile workforce can connect with one another on the first try.
Whether they are in the office or on the road, Mobile Presence ensures that voice or text-based conversations will be processed in the most efficient manner. And when combined with microblogging (a.k.a. your Status Update message), Presence is elevated to the level of “mobile social networking” that provides the ability to broadcast specifics about an individual.
For example, an individual’s Presence may show “available by text” and his micro-blog Status Update could say “in a customer meeting until 2:00 pm”. Broadcasting Presence and a Status Update message together says it all — how to best reach an individual and a personal message that indicates where they are, what they are doing, and/or how long they will be unavailable.
However, not all approaches to Mobile Presence are created equal — it’s not enough for Presence to simply register a user as online or offline. For Presence to be an effective bi-directional tool — and efficiently inform you about a colleague’s availability to accept a call or read/reply to mobile Instant Messaging (IM) or e-mail — this application requires several capabilities:
Presence becomes more critical to effective enterprise mobility and mobile communications, the required information richness must go beyond simple “available” or “not available”. This comes into play when the secure, collaborative Enterprise 2.0 capabilites of DiVitas are the underlying platform.
Mobile Presence has become an important application to businesses today because it helps mobile-colleagues stay apprised of one another’s availability. Using Presence to broadcast and read a Status message (i.e. available by phone, text or currently on the phone), individuals can make more intelligent communication choices and eliminate time wasted making and/or returning missed-calls. Individuals in a highly mobile workforce can connect with one another on the first try.
Whether they are in the office or on the road, Mobile Presence ensures that voice or text-based conversations will be processed in the most efficient manner. And when combined with microblogging (a.k.a. your Status Update message), Presence is elevated to the level of “mobile social networking” that provides the ability to broadcast specifics about an individual.
For example, an individual’s Presence may show “available by text” and his micro-blog Status Update could say “in a customer meeting until 2:00 pm”. Broadcasting Presence and a Status Update message together says it all — how to best reach an individual and a personal message that indicates where they are, what they are doing, and/or how long they will be unavailable.
However, not all approaches to Mobile Presence are created equal — it’s not enough for Presence to simply register a user as online or offline. For Presence to be an effective bi-directional tool — and efficiently inform you about a colleague’s availability to accept a call or read/reply to mobile Instant Messaging (IM) or e-mail — this application requires several capabilities:
- Needs to broadcast ALL scenarios: On voice and text; On voice only; On text only; Not available (a.k.a. Do Not Disturb); or On the Phone. Note: Available/Unavailable is not sufficient; without these additional functions, there is no indication of a missed voice or text message.
- Needs to be displayed as an icon on the smartphone client GUI. Note: Without client GUI display, the end user is often forced to manually peruse a PC based contact list.
- Needs to enable individuals to directly call, email or send mobile Instant Messaging (IM) straight from the smartphone client GUI. Note: Forcing end users to toggle between smartphone and PC or deskphone to complete communication is inefficient and clumsy.
- Needs Twitter/Facebook-like option for writing a customized Status Update message (i.e. working at home, in a meeting, at the airport, running late, on a coffee break at Starbucks, etc.) to supplement the presence status state. Note: Pairing a Status Update message that tells “how” you’re available with a mobile Presence icon that broadcasts “if” you’re available means that fewer calls will be missed, less time will be wasted listening to voicemail and returning missed calls, and fewer meetings will be interrupted by a voice call when a simple IM will do the trick.
- Needs to be federated in order to display entire corporate contact list and individual’s availability. Note: Avoids the manual task of checking each “buddy’s” online/offline status.
- Needs to combine forces with other UC applications, including mobile Instant Messaging (IM) and Visual Voicemail. Note: Without complementary UC applications, it is nearly impossible achieve the goal of efficiently completing the communication cycle.
- Needs mobilized business number so the deskphone is moved onto a smartphone and all productivity apps are unified with secure collaboration software features. This enables single number reach in order to make individuals more reachable in ordre to enable companies to reduce missed calls and reduce cellular costs.
Presence becomes more critical to effective enterprise mobility and mobile communications, the required information richness must go beyond simple “available” or “not available”. This comes into play when the secure, collaborative Enterprise 2.0 capabilites of DiVitas are the underlying platform.
Posted Wednesday, March 25, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
To: Tim Cook, Interim Apple CEO
From: Nancy Colwell, DiVitas Networks
Dear Mr. Cook,
I’ve got a deal for you that is guaranteed to put a smile on Steve’s face.
Everybody knows Apple has had startling success in the consumer space, with iPhone more than tripling its smartphone market share last year. But we know that Steve will not be happy until you reach smartphone world domination. So your next move is likely to target enterprises. Isn’t this the logical growth path for iPhone, having dominated the consumer space so quickly?
Mr. Cook, the shortest distance between the two markets is to work closely with a partner who has a deep understanding of the market you are heading towards – which is of course, the enterprise mobility market.
DiVitas has a unique perspective on enterprise-class dual-mode smartphones and what organizations are demanding today – devices such as the iPhone play a critical role in the total DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications solution package. As such, we have first-hand knowledge of what enterprises seek in a mobile device and would be more than happy to share all of our knowledge with your team.
Enterprises want and need more than a standalone, company-paid smartphone that is doled out to only a select group of employees. They want a phone that can be ubiquitously deployed across the workforce while able to:
But this scenario can easily change. With a few modifications we expect that iPhone will also be an exceptional enterprise candidate.
So we are here to help you turn the iPhone into iWin. Call us anytime.
Sincerely,
Nancy Colwell
From: Nancy Colwell, DiVitas Networks
Dear Mr. Cook,
I’ve got a deal for you that is guaranteed to put a smile on Steve’s face.
Everybody knows Apple has had startling success in the consumer space, with iPhone more than tripling its smartphone market share last year. But we know that Steve will not be happy until you reach smartphone world domination. So your next move is likely to target enterprises. Isn’t this the logical growth path for iPhone, having dominated the consumer space so quickly?
Mr. Cook, the shortest distance between the two markets is to work closely with a partner who has a deep understanding of the market you are heading towards – which is of course, the enterprise mobility market.
DiVitas has a unique perspective on enterprise-class dual-mode smartphones and what organizations are demanding today – devices such as the iPhone play a critical role in the total DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications solution package. As such, we have first-hand knowledge of what enterprises seek in a mobile device and would be more than happy to share all of our knowledge with your team.
Enterprises want and need more than a standalone, company-paid smartphone that is doled out to only a select group of employees. They want a phone that can be ubiquitously deployed across the workforce while able to:
- Able to achieve an ROI in less than a year.
- Support Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) for seamless roaming between free WiFi and cellular networks (needed for hard cost-savings and speedy ROI on mobile phones).
- Behave like, and carry the same number as, an individual’s deskphone by integrating with the corporate PBX.
- Support networked applications such as mobile VoIP, mobile Presence, mobile Instant Messaging without dropping when a personal cell call comes in.
- Meet enterprise security requirements.
- Be managed under enterprise IT control.
But this scenario can easily change. With a few modifications we expect that iPhone will also be an exceptional enterprise candidate.
So we are here to help you turn the iPhone into iWin. Call us anytime.
Sincerely,
Nancy Colwell
Posted Thursday, March 19, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
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.
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.
Posted Friday, March 13, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
The recently announced partnership betweeen DiVitas and Avaya is a big win-win-win-win … for Avaya, DiVitas, customers and channel partners.
DiVitas and Avaya are involved in at least a dozen joint customer deployments, including CSX Corporation – one of North America’s leading transportation companies and a long-time Avaya user. The company is running the DiVitas Mobile UC solution (using Nokia E71 phones) as an integration with Avaya’s Modular Messaging voicemail system to offer mobile Unified Messaging, mobile Presence, mobile VoIP and to take advantage of free WiFi calls. In doing so, CSX is addressing its critical need to make its highly mobile workforce more reachable while simultaneously reducing its monthly cell bills.
“Because the DiVitas solution uses smartphones, CSX gets a useful side benefit, namely that it can run proprietary application software on the phones, eliminating the need for its employees to carry a laptop,” says Stanford. “The other side benefit is that even in areas of cellular coverage the WiFi connection can be used to save on cellular minutes.”
- Avaya gets to fill a gap in its product line, giving it a dual-mode solution to complement its single-mode one-X Mobile product (in some scenarios, users want mobility on a cellular-only client, while in others, users want mobile workers to have the same Unified Communications features across both WiFi and cellular networks).
- DiVitas gains access to Avaya’s distribution channel (this is significant given that Avaya is the largest PBX vendor in North America and supplies 20% of the business phone systems world-wide).
- End users get a Mobile Unified Communications solution that, in addition to offering dual-mode and Unified Communications capabilities, integrates with Avaya voicemail and Presence servers (mobile workers manage a single voicemail inbox and their availability status is broadcasted by a single Presence engine).
- Channel partners get their hands on a proven Mobile Unified Communications solution, which is backed by an experienced company (DiVitas already supports a worldwide installed-base of Mobile Unified Communications users).
DiVitas and Avaya are involved in at least a dozen joint customer deployments, including CSX Corporation – one of North America’s leading transportation companies and a long-time Avaya user. The company is running the DiVitas Mobile UC solution (using Nokia E71 phones) as an integration with Avaya’s Modular Messaging voicemail system to offer mobile Unified Messaging, mobile Presence, mobile VoIP and to take advantage of free WiFi calls. In doing so, CSX is addressing its critical need to make its highly mobile workforce more reachable while simultaneously reducing its monthly cell bills.
“Because the DiVitas solution uses smartphones, CSX gets a useful side benefit, namely that it can run proprietary application software on the phones, eliminating the need for its employees to carry a laptop,” says Stanford. “The other side benefit is that even in areas of cellular coverage the WiFi connection can be used to save on cellular minutes.”
Posted Friday, March 13, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
To: Michael Finneran
From: DiVitas Networks
Dear Michael,
I enjoyed reading your article about the DiVitas-Avaya partnership.
In your announcement recap you talked about the basics of what our relationship with Avaya will offer to mobile users (seamless roaming across WiFi and cellular networks; Presence; single-number reach; mid-calling features associated with deskphones; and Unified Messaging via integrated access to Avaya voicemail such that message-waiting indication, Visual Voicemail and the ability to download corporate voicemail messages will all be available on DiVitas mobile phone).
But what really grabbed my attention is your market analysis. You talked about Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC) and how DiVitas is a dominant player in this market … and you talked about an ongoing seamless roaming technology debate (location aware vs. environment aware architecture) in the Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) space that would “bore the finish off a table.”
To this comment I say, you are absolutely right! Seamless Roaming discussions are nothing more than technology-implementation debates. What is more important to discuss is what business benefit does this cool (or finish-removing) technology deliver? This discussion is what differentiates FMC-only from Mobile UC (a combination of FMC + Unified Communications) solutions. Most FMC vendors have nothing more to talk about than seamless roaming because this is pretty much all they do. A solution-comparing conversation simply cannot “roam” to topics such as Presence, Instant Messaging, Unified Messaging and Visual Voicemail because FMC-only solutions don’t support these UC apps. So when these vendors compare themselves with DiVitas Mobile UC – by definition the conversation can only become a seamless roaming debate.
In light of that boring, table-finish eroding discussion on seamless roaming I’d like to suggest we spice things up. Let’s add Unified Communications apps and the ability – or inability in the case of FMC-only vendors – to offer features such as Presence, Instant Messaging, Unified Messaging and Visual Voicemail within a single environment … on a mobile phone. I fear that there might be deafening silence on the FMC side.
Don't you wonder how FMC vendors plan to differentiate themselves from one another beyond the question of “whose seamless roaming” is better?
I am interested to hear your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Nancy Colwell
From: DiVitas Networks
Dear Michael,
I enjoyed reading your article about the DiVitas-Avaya partnership.
In your announcement recap you talked about the basics of what our relationship with Avaya will offer to mobile users (seamless roaming across WiFi and cellular networks; Presence; single-number reach; mid-calling features associated with deskphones; and Unified Messaging via integrated access to Avaya voicemail such that message-waiting indication, Visual Voicemail and the ability to download corporate voicemail messages will all be available on DiVitas mobile phone).
But what really grabbed my attention is your market analysis. You talked about Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC) and how DiVitas is a dominant player in this market … and you talked about an ongoing seamless roaming technology debate (location aware vs. environment aware architecture) in the Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) space that would “bore the finish off a table.”
To this comment I say, you are absolutely right! Seamless Roaming discussions are nothing more than technology-implementation debates. What is more important to discuss is what business benefit does this cool (or finish-removing) technology deliver? This discussion is what differentiates FMC-only from Mobile UC (a combination of FMC + Unified Communications) solutions. Most FMC vendors have nothing more to talk about than seamless roaming because this is pretty much all they do. A solution-comparing conversation simply cannot “roam” to topics such as Presence, Instant Messaging, Unified Messaging and Visual Voicemail because FMC-only solutions don’t support these UC apps. So when these vendors compare themselves with DiVitas Mobile UC – by definition the conversation can only become a seamless roaming debate.
In light of that boring, table-finish eroding discussion on seamless roaming I’d like to suggest we spice things up. Let’s add Unified Communications apps and the ability – or inability in the case of FMC-only vendors – to offer features such as Presence, Instant Messaging, Unified Messaging and Visual Voicemail within a single environment … on a mobile phone. I fear that there might be deafening silence on the FMC side.
Don't you wonder how FMC vendors plan to differentiate themselves from one another beyond the question of “whose seamless roaming” is better?
I am interested to hear your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Nancy Colwell
Posted Thursday, March 12, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
Avaya has announced DiVitas as their preferred partner for Dual Mode Mobile Unified Communications (Mobile UC).
Going forward this means new releases of Avaya Communication Manager (Avaya's PBX) and the DiVitas Mobile UC Solution (Fixed Mobile Convergence + Unified Communications apps) are guaranteed to work within your organization as if it were a single-vendor solution. The partnership also signifies a commitment to testing and quality assurance from both organizations.
This is the first time an existing enterprise PBX vendor has acknowledged the need for and forged a deal with a Mobile UC partner. Avaya is considered a leader in traditional Unified Communications (UC), and we are the leader in mobile UC. This is a story of "traditional UC" teaming up with "Mobile UC".
In addition, the two companies announced the integration of DiVitas with Avaya Modular Messaging (Avaya's high-end voicemail system). Modular Messaging offers a feature package of call answering, voice messaging, and speech capabilities. Messages are accessible any time, anywhere from a wide array of access devices including telephones, fax machines, or PC graphical user interfaces. To existing Modular Messaging customers, the integration means native Avaya voicemail can now be managed by the DiVitas Client.
Notable components of the DiVitas-Modular Messaging integration include:
1- Modular Messaging becomes central voicemail repository
2- Modular Messaging voicemail can be managed on DiVitas handset
This is important to you, even if you are not an Avaya Communication Manager customer-- Modular Messaging integrates with industry standard IP PBXs. So now, no matter which PBX you use, you can take advantage of this integration.
Here is what just a few of the press and analysts are saying about the partnership.
FierceVoIP - Avaya announces mobile UC partnership with DiVitas Networks, adds devices
Wirevolution - DiVitas partners with Avaya
NetworkWorld - Avaya and DiVitas - Mobile Unified Communications on the Move
UC Strategies - Avaya to Offer Dual-mode Mobile UC Solution from DiVitas
Going forward this means new releases of Avaya Communication Manager (Avaya's PBX) and the DiVitas Mobile UC Solution (Fixed Mobile Convergence + Unified Communications apps) are guaranteed to work within your organization as if it were a single-vendor solution. The partnership also signifies a commitment to testing and quality assurance from both organizations.
This is the first time an existing enterprise PBX vendor has acknowledged the need for and forged a deal with a Mobile UC partner. Avaya is considered a leader in traditional Unified Communications (UC), and we are the leader in mobile UC. This is a story of "traditional UC" teaming up with "Mobile UC".
In addition, the two companies announced the integration of DiVitas with Avaya Modular Messaging (Avaya's high-end voicemail system). Modular Messaging offers a feature package of call answering, voice messaging, and speech capabilities. Messages are accessible any time, anywhere from a wide array of access devices including telephones, fax machines, or PC graphical user interfaces. To existing Modular Messaging customers, the integration means native Avaya voicemail can now be managed by the DiVitas Client.
Notable components of the DiVitas-Modular Messaging integration include:
1- Modular Messaging becomes central voicemail repository
2- Modular Messaging voicemail can be managed on DiVitas handset
- Enables integration with 3rd party voicemail
- Message Waiting Indicator
- Download messages
- View messages
- Listen to messages
- Save or Delete messages
- Enterprise (Cisco, Aruba, Meru, etc.)
- SMB/Branch (Linksys, Netgear, etc.)
- Public hotspots and home office WiFi
This is important to you, even if you are not an Avaya Communication Manager customer-- Modular Messaging integrates with industry standard IP PBXs. So now, no matter which PBX you use, you can take advantage of this integration.
Here is what just a few of the press and analysts are saying about the partnership.
FierceVoIP - Avaya announces mobile UC partnership with DiVitas Networks, adds devices
Wirevolution - DiVitas partners with Avaya
NetworkWorld - Avaya and DiVitas - Mobile Unified Communications on the Move
UC Strategies - Avaya to Offer Dual-mode Mobile UC Solution from DiVitas
Posted Friday, March 6, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
Avaya made a major announcement this week, naming DiVitas as its preferred dual-mode solution. As you can imagine, this is exciting news for us given Avaya’s size (number one in North America’s PBX market) – and given the fact that we are a startup company in an emerging market.
But it’s also big news for Avaya due to DiVitas’ leadership in the Mobile Unified Communications space (emerging or not, Mobile UC is a hot market). A key reason that Avaya selected DiVitas is our Mobile UC solution offers much more than our FMC counterparts (who focus primarily on seamless roaming between WiFi and cellular). In addition to seamless roaming, DiVitas users also get Presence, Visual Voicemail, single-number reach and mobilized deskphone (phone number and mid-call functions). And we are now extending these capabilities to Avaya users in an integrated package.
As one analyst (FierceVoIP’s Doug Mohney) put it, Avaya’s “Mobile UC partnership with DiVitas Networks smacks of bigness for both parties, given Avaya's market share and DiVitas' solution.”
Bigness aside, together we are providing the promise of helping mobile workers do their jobs just as though they were seated at their desks – without having to juggle two phone numbers (desktop and cell) or spend an arm and a leg on cell bills (thanks to free WiFi calls).
This is a snapshot of how an Avaya user’s dual-mode world looks as a result of the Avaya-DiVitas partnership:
Avaya is considered a leader in traditional UC, which is their core business. And we are the leader in Mobile UC. Therefore, this is a story of “Traditional UC” teaming up with “Mobile UC”, and in this story Avaya and DiVitas are making history.
But it’s also big news for Avaya due to DiVitas’ leadership in the Mobile Unified Communications space (emerging or not, Mobile UC is a hot market). A key reason that Avaya selected DiVitas is our Mobile UC solution offers much more than our FMC counterparts (who focus primarily on seamless roaming between WiFi and cellular). In addition to seamless roaming, DiVitas users also get Presence, Visual Voicemail, single-number reach and mobilized deskphone (phone number and mid-call functions). And we are now extending these capabilities to Avaya users in an integrated package.
As one analyst (FierceVoIP’s Doug Mohney) put it, Avaya’s “Mobile UC partnership with DiVitas Networks smacks of bigness for both parties, given Avaya's market share and DiVitas' solution.”
Bigness aside, together we are providing the promise of helping mobile workers do their jobs just as though they were seated at their desks – without having to juggle two phone numbers (desktop and cell) or spend an arm and a leg on cell bills (thanks to free WiFi calls).
This is a snapshot of how an Avaya user’s dual-mode world looks as a result of the Avaya-DiVitas partnership:
- Roam seamlessly between WiFi and cellular (more minutes spent on free WiFi vs. expensive cellular).
- The same number as their deskphone (single-number reach means mobile workers are easier to reach and they waste less time returning missed calls).
- Mid-call functions i.e. extension dialing, call forward, conference calling, etc. (business calls are handled the same way as when they are using a deskphone).
- Their dual-mode phone and deskphone share a single mailbox thanks to the tight integration between DiVitas and Avaya’s Modular Messaging voicemail system (reduces frustration wasted-time checking multiple mailboxes).
- Avaya voicemail messages can be eyeballed and individually played according to each message’s individual priority (no more time wasted listening to low-priority messages before getting to the urgent stuff).
- Their Presence status is broadcasted (indicating if you are available by voice and/or text, or if you are unavailable for communication at that moment maximizes the ability to be reached).
Avaya is considered a leader in traditional UC, which is their core business. And we are the leader in Mobile UC. Therefore, this is a story of “Traditional UC” teaming up with “Mobile UC”, and in this story Avaya and DiVitas are making history.
Posted Thursday, February 26, 2009 by
Nancy Colwell
To: RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie
From: DiVitas Networks
Dear Mr. Balsillie,
We are writing to you as a fellow player in the mobile communications market – not as a RIM competitor, but as your future Mobile UC partner.
After reading your recent interview with the Financial Times – and learning how RIM is responding to Blackberry competition from the likes of Apple’s iPhone - we feel compelled to extend an important message: Let’s unite Blackberry devices with DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications.
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):
2- Mobile workers carry a single device and a single number to make them consistently reachable:
3- Companies leverage their existing communications investment:
4- Taking advantage of productivity gains through Unified Communications applications:
Sincerely,
DiVitas Networks
From: DiVitas Networks
Dear Mr. Balsillie,
We are writing to you as a fellow player in the mobile communications market – not as a RIM competitor, but as your future Mobile UC partner.
After reading your recent interview with the Financial Times – and learning how RIM is responding to Blackberry competition from the likes of Apple’s iPhone - we feel compelled to extend an important message: Let’s unite Blackberry devices with DiVitas Mobile Unified Communications.
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).
2- 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
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 Management means that mobile workers have only one voicemail inbox to manage -- the corporate mobile phone and corporate deskphone inboxes are one and the same.
Sincerely,
DiVitas Networks
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