Today, we’d like to point out two recent TechNotes posted on Webtorials that offer valuable insights. The first reference is written by Michael Finneran, president of dBrn Associates; it is titled “In UC&C, Picking the Right Partners Matters.” The second piece, “BYOD Throws Curve at In-Building Cellular Projects,” was authored by our long colleague Joanie Wexler who is an expert wireless and mobility analyst.
In his note, Finneran observes that “Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) deployment calls for a wide range of elements, all of which must work together seamlessly to provide a positive user experience, and more importantly, to deliver the ROI that management will expect from the investment.”
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He continues to say that “no single vendor has the breadth of products to deliver all necessary parts. Cisco, Avaya, and Siemens/Enterasys probably come closest, but even large companies like these don’t supply all of the relevant components like (for example) headsets.”
Finneran also discusses the need for vendors to work together as partners, and in his note he outlines five broad categories where UC&C providers and customers must cooperate to assure a successful deployment.
To read more of Finneran’s expert analysis, please click here.
In her TechNote, Wexler observes that with the increasing popularity of BYOD (bring your own device), “there’s naturally a growing interest in getting better cellular connections in and around your office buildings. The more unwired the enterprise becomes, the more mission-critical the radio-access network (RAN) grows. The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) craze is certainly fueling the need for greater and more reliable RAN coverage and capacity.”
One option to improve in-building coverage is to amplify signals from nearby cell towers or bring in a licensed signal source, but she notes that his can be challenging since “employees connecting to the corporate network might be subscribed to any of a number of carrier voice and data services. This could mean you’ll have to boost the signals of two or more carriers, which can get complex, expensive and more than a little political.”
Another option is to use voice over WiFi — but as Wexler points out, this option also presents its own challenges.
To read more from Wexler on the BYOD conundrum, please click here.
Our thanks again to Webtorials for sharing this analysis. We also want to thank: Avaya and Prognosis who helped sponsor Finneran’s analysis; and Maas360 and MobileIron who also provided generous support for Wexler’s TechNote.
