Howwegotto

wnereweare
today,
Wherewe
are-gbing
next.
BY CAROLDAUNT,TEARNTEL

virtualteamsto expandtheir reachand seenconvergenceof technologiesover

busrnessactivities.eCollaborationiools the past felv years,but convergenceof
time.Technology has enableda different havedevelopedrapidlyin recentyearsand technologywith peoplewill be ihe way
type of communication with teamsofien mostof us haveusedthemin one of their of the future. l'd like to start looking
dispersedacrossseveralcontinents. The variousforms forwardby lookingback.Whatwerethe
virtualworkspaceis notjustthe domainof developments that broughtus to where
the largecorporation.Smalland medium Convergenceand mobility are the we are and where will ihey lead us in
sizedbusinessesareusingtechnology and future for eCollaboration tools. We've t h ef u t u r e ?

THESTRATEGIC
PATHTOCONVERGING
COMMUNICATIONS
TECHNOLOGIES AND DIRECTIONS AT All ihree of theseapproachesprovidea knowledgeor decisionmakingauthority
THE DESKTOP differentalgorithmfor callcontroland may necessary for them to complete the
A varietyof forcesare comingtogether flow throuEh different reseller/integratortask at hand To maximisethe abilityto
on the desktop,impactingthe future of channelsto the end user,but all threerely remainproductiverequiresthe abilityto
conferencingand collaborationat both on network services and infrastructure find and communicate with others,hence
the per$onaland group level. Perhaps componentsthat are controlledby the lT the concept of the Presenceengine.
nothingis moresignificant thanthe entry department. Presence engines, putsimply, aredirectory
of Cisco, Microsoft and lBl\l into the serverson steroidsthat enableworkers
unifiedcommunications space.Allof these Thenon-real{ime component to a unified to find, determineavailability and initiate
companies have a Presence engine a1 the communications architecture consists communications wiih colleagues. To date
heart of their offeringand then a variety of unified messaging (asynchronous Microsoft claimsmorethan10million users
of partner-provided and self-developed voice, email,fax, video mail all made of Office Communications Server (OCS)
applicationsthat enable the Presence available throughan inboxor portal)and and IBM claimsthat morethan20 million
engineto launch audio, video and data asynchronous conteni(documents andfiles Sametimeseatshavebeendeployed.The
collaboration sessions,boih point-to-point that represent archivedcontentor worksin pointis that Presence and availability are
and multipoint.Becausethesetechnology progresscontainedin portalsliketVicrosoft here to stay as metaphorsfor launching
industrygiantshavethe eyesand ears of SharePoint,DocumentumeRoom, etc.) collaboration;every lT departmentwill
lT professionals, they are bringingunified meantto supportteamcollaboration. Many ai some point needto concernitselfwith
communicaiions to the forefrontof the of the enalrlingplatformsare comprised policy, security, federation and other
centralised network architecture and of a blend of non-realtimecapabilities issuessurrounding application of Presence
business planning process. (webhosting,documenistorage,indexing e n g r n e s .
and hierarchical filing)and realtime (or
One way to look at ihe develoPments user-facing) capabilities.Amongtheseare One reasonfor the risingpopularityof
occurringin the markettodayis to look at alertsthat notifyuserswhen changesare Presence enginesisthattheyprovideinstant
the integration of real{imecommunications madeto relevantinformaiion, documents, access to others. The other capability
wiih the enterprise infrastructureand or applications; singlesign-onfor entire knowledgeworkersseek is ihe abilityto
consider how this will be deliveredto the enterprise application integration,and accessothersthroughcontentin a variety
end user.Threeoptionsaremostlikely: personalisation. SomeeRoomtechnologies of ways,notsimplybasedon Presence and
have added Presence,chat and web lM.ThoughIM willbe a primarymethodof
. Launching a collaboration sessionusing conferencing capabilities as wellto further clicking toa)call,b)schedule, c)launch aweb
the lP PBX as the central server and promote teamcollaboration. conference or videoconference, knowledge
the lP telephonehandsetor computer workers increasinglywill seek ways to
THEAGEOF CONVERGENCE 'always-on'
softphoneas the userinterface. achievewhat's breencalled
o Using a dedicatedcomputerprogram This year isthefirstinwhich more laptops The
coliaboration. juryissiilloutconcerning
for communications that providesan willshipthandesktopPCs,whichreinforces howthiswillbe achieved but it likelywillbe
environment thai supporis mixed media ihe entire concept of data and worker based on merging media types, content,
to mixed devices,possiblyover mixed mobility.Similarly, by the end of 2006 archivaltoolsand Presenceenginesintoa
networks, including PSTN,lPandmobile. therewillbe morethan2 billioncellphone varietyof formatsandapproaches.
Thisapproachisknownasa collabroration subscribers worldwide. Remembering
portalor dashboard,and also supports Metcalfe's Law,ihe valueof the universeof All of the technologiesand services
non-real-iimeshared workspacesfor PCs,mobilephones,handhelds and other discussedare now front and centrein lT
documentcontrol,etc. devicesincreases exponentially as theyare organisations. Over time they will require
' Embedding collaboration withina high- connectedand remainversatile. greatermind shareand largeramountsof
level produciivitysoftware application resources.The enterprisethat beginsits
such as CRM, Purchasing, HR, or The idea of convergence takes on planningtoday will be better positioned
accounting. Withthis approach,a voice anothermeaningwhenone considershow to addressa constantlyfluciuatinggroup
or videosessionis launched directlyfrom knowledgeworkersmaximiseproductivity. of servicesand user requirements while
withinthe higherapplication; the user Typically such workers migratefrom taskto also fostering improved productivity and
neverhasto leavethe originalapplicatlon task, project to project, often interrupting enhanced work environments for knowledge
or learna newprogram. their work io seek out colleagues with workers.

AU
5EEEVENMOREINFOATWWW.sTRATEGICPATH.COM
WHEREWE'VEBEEN conferencingdrop as low as half a cent collaboration on the road,intothe field,in
Voice, ';ideo ancl web conferencing per minuie accordingto ElliotGold of the air and out to sea.Mobilityis the new
deveiopedas definedservicesihat are TeleSpan. Thereis still a vast rangeof expectation.The office no longer exists
nowusedextensively by mostbusinesses. prices in Australiawith serviceprotriders betweenfourwails.
Voicewas via the standardphone(POTS), preferring to offervalue-addservicesas
videowasrriaISDNandwebwaslP based. opposedto cheapunsupported calls.But I ve beento several conferences recently
Untilrecently,we dealtwith eachof these the direction is definitely down. wherewirelessaccessalloweddelegates
as definedtechnoloEies offeringa unique Video conferencing hardware has to continuekrusiness as usual.Numerous
set of benefitsfor collaboration, plummetedin price both overseasand delegates sat hunchedoverlapiopsin the
here.This, too, will coniinueand you'll semi-darkness iappingat theirkeyboards
Voiceconferencing hascontinued to bea seevendorsproviding value-add services doing goodnessknows whatl A quick
growthiooli:ecauseit s accessible. cheap to get your business.Systemsare also scan from the back of the room showed
and reliable.lt now offersvariousfeatures gettingsmallerand cheaper- sub-$5,000 that manywere checkingemails.oihers
lrkeQ&A and poliingthat make a large for compactsystems. weregoingliveto wetrsites on topicsjust
conferencecall more nranageable. The mpniinncrl h\/ sncaktrrs while a few were
,vv v
t
vPvei \v' v, I

largestuptakehasbeenin the reservation- VolPis becomingmainstrearn and free postingliveto theirblogsto let the rest
less servicewhereanyonecan launcha servicessuch as Skype are constantly of the world know what gems of wisdom
conference callat a moment'snotice. expandingtheir offeringsand this will werebeinggiven.
drive service providerstowards creative
Video conferencinghas consistenlly bundlingdeals. Alreadywe'rreseen the Any time spentin international airports
under-delivered and has only become bundlingo{ telephony, gas and electrlcity alsoreinforces the importance of wrreless
mcre widely used in the past two years in someinsiances. to our everydaybusinessoperations. lt's
as equipmentbecameeasierto use and commonplaceto see wearytravellerson
costs decreased. Fvenihoughthereare Convergence: Voice, web and videcr theairportwireless serviceundertaking the
thousandsof systemsinstalled, many of conferencinghave convergedand one
worktheywouldhavebeendoinghadthey
them are used infrequently. 1p general, doesn'texpectto be usingthreediffereni
not been delayedby flightchangesand
irainingon howto usevideoconferencing, serviceprovidersand/or systems.Video On a recentoverseas flight
cancellations.
if givenat all,was aroundwhichbuttons conferencing has said goodbyeto ISDN
I was offereda wirelessserviceinJlight,so
to pushand verylittieon how to use the andyou'dbe hard-pressed to buyan ISDN
from
now we can coniinueto collaborate
technologyeffectively. systemioday.(lf someoneis offeringyou
an airlineseat.
one, check their credentialsl) lP is the
Web conferencingstarted slowly but standarcj and thisis makingcallscheaper
W H E R EW E ' R EG O I N G
has l]ecomethe tool of choicefor many andapplications morevaried.Dual-stream
Convergence is the lvay oi ihe future
organisations no\^/that it combinesvoice andcollaboration arethe norm, - convergenceof technologiesand
andvideowitha myriadof otherinteractive Recentdevelopments haveseenvoice-
people.Presencetechnologycrept onto
features. Like voice conferencing, and video-over-lP integrated into web
the horizonabouitwo yearsago and will
reservation-less services are available conferencingin a more mainstreamway.
soon permeate everyihing we do. Mobility
and thesehaveireentakenup by smaller The capabilityhas alwaysbeenthere,but
quality of will continue to be the direction in which
organisations, whilelargercompanies have was seldomused becauseof
we ail move. The 2417 connected person
optedto installand rnanagelhe services serviceissues* the standardphone for -
'vr u
n ir cvoE T h ^ . ^ 1 r . is becoming a reality I'm sureyou know
Ih rr qa l lur go o
a nr | t, hr ar u P
5 r p { 6 c a r ^vnr l u u .
rn-nou$e. rvril | | lvl I dlc

now severaiwekrconferencingproviders some of them if you're not one yourself.

WHEREWE ARE operatingin Australiawho use VolP to
Three recent trends have determined deliver voice.Thesevaryintheirqualiiy, lrut PRESENCE TECHNOLOGY
where we are with eCollaboration today: expect developments and improvements Presence technologyis a type of
plummetingprices; convergence;and application thatmakesii possible to locate
mobility. Mobility: Hundredssf people can be and identify a computing device wherever
seen every day around the metropolis, it mightbe,as soonas the userconnects
Plummetingprices: The USAhas seen glued to laptopsand connectedta ihe to the network.The devicemight be a
',vebconferencingprices plummetto 3c 'on' via fixed desktopcomputeror a handheld
internet.Others are constantly
per minutefor 'lite services'and voice theirPDAs.\l/ireless is allowingus to take mokiile device. )> >

SEEEVENMOREINFOATWWW.STRATEGICPATH,€OM.AU
This simulatesthe regular office by morecommon.The handhelddevicewill factorwillalwaysbe the mostimportant.
allowingyouto seewhenyourco-workers supersede a collection pieces
of separate
areavailable- as if iheywerein the same of hardware.Everyoneis aboutto join the PEOPLEAND CONNECTEDNESS
reom, even if they are locatedon the earlyadoptersin havingone devicethat No matterhowgoodthetechnology, it's
othersideof the world.Youcan alsosee includes: onlyas goodasthepersonusingit.People
by what means you can communicate o M o b i l ep h o n e need to know how to use technology
with them. Dependingon what system effectively.
lt's one thingto lre ableto turn
you are using,this could involveseveral " Computing programs
it on and pushthe rightbuitons- it'squite
kinds of synchronouscommunication * Email anotherto use the technologyto achieve
toolssuchas: * Contactslist your desired outcomes.Organisations
* Instantmessaging 6 Diary that implemeni any new technology need
. Groupchat - to surroundii with a irainingprogramme
* Camera stillandvideo
and supportservicesthat enablepeople
* Whiteboardcollaboration e And goodnessknowswhateise! to makeinformeddecisionsaboutwhich
* Application sharing technologyto use and how to use it
* Desktopsharing OVERTHE HORIZON effectively.
The beauty of eCollaboration
Justoverthe horizonandin a storenear technologiesis that they can be used to
* VoiceoverlP
you soon will be wearabletechnology. deliverthe training.So introducethem
* Videoandvoiceconferencing iools The clunky wearablecomputerof ten wiselyand use them to achievegreat
years ago nas becomea realitythrough collaboratjon notjusta poorapproximation
Presencetechnologywill ailowyou to the abilityto weaveelectronicsintofabric. of the realthing.
connectdirectlyfrom the documentyou One suchdeviceis an MP3playerwoven
are workingon to any colleagueswho intoa jackei,withthe jacketbuttonsbeing
are available.They may be at their desk, the controls.lt's only a srnallstepto the
in a caf6, on the road or in one of ihose eCollaborationvest that allows you to
conferencesI attended recently.Your connectto colleaguesin anotherplace
presencetechnology willtellyou whether andtimezonel
they are availableby text, voice or video
and whetherthey can collaborateat that Expectto see largewallsthat are video
rnomentintime.Lookfor bigmovesinthis conferencing.These viriual corridors
arenafrom Microsoft.(Seeour articleon are alreadyinstalledin some workplaces
to connect colleaguesand encourage
the gaps lretweenreallimecollaboration
collaboration througha senseof beingin
and communication on page72)
the $ameroom.Ai the otherend of the
scale will brethe watch videoconference
Amongotherpossibilities, usersof the
unit. allowingyou to stay in contact
technology couldinthefutureautornatically
whereveryou are.
sei up an rmpromptu conference call by
connecting all Lhepartiesas soonas they In olher areas. tangible interfaces
were detected to be available.Privacy are being developedthat
dispensewith
issueswiilbe addressed by allowing a high the need for a mouseand non-intuitive
degreeof user-defined control,allowing menusso that peoplecan interfacewith
peopieto eelectconditions in whichthey devicesin a morenaturalway.All of these
wouldbe detectable. developmenis,no matter how bizarre
they seem,will have an impaci on our
Peoplewillincreasingly workfroma variety collaboration and communication in the
of locationsand teleworking will become workplaceand al home.But the people

THESTRATEGIC
PATHTOCONVERGING
COMMUNICATIONS