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So Much On Offer

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DQI Bureau
New Update

Cisco shared its Unified Communication System, a new suite

of voice, data and video products and applications designed to enable effective

communication at all sizes of organizations, with the Asian media at Bangkok in

February.

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Based on the Cisco Service-Oriented Network Architecture (SONA),

the communication system is an open and extensible platform for real-time

communications based on presence, mobility and the intelligent information

network. By using the IT data network as the service delivery platform, the

system helps workers reach the right resource the first time by delivering

presence and preference information to an organization's employees. 

The system is based on Cisco's IP portfolio including

CallManager, Unity, MeetingPlace and IP Contact Center and added capabilities

and features like Unified Personal Communicator, Unified Presence Server and

Customer Interaction Analyzer. The current customers can update their existing

system to the new features.

Trends
  • Further adoption of

    SIP as a common language

  • Continue to see

    more powerful applications being used in the network to do things

    easily like speech recognition

  • Move away from

    proprietary solutions to increased usage of Linux

  • Changes to the

    phones and equipment to support Asian languages

  • Use of RSVP

    agent-standard based method works with gateways as one does not have

    to worry about bandwidth management on any VoIP implementation

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The Cisco Unified Presence Server collects information

about a user's status with regards to the device in use. Using this

information, applications like Personal Communicator and Unified CallManager

help users connect with colleagues. The server aggregates information from the

network as well as CallManager and third party devices using SIP and SIP for

Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE) and then publish

information to IP phones, personal communicator, and third party services and

applications such as IBM Lotus Sametime and Microsoft Live Communications Server

(LCS) 2005.

The new version of the product, CallManager 5.0, will

include SIP capabilities for Cisco IP phones, presence-awareness software and

multimedia communications software.

    
Joe Bertrand shares his excitement on

Unified Personal Communicator
Sharat Sinha: The Indian IP Man
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Further on its IP initiatives, Cisco has built solutions on
the enterprise Wi-Fi (802.11) networks and the GSM public networks. Partnering

with handset manufacturers like Nokia, Motorola and RIM, Cisco will take to

market single and dual mode Smartphone solutions to enhance productivity of

mobile enterprise. Joe Burton, director of Engineering, Rich Media Comm. BU

said, “CallManager 5.0 should work with any SIP-based phone, but Cisco

specifically plans to support a “softphone” (or PC-based phone) client for

Research In Motion's BlackBerry handheld as well as Nokia's new dual-mode

phones.”

The

New Capabilities

Unified communications

is more than just an emerging IP application - it represents a new

generation of sophisticated applications and services not previously

available. Unified communications based on SIP ties together multimedia

and collaboration applications onto a single platform. This improves how

business communicates and delivers new capabilities. Unified

communications delivers:

  • Greater

    flexibility enabled by media independence: Because SIP is neutral to

    type of media used, it unifies dissimilar applications onto the same

    platform and simplifies the user interface so that workers can easily

    communicate with others any time and any place with any device

  • Faster

    integration of new applications: Unified communications is standards

    based, which makes it less complex for integrating multiple

    applications on a single platform. Developers can connect to existing

    applications more easily resulting in low costs for integration

  • Improved

    coworker communication interfaces: Unified communications introduces

    new capabilities not found in previous applications. These include

    mixed media that seamlessly blend collaborative and communication

    applications, and advanced desktop capabilities for launching

    applications through intuitive PC interfaces with presence indicators



Source: Forrester Research for Cisco

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Benefits

Of Unified Communications Adoption

Unified communications

provides a technical solution that solves real business problems. Worker

productivity is a sign of well-managed business, and companies need to

look more closely at their internal communications to eliminate problems

of lack of growth in employee productivity and customer attrition.

  • Improved

    accessibility of information and experts throughout the enterprise:

    The easier it is for workers and customers to access information, the

    better they can resolve issues and complete tasks

  • Flexible

    workgroups, which enable faster problem resolution: Collaboration

    among workers accelerates decision-making and provides a faster remedy

    to issues that arise

  • Better value from

    existing internal applications: Employees use multiple forms of

    communication but often do not fully use the tools provided due to

    their complexity. As user interfaces becomes simpler, employees will

    better use tools provided to them.

  • Faster response to

    customer requests: Customers feel that the company is looking for

    their best interests with an immediate response to their problems

  • Avoidance of

    project delays due to communication silos: Companies find their

    workers often hampered by communication silos that are not connected

    to other applications and back-end systems, which often leads to

    projects slipping on their deadlines. By providing a fully integrated

    experience across all applications, workers can more readily respond

    to critical issues

  • Greater control

    over work schedules and timeline adherence: Business managers have now

    eliminated one major obstruction in the slowdown of work efforts with

    real-time connectivity among employees

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Cisco's adoption of IP telephony standard will allow the

addition of new network-service features and enable companies such as Microsoft

to integrate their communications products with Cisco gear.

United we stand for unified communication

SIP is used to establish contact between IP phones and to

add special features, such as presence awareness, video or mobility

capabilities. The standard also makes it possible for companies deploying VoIP

to mix and match the products they use, significantly lowering the cost of

deploying a VoIP network.

Sharat Sinha, director Products and Technologies Asia

Pacific said Cisco was working with Microsoft to integrate its Office

Communicator 2005 and Office Live Communications with Cisco's Unified

Communications System. The integration means that users can launch a VoIP

conversation directly from their Microsoft Outlook client. The interoperable

package should be available in August 2006.

Cisco Systems is also getting into the security

surveillance market with the acquisition of SyPixx Networks. Cisco is paying $51

mn in cash and options for SyPixx, which has developed software and hardware

products that allow existing analog video systems to operate as part of a

digital IP network.

Cisco believes the video surveillance market is a good fit

for the company, which has traditionally sold IP routing and Ethernet switching

equipment to large companies.

Minu Sirsalewala



minuvs@cybermedia.co.in

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