For several years now, unified communications has been a buzz phrase among companies seeking to improve their productivity and cut costs. There isn’t yet one definition—one that industry experts all agree upon—to describe this trend. But most would agree that unified communications is a group of technologies that bring together real-time communications, such as IP telephony and instant messaging, with unified messaging—voicemail, e-mail, and faxes that users can access through an IP telephone or desktop and e-mail applications such as Microsoft Outlook.
Take one piece of the unified communications pie—the concept of presence. A unified communications system equipped with this feature can show you if your colleague is on the phone or away from her desk even before you dial her number. This is a particularly time-saving feature if, say, you’re in the middle of a conference call and need new product information as soon as possible. You can conference her in if she’s available or find another coworker if she’s not.
We looked at four companies that have deployed unified communications and have improved productivity, lowered communications costs, and allowed employees to fluidly assist one another and their customers from any location.
The Right Vision: Walman Optical
Walman Optical, an ophthalmic instrumentation, contact lens, and eyewear company based in Minneapolis, has 38 U.S. locations from Vista, California, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company’s 12 contact lens locations each have a consultant who sees clients, takes calls, and determines contact lens needs. Several years ago, Dan Torgersen, Walman’s vice president of management information systems and special projects, saw some communications bottleneck issues that he wanted to improve. Consultants in some locations were very busy, making it difficult for them to take calls from new customers. At the same time, some consultants weren’t very busy at all.
Torgersen says Walman needed phone calls to roll over from location to location as needed, so busy consultants could attend to clients, and unanswered calls would go to available consultants at alternate locations.
As Torgersen researched telecom options, he found that a voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) phone system with IP phones and unified messaging would be an affordable and scalable way to more quickly assist customers. Torgersen also wanted a local company to host the VOIP network so he didn’t have to become an expert on the system.
