Independent Communication

Of course, as with all technology convergences, the technologies may be nearly incompatible, such as cellular and Wi-Fi. (Most cell-phone manufacturers don’t offer both cellular and Wi-Fi in one phone.) Location-agnostic devices also create new challenges when it comes to emergency response. Customers don’t need to know that you are at home, driving a car, or at a desk, but a 911 dispatcher certainly does. Triangulated cellular and global positioning system technologies can ensure desktop-like safety measures and fast location sourcing.

Perhaps the greatest challenge is in administering FMC accounts. Today, large companies manage desktop phones but rely on employees to program features such as call forwarding on their cell phones and other mobile devices. But if there’s a problem (such as a network failure or the business closing for a day), it’s often difficult to implement a workaround. FMC can help straighten out voice-messaging problems like these. For example, administrators can create one system-wide message without forcing mobile workers to program a new greeting to explain what is happening.

Unimax, a Minneapolis company that supplies software for telephone systems, offers 2nd Nature, a product that helps companies make changes to all employee phone numbers and works with popular PBX systems and voice mail. “Our Web interface helps companies change all aspects of the phone system, including call-forwarding, personal reply-tos, and even how device button-presses are mapped,” says Unimax Chief Technology Officer Andrew Hunkins.

The Requirements

Businesses thinking of shifting to FMC usually have to consider the impact on current systems, the new security requirements, and the added management layer involved with any new technology, especially when there are changes to network servers. Many companies deploy a hosted solution such as the Microsoft Connected Services Framework and outsource the management duties. Gifford notes that there may be a need to upgrade or replace an existing system, depending on the complexity of the FMC solution. There are new server and software requirements as well, and some of the FMC costs can be hard to predict, especially when it comes to call routing and the switching technology for handling all the disparate phone network topologies. Yet, Lawson believes that Minnesota companies should take a serious look at FMC even in light of the new technology challenges.

One FMC-like product is Encompass Unified Communications from Plymouth-based Enventis Telecom, which ties voice and data communications and devices into one package. It offers a “one-inbox” bundle of high-speed Internet access, voice mail, call forwarding, 911 response capability, and conferencing and long-distance services.

For businesses that use Microsoft SQL Server, Windows Server, BizTalk, and .NET, Microsoft Connected Services Framework ties these systems together for wireline and wireless convergence.

Is FMC in your business future? Most likely, because convergence is inevitable in telecommunications. Whether you are ready to jump on the bandwagon now, or will in the near future, depends partly on your current vendor relationships and your willingness to try new, forward-thinking telecommunication strategies.