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CIO Institute - A Killer app lies in wait

OK you IT dudes out there – I have a prediction and a challenge for you. The next big thing in IT is… productivity Mark II – connected communities. This revolution will feature executive and professional productivity driven throug...

IBRS - You can’t buy collaboration

Collaboration is not something you can buy. It is not a product. It is not even a solution. It is an approach to doing business. As such, collaboration initiatives must be viewed more as a transformative business project with IT support. Large-scale, m...

Ovum - UC to go!

Much has been said about unified communications (UC) initiatives in terms of platforms, software collaboration and integration with IP telephony systems. However, mobility seems to be the missing link in most discussions about UC, which always seem to ...

Strategic Path - Far-reaching communications in the far north

Building a major communications network is always challenging, but it’s doubly difficult when you’re trying to do it in the remote reaches of far north Queensland. Angus Kidman looks at how the Cape York Digital Network overcame its technic...

UniComm - Beyond the contact centre…

In 1995, Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema wrote The Discipline of Market Leaders. In it, they describe three strategic pathways that enterprises can take in order to achieve market dominance. These pathways are operational excellence, product leadershi...

SIP Forum - SIPconnect and the rationale for widespread adoption of SIP trunking

Making the most of VoIP IP PBXs are starting to dominate the enterprise equipment market. But TDM trunking remains the norm, unnecessarily limiting the advantages business customers can realise from IP voice in both capabilities and cost. The answer...

Wainhouse Research - A case study on deploying a VNOC

An Example of a Video Managed Services / VNOC Offering This section provides information about the services included within the VNOC / video managed services offering from the sponsor of this white paper, York Telecom Corporation (YTC). YTC&rs...

UniComm - The Emerging impact of Unified Communications

Making the most of your ‘people power’ By Don Van Doren, Principal, UniComm Consulting and Co-Founder, UCStrategies.com Unified communications (UC) is widely recognised as the ‘next big thing’ in communications capabiliti...

UniComm - Leveraging VAR and SI Talent

For unified communications success The best approach for your business By Marty Parker, Principal, UniComm Consulting, Co-founder UCStrategies.com Unified communications (UC) is now a proven business tool. Since the Strategic Path articles in ...

Strategic Path - Unifying your phone systems: the Challenges for Management

Integrating and updating its communications systems for greater mobility provided major benefits for Wellington City Council, but also posed some unexpected challenges when it came to training, management and product lifecycles. What went well and what...

UniComm - Getting started in Unified Communications - Easily and Economically

The four steps to successful UC By Marty Parker, Principal, UniComm Consulting LLC Unified communications is truly gaining traction. The number of positive UC reference cases continues to grow rapidly. These reference cases report specific, high-RO...

Wainhouse - Do you see what I see in UC?

An in-depth look at new survey results By E. Brent Kelly, Wainhouse Research Some years ago, one of my college professors said: “What one perceives as truth is more important than what is truth.” He said this because people tend to act ...

Get smart about integrating voice says Angus Kidman

Unified communications is often bandied about as the ultimate vision for corporate networks, but setting up and cost-justifying any UC platform can be tricky. Strategic Path writer, Angus Kidman, looks at how to effectively map business processes to vo...

Strategic Path - Unified Communications: Hype or Hard Fact?

Unified Communications: Hype or Hard Fact? Just as you had got used to ‘VoIP’ becoming ‘IP Telephony’, along comes ‘Unified Communications’ and it is being tagged to everything. A new era of communications i...

Strategic Path - Cairns City Council: UC in a warm climate

UC in a warm climate When it comes to Unified Communications there are many questions you should be asking: What is the quantifiable ROI of Unified Communications? How do you successfully evolve to embrace UC and how do you prepare? How do you...

Strategic Path - Evans & Peck: Covering the globe with UC

Covering the globe with UC Mike Lorimer, CIO - Evans & Peck Group outlines the professional services company’s UC implementation and how it has reducing international travel, increasing communication and providing staff a sense of being...

Strategic Path - Mallesons Prove Quantifiable ROI and UC success

Quantifiable ROI and UC success The Strategic Path talks with Gerard Neiditsch, Executive Director — Business Integration & Technology, Mallesons Stephen Jaques about the firm’s recent “richer than UC” communications i...

Strategic Path - Mirvac builds on UC for global growth

Mirvac builds on UC for global growth Mirvac’s CIO, Chris Kennett talks with The Strategic Path about the company’s recent UC upgrade that will help its staff collaborate to overcome skills shortages. What is the specific Unified ...

Strategic Path - Optus moves to IP for productivity

Optus moves to IP for productivity The Strategic Path talks with Jon Wilkie, Director, Corporate Services at Optus about the benefits of and challenges in relocating the company’s head office. Can you tell us a little about what has now b...

Unicomm - Unified Communications - What, How, & the Big Rewards

Unified Communications - What, How, & the Big Rewards While enterprises can leverage generic UC tools to make some productivity gains, there are higher-gain improvements available to enterprises that start by improving business processes, using...

Strategic Path - Will 2008 be the Year of Unified Communications?

Will 2008 be the Year of Unified Communications? The beauty of Unified Communications (UC) is that all corporate communication solutions that hang off an IP platform, by default have now become UC. However, this is also the beast of Unified Comm...

CIO Institute - CIOs Harnessing the Hype

CIOs Harnessing the Hype CIOs can rise above the avalanche of misinformation in today's market by working out where their organisation stands on the path to IT maturity. Anyone who has encountered IT vendors' more hyped claims – such as, f...

Strategic Path - VoIP unifies the modern workflow system

VoIP unifies the modern workflow system According to Gerard Neiditsch, Mallesons' Executive Director Business Integration & Technology, the catalyst for the firm's VoIP deployment was, initially, replacing legacy PABX's in Australia. Buildin...

Forrester Research - Unified Communcations merges with IP Telephony

Unified Communications merges with IP Telephony in 2007 IP communications has evolved from a replacement technology for business telephone systems into unified communication (UC) applications that improve worker productivity and reduce delays in bu...

Strategic Path - United Comms (r)evolution - Just around the corner

United Comms (r)evolution - Just around the corner There is seemingly unlimited potential for a unified communications strategy to transform a business process to such an extent that the results can and do provide the enterprise with a complete ...

CISCO - The Network Effect

The Network Effect Cisco's Peter Hughes, ANZ talks to the Strategic Path about Cisco's vision for Unified Communications SP: What is your role and responsibility at Cisco? PH:: I am the ANZ General Manager of Cisco's Unified Communications (...

Strategic Path - CIO Panel on the reality of IP telephony

The Strategic Path CIO Panel on the reality of IP telephony Moderator: Jim Berry, Publisher, Strategic Path to Converging Communications Panelist: Mark Jones, Infrastructure Manager for Corporate Express Panelist: Marcus Moufarrige, Chief Inf...

Strategic Path - Beyond the Dialtone

Beyond the dialtone What leads organisations to adopt VoIP or unified communications, and what business benefits actually accrue as a result? Although vendors are keen to push the functionality of IP telephony and unified communications, potenti...

Telsyte - Who is influencing your telephony budget today?

Who is influencing your telephony budget today? Telephony vendors have spent countless dollars in identifying and building bridges to their prospects’ most influential executives. Some, for instance, have restructured their sales channels i...

Wainhouse - Unified Communications - Buyers Wanted

Unified Communications – Buyers Wanted E. Brent Kelly, Ph.D. Senior Analyst & Partner, Wainhouse Research Unified communications is an emerging market, fragmented in definition as well as in functionality. For the purposes of this a...

Wainhouse - Understanding Telepresence - Part 1

Understanding Telepresence – Part 1 Believe it or not, telepresence is not new. It has been more than a decade since the first telepresence solution was introduced to the public. For most of that time, the telepresence market consisted of a...

Telsyte - Sam Yip - looks at Fear, uncertainty and doubt

Fear, uncertainty and doubt: The triumvirate that could crack even strong telephony vendors By Sam Yip, Telsyte Senior Industry Analyst Outdated go-to-market strategies Non-telephony market entrants such as Microsoft and Google ...

Forrester Research - UC - What You Need To Know

Unified Communications: What You Need To Know Evaluating Providers And Products For SIP-Based Business Solutions by Elizabeth Herrell with Erica Driver, Robert Whiteley, and Christine E. Atwood Executive Summary Unified communications (UC) h...

Vendor Insights

Cisco - Networkers highlights the Power of Collaboration

Cisco’s annual Networkers conference in Brisbane let networking and IT experts from around the country learn about the latest technological developments, and how they can be harnessed to deliver collaborative solutions that offer real business be...

Nortel - Do UC what I see?

Philip Goldie, Director, Enterprise Product Marketing, Nortel, Asia answers our questions SP: A lot of terms are now being brought to market – and with them some confusion – does Nortel see a difference between unified communications a...

Aspect - Contact centre intelligence

All too frequently, companies implement call routing solutions, outbound diallers and siloed performance optimisation products, such as campaign management or quality monitoring, in their contact centres with no real coordinated strategy for making the...

Nortel - The Hyperconnected - here they come! A white paper by IDC

A Global Look at the Exploding ‘Culture of Connectivity’ and Its Impact on the Enterprise Romina Aducci Pim Bilderbeek Holly Brown Seana Dowling Nora Freedman John Gantz Abner Germanow Takashi Manabe Alex Manfrediz Shalini Verma...

Nortel - How to evaluate Business Value for Unified Communications by Forrester Research

Unified Communications Support Multiple Business Process Improvements by Elizabeth Herrell with Brownlee Thomas, Ph. D. and Rachel Batiancila for IT Infrastructure & Operations Professionals Executive Summary Unified communications (UC) ...

ServicePoint - Video-as-a-Service: keeping it simple

Implementing videoconferencing can be a difficult task for many businesses, but by taking a serviceoriented approach, you can get all of the benefits without the cost and the complexity. ServicePoint’s Video-asa- Service (VaaS) offerings allow yo...

CISCO - Case Study #3: Single System, multiple benefits

Integrating its communications systems onto a single platform has enabled pay TV provider Austar to reduce its call centre costs while also improving service levels to customers. How did it achieve that feat and what lessons have been learned? Over ...

Aspect Software - What contact centres can teach the rest of the organisation about unified communications

…and where performance optimisation solutions come into the picture By Michael Stelzer, Aspect Software, Country Manager, ANZ The business world is on a quest to break down information silos, and for good reason: when more people have acc...

IBM - Let's Get Together

Strategic Path talks UC with IBM’s Craig Campbell SP: the UC pitch has evolved beyond ‘personal productivity’ to ‘integrating UC into the business process’. Can you explain what this actually is, and how it is done, for t...

IBM - Case Study: Streamlined communications and desktop video an easy sell for Westfield

Challenge Westfield’s old PABX system was out-of-date and running out of capacity. The company wanted to install a telecommunications system that would streamline communications across the business, including remote offices and employees on th...

NSC Group - Event Driven Architectures in the Responsive Enterprise

Section 1: Introduction To be competitive in today’s real-time world requires greater business agility than ever before. Organizations and their people are working faster, and have to respond ever more quickly and effectively to real-time busi...

IBM - Achieving tangible business benefits with social computing

Introduction In the age of Web 2.0, Internet users are rewriting the rules of social interaction by harnessing a range of new technologies to create and sustain virtual communities forged around common interests. Communications channels such as blog...

IBM - Beyond converged networks: driving user productivity through Unified Communications and Collaboration

Executive summary Unified communications and collaboration strategies can help organizations deliver a user experience that brings together communications and collaboration silos across and beyond traditional business boundaries. By providing users ...

Aspect - An Evaluative Report of the Knowledge Worker's Role in the Contact Center, 2008

Unified Communications strategies are largely focused on improving employee productivity. The concept can be extended to encompass contact centers and customer-facing support functions across the enterprise to enhance communications between organizatio...

IBM - Samarinda Lodge Improves Resident Care while Increasing Staff Productivity

with IBM Global Technology Services About Samarinda Lodge Samarinda Lodge is a not-forprofit residential aged-care facility in Ashburton, Australia, serving approximately 40 residents. The organisation is staffed by registered nurses as well as p...

NSC Group - Maximizing Unified Communications for Your Business

Guidelines for Success in Deployment and Solution Optimization Section 1: Executive Summary Although Unified Communications (UC) is a term that’s frequently heard these days, finding clear – or even consistent – definitions can...

EDC - St Agnes College Integrates a UC network

Founded originally in 1962, St Agnes Catholic High school has catered for the needs of secondary students in the Rooty Hill community for over forty years. In 1999 the school became part of the Christ Catholic College, a multi site campus catering for ...

NEC - Rice County Municipal Govt move to a fully converged network

Rice County, MN Rice County, located in Central Minnesota, 30 miles south of Minneapolis and St. Paul, is the state’s 13th most populous county. Like many others in Minnesota, it has a great deal to offer residents—attractive outdoor rec...

EDC - 'Stay In Front' lives up to its name with UC

StayinFront lives up to its name with Cisco Unified Communications solution “The functionality of the Cisco solution is second to none. There’s no doubt it’s a great product from an end user’s perspective.” – Andr...

Aspect - Unified Communications...Keeping the Customer in the Equation

Unified Communications – Talk of the Town Everyone is talking about unified communications. But, how they are defining it and why they are considering implementing it varies from enterprise to enterprise. Many unified communications strategies...

NEC - Black Box Network Services

Black Box Network Services In May 2006, Black Box, a large distributor of networking products, acquired Long Island’s Nu-Vision Technologies, one of NEC Unified Solution’s most successful associates with a solid book of business in gover...

3Com - Safeguarding the Environment While Advancing Networked Communications

SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT WHILE ADVANCING NETWORKED COMMUNICATIONS FASTER AND SMARTER COMMUNICATIONS Reducing energy consumption while increasing network functionality is a significant challenge, but typical of the complex issues that 3Com res...

NEC - DACA move to a new office and implement UC

Debt and Credit Advisors Debt and Credit Advisors (DACA), based in Camarillo, CA, is dedicated to guiding consumers to a debt-free future by motivating them to implement practical, proven strategies. According to Debt and Credit Advisors Executive D...

EDC - Local Kiosk Manfufacturer evolves thanks to UC

Abuzz Technologies takes control of telephony and increases network security with Cisco Unified Communications “Because the Cisco system is so easy to configure, we no longer have to wait for external support. This gives us extensive control a...

3Com - 3Com(R) Open Services Networking - Freedom to Innovate

3Com® Open Services Networking - Freedom to Innovate INTRODUCTION Imagine an open and customizable network infrastructure that delivers the freedom to innovate, differentiate services and simplify operations—a network that can reduce co...

CISCO - The Business Value of Unified Communications

The Business Value of Unified Communications Introduction In today’s global environment, the vast majority of companies experience a set of continually increasing business pressures, regardless of industry or size. While not all companies e...

NEC - 360-Degree Communications in a 24/7 Business World

Role-based communications – the future of communications technology By Dr Steven Stenton, NEC Australia Business today is faster, more complex and more demanding than ever. Shareholders have increased pressure on the C-suite to drive revenue ...

3Com - Unified Communications for the SMB. Interview with Peter Chai, VP Asia for 3Com

Small, but Perfectly Formed: Strategic Path puts the pertinent questions to 3Com’s Peter Chai SP: With your new offering you are targeting organisations with 30 to 250 phone users. What particular pressures and problems do SMBs face that don&r...

Cisco - Making the most of Technology Now! Cisco's Sheila Jordan reveals how Cisco is Embracing Web 2.0

An insider’s view of how Cisco is embracing Web 2.0 for internal productivity gains and a richer employee experience Interview with Sheila Jordan, VP, Communication and Collaboration IT SP: What is the aim behind the Cisco “Communicatio...

Aspect - UC Calling: Michael Stelzer recommends U.C. for the Contact Centre

Why you need unified communications in your call centre. By Michael Stelzer, Aspect Software, Country Manager, Australia & New Zealand On March 10 2008, Aspect Software issued a press release announcing that it is re-positioning the company&rsq...

3D Networks - Are you ready for UC Change? Asks Chris Luxford, CEO of integrator 3D Networks.

Strategic Path interview with Chris Luxford, CEO of 3D Networks (Australia) SP: As 3D Networks is a global integrator: how do Australian businesses compare with the rest of the world in terms of deploying convergence and UC? How is the UC market in ...