It isn't often that a perfect storm of opportunity hits The Channel, but when it does, smart solution providers catch the wave. Unified communications (UC) represents such an opportunity today.

Defined broadly as presence-enabled communications that integrates telephony, desktop and business applications to deliver a unified user experience, UC offers a willing market, effective technology and a profitable business case.

• Customers large and small are buying into UC's benefits, which range from lower costs to more-efficient communications and streamlined business processes.
• Manufacturers such as Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, 3Com and many niche players are providing manageable and interoperable solutions that deliver benefits to every class of customer.
• The comprehensive nature of UC solutions helps solution providers establish long-term client relationships.
• All this is happening in a market that still has plenty of room for profitable growth.

"Many of our solution providers have been doing large and midsize unified communications installations for some time, and now a new group is starting to do smaller installations as well," says Hector Carveth, technology solutions engineer at Ingram Micro. "Overall, unified communications is one of the most promising opportunities in IT today."

Greg Starr, COO at I.T. Works, a Texas-based provider of Cisco and 3Com UC solutions, agrees. "The market for unified communications is still emerging -- we run into clients every week running old phone systems and old networks that need to move up to today's technology," says Starr. "This gives us a reason not just to sell them some servers, switches and routers, but to sell them a complete solution, including a phone system, video conferencing, training and more. It's profitable for us because of the stickiness -- unified communications ties us into the client's long-range plans."

There's also the opportunity to provide value-added services, such as integration of existing networking and telecom gear with UC technology. "The reality is, 90 percent of enterprises have Cisco in their backbone, and 90 percent have Microsoft on the desktop, and some are more committed to one vendor's vision than the other," says Chan Bulgin, solution director of application development at DynTek, a national systems integrator. "We enhance the value of these technologies by making them work really well together."

Similarly, there's opportunity in integrating Nortel telecom gear with software-based UC, thanks to Nortel's UC alliance with Microsoft. "Nortel's enterprise customers are seeing the benefits of bringing traditional voice to the desktop to enhance their communications," says Jerry Olson, president of New Vision Communications, an Omaha, Neb.-based solution provider specializing in Microsoft and Nortel's UC technology. "We have been using unified communications in our own business for about a year now with great success, and have been effective in demonstrating it to prospects and clients."

What Customers Like

UC piques the interest of many customers because of the cost savings due to lower telecom expenses, easier management and perhaps reduced travel costs from online collaboration. But as customers learn more about UC's capabilities, they warm to the business benefits. "Based on the economy, I would guess that 60 percent of customers dial into UC for the cost savings," says Bulgin. "The other 40 percent may start out discussing costs, but when they realize how UC allows them to re-engineer their businesses, this wins them over."

Indeed, a recent survey suggests that UC is being woven into the planning fabric of traditional IT organizations. According to a May 2008 survey of 800 members of two large Nortel user groups, 58 percent of respondents said they were more interested in deploying UC than they were 12 months ago. The most-anticipated benefits all chosen by more than half the respondents included the following:

• Improved user productivity through accelerated communications
• Enhanced workflow productivity
• Enhanced customer service
• Improved collaboration

Real-World Benefits

Such benefits resonate with the staff at DynTek, which uses UC in-house via a Cisco-Microsoft integration. "UC allows people to communicate effectively without wasting a lot of time," says Brian Gancherov, solutions director for Microsoft applications infrastructure solutions at DynTek. "If you can view someone's presence, or IM them to find out when they're available, there's no phone or e-mail tag. And unified messaging allows you to receive and respond to communications in any format based on your availability at the time."

Productivity gains can also arise from videoconferencing, a UC feature deployed in DynTek's network through Microsoft Office Live Meeting. "Online meetings with customers and our sales team have saved me numerous days of travel," says Gancherov. "My laptop has a webcam built into it, so I can be up and running wherever there's an internet connection."

Virgin Megastores USA Goes UC

Better internal collaboration was the driver behind DynTek's recent UC engagement with Virgin Megastores USA, an 11-store retailer of entertainment products and clothing. To improve knowledge sharing, collaboration and support between the home office in Los Angeles and the satellite stores, the staff needed to more easily switch from voice to IM to audio and videoconferencing, without having to worry about the cost of conference calls. They also wanted a solution with the potential to integrate voice mail, e-mail, conference calling and IM in a seamless and natural way.

The retailer had previously deployed a VoIP system based on Cisco Unified CallManager and Cisco Unity voice mail. To enhance the UC functionality with presence and conferencing, company executives considered adding tools such as Cisco IP Communicator and Cisco Unified MeetingPlace; they also considered a software-based approach from Microsoft. They chose the Microsoft solution for several reasons.

Virgin Megastores USA had been running an older version of Cisco CallManager, which required an upgrade to support presence and other UC features. By integrating the existing Cisco system with Microsoft's UC software, DynTek was able to extend the life and value of the phone system. And the client liked the flexibility and user experience of Microsoft's UC approach through its close integration with everyday applications, such as Microsoft's Office Outlook 2007 and Microsoft Active Directory.

The initial solution consisted of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and the Office Communicator client, along with LG-Nortel IP phones, model 8540. Each store was equipped with a Microsoft RoundTable conferencing and collaboration device, which presents a panoramic view of participants in a conference room while highlighting the speaker. To create a seamless solution, DynTek's engineers performed custom integration work on the gateway between Cisco's and Microsoft's technology.

The initial returns from the new system have been highly positive. The ease of setting up audioconferences and the inexpensive videoconferencing have improved communication and collaboration among store employees. And the retailer expects to save $50,000 annually that it was spending on outsourced videoconferencing. In fact, the UC solution has worked so well that deployment is under way on a unified messaging environment.

For their part, DynTek executives were pleased that they could assist by integrating Microsoft's software with Cisco's IP communications technology an engagement that in certain circumstances could have led to a singlevendor solution. "The demand for UC solutions is strong on both the Cisco and Microsoft sides," says Bulgin. "We look to leverage the infrastructure that's in place and bring in best-of-breed technology from all of our key partners."

Many Ways to Lower Costs

At I.T. Works, the UC conversation most often turns to cost savings especially at SMBs with multiple locations, where telecom costs can get out of hand.

Case in point: I.T Works recently deployed UC at a 70-employee federal credit union in East Texas. Previously, each of the firm's seven branches had its own phone system mostly analog technology and some ShoreTel VoIP that was a hotbed of costly inefficiencies. Telecom management was beyond the capabilities of the IT staff, leading to expensive service contracts. Even minor moves, adds or changes required a service call to the branch. Because the multiple systems were not integrated, a simple change to the voice-mail message or background music meant a visit to each location. And lack of central call routing required each location to purchase extra phone lines for direct-dial extensions.

The seven locations were linked by a Frame Relay WAN, but the local telco discontinued support and mandated a switch to MultiProtocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology. This entailed installing new networking gear at each branch, a perfect opportunity for I.T. Works to propose a converged solution from Cisco. Cisco routers, Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches and IP phones would be installed at each location, backed at company headquarters by Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition, with integrated voice mail running on a Cisco server appliance.

The client did consider a ShoreTel solution for VoIP, but Cisco easily won out, says Greg Starr of I.T. Works. Although the initial cost of the two approaches was comparable, the ShoreTel solution was more complex, as new networking equipment would be required in addition to the VoIP. The client liked the simplicity of the Cisco network with its centralized management and the ease of telecom moves, adds and changes.

"To add a phone at the home office or a branch, all they have to do is plug it into a PoE port and buy a license," says Starr. "It's also easier to set up a new location. Instead of buying a new phone system as they did before, with Cisco they just buy the router and switch they would need anyway and plug the phones in. That saves a ton of money."

The Cisco solution also led to reduced toll charges there's no charge for calls between locations, and Cisco's least-cost-routing feature places toll calls from the branch nearest the recipient. In addition, Cisco's technology reduces the number of phone lines required, as direct-dial calls can be routed to the branches from headquarters.

Perhaps the most important benefit is the sense of control the client receives from Cisco's consolidated solution. "No company wants to be at the mercy of a service provider in managing the phone system," says Starr. "After we train them, they appreciate having control of their own destiny."

UC Resources at Ingram Micro

If UC sounds like a business you'd like to be in, consider tapping into Ingram Micro's extensive resources. Ingram Micro's certified support engineers can help you build and support multivendor solutions. In-depth sales and technical training is available. In addition, UC technology is deployed for staff training and customer demos at Ingram Micro's Solution Centers in Buffalo, N.Y. and Santa Ana, Calif. Ingram Micro's customers can find additional information and resources at www.ingrammicro.com/unifiedcommunications, or contact technical support by calling the Networking Help Desk at (800) 445-5066, ext. 76295.