By Art Rosenberg
I don’t need to tell you what is going on with mobile “smartphones” because your e-mailbox must be loaded with reports and announcements from the GSM
conference in Barcelona, just like mine is. Of course, I have always seen multimodal mobile devices as being key to driving end user demand for UC and UM, because that’s where the UC need and benefits will be greatest.
I will be moderating a panel discussion about business UC and mobility with leaders in the mobile device industry, including representatives from:
- RIM
- Ericsson (News - Alert)
- Motorola
- Nokia
- Cisco
The proposed topics and questions that will be discussed are shown below and you are invited to submit additional questions about such devices in enterprise communications and business applications mobilization.
“Merging Mobility and Unified Communications”
Proposed Key Questions:
- What UC capabilities are available on mobile devices today? Can these integrate with the IP Telephony and UC infrastructures?
- What are the key impediments (such as bandwidth or battery life) to end users’ enjoying the same functionality on a wireless UC application as its wired counterpart?
- Can wireless UC solutions be implemented in conjunction with the enterprise infrastructure, or will service providers only offer these as their own standalone services?
- Are video and collaboration solutions viable UC applications for mobile users today?
- What are the different kinds of mobile communications usage that a business user’s device will have to support? When will they need more than one device, e.g., specialized applications, campus mobility vs. off-site usage?
- Is it practical to allow business users to choose their own mobile devices for both business and personal contacts, assuming separate contact numbers, applications, and contact management? Will dual operating systems and separate application clients be required? (Corporate liable vs. Employee liable device and services)
- How much responsibility should the enterprise really take for mobile devices that business users will carry with them at all times? Who should support end users with software/hardware issues about different devices - the enterprise, the service provider channel, or the device provider channel?
- What are the security issues for business usage of mobile devices and how can they be avoided/controlled? Will “virtual” storage of business information be a solution”
- How will end user mobility needs impact the migration to unified communications?
- What will be different about UC capabilities at the desktop vs. handheld devices? How will two forms of UC usage interact effectively?
- Will handheld devices be suitable for customer-facing applications, where the customer information “screen pop” is a critical operational requirement? What other applications will be limited by handheld devices?
- As mobile devices keep evolving into new form factor capabilities, how will end users migrate from older devices?
- What ancillary input/output devices will mobile devices support and how?
- How will the organization's desire to leverage employee presence data conflict with privacy rights of individuals and "big brother" concerns?
- Can UC capabilities improve obstacles in global business collaboration by providing additional presence information (holidays, time zones, modified "international" work schedules, best communication method to reach user)?
- What opportunities and obstacles (requirement for carrier certification of wireless devices, unique wireless LAN frequencies, standards, global travelers) are anticipated for UC across the globe?
The session will be taking place on Thursday, March 8, at the VoiceCon Spring 2007conference in Orlando. If you will be attending the show and are interested in the topics, please join us.
What Do You Think?
I will be reporting the results of the discussion in a future column, so if you have a pertinent question to be discussed, please let me know and we will try to cover it. Send your question to me at
[email protected].
Internet Protocol (IP) | X |
| IP stands for Internet Protocol, a data-networking protocol developed throughout the 1980s. It is the established standard protocol for transmitting and receiving data
in packets over the Internet. I...more |
Local Area Network (LAN) | X |
| There is much more to LANs to explain on a few words. Pleases refer to TECHtionary.com for a vast set of tutorials on this subject. LAN connections use 48-bit MAC addresses permanently fixed into th...more |
Global Standard for Mobile (GSM) | X |
| ...more |
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