Wireless voice communication is increasingly the lifeblood of enterprise, government and industrial workflow. But as mobile phones, smartphones and voice-enabled PDAs become more and more like full-fledged computing platforms (e.g., mobile Linux, Java, Symbian, Windows), they are exposed to vulnerabilities that were previously associated only with wired IT systems, such as eavesdropping on calls and data sessions (mobile intercept), user masquerading, theft of service, theft of personal data, session spoofing, device cloning, backdoors and mobile identity theft.
Like any IT resource, smartphones, mobile phones and PDAs are potentially vulnerable to viruses, worms, Trojans and spyware. Malware threats that were once targeted at LAN-based desktop and data center computers are now attacking mobile devices and mobile service provider networks. Mobile malware has been found to be very effective at attacking mobile voice and data sessions through open protocols and services.
With conventional security software, encryption routines running on mobile platforms are largely defenseless and vulnerable to a large number of hacker exploits and viral threats at the application, operating system and network levels. In the current era of escalating cyber threats, mobile platforms need a better approach to network encryption and authentication. This new approach must shield device-based security software from the vulnerabilities of open platforms and networks, so that wireless mobile CDMA and GSM voice traffic can be fully protected, end to end.
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Sunday, 6 December 2009
UK Business Priorities and Technology
The way people communicate in the Corporate marketplace has changed, change has been around for a long time but the elements that are driving the current wave of change in communications are new and more powerful than anything that we have seen before.
This is occurring because new technologies such as mobile applications and the mobile internet channel have now reached a critical mass.
The choice you now have is how do you deliver an integrated communication system that links different individuals together effectively across a wide range of options such as mobiles, desktops, laptops and the web.
To complicate this, the economic environment has brought about increased focus on cost management leaving organisations with fewer resources to innovate, or at least to do more with the same.
Recent research has found that UK business priorities are identified through four main topics; improving productivity and efficiency; retaining and attracting customers; cutting costs and generating more revenue.
Is this a shock to any one out there, NO I did not think so.
However what it does do is highlight the importance of equiping people with the right tools to help them do their jobs more effectively and efficiently to ensure they achieve these goals, vitally important as we start to prepare for the future economic upturn.
Organisations should be looking at the way new technology can drive granular and incremental, as well as wholesale business improvement amongst its people and processes.
Large bespoke technology projects are not the only way to deliver these benefits, simple or small changes can also deliver huge benefits to your organisation such as saving time and money by improving productivity and encouraging communication and collaboration across departments and locations or by providing employees critical up to the date information wherever they need to work through simple solutions delivered to end users securely, cheaply and quickly in just a few “clicks”.
mBusiness Consulting have listened to their customers and identified solutions to meet this demand which reduces IT complexity and costs but delivers all of the benefits.
This is occurring because new technologies such as mobile applications and the mobile internet channel have now reached a critical mass.
The choice you now have is how do you deliver an integrated communication system that links different individuals together effectively across a wide range of options such as mobiles, desktops, laptops and the web.
To complicate this, the economic environment has brought about increased focus on cost management leaving organisations with fewer resources to innovate, or at least to do more with the same.
Recent research has found that UK business priorities are identified through four main topics; improving productivity and efficiency; retaining and attracting customers; cutting costs and generating more revenue.
Is this a shock to any one out there, NO I did not think so.
However what it does do is highlight the importance of equiping people with the right tools to help them do their jobs more effectively and efficiently to ensure they achieve these goals, vitally important as we start to prepare for the future economic upturn.
Organisations should be looking at the way new technology can drive granular and incremental, as well as wholesale business improvement amongst its people and processes.
Large bespoke technology projects are not the only way to deliver these benefits, simple or small changes can also deliver huge benefits to your organisation such as saving time and money by improving productivity and encouraging communication and collaboration across departments and locations or by providing employees critical up to the date information wherever they need to work through simple solutions delivered to end users securely, cheaply and quickly in just a few “clicks”.
mBusiness Consulting have listened to their customers and identified solutions to meet this demand which reduces IT complexity and costs but delivers all of the benefits.
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Technology to deliver Business Continuity - R U Covered?
The ongoing threat of a swine flu pandemic has prompted organisations to assess how they would cope in a worst-case scenario, where staff absenteeism could reach 40 per cent.
Business continuity planning needs to be as fluid as business itself and regularly rehearsed. Although bigger organisations have had plans in place for many years, complacency can still set in and these plans may not have been tested to comply with the increasingly complex and technology-driven business demands of the current environment. The earliest plans for certain large corporations were often paper-based. The BCP would have taken the form of a physical document and reflected the business practices of the time. The big shift recently has been faster and more available methods of communication.
These shifts have lead to the real possibility of organisations becoming almost "virtual" as and when required – such as when a highly contagious and severe disease such as swine flu appears on the horizon.
The threat of pandemic disease is a relatively new consideration for UK-based businesses and joins the threat of terror attack and natural disaster as aspects to consider when updating or implementing a plan for the first time. With such risks to business it is frustrating that such a large number of businesses bury their heads in the sand and continue to ignore these very real threats. Disease pandemic also offers a different set of criteria to that of terror and natural disaster with the threat moving from generally physical and relatively local in nature to being invisible and not limited geographically.
However, as the type of threat has changed, so has the working environment. Five years ago the majority of an organisation's workforce needed to be in the office to be productive; however modern communications have opened up the work-space. Home working can be set up quickly and efficiently to offer more flexible working to employees and the possibility for key staff to quickly restore/maintain work practices if the needs arises. Laptops have become much cheaper and their portability means that one piece of equipment can be carried around by an employee and used wherever required.
Coupled with a mobile phone and with broadband costs tumbling, the cost of setting up employees to relocate at short notice, or in the case of a disease pandemic, work from home is reasonable. Even if the current swine flu pandemic doesn't prove to be as severe as predicted, it should serve as a wake-up call to organisations to make sure that they are fully utilising modern and cheaper communication methods to keep their businesses running in times of crisis. It would be fool-hardy to believe that another pandemic will not surface at some stage and there is no reason to be complacent.
There are two main obstacles at board-level that are often cited as blocking the implementation of a modern business continuity plan. The first is cost; but it is actually fairly cost-effective to design and implement a BCP due to the proliferation of competitively-priced methods of communication now available coupled with more efficient working practices. It must also be noted that many aspects of BCPs can be used in everyday working practices to improve efficiency and well-being of staff, such as the home-office concept.
The second main stumbling-block is a concentration on terrorist attack and natural disaster as the only type of threats to an organisation's well-being, rather than continual threats such as human pandemic disease, which according to the latest report by the Chartered Management Institute and backed by the Cabinet Office, is one of the greatest concerns facing organisations. It is understandable that threat of terrorist attack has dominated business thinking since 9/11, but other threats must not be discounted or ignored. It is the job of an all-encompassing plan to ensure that all eventualities are covered.
The author of the plan must consider the aspects of the business that are fundamental and crucial to its ongoing viability and concentrate on putting measures in place to protect them. The cost of implementing the BCP against the value of employees' well-being should be all the ammunition you need to take to the board – after all without employees how can you successfully run a business? Primarily the author must identify the key people without whom the business could not function and make sure that they are set up to work away from the workplace, or should they fall sick with swine flu that there is adequate cover. The contact details of all crucial stakeholders must be included; key staff, suppliers and customers and modern contact management software should ensure that it is easy to keep all details up-to-date.
The next step is to include a business continuity "How-to" document giving step by step instructions on what to do and how to do it for all core processes. That way, if a member of staff does leave suddenly due to swine flu, or is otherwise unable to attend work at short notice, another member of staff should be able to take over their duties and carry them out competently ensuring continuity in your business. As a final step, ensure you have backed up all core documents and that they are stored and accessible off-site
paul@mbusinessconsulting.com
Business continuity planning needs to be as fluid as business itself and regularly rehearsed. Although bigger organisations have had plans in place for many years, complacency can still set in and these plans may not have been tested to comply with the increasingly complex and technology-driven business demands of the current environment. The earliest plans for certain large corporations were often paper-based. The BCP would have taken the form of a physical document and reflected the business practices of the time. The big shift recently has been faster and more available methods of communication.
These shifts have lead to the real possibility of organisations becoming almost "virtual" as and when required – such as when a highly contagious and severe disease such as swine flu appears on the horizon.
The threat of pandemic disease is a relatively new consideration for UK-based businesses and joins the threat of terror attack and natural disaster as aspects to consider when updating or implementing a plan for the first time. With such risks to business it is frustrating that such a large number of businesses bury their heads in the sand and continue to ignore these very real threats. Disease pandemic also offers a different set of criteria to that of terror and natural disaster with the threat moving from generally physical and relatively local in nature to being invisible and not limited geographically.
However, as the type of threat has changed, so has the working environment. Five years ago the majority of an organisation's workforce needed to be in the office to be productive; however modern communications have opened up the work-space. Home working can be set up quickly and efficiently to offer more flexible working to employees and the possibility for key staff to quickly restore/maintain work practices if the needs arises. Laptops have become much cheaper and their portability means that one piece of equipment can be carried around by an employee and used wherever required.
Coupled with a mobile phone and with broadband costs tumbling, the cost of setting up employees to relocate at short notice, or in the case of a disease pandemic, work from home is reasonable. Even if the current swine flu pandemic doesn't prove to be as severe as predicted, it should serve as a wake-up call to organisations to make sure that they are fully utilising modern and cheaper communication methods to keep their businesses running in times of crisis. It would be fool-hardy to believe that another pandemic will not surface at some stage and there is no reason to be complacent.
There are two main obstacles at board-level that are often cited as blocking the implementation of a modern business continuity plan. The first is cost; but it is actually fairly cost-effective to design and implement a BCP due to the proliferation of competitively-priced methods of communication now available coupled with more efficient working practices. It must also be noted that many aspects of BCPs can be used in everyday working practices to improve efficiency and well-being of staff, such as the home-office concept.
The second main stumbling-block is a concentration on terrorist attack and natural disaster as the only type of threats to an organisation's well-being, rather than continual threats such as human pandemic disease, which according to the latest report by the Chartered Management Institute and backed by the Cabinet Office, is one of the greatest concerns facing organisations. It is understandable that threat of terrorist attack has dominated business thinking since 9/11, but other threats must not be discounted or ignored. It is the job of an all-encompassing plan to ensure that all eventualities are covered.
The author of the plan must consider the aspects of the business that are fundamental and crucial to its ongoing viability and concentrate on putting measures in place to protect them. The cost of implementing the BCP against the value of employees' well-being should be all the ammunition you need to take to the board – after all without employees how can you successfully run a business? Primarily the author must identify the key people without whom the business could not function and make sure that they are set up to work away from the workplace, or should they fall sick with swine flu that there is adequate cover. The contact details of all crucial stakeholders must be included; key staff, suppliers and customers and modern contact management software should ensure that it is easy to keep all details up-to-date.
The next step is to include a business continuity "How-to" document giving step by step instructions on what to do and how to do it for all core processes. That way, if a member of staff does leave suddenly due to swine flu, or is otherwise unable to attend work at short notice, another member of staff should be able to take over their duties and carry them out competently ensuring continuity in your business. As a final step, ensure you have backed up all core documents and that they are stored and accessible off-site
paul@mbusinessconsulting.com
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Lone Worker Protection - Are you doing enough?
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 introduced a new offence of corporate manslaughter which applies to corporate bodies in both the public and private sectors. It only applies in circumstances where an organisation owed a duty of care to the victim under the law of negligence. The offence can be punishable by an unlimited fine and orders for remedial action.
This law makes it easier for an organisation to be found guilty of manslaughter through the result of gross failings of senior management. The definition of ‘senior management' is not limited to the board of directors and includes those who have a significant role in the management of the whole or part of an organisation.
The HSWA imposes a duty on employers to "ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety and welfare at work of all its employees" and to ensure that persons not in their employment are "not exposed to risks to their health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable".
In addition, there are hundreds of health and safety regulations which set out more specific health and safety duties. For example, under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers must carry out a 'suitable and sufficient' risk assessment of their activities. As a result of this new law, duty of care and traceability must become a priority to senior managers in any organisation both in the public and private sector.
Risk assessment - Risk assessment has become a key process in the protection of the mobile workforce. A risk assessment is an important step in protecting the workforce as well as complying with the law. A risk assessment is a careful examination of what could cause harm whilst undertaking job functions. This allows the decision to be made as to whether or not enough precautions are being taken or whether more should be taken. Workers and others have a right to be protected from harm caused by a failure to take reasonable control measures.
A correctly deployed enterprise mobility solution will provide any mobile workforce with an effective tool to undertake risk assessments at key stages of their daily duties whilst out of the office. Not only this, the enterprise mobility solution will provide a traceable record for each risk assessment undertaken for that all important proof of compliance.
The Corporate Manslaughter Act has increased the need for health based services to provide duty of care on their employees whether mobile or otherwise and makes it easier for local authorities in breach to be prosecuted.
Proof of compliance will ultimately become a necessity and it will be up to senior managers to prove duty of care policies and procedures are working and are being used by their employees. Paper systems are problematic as mistakes can be made and paper proof can easily be lost. use of enterprise mobility solutions in providing duty of care compliance and lone worker protection will therefore become more prevalent over the next 18 months.
If you have already deployed an enterprise mobility solution or if you are planning to do so, ensure that you build in duty of care into your mobility workflows. For further advice relating to how Mobilitiy Solutions can support your business please contact mBusiness Consulting.
This law makes it easier for an organisation to be found guilty of manslaughter through the result of gross failings of senior management. The definition of ‘senior management' is not limited to the board of directors and includes those who have a significant role in the management of the whole or part of an organisation.
The HSWA imposes a duty on employers to "ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety and welfare at work of all its employees" and to ensure that persons not in their employment are "not exposed to risks to their health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable".
In addition, there are hundreds of health and safety regulations which set out more specific health and safety duties. For example, under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers must carry out a 'suitable and sufficient' risk assessment of their activities. As a result of this new law, duty of care and traceability must become a priority to senior managers in any organisation both in the public and private sector.
Risk assessment - Risk assessment has become a key process in the protection of the mobile workforce. A risk assessment is an important step in protecting the workforce as well as complying with the law. A risk assessment is a careful examination of what could cause harm whilst undertaking job functions. This allows the decision to be made as to whether or not enough precautions are being taken or whether more should be taken. Workers and others have a right to be protected from harm caused by a failure to take reasonable control measures.
A correctly deployed enterprise mobility solution will provide any mobile workforce with an effective tool to undertake risk assessments at key stages of their daily duties whilst out of the office. Not only this, the enterprise mobility solution will provide a traceable record for each risk assessment undertaken for that all important proof of compliance.
The Corporate Manslaughter Act has increased the need for health based services to provide duty of care on their employees whether mobile or otherwise and makes it easier for local authorities in breach to be prosecuted.
Proof of compliance will ultimately become a necessity and it will be up to senior managers to prove duty of care policies and procedures are working and are being used by their employees. Paper systems are problematic as mistakes can be made and paper proof can easily be lost. use of enterprise mobility solutions in providing duty of care compliance and lone worker protection will therefore become more prevalent over the next 18 months.
If you have already deployed an enterprise mobility solution or if you are planning to do so, ensure that you build in duty of care into your mobility workflows. For further advice relating to how Mobilitiy Solutions can support your business please contact mBusiness Consulting.
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Business - Mobile Working allowing business to break out
Extending the perimeter of the organisation through mobilisation, is a key requirement for many companies to stay competitive and mobile computing will inevitably be one of the top technological issues affecting your business. Studies completed by Computer Weekly indicates that remote working is able to reduce the financial impact for those companies that have enabled it, but very few small and medium businesses have the budget or technical ability to implement and manage secure virtual private networks (VPNs) with sophisticated network access control.
Remote working - how risky is it and what can small businesses do to enable it securely?
For many organisations, employees not being able to get into the workplace due to unforseen circumstances such as heavy snow, sick children or other such incidents is often translated into a business day of inactivity. Without the technology to pick up e-mail, access information, or even change face to face meetings into conference calls, many organisations will grind to a halt.
So what stops an organisation joining the 21st century? Invariably cost and lack of knowledge. To enable remote working the first step is always recognising the need. Extending the perimeter for an organisation is a bold step, and one which needs to be considered carefully. Employees may well demand the ability to pick up e-mail from anywhere, but such a move must be based on careful evaluation between risks and benefits, not solely demand.
However, a move like this is not a binary decision. There are varying degrees of remote working, ranging from webmail, to access to all files, and everything else in-between. Technology requirements will of course be dependent on the level of access required. Although the cost may be lower than initially thought. For example, many SOHO (Small Office, Home Office) firewalls have remote connectivity features enabled either by default or via licence activation. Equally, web mail is also available as a default feature in many popular mail systems.
Of course, just because it is there does not mean a tick in the box is all that is needed. Extending the perimeter does have its risks, and appropriate security controls must be applied to mitigate/reduce these risks. These decisions involve authentication considerations, access times, locking down endpoints, etc. This may be seen as a step too far for many small businesses, mBusiness Consulting can provide the necessary expertise to help plug the gap.
paul@mbusinessconsulting.com
Remote working - how risky is it and what can small businesses do to enable it securely?
For many organisations, employees not being able to get into the workplace due to unforseen circumstances such as heavy snow, sick children or other such incidents is often translated into a business day of inactivity. Without the technology to pick up e-mail, access information, or even change face to face meetings into conference calls, many organisations will grind to a halt.
So what stops an organisation joining the 21st century? Invariably cost and lack of knowledge. To enable remote working the first step is always recognising the need. Extending the perimeter for an organisation is a bold step, and one which needs to be considered carefully. Employees may well demand the ability to pick up e-mail from anywhere, but such a move must be based on careful evaluation between risks and benefits, not solely demand.
However, a move like this is not a binary decision. There are varying degrees of remote working, ranging from webmail, to access to all files, and everything else in-between. Technology requirements will of course be dependent on the level of access required. Although the cost may be lower than initially thought. For example, many SOHO (Small Office, Home Office) firewalls have remote connectivity features enabled either by default or via licence activation. Equally, web mail is also available as a default feature in many popular mail systems.
Of course, just because it is there does not mean a tick in the box is all that is needed. Extending the perimeter does have its risks, and appropriate security controls must be applied to mitigate/reduce these risks. These decisions involve authentication considerations, access times, locking down endpoints, etc. This may be seen as a step too far for many small businesses, mBusiness Consulting can provide the necessary expertise to help plug the gap.
paul@mbusinessconsulting.com
Monday, 7 September 2009
Remote Working - How to Make it Work
Remote working can be a scary experience for both employers and employees. For employees it has the potential to be a lonely existence with little contact from real people on a face 2 face level. Managers struggle to understand how to manage a remote and geographically dispersed team. However with the correct technology, the right skills and attitude it is a fantastic way to deliver the business objectives whilst at the same time creating a flexible organisation, which also delivers against the green revolution, improves employee satisfaction and reduces reliance on expensive new office space and overbearing IT infrastructure.
A very large number of organsiations now use remote working ranging from large corporate account management & Project management teams, lone contractors, helpdesks and many others to numerous to mention. There are many strong business reasons for seriously considering remote working as a viable option including reorganisation, reducing office space, putting staff nearer to their customers and of course to create a disaster recovery plan in the event of a flu pandemic.
On top of ensuring that you have the best technology to deliver a remote working policy it is as important to ensure that you develop a structured approach to managing communications. Margaret Burnside, Director at the centre for People Development has suggested some simple guiding principles for successful remote working.
Remote Working Checklist
A very large number of organsiations now use remote working ranging from large corporate account management & Project management teams, lone contractors, helpdesks and many others to numerous to mention. There are many strong business reasons for seriously considering remote working as a viable option including reorganisation, reducing office space, putting staff nearer to their customers and of course to create a disaster recovery plan in the event of a flu pandemic.
On top of ensuring that you have the best technology to deliver a remote working policy it is as important to ensure that you develop a structured approach to managing communications. Margaret Burnside, Director at the centre for People Development has suggested some simple guiding principles for successful remote working.
Remote Working Checklist
- Hold an initial face-to-face start up meeting
- Have periodic face2face meetings
- Establish a code of conduct or set of norms - and as the leader ensure they are adhered to
- Chair conference calls carefully, allowing time to discuss audio quality and any problems with it
- Use the reply all function appropriately on emails so that other team members can follow the whole conversation
- Ensure all team members schedules are visible - ensure the tools exist to show when people are on holiday, at conferences etc
- Creat a "water cooler" equivalent on a shared access site for social chit chat on non work topics - encourage this - send the message that social chat is ok just as it is in the office
- Don't just visit the remote sites when there is a problem
- Watch out for little thingd that can leave people feeling isolated - avoid "out of sight out of mind" syndrome
- Review how well the team is working - use a conference call or face2face meeting solely to discuss team effectiveness encourage feedback on your leadership
Sunday, 6 September 2009
5 Points to consider when deploying Converged voice and Data services
A recent report, CIO Guide to Fixed Mobile Convergance, outlines the importance of organisations understanding of what benefits can be gained for your business by bringing together your mobile and fixed line communications. This understanding is a pre-requisite to ensure that you choose the right platform. It should be "future proofed", secure, build on your existing infrastructure, enhance your workforces capabilities and provide a measurable cost benefit. It is only by prioritizing these reasons can you ensure that the solution you select is the correct one for your business. The top 5 points to consider are:-
1. Productivity
Increasing productivity is one of the most important drivers for implementing converged solution. With on-the-spot access to your organization’s fixed systems, mobile professionals can make more informed decisions. Having a single phone number that customers and colleagues can use to reach your employees no matter where they are means they are never out of touch. Workers can collaborate more quickly by accessing familiar desktop phone features like call transfer and extension dialing right from the mobile device. If a call is missed, having a single voice mail box means workers spend less time managing multiple messaging systems.
2. Security
Wireless solution security helps to address the need to transmit voice and data in a highly secure manner through encryption, authentication, authorization, access control and firewall protection down to the wireless device level. As wireless solutions continue to build momentum and the subsequent number of wireless devices grows, the demand to manage and secure these solutions increases.
Converged solutions are designed to extend the security and control of your fixed voice network to mobile devices. With highly secure access, your organization can minimize the likelihood that it could be the target of mobile malware attacks, conference call snooping and other unauthorized access. Validation of a user’s voice network credentials over an encrypted data channel between the mobile device and the organization’s servers is leading edge technology and provides a highly secure solution.
3. Future Proofing
Most organizations have made significant investments in voice technologies, but voice communication is always changing and improving. Plotting a path to take advantage of innovation can help your organization maintain control while increasing employee freedom.
Converged Solutions allow your organization to leverage existing infrastructure by integrating mobile devices with fixed PBX-based desk phone functionality. Solutions that support multiple and mixed network technologies (IP/TDM) allow you to extend the life of your existing telecom capital investments while leaving the door open to new ones. Whether you are adding to your voice network or migrating to a new one, the right Converged solution should provide a simple upgrade path that helps keep costs in check.
4. Competitive Advantage
Enabling your mobile workforce to use their mobile device as a highly secure mobile desk phone allows them to answer customer queries faster, to beat competition and to help your organization grow in a global economy. Converged Solutions allows your organization to maintain ownership and control of its telephone numbers, making them a managed asset that customers and vendors are familiar with and that never leaves even when employees do. How frequent is this example, a customer knows a sales representative’s personal mobile phone number and that sales person moves to a competitor, the customer’s loyalty stays with the sales person resulting in the customer following the the sales person rather than staying with your organization.
5. Cost
A Converged Solution opens the door to a variety of cost-control opportunities. In some cases, calls placed from mobile phones to long-distance and international endpoints can be costly. The ability to extend class-of-service control to your organization’s mobile devices allows you to permit and restrict access to services like international and long-distance calling or pay-per-use (i.e., information) services. With Converged Solutions, you can further reduce costs by implementing policies that route mobile calls through your PBX and across the lowest-cost negotiated rate fixed-line networks. Directing mobile calls through your PBX also allows you to audit mobile usage through advanced reporting features which help to reduce time and cost associated with business use billing. These reports can help you better understand current usage patterns, allowing you to plan strategically for future mobile workforce expansion.
Equipping staff with the right tools can enhance productivity, motivation and staff retention. Highly secure mobile email and data applications help mobile workers stay in touch and up-to-date with a wide range of business issues. Extending that streamlined anytime, anywhere access to mobile voice applications is the next frontier in worker empowerment.
paul@mbusinessconsulting.com
1. Productivity
Increasing productivity is one of the most important drivers for implementing converged solution. With on-the-spot access to your organization’s fixed systems, mobile professionals can make more informed decisions. Having a single phone number that customers and colleagues can use to reach your employees no matter where they are means they are never out of touch. Workers can collaborate more quickly by accessing familiar desktop phone features like call transfer and extension dialing right from the mobile device. If a call is missed, having a single voice mail box means workers spend less time managing multiple messaging systems.
2. Security
Wireless solution security helps to address the need to transmit voice and data in a highly secure manner through encryption, authentication, authorization, access control and firewall protection down to the wireless device level. As wireless solutions continue to build momentum and the subsequent number of wireless devices grows, the demand to manage and secure these solutions increases.
Converged solutions are designed to extend the security and control of your fixed voice network to mobile devices. With highly secure access, your organization can minimize the likelihood that it could be the target of mobile malware attacks, conference call snooping and other unauthorized access. Validation of a user’s voice network credentials over an encrypted data channel between the mobile device and the organization’s servers is leading edge technology and provides a highly secure solution.
3. Future Proofing
Most organizations have made significant investments in voice technologies, but voice communication is always changing and improving. Plotting a path to take advantage of innovation can help your organization maintain control while increasing employee freedom.
Converged Solutions allow your organization to leverage existing infrastructure by integrating mobile devices with fixed PBX-based desk phone functionality. Solutions that support multiple and mixed network technologies (IP/TDM) allow you to extend the life of your existing telecom capital investments while leaving the door open to new ones. Whether you are adding to your voice network or migrating to a new one, the right Converged solution should provide a simple upgrade path that helps keep costs in check.
4. Competitive Advantage
Enabling your mobile workforce to use their mobile device as a highly secure mobile desk phone allows them to answer customer queries faster, to beat competition and to help your organization grow in a global economy. Converged Solutions allows your organization to maintain ownership and control of its telephone numbers, making them a managed asset that customers and vendors are familiar with and that never leaves even when employees do. How frequent is this example, a customer knows a sales representative’s personal mobile phone number and that sales person moves to a competitor, the customer’s loyalty stays with the sales person resulting in the customer following the the sales person rather than staying with your organization.
5. Cost
A Converged Solution opens the door to a variety of cost-control opportunities. In some cases, calls placed from mobile phones to long-distance and international endpoints can be costly. The ability to extend class-of-service control to your organization’s mobile devices allows you to permit and restrict access to services like international and long-distance calling or pay-per-use (i.e., information) services. With Converged Solutions, you can further reduce costs by implementing policies that route mobile calls through your PBX and across the lowest-cost negotiated rate fixed-line networks. Directing mobile calls through your PBX also allows you to audit mobile usage through advanced reporting features which help to reduce time and cost associated with business use billing. These reports can help you better understand current usage patterns, allowing you to plan strategically for future mobile workforce expansion.
Equipping staff with the right tools can enhance productivity, motivation and staff retention. Highly secure mobile email and data applications help mobile workers stay in touch and up-to-date with a wide range of business issues. Extending that streamlined anytime, anywhere access to mobile voice applications is the next frontier in worker empowerment.
paul@mbusinessconsulting.com
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