The major trend in collaboration tools and capabilities is to empower people to work anywhere and on any device. With this push, traditional enterprise networks and tools need to evolve. When organisations don't change rapidly and embrace these new technologies and capabilities, customers often seek alternatives.
Julian Liebenberg, chief of converged communications at BCX.
“Business knows it should understand its business goals and strategies first and then evaluate how technology can support these goals. Modernising the technology fabric is key to create entirely new markets and products”, says Julian Liebenberg, chief of converged communications at BCX.
“The use of IoT technologies and the data collected by those devices will unlock new insights, allowing the business to create entirely new operating models.”
The increased mobility of the workforce will also continue to change what the company office is and how employees work. Some organisations may elect to close offices, while others create an increased number of small and pop-up offices. These changes can empower enterprises to become more agile and to better serve customers. We need to be prepared to fundamentally change how we approach everything from policies, data controls, device management, security and how collaboration tools are integrated into these services.
“Failing to plan for and to adapt to new technology could expose a business to severe financial risks,” adds Liebenberg. For example, under the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act, failure to protect and control the use of data could expose the business to fines of up to R10 million.
BCX next-gen networks allows improved flexibility and control over how communication works, to connect teams and build towards business priorities. It’s suite of next-gen communication and collaboration products include:
- Fixed Line Look Alike – the wireless alternative to a traditional telephone line. Powered by the cell network, it offers reliable replacement of theft susceptible copper lines, whilst retaining a fixed line service.
- Video-as-a-Service - Businesses can cut down on the cost and rigidity of older phone systems by calling via the Internet. Companies across the world, can offer their customers local geographic contact numbers, and impress with their professional VaaS presence.
- Session Initiated Protocol – BCX offers Standard SIP, in increments of one session, and fully managed Premium SIP trunks via a carrier grade high availability network in increments of 30 sessions.
- Hosted Business Telephony – HBT Plus (HBT+) accelerates your business communications with speedy deployment, easy management, and
cutting-edge communication technology at a fraction of the cost of traditional voice solutions. - Microsoft Voice Breakout – stay connected while working remotely by easily contacting colleagues one-on-one or creating instant group conversations. Collaborators can join meetings with audio and high definition video so you can keep in touch, remotely.
- Hosted Collaboration Service – HCS is a cloud based, integrated collaboration solution which provides on demand voice and communication services. These services include telephony, unified messaging, presence, video, voice & web conferencing and mobility from one user interface.
Backed by a credible ecosystem of technology partners, BCX’s Unified Collaboration Solutions are implementation by a team of specialists, to ensure a trouble free and uninterrupted migration to the most up to date platforms.
Preparing for all these changes can, and should, begin right now. Employees are already mobile. Collaboration tools in the cloud offer support for larger and larger data sets. IoT systems are already in active use in many industries around the world. We need next-gen infrastructure to accommodate these trends as they develop and expand.
When it comes to migrating to next- gen technology, businesses should consider these three factors:
- Traditional networks are not suited to cloud success as they lack end-to-end visibility into of cloud-centric applications and workload performance, causing frustration in the workplace.
- A Software Defined WAN (SDWAN) allow businesses to design and change their footprint whilst deploying business services quickly and easily. Organisations use SDWAN to consume applications, data, and services from any public, private, or hybrid cloud across any network, to any end user device.
- The push for encryption has spurred hardware developers toward making encryption at the network layer a standard feature. SDWAN not only improves performance of cloud-centric applications, but it also enhances security.
“As an ICT organisation, we work closely with our clients to prepare for changes in their business strategy, deliver on an increase in mobility needs, and enable rapidly changing tools and customer needs,” closes Liebenberg.
