As AV technology increasingly converges with IT, especially in the enterprise, more
attention is turning to the concept of unified communications (UC). We spoke to
Dion Bruyns, general manager for Converged Communications in Gauteng at ICT
systems integrator Dimension Data, about the phenomenon.

Unified Communications (UC), according to Wikipedia, is the rapidly expanding
integration of real-time, enterprise, communication services such as online chat,
voice, mobility features, audio, web and video conferencing, among other services.
The core function of the technology is essentially to provide a consistent unified
user-interface and user-experience across multiple devices and media platforms.
For large enterprises, which are usually physically dispersed across local or global
geographies, enterprise UC can become part of the network of technologies
deployed to enable one-to-one communications or broadcast communications from
one to many.

One of South Africa’s largest ICT systems integrators, Dimension Data, recognises
the importance and growth potential of this new market segment in the dedicated
business unit which services it – which it calls Converged Communication. Dion
Bruyns is the general manager for Converged Communications, working specifically
on communications in the enterprise space.

“We take a “Communications tower’ approach, converging voice technology, visual
communications, AV integration and video distribution and collaborative
workspaces, among others.’

Dimension Data’s approach in this steadily growing market space is to offer clients
the benefits of a unified communications strategy across their entire enterprise
value chain. For the enterprise, a key aspect of the UC strategy is to improve the
effectiveness and efficiency of customer interactions, for example by linking call
centre interfaces with other voice, video and instant messaging applications, and
across any end-user device.

Their offering, which is comprehensive in this relatively new convergence space for
ICT integration, breaks down as follows:
• Telephony and voice
• Visual communications
• Collaborative workspace
• Conferencing
• Messaging
• Social collaboration
• Telecomms management

It therefore makes sense for enterprise integrators like Dimension Data in this
space to partner with vendors, such as Microsoft, Cisco, Polycom, Avaya and
others. As Bruyns points out: “We then partner with specific vendors, who come
from the pro-AV integration space – companies like Crestron, AMX, Extron and
others – that offer pro-AV solutions that provide a fundamental part of the our UC
solutions.’

The key difference, says Bruyns, between Dimension Data’s enterprise offering and
traditional AV integrators is that the latter offer point solutions, whereas Dimension
Data will seek to turn the conversation with customers to the business value from
unified communications and collaboration. As such, he says: “Our competitive
landscape is changing. We now find ourselves competing with the likes of the global
network carriers, rather than traditional audio visual integrators.

“Every conversation we have,’ continues Bruyns, “needs a different way to
demonstrate that business value – whether it’s a driver of cost reduction, increased
effectiveness, improved performance or environmental sustainability, as a few
examples. UC is never as useful as when it is providing the means to communicate
with distributed and hard-to-reach offices or customers – so it’s particularly useful
for the African market. A lot of our South African clients are looking for growth
areas in Africa, so this is an important area of focus for us as well.’

One of the main compelling events that will drive a client’s UC strategy is when
they look at moving premises or building a new building. This is a great opportunity
for clients to consider how the rest of their technology areas will interlock with his
UC environment. A client’s local area network (LAN) will provide the foundation or
the platform to bring these seemingly inter-dependent areas together. For example,
if a client is looking to provide its users with a more flexible working environment
with informal collaboration spaces, a solid wireless network is key.

Main consideration is how the AV technology can inter-operate with the building
management systems and control certain aspects of the system. Having a holistic,
IP centric view of these ’intelligent’ buildings is critical to maximising the technology
investments. “We are seeing trends such as the cost of real estate, the use of
mobile devices, changing workplace patterns and the next generation of workers as
key considerations for influencing companies in decision- making when they plan
these types of projects.’

While bandwidth limitations for networks continue to be a challenge in many African
markets, conversion to mechanisms such as Multiprotocol Label Switching, can
enable the relatively simple and clearly distinguished communication of voice, video
and other message types, over the same network with increased efficiency and
effectiveness, making it possible, for example, to more easily provide video and
digital signage to a branch network.

“We are starting to see some of the traditional AV vendors move into this
converged space,’ says Bruyns. “A couple of the vendors have aligned themselves
to Microsoft and their Lync platform by releasing “Lync Room Systems’. This is
essentially an extension of the Lync experience into a boardroom type of venue. In
a solution like this it is important to get an understanding of the underlying network
and infrastructure that will ultimately deliver this experience to the end user.’

Systems integrators like Dimension Data currently invest heavily in their cloud
solutions and offerings, which is a key consideration for all organisations. It offers
flexible consumption models and allows elasticity in the services that they consume.
“We are in process of rolling out a “Unified Communications as a Service’ and “Video
as a Service’ offering on a global scale,’ concludes Bruyns. “We can offer our
clients flexibility when it comes to our cloud services, and this a key differentiator
for us.’

By James Sey