Migrating Your Messaging System

WHITE PAPER

Unified Messagings Role in the Migration from Traditional Messaging to Unified Communications

PUBLISHED: August 2007

Migrating Your Messaging System

Table of Contents:

Executive Overview.. 2 Situation Analysis. 3 The evolution of messaging.. 3 Mobility and the distributed workforce.. 3 Business continuity and the new need for redundancy4 Unified CommunicationsWhat Is It?............................................................................ 4 Unified Messaging and its Obstacles of Market Growth.... 5 Why Unified Messaging? Why now?...............................................................................6 Choosing the Right Vendor 7 The Process of Migrating Your Messaging Systems.. 8 Phase 1"UM-Capable" Voice Mail 8 Phase 2Staged Unified Messaging Implementation8 Phase 3Staged Unified Communications.. 8 The Technical Side of Migration. 9 Conclusion 10

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Executive Overview
In today's competitive environment, communication can be the key to success or failure for any company, large or small. Adding to the challenge of communicating effectively is the growing number of voice messages, emails, faxes and phone calls, as well as the disparate tools used to manage them all. Additionally, companies have deployed a myriad of tools to help improve the customer experiencetools for online collaboration, call center management, content management and mobile data access. Unifying these tools for improved productivity, efficiency and customer responsiveness has become one of the most significant trends in business operations. Unified Communications (UC) promises to solve many of these challenges. But, for many companies, migrating from traditional, disparate communication methods to fully integrated, Unified Communications is too great of a leapfinancially and technically. Unified Messaging (UM) is the pivotal piece in the migration to Unified Communications. Unified Messaging allows companies to manage voice mail, faxes, email, and video from a single inbox using a single set of management controls, and offers immediate and tangible benefitsincreased productivity, improved customer responsiveness, and a greater return on existing telephony and messaging investments. This paper examines the role of Unified Messaging in the migration toward Unified Communications, and discusses the importance of business continuity, versatility and innovation in the successful deployment of critical applications.

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Situation Analysis
The evolution of messaging In the early 1980's, voice mail was introduced to the corporate world, and quickly became a widely used communication tool. At that time, the predominant voice mail technology was proprietary in nature, with limited ability to migrate to newer technology or integrate with business systems other than the PBX. The 1990's saw the introduction of the Internet, and with it, email. The intuitive email interface surpassed voice mail in terms of popularity, and quickly became the de facto standard in business communication. Today, both voice mail and email remain mission critical to business communication. Added to the mix of communication tools are VoIP, mobility, collaboration, content management, and customer interaction applications. Many companies are also faced with the challenge of what to do with aging and obsolete voice mail systems. The challenge for companies today is finding innovative solutions to unify the increasingly complex mix of business communication tools and technology.

Mobility and the distributed workforce Not only has messaging technology evolved over the last 25 years, so has the way in which companies work and utilize these applications. Companies in the face of rapid growth and those wanting to attract top talent to the organization often find their employees dispersed across town, across the country, or across the globe. Additionally, today's workforce is more mobile than ever before. According to IDC, the US mobile worker population will reach 113 million in 2009growing nearly 3% in EACH of the next three years. 1 This increase in mobility has also raised the expectations of responsiveness. Missed calls and missed messages often result in lost business opportunities. And in today's competitive marketplace, missed messages communicate an image of complacency or even incompetence. Companies today must deploy versatile and flexible applications to respond to an increasingly mobile and dispersed work environment.

IDC Worldwide Mobile Worker Population Forecast and Analysis 2005 2009 (IDC #34124) (October, 2005)
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Business continuity and the new need for redundancy Following the natural disasters and terrorist attacks of the recent past, companies are making business continuity plans a priority. According to a recent survey conducted by Frost & Sullivan, business continuity was ranked as one of the top five business priorities of enterprise decision makers 2 . However, business continuity should not be confused with disaster recovery. Disaster recovery implies the need to "recover" from a significant disaster that has halted business operationsnatural disasters, terrorist attacks, severe power outages or other devastating events. Disaster recovery focuses mainly on restoring internal operations. Business continuity focuses mainly on customers and employees, and the ability to support and communicate with these individuals as if business was operating as usual (even when it's not). Unified Communications lies at the heart of a company's ability to ensure business continuity. In the global environment today, companies must have both disaster recovery and business continuity plans in place. Unified Communications solutions built on scalable and redundant architectures are a critical component for both of these requirements.

Unified CommunicationsWhat Is It?

Unified Communications has been defined differently by different vendors offering discrete parts of the overall solution. One leading industry analyst has defined Unified Communications as, "products that enhance enterprise productivity by enabling and facilitating the user's management of enterprise communication systems and the integration of these systems with business processes." Despite differing definitions, experts agree that Unified Communications is rarely delivered by a single vendor. While Unified Communications offers the ultimate solution for streamlined communication, many deployment barriers exist. According to a recent Frost and Sullivan survey of enterprise decision makers, the top barriers for deploying Unified Communications were cited as upfront costs, security concerns, interoperability concerns, and the sunk costs into existing technology. 3 Unified Messaging is an ideal "stepping stone" on a company's path to Unified Communications. It is the best example of a practical application offering the benefits of increased productivity and improved responsiveness, while addressing many of the primary concerns of Unified Communications. Unified Messaging offers a relatively low cost of entry into Unified Communications. Today's leading vendors of Unified Messaging offer cost effective points of entry with "UM-capable" platforms. These systems allow companies to deploy Unified Messaging in a phased approach, beginning with voice messaging and moving toward a gradual migration to full Unified Messaging. Not only does this

2 3

Frost & Sullivan Survey, 2007 Frost & Sullivan Survey, 2007
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approach simplify the migration process, it avoids any disruption to business continuity that an abrupt cutover might cause. Additionally, many voice messaging systems today were purchased or upgraded prior to the market hysteria fueled by Y2K, and many of these systems have reached their full depreciated value. Companies looking to replace these systems should look for platforms that are versatile, flexible, and enable a gradual migration from voice messaging, to Unified Messaging, and ultimately to Unified Communications. Unified Messaging also leverages the knowledge and expertise that exists within the company today: the data messaging and network expertise of the IT staff and the telephony knowledge and know-how of the telecom staff. Leading Unified Messaging platforms today are built upon existing network and messaging systems, requiring minimal training or knowledge for the IT staff to administer. Additionally, because these systems connect directly to traditional PBX and key systems, as well as IP PBX systems, Unified Messaging offers an opportunity to leverage the knowledge of the telecom staff, and extend the ROI of the company's telephony investments. Finally, because Unified Messaging applications "unify" all messages within the email client, little or no user training is required. Users simply use the intuitive email interface with which they are already familiar to manage all message typesvoice, fax, video, and of course, email.

Unified Messaging and its Obstacles of Market Growth

According to several major studies, more than 85% of organizations are familiar with Unified Messaging and Unified Communications, yet only 22% have deployed these applications. So why hasn't UM been more successful? The primary reason is the lack of ROI. Before the significant growth in the mobile workforce, the return on investment for UM was difficult to quantify. Today, however, the tangible time and money savings as a result of increased productivity for the mobile worker are real. Recently, Intel conducted a seven-month trial usage of Unified Messaging to determine the productivity gains that could be achieved by Unified Messaging. Mobility, responsiveness and saved time topped the list of productivity gains among respondents. 4 A staggering 73% of respondents felt Unified Messaging greatly enhanced their mobility, while 68% of respondents felt Unified Messaging improved their responsiveness. Nearly half (47%) of all respondents estimated that Unified Messaging saved them at least one hour per week, while 14% estimated that UM saved as much as three hours per week. This level of time savings, when applied across the organization, translates into clear, tangible cost savings for the organization.
4

Unified Messaging: A case study on implementing a Unified Messaging solution at Intel

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Technical complexities have also hindered deployment. In the past, some Unified Messaging vendors made deploying UM difficult due to lack of integration with disparate networks, email servers, and telephone systems. Because many vendors manufacture telephone systems as their primary offering, the UM applications from these vendors are built to work specifically with those telephone systems. For any organization with multiple PBX, IP PBX, or key systems in placeor with plans to migrate or upgrade their telephony equipmentchoosing a UM solution that is independent of the telephone system is imperative. Early Unified Messaging applications lacked integration at the system level, increasing system administration time and requiring the management and maintenance of multiple user directories. And, lack of adequate compression technology and network bandwidth made companies fearful of moving large, multimedia messages across the network. Finally, one of the biggest barriers to the widespread deployment of Unified Messaging has been user training. Many companies invested heavily in early, proprietary voice mail systems that have been in operation for decades. For companies with large user populations, the cost of retraining those users on a new telephone user interface is simply too costly.

Why Unified Messaging? Why now?

Over the last decade, Unified Messaging technology has evolved and work environments have changed, both of which address many of the key issues which prohibited its widespread deployment. The increasingly mobile work environment makes it easy to justify the ROI of Unified Messaging. New applications, such as video messaging and "Find Me Follow Me" presence management, justify the ROI for the mobile workerand in-office employees who communicate with their mobile coworkerseven further. System level integration with email servers, user directories, message stores, and network environments simplifies the job of the system administrator, and leverages the expertise already existing within the organization. And independent vendors of Unified Messagingthose vendors who do not develop applications for a single telephone systemensure the UM application purchased today will seamlessly integrate within the existing and future telephony environment. Finally, leading UM vendors have addressed the user training obstacle head-on with innovative technology that emulates the telephone user interface of the voice mail systems already in place. And products with advanced capabilities in this area, such as Kinesis from Active Voice, also address the real-world environments of companies using multiple, disparate voice messaging systems, and allow individual users to choose the telephone user interface of their choice.

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Choosing the Right Vendor

When the time comes to begin the migration from traditional messaging to Unified Communications, the most important decision to be made is the vendor with whom to partner. Many companies position themselves as "experts" in the Unified Communications world, and admittedly, many companies are considered "giants" in this space. But, the size of the organization does not necessarily equate to a high level of innovation, experience and expertise in this field.

Percentage of Enterprises Choosing a Non-Incumbent Unified Communications Provider

PROVIDER CHOSEN:
Microsoft Cisco Active Voice* Avaya IBM 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% Global Region

*Independent UM/UC Solutions Provider

Source: IntelliCom Analytics, August 2007

Following are key criteria to consider when choosing a Unified Communications vendor: Look for experience. Choose a partner who understands the issues and best practices of migrating traditional communications systems to Unified Communications, and who offer solutions to accomplish this migration in a controlled and cost effective manner. Look for credibility. Choose a partner with a significant installed base of messaging customers and with proven customer successesand then talk to those customers. Look for innovation. Choose a vendor that is a technology leader as measured by "firsts to market," industry awards, and analyst accolades. Choose a company with proven history and success in the Unified Messaging space, and who understands the evolution of messagingthe past issues and obstacles, the best solutions for today, and a vision and understanding of the future. Choose only industry standard technologyavoid proprietary technology that will limit the ability to A) integrate within the existing infrastructure or a particular telephone system, and B) migrate to future technologies. Look for a vendor that offers best of breed solutions and the greatest breadth of integration capabilities across all data and telephony technology. Choose a vendor that offers flexible telephone user interface options to minimize user training time and cost.

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The Process of Migrating Your Messaging Systems

When the time comes to begin the migration from traditional messaging systems to Unified Communications, the top priority is maintaining business continuity. A gradual and phased approach to this migration is the best approach to ensure business continuity and widespread acceptance of the technology across the organization. Phase 1"UM-Capable" Voice Mail As discussed earlier, a key criteria in selecting a Unified Communications platform is the platform's ability to provide simple capabilities initially, and grow with enhanced functionality as needed. Many companies today choose to implement basic voice mail functionality with a system that is "UMcapable"that is, a system that allows for the gradual addition of UM features without a "forklift" upgrade. Choose a system which emulates the system you are using today to eliminate the need for user retraining. Telephone user interface emulation will also make initial cutover to the new system virtually transparent to users. Phase 2Staged Unified Messaging Implementation In this phase, companies can introduce Unified Messaging functionality in a gradual process, implementing intelligent messaging tools with specific user groups who have the greatest need. Good examples of this are the implementation of mobility and presence management features such as "FindMe FollowMe" for mobile workers; the implementation of call management features such as ViewCall from Active Voice; and innovative features, such as VideoMail from Active Voice, which help bridge the gap between in-office and remote employees. Additionally, implementing these intelligent messaging features within controlled groups will ensure a smoother transition, serve as "proof of concept," and create momentum for these applications across the organization. Phase 3Staged Unified Communications Like the phased approach to Unified Messaging, implementing Unified Communications is best achieved in stages. Whether this includes the introduction of IP telephony and/or the integration with other business communication systems, implementation of any UC functionality should reflect the priorities of the organization and ensure the highest level of business continuity. Most importantly, the migration process should be done at your own pace. Look for products and solutions that are built to seamlessly integrate with or emulate the infrastructure already in place.

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The Technical Side of Migration

One of the issues that hindered more widespread deployment of Unified Messaging is the technical challenge many companies faced when attempting to implement the application. Incompatibility with email applications, network environments, and user directories, along with concerns over message storage and network bandwidth were common barriers to implementation. Today, however, leading providers of Unified Messaging applications have addressed all of these issues, and made integration of Unified Messaging into the network and telephony environment nearly seamless. Best of breed applications integrate within the existing data and telephony environments, leveraging the knowledge and expertise of the company's IT and Telecom staff, and extending the ROI of those investments. Decision makers should look for applications which seamlessly integrate within the existing messaging environmentMicrosoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, Novell GroupWise, etc.and build on the administrative functions of those applications. Unified Messaging applications should also leverage the existing user directories and extend the user profiles to include application-specific settings (e.g., callout privileges, notification options, etc.) While this is rarely an issue today, it is wise to ensure the application you choose utilizes sufficient compression technology to minimize the size of messages being stored in the message store and moved across the network. This is particularly important for rich message types such as VideoMail. And finally, when it comes to the message store, ensure the application you choose can be configured to meet your company's requirements. Do you prefer voice, fax, and video messages to reside in the email message store? Do you require a separate store for that data? Do your needs vary from one location to another? Ensure the solution you choose offers the flexibility and versatility required within your organization.

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Conclusion
According to analyst projections, the UM/UC market is expected to reach nearly $20 billion by the year 2010 as vendors continue to introduce innovative and versatile solutions that solve real business problems and deliver tangible ROI. Companies should look to Unified Messaging as a way to extend the ROI of the existing data and telephony infrastructure, further justify planned VoIP investments, and bridge the gap between traditional messaging and full UC implementation. Successful companies will look for innovative technology that delivers on the promises of productivity, responsiveness, and business continuity, from technology leaders with experience and know-how in this market. For more information, visit www.activevoice.com.

About Active Voice Active Voice, LLC, a subsidiary of NEC Unified Solutions, is a global provider of Unified Messaging, computer telephony, and voice messaging solutions, powering the communications infrastructure of businesses worldwide. The Seattle-based company has offices in the United States, Australia and the Netherlands. Over 200,000 Active Voice systems have been installed in more than 60 countries. Active Voices products are sold and supported through a network of independent telecommunications manufacturers, dealers, computer resellers and strategic partners. For more information, visit the Active Voice Web site at www.activevoice.com, or contact Active Voice's Sales Support at 1-800284-3575 or by e-mail at sales@activevoice.com. Page 10 Migrating Your Messaging System White Paper August 2007