October 1999

Mobile Users Connect And Collaborate

BY TONY RYBCZYNSKI

When we take the measure of the distributed, mobile workforce, we notice a few salient facts:

1. More and more businesses recognize that mobile workers include not only teleworkers and road warriors, but also workers who move about onsite.
2. Mobile workers expect more from remote access solutions, demanding all the power of a conventional, on-site desktop, no matter where they may be at any given time.
3. Businesses demand more of mobile workers, as all forms of remote access become ever more interweaved with day-to-day business operations.

Taken together, these facts suggest that remote access solutions need to move beyond mere connectivity, even if the connectivity extended to mobile workers achieves unprecedented degrees of speed and flexibility. So, where may remote access be heading? One possibility, much on the minds of enterprise IT managers, is the institution of remote access solutions that encompass not just connectivity, but collaboration; that is, collaboration tools that enhance virtual-workgroup productivity.

THE NOT-SO-REMOTE PAST
Distribution of the workforce in enterprise environments is by no means a new phenomenon. For years, telecommuters and road warriors have been accessing the enterprise voice networking environment (including voice mail) and enterprise information resources through PCs equipped with modems. The difference now is that all forms of remote access are becoming inextricably linked with the day-to-day running of the business.

Even at company sites, staying connected is a growing concern as some employees spend more and more of their time at remote offices, in conference rooms, or in proximity to their peers. Mobility here includes all remote working situations, whether the user is local or remote, moving or static, as long as he or she is not at a traditional desk (with its rich set of data and telephony capabilities).

CONNECTIVITY AS WE'VE KNOWN IT — DATA AND TELEPHONY ASPECTS
Mobility is a business reality in the telephony space. In this space, globally, there are more wireless users than Internet users. In data, while some businesses have made use of low-speed wireless data solutions, wired mobility (an apparent oxymoron) is the norm.

For example, telecommuters or teleworkers working from home, on an occasional or full-time basis, typically use 56 Kbps modems (at the low end) and ISDN lines (at the high end). Telephony features are pretty well restricted to what is offered by the carrier. While broadband access options such as xDSL and cable modems are increasingly attractive, these options are generally marketed for Internet access.

Road warriors working from a hotel room typically use 56 Kbps modems and telephones, flip-flopping between voice and data communications. Road warriors in their cars or at customer sites are pretty well disconnected in a data sense.

But one doesn’t have to be far from the enterprise wires to be data disconnected. On-premise mobile employees working from, for example, a company conference room at their traditional work location or at a remote company location have traditionally been effectively disconnected, except for telephone access. While not fitting into a conventional definition of distributed workforce, on-premise mobile employees present an opportunity to leverage networking technology to improve employee productivity.

GETTING TO CONNECTIVITY AS WE WILL KNOW IT
In providing networking to an ever more distributed and mobile workforce, enterprise IT managers are faced with the overall challenge of developing scalable, secure, and manageable solutions that can cost-effectively support potentially thousands of remote users and that can be responsive to business and application needs as they evolve.

To be more specific, the challenges in serving the mobile workforce include:

• Providing data connectivity anytime and anyplace.
• Meeting data application needs for higher throughputs and lower latency.
• Delivering full business phone functionality offered by the central site PBX system, including telephone features such as conferencing, enterprise dialing, and message waiting indications.
• Enabling delivery of unified data/telephony applications to mobile users.

NETWORKING ENABLERS
While casual mobile users will continue to make extensive use of 56 Kbps modems and basic telephones, there are several interesting new options that can meet the challenges of establishing fully connected virtual desktop connectivity.

The two networking enablers for broadband voice/data access to the Internet are high-speed wired and wireless solutions. Broadband wired access solutions are proliferating, including cable modems and xDSL. New wired options are also being deployed in hotel rooms with multi-Mbps Ethernet connectivity to the jack in the room (for example, using new adaptive-rate Ethernet technologies). Another wired option (and a beast of a different color) might involve common-use devices, such as kiosks and public Webphones, deployed by service providers in public places.

Next-generation (so-called 2.5 and 3G) public wireless systems and a plethora of new mobility devices (some lower speed devices are appearing now) will have a dramatic impact on the way business works, delivering up to 1.5 Mbps throughput for data. Already, we’ve seen demonstrations of wideband wireless data at 256 Kbps over a service provider’s operational wireless network.

Also, wireless LAN systems based on the IEEE 802.11 standard are shipping today, addressing the needs of in-premise mobile users (that is, users within in-building or campus environments). Wireless LAN solutions have also been deployed in “temporary” environments, as diverse as school portables and power transformation stations, providing instant connectivity without requiring costly and time-consuming cable installation.

OTHER ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES
Two technologies further enable solutions that meet the needs of the mobile users. The first is the Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP), which, when deployed in an enterprise, greatly eases the management of IP addresses. It allows laptop users to plug into any Ethernet plugs (in a conference room or at a remote office) and get full enterprise connectivity. The second is mobile IP, a new set of standards. Mobile IP will allow end users to be mobile while retaining connectivity with users transmitting to their “published” home IP address. Mobile IP operates in a manner analogous to call forwarding in telephony networks.

Gaining access to the Internet from off-premise sites has value, but in itself does not meet the needs of accessing enterprise networking environments. In fact, these are protected by firewalls to control unauthorized ingress from the Internet. Virtual private network (VPN) technology is the missing link in providing connectivity for telecommuters and road warriors across the Internet.

IP TELEPHONY AND THE MOBILE USER
IP telephony and high speed access technologies provide a powerful combination. Not only can this combo reduce the cost of connectivity, but it can also provide instant, simultaneous access to telephony communications, information resources, and new collaborative applications. For example, it can eliminate flipping between access to voice and e-mail inboxes, the curse of every hotel road warrior.

IP telephony requires an Internet voice gateway. The gateway can be integrated in an IP telephone, can be a plug-in for an existing business telephone, or can be part of some other networking device (for example, a home office router). Another interesting option is integrating the gateway in the PC, either with a headset or connected to an external phone over the PC’s Universal Serial Bus (USB).

One “gotcha” is that the Internet today has not been designed to support IP telephony applications. Sticking to one ISP that offers latency guarantees is one option. Another option that is very attractive (until IP QoS is available over the Internet) is to monitor the performance of the Internet voice connection and dynamically switch the voice traffic over a circuit-switched connection when the performance is below a certain level.

The state of IP telephony standards is such that only the most popular telephony features are available, though lots more are to come leveraging IP’s openness. Options to look for include the extension of total PBX functionality out to the mobile user over an IP network. This can take the form of a standard business phone with an Internet voice gateway plug-in module. It can also take the form of a software client running in a PC. Centrex service providers are also beginning to offer such IP Centrex extension options.

BEYOND THE SUM OF THE CONNECTIONS
Providing access to corporate applications, databases, and intranet Web sites is an important step. However, the next major investment is to provide collaboration tools to enhance virtual-workgroup productivity.

Collaboration tools may include:

• Conferencing Applications. Of course, voice conferencing would define the minimum. Other conferencing options might include whiteboarding, desktop and room videoconferencing, and multicasting tools. A broad range of PC-based collaboration tools are available in the industry that are built on the H.323 and T.120 multimedia standards. Server-based conferencing may simulate meeting environments. Some are based on a client-server model requiring every PC to be running the client end software; others require only that the PC has a standard browser.

• Unified Messaging. Unified messaging systems may play an important role, allowing users to read their voice mail, hear their e-mail, and manage these and fax in an integrated mailbox.

• Multicasting Applications. Multicasting could address the need for remote training and information dissemination.

COLLABORATION IN SPECIAL ENVIRONMENTS
In certain environments, collaboration takes quite a different spin. The Webplex (a term I’ve applied to the unification of Web server technologies, legacy databases, and call center systems) may prove indispensible in supporting interaction and collaboration between the customer and a customer care agent, and as an enabler for continued growth of Internet-based e-commerce. The move towards this sort of unification, coupled with the business need for workforce distribution, creates the need for very sophisticated collaboration involving telecommuters acting as remote agents.

Admittedly, this discussion has but scratched the surface of workgroup collaboration, and the tools that may result. The key point is that distributing the workforce is more than just a connectivity issue; the end objective is improved business competitiveness through collaboration tools.

GATEWAYS TO THE ENTERPRISE
In providing enterprise network access to an ever more distributed and mobile workforce, enterprise IT managers faced with the following challenges:

• Service Ubiquity. Making corporate telephony and data applications available on a consistent basis from campus sites to individual remote users, and allowing individuals at remote sites to collaborate as part of a larger functional team (for example, an engineering project, a customer account team, or a call center)

• Scalable Performance. Developing solutions that can cost-effectively support potentially thousands of remote users, and that can be responsive to business needs as they evolve. Today, scalability problems are exacerbated by the existence of multiple enterprise networks (such as networks supporting telephony, dedicated mainframe applications, room-to-room video), which result in ineffective bandwidth use, application inflexibility, and added complexity.

• Secure Extended Reach Via The Internet. Providing enhanced mobility for employees, and allowing employees to get closer to customers and partners via the Internet.

• High Network Availability. Meeting the needs of business for 24/7 operation with performance maintained for business-critical applications.

• End-To-End Network Management. Providing comprehensive management tools with a particular emphasis on centralized configuration, and fault and performance management at remote sites.

THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE
Corporate walls are coming down. Mobile users are getting connected in unprecedented numbers. A new wave of telecollaboration tools is upon us. A powerful communications infrastructure for telephony, video, and data is being created, to serve the peculiar needs of the distributed work force, and to enable new business solutions.

These are all exciting trends. However, no two enterprises are the same in terms of business objectives, demographics, and installed base. So, a range of solutions may be required for a range of occasional and power mobile users. The degree of data connectivity with the enterprise network may range from access to mission-critical applications (such as on-line reservations) to e-mail to general intranet access to Internet access. The degree of telephony operation can be primarily oriented towards the PSTN or have a large community of interest with other enterprise sites, requiring a high degree of feature/functionality.

Central site solutions need to be designed with due consideration for the network architectural directions of the enterprise, leveraging the installed base investment. Accounting for these considerations, which will vary from enterprise to enterprise, is a challenge that will be greatly simplified by the availability of a range of solutions. Being free to choose from a range of options — in a word, flexibility — is a key parameter in developing strategies to distribute the workforce and address the needs of mobile users.

Tony Rybczynski is director of strategic marketing and technologies for Nortel Networks’ Enterprise Solutions unit. This business unit offers a full range of enterprise terminal, workgroup, campus, and wide-area unified networks and applications, through direct and indirect channels. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.nortelnetworks.com. E-mail questions or comments to [email protected]