TMCnews Featured Article
May 24, 2011
Advanced Carrier Services Extend Beyond Standard Business Communications
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
In the world of communications today, consumers and business users alike are demanding better quality, enhanced services, multi-screen capabilities, unlimited access and so much more. As a result, there is an increased demand for advanced carrier services. Those carriers able to deliver on this demand can command a greater share of the market; those who ignore the trend are likely to become obsolete.
The proliferation of social networking as a communication platform has also changed the dynamic for advanced carrier services. And, as individuals continue to change the way they keep in touch, there is a conflict when it comes to enterprise communications. Business users are increasingly leveraging new contact applications. As unofficial enterprise communication tools continue to increase in usage, however, IT managers are evaluating these tools to identify opportunities to exploit them; in an effort to meet new business goals and change the work relationships between the employer and the employee.
A recent survey of decision makers within the SMB sector found that 62 percent allow workers to work remotely. Additionally, 34 percent of employees at these firms choose to work outside of the office environment. As a result, these individuals spend an average of 40 percent of their time working remotely. This puts increased pressure on IT professionals to support these remote workers, and they must look to their communications partners to provide the advanced carrier services necessary to create a productive environment.
The idea of working remotely and telecommuting is not new, but the platform has increased significantly in the last decade or so. And, as more companies are taking a global approach to competition, professionals and employees alike need to stay in touch with colleagues, partners and customers on the other side of the world. This requires advanced carrier services to keep these communications alive and productive.
There is a threat to business voice revenues in the global marketplace, however. Instant messaging was once a fun platform for communicating with friends and is now in place full-force for the enterprise. There are 47 billion instant messages sent per day, while 15 billion of those messages are business related. Providers delivering advanced carrier services need to be able to meet this demand, yet it can be difficult to derive direct revenues from IM.
Another trend readily occurring within advanced carrier services is the drive toward hosted services. Companies are being motivated by aging premise-based PBXs and their associated vendor-locked handsets. The hosted telephony model can better serve the needs of the business and the hosted PBX (News - Alert) eliminates the capital investment normally required in advanced carrier services. The result of this is a much lower cost for a wider range of capabilities.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Jamie Epstein
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