What’s All This Talk about Convergence?

If nobody has yet asked you about “convergence” (also referenced as FMC for Fixed Mobile Convergence (News - Alert)) or “unified communications”, perhaps I can share some information on the current state of the industry to prepare you for the inevitable.

My first point is that despite the “buzz” around the terms, the market does not appear to be in any rush to implement the vision. The largest reason may be that there isn’t an evident Return on Investment (ROI). Even though the vendors would like you to believe that the nirvana of one phone number, one voicemail system, etc. will translate into major productivity gains, the reality is that the touted benefits probably aren’t meaningful except to the most highly mobile users. Other reasons range from the fact that the majority of these services are still in their infancy to the fact that they bring wireless policy issues to the front burner. In a definition of convergence that translates into having one primary communications device, there is likely to be a cell phone that functions as an extension of the corporate PBX. As phones become available that offer both cellular and WiFi (News - Alert) interfaces, the merger of business and personal use of the device is bound to grow. Given all the complications that privacy and security issues present in a non-converged environment, it is obvious that the move toward a single, primary device will only further complicate the situation and exacerbate the risks. Never to be underestimated is the consideration of what the carriers would like to happen when discussing the roll-out of new products and/or services. The migration of minutes from wireline and especially wireless provider networks onto an enterprise’s wireless LAN (WLAN) translates to lost revenue for the providers. Note that most of the FMC project offerings from the providers do not offload voice minutes to a WiFi hotspot or enterprise WLAN. Several carriers including Verizon (News - Alert) assert that they’re working on a number of FMC products that will result in lost minutes for their networks, but the question is whether there is a rush to make such services available to the enterprise.

On the enterprise side is the challenge of ensuring that the WLAN has been optimized to carry voice rather than data. Class of service must be engineered to support the high level of quality for voice services users are accustomed to. And it would be remiss of me not to mention all the expensive desktop IP phones purchased in recent years with the rollout of IP telephony. These investments will not be written off casually. Even in new buildings, construction typically involves Ethernet cabling today, so wireless substitution in the near term is unlikely.

In conclusion, there needn’t be concern around rushing to adopt FMC as of today. While each situation is admittedly unique, in today’s environment you may not need to get past the ROI discussion before your boss loses interest. But it is always advisable to look ahead and make sure that you will have the flexibility to begin to implement unified communications when it makes sense for your organization. To that end, be mindful of maintaining flexibility in your wireline and wireless services agreements such that you won’t be negatively impacted if there is a reduction in your need to purchase “minutes” from the providers. IT

Al Subbloie is President, CEO & Founder of Tangoe (News - Alert) (www.tangoe.com).

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