By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

The concept of the paperless office was introduced years ago, yet failed to really come to fruition. Now, the focus is on the virtual office as technology innovations have enabled contact center agents to work anywhere in the world, while still delivering the same quality service to a widespread client base.

According to this Network Computing report, the integrated desktop virtualization product conceptualized through a partnership between Mitel (News - Alert) and VMware has led to the availability of a product that enables contact center managers to effectively manage their agents anywhere in the world. This management is made easy through a virtual office tool based in the cloud.

Mitel is also making available its virtualized Unified Communicator Advanced client software for VMware View.

"The critical IT requirements [for] contact centers are high availability and rapid service restoration in the event of an equipment failure,'' said Simon Bramfitt, founder and principal analyst at Entelechy Associates, in a statement.

"We're reasonably good at delivering this from a desktop computing perspective, but we have taken conventional desktop PCs pretty much as far as they can go here. VDI gives us an opportunity to both increase overall system availability and minimize service restoration times."

Bramfitt went on to share that the typical contact center experiences a high degree of standardization, creating more challenges in terms of VDI that are often not immediately noticeable, even when a virtual office is already in place. Simply put, Bramfitt believes VDI and call centers are made for each other.

One industry study conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent of businesses are considering or implementing client virtualization projects. The majority of these projects will be completed within the next 12 to 24 months. Of those companies that currently have client virtualization plans, 61 percent identify an expected reduction in IT costs as the primary driver.

Likewise, 40 percent of these companies are searching for easier distribution of software, and 38 percent aim for increased IT productivity. A similar industry report found that U.S. thin-client sales will double during the next few years, leading to less than 2 million units by 2013.

Alan Zurakowski (News - Alert), director of corporate business development and strategic alliances for Mitel, believes the CIO interested in the virtual office concept who also understands the value in virtual desktop technology, the Contact Center Solution for VMware View is downloaded via email. This easy deployment significant reduces cost, while extending the desktop and mobile environment to any end user with an Internet connection.

While Cisco (News - Alert) has a similar offering to extend the capabilities of the virtual office, it’s primarily designed for the larger deployment environment. Mitel, in its partnership with VMware, caters specifically to the smaller business seeking the benefits of a virtual office.