Conferencing: The PBX is the SP say Siemens
Dave Dyer, channel marketing manager for the indirect
channel at Siemens Enterprise Communications makes a
valid case for using the PBX as the conference ‘services
provider’.
"Mega-trends such as Globalisation and Climate Control
are driving the shape of business and developments in
technology. The need for people to communicate
effectively has always been critical, only now the
challenge is greater - we need to do it without
necessarily jumping into the nearest car or plane. For
some time now, large enterprises have been able to use
managed services to provide audio conferencing or video
conferencing solutions and some have invested in their
own infrastructure. Not so obvious is that SMEs have
also faced the same issues, but the cost of the
solutions and the technology has until now been
prohibitive.
"HiPath OpenOffice ME from Siemens addresses this and
provides SMEs with a unified communications appliance
which takes the pain out of organising planned or ad-hoc
conferencing. It provides a drag-and-drop interface
which is intuitive, enabling a user to set up audio
conferences from their desktop. Participants are then
simply called on their preferred device and introduced
into the conference. This can either be automatic or
password protected for added security. This
functionality is provided by the OpenScape Office Suite
which is integrated within the OpenOffice Appliance.
OpenScape Office also manages a user's presence, so no
matter where they are or what device they are using,
they can easily enter the conference. Users can also use
their Microsoft Outlook address book to invite people to
participate in the conference. This is achieved by using
a simple outlook 'skin' or plug in which anyone can
load.
"This approach has numerous benefits for the end user
and the channel. The end user gets a set of tools which
really do speed up their business by removing the
roadblocks to successful communication, making it
simpler to contact and be contacted, but with a set of
solutions specifically designed for them - not some
downsized corporate monolith with a server farm to
spare.
"For the reseller, they get the key to high margins
through a solution which differentiates them from the
masses, but which is designed from the outset to be
channel friendly. This means that technical training is
minimal and mostly online and IT integration
requirements are kept to a minimum."
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