Successful deployment of a Unified Communications  (UC) solution depends on careful evaluation of your technical preparedness.

There are several questions that need to be addressed...

What are unified communications technical preparedness factors?

• Is your network ready for the applications you plan to deploy?
• Is your wired and wireless LAN ready to support the applications?
• Are your laptops and tablets configured best for running UC applications over Wi-Fi
• How will data be traveling between offices, accessing data center applications, reaching cloud based services?

Your business infrastructure must be capable of delivering sufficient data and prioritizing data with the recognition that data consumption per user may significantly increase with the deployment of video calls and application sharing. We have identified 5 key investigation criteria for a successful evaluation of your UCaaS technical preparedness.

1. System Complexity

It is important to identify how many users your UC solution will be supporting, the number of locations, as well as domestic and/or  international requirements.   Will your solution contain  functions like instant messaging, and if yes, will  IM be separately deployed or integrated with IP telephony and other core functions?  Are you upgrading existing equipment, considering a hybrid solution, or full replacement of system(s) in place today? 

2. Scalability

Once your system is up and running, how much do you expect it to grow?  What regions do you expect the highest level of growth and by when? How quickly do you need to scale up and do you ever need to scale down? 

3. Architecture

These issues will govern how effectively your network’s components can be integrated and configured, and whether you will need to start fresh or proceed with integrating into an existing system. 

4. Security and Compliance

Both on premise and hosted cloud UC models provide advanced security options. Consider current and future security and compliance requirements. This may involve speaking with other business units to see if new industries are being considered by sales, such as state or federal government.  Security and compliace consideratations also apply to future service offerings which may require higher levels than are currently in place.

5. Device, mobility and emerging consumer platform support

Consumer technology does not stand still, so your UC solution needs  the ability to quickly embrace new devices and operating systems no matter what the future holds.

A solid hosted provider can help you asses and determine whether your network is prepared to support IP voice services and other real-time UC applications. 

Ready to gain more insight into a comprehensive unified communications strategy?