{"id":3097,"date":"2020-02-13T10:04:24","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T10:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/internal.n4engage.co.uk\/?p=3097"},"modified":"2020-12-30T10:27:42","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T10:27:42","slug":"uc-and-collaboration-are-changing-and-so-are-we","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/internal.n4engage.co.uk\/2020\/02\/13\/uc-and-collaboration-are-changing-and-so-are-we\/","title":{"rendered":"UC and Collaboration Are Changing (and So Are We)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Collaboration technologies, and customer demands, have changed considerably over the last decade. When I first started at Node4<\/a> in 2007 (as a team of one), the terms \u201cCollaboration\u201d and \u201cUnified Communications\u201d or \u201cUC\u201d were not so common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demand for voice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2007, we categorised our products and solutions as \u201cVoice Services\u201d, which reflected that most of our customers were predominantly using voice-only communications. Video and team collaboration tools were available, but not so widely adopted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve always had a huge focus on customer service,\ndelivering on what we had promised to our customers and making sure we were always\nlooking ahead at technology that our customers may need (or at least want) in\nthe future, so we could provide solutions for them and be seen as their trusted\nadvisors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were two core products in the Voice Services portfolio back in 2007: SIPLink, our SIP trunking<\/a> platform, and hostTALK, a hosted Cisco platform. hostTALK was an innovative platform that took Cisco on-premises Call Manager systems and multi-tenanted them. Think of our current Cisco HCS architecture but built before this was an option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All about centralisation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that time, we were seeing customers wanting to move away from on-premises systems. They were seeing the benefits of creating MPLS networks and centralising services in a data centre, including telephone systems and contact centres<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of our customers were moving their PBXs into our data centres, others were happy to move to our hostTALK platform and outsource their telephony to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, customers continue to want to remove the burden of\ndedicated hardware that they own and maintain. Many customers have legacy\nhardware or software platforms that are proving difficult to maintain and keep\nupdated. This can be due to outdated hardware or recruiting and retaining\ntrained staff to maintain and support them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drive to move services to the cloud is a priority for\nmost IT leaders. The shut down of BT\u2019s ISDN network is also a good indicator of\nthe evolution of UC \u2013 customers are adopting IP based services and will\ncontinue to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New tools, new team<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some things never change, but others clearly have. There\u2019s\nbeen a big shift towards non-voice communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video adoption has increased significantly, enabled by\nimprovements to user experience and quality. In many businesses, video has\nbecome the norm \u2013 with users instinctively making calls with video switched on,\nrather than making a conscious decision to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team collaboration tools<\/a> have also evolved. Our customers\u2019 users are used to being able to communicate with their friends and family whenever they want, from wherever they want, on any device. Apps such as FaceTime and WhatsApp have become the norm, and the features that they offer are taken for granted by many. We\u2019re working hard to ensure that these features can be delivered to business users in a secure, manageable and reliable way \u2013 whilst providing equally positive user experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the collaboration market has grown, so too has our team.\nNo longer am I the solo member of the collaboration team \u2013 I lead a team of 12,\nwith several others involved from various teams across the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One role that we have recently introduced to the team is\nAdoption Engineering. The idea is that when a customer purchases a\ncollaboration solution, the initial deployment will not be the final design,\ntopology or configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customers\u2019 demands change, as does the technology, and the\nAdoption role is there to keep existing customers up to date, to introduce new\nfeatures, to optimise their deployments and to ensure their staff are using the\ntools we provide in the best way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adapting for the future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evolution of collaboration \u2013 and changing customer\ndemand \u2013 isn\u2019t slowing down any time soon. In the coming years, businesses will\nincreasingly be investing in AI solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will improve user experience, whether during meetings (for example using Cisco\u2019 Cognitive Collaboration tools) or as part of Customer Contact<\/a>, improving interactions with customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the team, we\u2019re adapting to the changes once again.\nWe\u2019ve created a dedicated team of collaboration experts who will be driven\nspecifically by customer needs, in terms of bringing future solutions to the\nmarket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By putting customers at the forefront of business, and\naddressing their business and sector challenges, we\u2019ll be focusing on what\u2019s\n\u2018real\u2019 and \u2018now\u2019, in order to really thrive in this digitally transformative\nworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Get started on your workplace transformation<\/a> journey now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Who is Richard?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Richard Buxton has worked within the VoIP and Unified Comms industry for over 20 years. Starting out in the industry, he was responsible for adding IP telephony functionality to traditional PBX systems \u2013 years before the technology had been widely adopted. He then moved into the service provider sector and helped maintain and grow a SIP trunking platform and launch a hosted telephony solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the recent years, he has built a team and developed the Collaboration portfolio for Node4<\/a>, our parent company. More recently, he has migrated the entire Collaboration portfolio and teams into our brand new business unit \u2013 N4Engage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find Richard’s full author profile here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Collaboration technologies, and customer demands, have changed considerably over the last decade. When I first started at Node4 in 2007 (as a team of one), the terms \u201cCollaboration\u201d and \u201cUnified Communications\u201d or \u201cUC\u201d were not so common. Demand for voice In 2007, we categorised our products and solutions as \u201cVoice Services\u201d, which reflected that most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4892,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[92],"tags":[135],"yoast_head":"\nUC and Collaboration Are Changing (and So Are We) - N4Engage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Collaboration technologies, and customer demands, have changed considerably over the last decade, and so have we...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/internal.n4engage.co.uk\/2020\/02\/13\/uc-and-collaboration-are-changing-and-so-are-we\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UC and Collaboration Are Changing (and So Are We) - 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