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FIXED MOBILE CONVERGENCE (FMC) - Up, up and away..
The telecoms industry varies wildly in its predictions for FMC uptake in the next four
years. What they all agree on, though, is that users will be numerous and it will save companies money. Pierre-Alexandre Fuhrmann explains how businesses can get to grips with this emerging technology
Industry watchers' estimates vary wildly as to the penetration of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) in the coming years but they all agree - FMC is set to grow. Fast. One of the main drivers in 2008 is the emergence of dual mode handsets and widespread availability of wireless (WiFi) networks. The consensus also agrees that a converged telephony environment will save businesses money. So, when faced with this new emerging technology, how can IT managers and CFOs alike make sense of fixed-mobile convergence?
According to some estimates, there will be some 435 million mobile Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) users in 2012 whereas some analysts say there will be 18 million FMC subscribers by 2011. When it comes to call savings, Aberdeen Group estimates business users will save an average of $150 per user per year - for businesses of all sizes this is a significant amount.
As flexible, mobile and remote working begins to take a cultural hold on our society, IT and telecoms managers need to work out how FMC can give their businesses further competitive edge.
The UK enjoys some of the highest wireless Internet coverage in Europe. And for travelling business executives the opportunity to make calls by connecting to wireless networks is an attractive prospect for companies looking to reduce the cost of international calls. Wireless networks are now commonplace in airports, hotels, coffee shops and, increasingly, public areas.
Fixed Mobile Convergence means different things to different people so let's take a step back and break it down. Fixed communications comprise companies' telephone systems or private branch exchanges (PBXs), including analogue or digital ISDN exchange lines, and increasingly SIP trunks, and internal extensions.
At the same time, mobile communications can comprise your mobile handsets and their various calling plans.
Fixed Mobile Convergence focuses on taking the benefits of both of these communications streams and using the best bits to provide the most workable and cost effective system.
FMC solutions integrate fixed and mobile networks, providing communications services to mobile workers regardless of their location, access technology, and device, increasing employee productivity and decrease cost in an open standard-based environment.
FMC works in the same way as a hybrid car switches from electricity in low-speed urban areas but uses petrol power when on the motorway. When within range of a wireless network, dual mode phones can switch to WiFi and use IP telephony, moving back onto cellular access when out of WiFi coverage.
One of the major features at Mobile World Congress this February was FMC and in particular visitors felt that wireless providers could communicate their FMC offerings more effectively. But it's not just the mobile operators that IT managers can turn to when implementing FMC.
It is not difficult to FMC-enable a traditional telephony system, and even less so one which already uses an internet protocol (IP) private branch exchange (PBX). The IP PBX can incorporate the new wave of mobiles that combine GSM/3G, WiFi and SIP.
SIP is the de facto open standard allowing products from different manufacturers to be connected together, so a mobile device like the Nokia E Series can be connected to an IP PBX, such as the Aastra IntelliGate, MX-ONE and NeXspan.
Using WiFi, which is ubiquitous in business today, and Voice over IP (VoIP) the mobile device can switch from the GSM/3G network to the IP PBX's fixed network for incoming and most importantly outgoing calls.
Recent surveys show that most employees with a mobile use this as their primary phone, even when in the office, so enabling the IP PBX to ‘take over' the calls could dramatically reduce communication overheads.
The best thing IT managers can do is to read up about FMC, talk to their telephony supplier or service provider and take it from there. It is not a complex process to migrate to a converged environment, so don't believe any scare stories that say otherwise. It is the natural next step in business communications.
SIP, the open standard for IP telephony, will further enable the development of FMC, and we at Aastra believe that SIP will prevent businesses from being marooned on an island of IP. Growing demand and availability of innovative solutions based on SIP will see the transition to ‘IP Telephony 2.0' phase of internet telephony, enabling businesses to choose SIP-based universal terminals and SIP trunks to manage their external calls at a lower cost.
We strongly believe that innovation comes increasingly from the consumer markets, because of the volume effect, and especially in the mobility area. So it is important to be as open as possible to integrate these new upcoming innovations.
Moving away from proprietary solutions companies will be able to reap the benefits of open standards technologies for enterprise communications.
Your rivals are looking at FMC - if they've not got a system in place already. They will benefit from reduced communications costs, improved staff productivity as they can now deal with their emails on the road, and even better staff morale.
Convergence is happening and it's going to provide incredible efficiency and cost benefits to your organisation. According to ABI Research within the next two years mobile networks will emerge with an all-IP architecture and will deliver multimedia services as well as VoIP.
So come on and be a part of it, the technology is ready so there's no better time to migrate to fixed-mobile convergence and steal a march on your competitors.
Case Study - Procter & Gamble
While Aastra provides fixed-mobile converged technologies, this just forms part of a wider mobile working portfolio. Many blue chip customers, such as Procter & Gamble, are using Aastra's mobile technology to operate more efficiently using remote working.
Procter & Gamble is a recognised leader in the consumer products industry, with more than 135,000 employees in 80 countries worldwide. Its brand portfolio includes the likes of Duracell, Gillette, Pantene, Ariel and Lenor.
The company's Swedish operation identified the need for a more efficient mobilised communications system, especially to enable more remote working. Many employees had three different contact numbers, depending on their location and, although 60 per cent of employees had a company handset, many had to carry two or more phones.
Added to this, Procter & Gamble staff's phones were not integrated into the telephony system, often making them difficult to reach and placing a burden on the switchboard.
The challenge was to increase mobility and simplify the system, while maintaining security. Procter & Gamble's IT service provider Hewlett-Packard recommended Aastra's One Phone framework. This system includes a mobile phone for each member of staff connected to Procter & Gamble's communications infrastructure and converges fixed and mobile lines, enabling employees to be accessible anywhere and at anytime, using a single number.
The company saw immediate results. Since implementation, a significant amount of time has been saved each day, call quality has increased and users find it much easier to maintain contact. The fact that each member of staff has one phone and a single contact number vastly simplifies communications while improving productivity and cost-efficiency.
Håkan Berggren, Information and Decision Solutions Manager for Procter & Gamble Nordic, says: "The mobility solution has enabled us to save 20 minutes per day, when you consider this is per employee it represents significant savings, both in time and costs."
Pierre-Alexandre Fuhrmann is VP Products & Solutions for Aastra
www.aastra.com
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