Page 8 - SkypeBuzz Summer 2015

8 SkypeBuzz by Telecom Reseller Summer 2015

Micah Singer
Messenger-type interfaces and data about It has become standard practice in court cases to refer to emails as recorded
whether someone is on his or her computer or
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phone already. Look for more information from evidence.Ibelievethiswillalsohappenwithaudiocallsandvideocalls–they
additional data sources – calendar (is the person willberecordedandstoredinperpetuitybybusinesses
busy), GPS (is the person driving, in motion,
Here are the trends and technologies I see etc.), wearables (is the person exercising,
emerging in the coming 5 to 10 years.
sleeping, eating, listening to music).
instrumental in customer support calls, dial and not enough graphically driven ways
website interactions, and interactions where to initiate voice communications. his will
PRESENCE
MORE VIDEO IN COMMERCE
you have historically had an audio-only change. Already, apps and clients are making
Presence will allow for more phone calls to start he irst place video calling has gone into heavy connection. Visual contact creates empathy the excitement of speed dialing seem like a very
without the phone calling part. hat is, when use for businesses is on intra-company calls. and will increase constructive interaction
dated innovation. Microsot Lync, in particular,
you go to make a phone call you will start to his makes sense, as all users are generally
in support and will increase closing rate on is raising the bar for ease of use in the business
see a lot more information that informs you on a common (read: technology compatible) ecommerce transactions. It will be a nice (and milieu. We should all be thinking of ways to
whether it is a good time to call.
You will be much more likely to send a quick communications system. However, video calling used on every internal call becomes a easy) extension of the prevalent live web-based IM used in many web-based support/sales make calling easier by doing away with phone numbers.
(text) query about whether now is a good
distraction and has limited value other than Big situations today.
Numbers will become more embedded in
time. Systems that provide basic and advanced Brother-type oversight.
buttons as presence keeps track of where we
presence will allow this to work more smoothly. When standardization of video codecs USABILITY
can be found rather than relying on our phone
Presence information now comes from Instant
becomes ubiquitous, I foresee video becoming
Right now there are still too many digits to
address.

CLICKING BEATS TYPING
BEATS SPEAKING
Sennheiser announces that its
I think a lot of clicking to communicate is
what the future holds. However, business users
prefer to search and communicate by privately range of premium headsets and
typing text rather than by speaking words.
his hypothesis will be challenged by smart
watches in the next 12 to 24 months – the
watch interfaces appear too small for typing but speakerphones solutions that are
will contain microphones. Siri, Cortana, and
Google Now believe that the digital personal
assistant is a key ingredient of the future of qualified on Lync 2013 are also
communications. I agree, but I think we will be
sending it text requests.
MEDIA COLLECTION AND Certified for Skype for Business
STORAGE
It has become standard practice in court cases
to refer to emails as recorded evidence. I believe
this will also happen with audio calls and video
calls – they will be recorded and stored in
perpetuity by businesses.
In some industries –inancial transactions, Sennheiser’ s headsets and speakerphones that are
health care – this is already required; in others, qualified on Lync 2013 are now also Certified for Skype
it is useful to create a recorded record. Storage is
cheap, and the technology to record everything for Business.
is pervasive.
here are some great online resources
that make more sweeping predictions about This certification means that Sennheiser products enable
the future – I recommend the Hypervoice Skype for Business users to communicate in the most
Consortium.
hese predictions tend to center on the effective way, wherever they are, with plug-and play
Internet of hings where much communication happens between the things/devices around simplicity, proven compatibility and high-quality audio.
based on human settings.
While I am a strong believer in this trend,
it is still too early for those of us in the hosted
PBX marketplace to incorporate into our service
oferings. Hopefully, some of the items I have
presented here are relevant immediately to your
planning. ■

Thomas B. Cross

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of American Axle & Manufacturing’s
communications transformation,” said Nimrode
Borovsky, Vice President of Marketing, AudioCodes. “he cost savings realized by
American Axle demonstrates the ROI oten
found in Lync implementations, enabled by
AudioCodes’ networking equipment and
professional services.”

BOTTOM-LINE
en-us.sennheiser.com/headsets-business-office-speakerphones
● Saved $3+ million on cost avoidance moving
from legacy Nortel PBX systems to Skype for
Business uniied communications
● AudioCodes Mediant systems played a key
role in facilitating the migration across 32 global
locations for PSTN access
● Saving $25,000 a month signiicantly
reduced their audio conferencing costs ■

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