IP Convergence: Beyond VoIP, Beyond Cost Savings

I had the opportunity to present the latest message from Global Crossing in support of Unified Communications.  On March 27th, I attended a panel discussion at Sun Microsystem's Boston campus for masnetcomms.org and on March 28th I presented at a Global Crossing VoIP seminar in Cleveland.

My massnetcomms presentation was focused on the technology enablers (Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), XML, Service Oriented Architecture, Price performance of general purpose computers , Software As a Service model, Network Convergence (IP and access),  Protocol Convergence (SIP)) that have created the opportunity for Unified Communication adoption.  Unified communications is not a new concept, it’s about 10 years old and really never took off.  The early UC models were all hardware centric with specialized devices and lacked seamless integration into your desktop.  However today,  companies like Microsoft have taken a software only architecture that leverages their installed base of email (exchange) and identity (Active Directory) into realizing a seamless experience on my desktop.

In Cleveland,  I shifted the discussion to a more network centric message and highlighted our internal IT success in deploying Microsoft OCS . Global Crossing’s internal IT team began the road to Unified Communications in 2003 when we deployed Cisco VoIP handsets . 

The 2003 VoIP deployment was an important milestone in that both the network (LAN, WAN) and operations (Voice vs. Network team)  had to come together and provide a reliable and consistent transport for Voice, Video and Data. This is an excellent example of IP convergence providing a solid foundation for our subsequent deployment of Unified Communications. 

In 2005 Global Crossing deployed Live Communications System (LCS)  (LCS is the predecessor to Office Communications System (OCS) ) and in 2006 our first deployment in support of Microsoft OCS beta.  Global Crossing was one of 72 companies supporting the beta and tap phases of OCS  and in October 2007 supported Microsoft with their OCS  launch in San Francisco.

What we are experiencing is that not only can OCS provide unparalleled  integration into our desktop environments, but more importantly business transformation as it is now embedded into our workflow, sales portals and company directory.  We are able to work more efficiently , with better communications which will add to a better customer experience.

But the deployment of Unified Communications didn’t start in 2005 when we deployed LCS, it actually started in 2003 when we began deployment of a converged network.

At both presentations the message reasonated with other industry leaders and customers. Clearly IP and network convergence provides the foundation for a successful deployment of Unified Communications.