The buzz in enterprise communications is BYOD — bring your own device. Industry research supports that BYOD, far from being merely the latest and greatest, is more likely to be the new normal.
In addition, according to the latest Frost & Sullivan research (download the report, “The Changing Role of Mobile Communications in the Workplace,” at shoretel.com/mobility) companies that use collaboration tools have a competitive advantage over those that don’t. This only increases as the tools themselves get more advanced.
This advantage, however, is accompanied by three challenges:
• Increased burden on IT departments tasked with plugging people and multiple devices into the corporate grid
• UC tools that may not be sufficiently evolved to achieve these tangible productivity gains
• Staying ahead of increased cellular usage costs (i.e., per-minute, long-distance and roaming charges)
To avoid unpleasant surprises over both the short and long term, enterprises should seek out mobility solutions that safeguard against these challenges by offering:
• Out-of-the-box integration with all leading IP-PBXs and smartphones, to cut back labor-intensiveness of deployment and maintenance
• UC tools that integrate into the user’s existing smartphone interface, to eliminate the need for extensive training and troubleshooting
• Automatic least-cost routing to leverage available Wi-Fi and 3G networks, especially when users are making calls within the office
For more on enterprise mobility, download the white paper “Reduce Cellular Costs with ShoreTel Mobility,” at shoretel.com/mobility.
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