Avaya & Polycom...Video Solutions Positioning Guide

Avaya and Polycom Video Solutions Positioning Guide

The world is embracing end-to-end IP communications

Enterprises recognise that IP-based services and applications can and do increase productivity and agility for their workforce and their customer and supplier partners. It is clear that communications services are rapidly moving from traditional telephony-oriented services to new Internet-based voice and video. Individuals want and demand an enhanced user experience across a broad range of devices including personal computers, smart phones, tablets and HDTV screens. The rise of consumerisation within the business environment has resulted in the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) culture with devices such as iPhones and iPads as well as a host of Android-based smart devices entering into the workplace at a relentless pace. Major brands such as Apple, Google and Microsoft/Skype together with the Social Networking giants of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are now driving the agenda for enterprise communications.

Video will have the highest utility value when it becomes as easy as making a phone call. Today, most video conferencing is room-based. However, video will ultimately proliferate to the desktop with an ad-hoc usage model more closely resembling telephony than room-based conferencing. Enterprise integration of Social Media and conferencing-enabled mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad or Android-based devices will also have a major impact on the tendency to incorporate video into business communications.

Avaya and Polycom have recognised the growing strategic value of video within the virtual – distributed – workgroup and at the desktop in addition to the traditional room-based or boardroom-based Tele-presence solution. Each has a slightly different approach; Avaya promotes a ‘single vendor voice & video solution’ end-to-end, whilst Polycom promotes interoperability and scalability as differentiating features.

Either way, each adoption scenario is likely to be unique and should represent the “best-of-breed” solution, incorporating products and services most appropriate to the business needs.

The aim of this document is to highlight the key Avaya Video Conference solutions and to help position Avaya and Polycom – whether it is Avaya-only, Polycom-only or a mixed estate of video solutions.

The Video Opportunity

Market opportunity and sizeThere is no blue-print to follow regarding the opportunity for video or the target market. From desktop-based, one-to-one communications, through to a full Tele-presence solution, video delivers clear and tangible benefit.

Video communications can deliver a rapid Return on Investment (RoI) through improving worker efficiency, saving money on unnecessary travel to and from regular meetings and speed up decision making and query resolution. The instantaneous qualities of an audio conference, combined with the face-to-face nature of video provide businesses with an invaluable tool to enhance many areas of their day-to-day internal and external communications. The continued penetration of video communications in the consumer world is also helping to drive acceptance of video communications in the business world.

Target customers/verticalsGovernment/Public Sector: • Reduced budgets and the need to be more agile and efficient are driving local authorities to consider better ways to augment internal communications. Video can dramatically speed up the way in which teams can communicate to resolve issues.

Healthcare (Private): • Video can immeasurably enhance Patient consulting – particularly where a second opinion is required. Surgeons and Specialists can collaborate immediately to discuss patient’s issues to provide faster and more accurate diagnoses.

Multi-site/Multi-Country: • For enterprises with multiple sites that may even be dispersed across multiple geographies, video communications can deliver tangible cost savings to the bottom line. Regular team meetings can be handled virtually via video helping to remove associated costs – both the tangible costs of travel and accommodation as well as the ‘softer’ costs involved with travel time such as productivity. The instantaneous nature of video can also help enterprises to speed the tasks of problem solving and project completion.

Video Conference Deployment Options

Desk-top/Point-to-Point

Soft clients: • Desktop PC telephony with webcam functionality. Integration to Outlook and other desktop productivity tools provides the user with a ‘total’ communications management tool

Tablet PCs: • The ‘tablet’ PC is fast becoming a fixture in the workplace and the latest versions support high-quality video communications. All major voice vendors such as Avaya are prioritising application development to allow deployment of their communications clients – such as Flare Experience™ – onto these devices.

Smartphone Devices: • The current crop of ‘ultra-smart’ smart phones put the potential for video communications in the hands of every user. Avaya are making these devices a priority when it comes to the latest client software and features.

Skype/Yahoo/MS Messenger etc: • Possibly the most pervasive form of instant collaboration today is the Instant Messaging client. Most of these clients support some form of video communications for the user and many support open interoperability between different clients as well as Social Media sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

Work-Group

Small, inter-company teams can collaborate quickly and easily via video. Avaya’s 10x0 series of endpoints can be deployed •and integrated into an Avaya Aura solution with minimal fuss and disruption to users.

Room-based (Larger scale rooms/boardrooms):

Avaya video endpoints can be deployed to meet the video needs of larger room/boardroom environment to provide a high- •quality communications experience. Users can make use of functionality such as document sharing.

Immersive Tele-Presence (Polycom)

This kind of solution is the high end of video and most commonly associated with larger corporate customers with multiple •sites across multiple countries. Polycom are a global leader in this kind of technology and the default option for any Tele-Presence opportunity.

Reduced Travel Costs

Polycom video conferencing solutions remove geographical boundaries, enabling ‘face-to-face’ interactions between •individuals and teams regardless of location. With video conferencing, people and content can be shared to give the same natural meeting experience but without incurring costs associated with travel.

Improved Productivity

Reducing wasted travel time to and from meetings means that employees can use the saved time more productively. •Enabling on-demand collaboration regardless of location means quick access to expert knowledge for faster decision •making.

Morale can be improved due to less ‘travel stress’ and more flexible working – morale has a direct impact on •productivity.

Lower C02 Emissions

Businesses are now starting to look seriously at their ‘green credentials’ to improve their social responsibility standing •as well as reducing travel and energy usage costs. Video conferencing is one of the most effective ways to positively impact the environment by cutting Co2 emissions as a consequence of less travel.

Improved Recruitment Recruiting the right calibre of employee can be a costly and time consuming process. Video conferencing can help streamline the recruitment process in the following ways:

Use video conferencing as part of the first stage interview process to screen candidates from any part of the world •without incurring costs.

Interview more candidates from more locations via video conferencing to choose from a wider pool and make better •hiring decisions

Video conferencing can be used to record and archive interviews, allowing key decision makers to replay the interview •and make better, more informed hiring decisions.

Faster Decision Making

Business success is driven largely by the quality of decision making and the skill and speed at which those decisions •are executed. Polycom video conferencing solutions remove the need to travel in order to meet and share information. This not only reduces travel costs and unproductive travel time, it also speeds up communication and collaboration resulting in quicker decisions being made.

Better Work / Life Balance

The increasingly pressurised working environment can lead to issues such as absenteeism, staff turnover and low •productivity. Video conferencing solutions can improve the work/life balance by facilitating flexible working initiatives and reducing stress associated with frequent business travel.

Better Customer Service

Delivering superior customer service is an essential part of the corporate brand and market differentiation. The key to •providing excellent customer service is the speed at which customer issues are resolved. Video conferencing speeds up the communication process by connecting people no matter where they are located, allowing agents to instantly collaborate with skilled back-office workers for fast resolution of customer issues.

Benefits of Video

SIP vs H323“H323 video isn’t broken….so why fix it?” Whilst this is true, the move to SIP-based video solutions can provide a range of •benefits:

Faster, easier integration of new applications for developers to enhance a customer’s business •Better integration into the legacy voice estate providing a clear migration path for existing Avaya ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ customers •

Where do Polycom fit?Most importantly, Polycom is a viable video solution in its own right. Integration of Avaya’s video solution allows more •choice and a greater level of integration to the Avaya core. However, Polycom is still important to Avaya Video solution deployments where the following scenarios exist:

Requirement to interconnect with existing Polycom Video •Support for video conference calls outside of the company network •

Avaya’s Video Offers

Avaya Video Solution

OEM Lifesize Product •1000 series Conference Systems •For executive desktop and medium to large-size conference rooms •Up to 8 part HD video conference (with embedded bridge facility) •

Avaya Aura Conference can act as a bridge to support up 100 parties »for SD video conferences

Polycom RMX can be used as the bridge to support up to 160 parties in »an HD video conference

Avaya Desktop Video Device + Flare Experience

One device, one interface, all communications in one place •Tablet-based communications •Voice, Video, IM, email, Social Media all in one interface on one device •

one-X Communicator client with video

Desktop telephony application with the ability to integrate video •Video is achieved via integrated web-cam (if available) or by the addition of a simple USB web-cam •

one-X Agent client with video

Video is achieved via integrated web-cam (if available) or by the addition of a simple USB web-cam •

Deployment Examples

Greenfield site opportunity: CM6.x (SIP) In this scenario Avaya provides all aspects of the video communications – with one possible exception. Should the above customer wish to bring 3rd parties from outside of the corporate domain into any video conference then a Polycom VBP bridge would be required. Avaya Aura Conferencing could be utilised to provide additional video conferencing ports.

Video-enabled Avaya one-X Communicator clients could also be deployed to the desktop along with Avaya Desktop Video Device with the Flare Experience interface for mobile executive users.

This is a SIP-only deployment and will be based on Avaya Aura 6.0. Solution elements:

Avaya Aura Communication Manager 6.x •Avaya Aura Session Manager 6.x •Avaya Aura System Manager 6.x •Avaya Video 10x0 endpoints •Avaya Desktop Video Device & Flare Experience •SIP-enabled Avaya one-X Communicator clients – will allow point-to-point video as well as integration to a full, multi-party •conference with the Polycom solution and any Avaya Video Conference endpoints, one-X Communicator clients and Desktop Video Devices running Flare

Avaya Aura Conference – will allow increased video conference bridge size beyond the maximum 8-party that can be achieved •through the Avaya Video Conference solution MCUs – up to 100 parties.

Polycom VBP – will allow the Avaya Video Conference solution and associated elements to achieve conferencing with 3rd parties •outside of the corporate domain

Note: In this scenario the Avaya Aura ME Solution would be ideal due to the number of virtualised servers included – Communication Manager, Session Manager, System Manager

Greenfield site opportunity: CM5.2.1/CM6.x (H323) Avaya Video (10x0) is a SIP-based solution so cannot be deployed in an H323 environment. In this scenario the recommended option where conference room functionality is required would be to go with Polycom. Video-enabled Avaya one-X Communicator clients could still be deployed in H323 mode and could be easily integrated to the Polycom solution. This would allow users to achieve basic point-to-point video communications through to being part of a full, multi-party video conference.

Solution elements:

Avaya Aura Communication Manager 6.x •H323-enabled Avaya one-X Communicator clients – will allow point-to-point video as well as integration to a full, multi-party •conference with the Polycom solution

Polycom RMX & VBP – will allow the Avaya Video Conference solution and associated elements to achieve conferencing with •3rd parties outside of the corporate domain

Existing video environment: Polycom + CM6.x (SIP-based) with Session ManagerIt is not uncommon to come across a sales opportunity where the customer already has some video elements deployed. A common scenario will be where that customer has already made some investment into Polycom. In these scenarios you could of course add to that Polycom solution with more Polycom but in the SIP world we can easily deploy Avaya video to happily co-exist alongside Polycom. Key solution components in this scenario would be:

Retain existing Polycom hardware and infrastructure •Avaya Aura Communication Manager 6.x •Avaya Aura Session Manager 6.x •Avaya Aura System Manager 6.x •Avaya Video 10 x 0 endpoints •Avaya Desktop Video Device & Flare Experience •SIP-enabled Avaya one-X Communicator clients – will allow •point-to-point video as well as integration to a full, multi-party conference with the Polycom solution and any Avaya Video Conference endpoints, one-X Communicator clients and Desktop Video Devices running Flare

Avaya Aura Conference – will allow increased video conference •bridge size beyond the maximum 8-party that can be achieved through the Avaya Video Conference solution MCUs. Although this is potentially not needed as one would assume the existence of an EMX bridge with the existing Polycom solution.

Note: In this scenario the Avaya Aura ME Solution would be ideal due to the number of virtualised servers included – Communication Manager, Session Manager, System Manager

Existing video environment: Polycom + CM5.x (H323-based)You do not necessarily have to sell your customer a full SIP-enabled Avaya Aura solution in order to integrate to an existing Polycom environment. Whilst the SIP solution will give an excellent level in integration between Avaya and Polycom video solutions, your customer may have the right video solution for them already with respect to the ‘video meeting room’. In this scenario we can simply deploy video-enabled Avaya one-X Communicator clients to the desktop to enable individual users to join conference session being hosted on the Polycom solution. Apart from the key Avaya Aura solution components, the video investment here would be seen as minimal:

Retain existing Polycom hardware and infrastructure •H323-enabled Avaya one-X Communicator clients – will allow point-to-point video as well as integration to a full, multi-party •conference with the Polycom solution

Avaya/Polycom integration licences – to allow the one-X Communicator clients to be part of a full Polycom video conference. • Note: In this scenario the Avaya Aura ME Solution would be ideal due to the number of virtualised servers included – Communication Manager, Session Manager, System Manager

Other Vendors – Cisco, Tandberg, LifesizeDuring 2012 Avaya will be making available integration to some other key vendors for the Avaya Video conference products.

Do you want to reduce travel costs?Businesses can justify the purchase of video conferencing solutions based on travel cost savings alone.

Would it enhance productivity if workers at separate locations could meet as workgroups?Enhanced productivity and reduced time-to-market are key reasons organisations give for deploying video conferencing. The ability to meet spontaneously ‘face-to-face’ not only allows people at different locations to be more productive, it also improves morale and communication.

Would your business benefit from faster decision making?Face-to-face communication is more natural with expressions and body language providing a complete experience enabling faster decision making.

Would you like to communicate with the whole business more often?Video conferencing enables whole companies to ‘come together’ to solve problems, share information, improve morale and improve performance.

Do your customers or suppliers have video conferencing?Integrating video conferencing with customers and suppliers can not only improve communications but also help build relationships that can breed loyalty.

Does your business rely on the skill and contribution of experts at disparate locations?Video conferencing allows localised specialist resource to become a shared, companywide resource.

Could your recruitment process be improved?Video conferencing can simplify the interview process and widen the pool of candidates when hiring staff from multiple locations.

Could you attract and retain key employees with flexible working options?The real cost of business travel is lost productivity and employee stress due to time away from home which can result in higher staff turnover and challenges in attracting top candidates for key roles.

Do you have compliance or training issues?Video conferencing can help encode data necessary to conform to regulations and provide a great training tool where disparately located experts can share information.

Do you want to reduce your carbon footprint? Research indicates that approximately one third of meetings are unnecessary and counterproductive, hampering productivity, increasing costs and generating increased amounts of unnecessary carbon emissions. Video conferencing can to lower the corporate carbon footprint, enhance productivity and reduce cost.

Call To Action - What to ask your customers

Automatic Bandwidth

Management

Broad/Deep UC Collaboration

Portfolio

Converged Architectural

Model

Multivendor Endpoint Support

Video Managed Services

Establish user profiles so key

personnel get the best service

possible even when WAN

links fail

UC solutions such as Avaya

Flare Experience, Avaya one-x

mobility solutions and Avaya

web.alive

Centralised scalable platform

designed to support real-time

communication services

Support for and

interoperability with third-

party vendor endpoints

Design, implementation

and managed service

options directly from the

manufacturer

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General summary

Video is here and video is an active part of everyday communications from Skype conversations with friends and family to the corporate boardroom. The benefits of video are tangible and as a solution it is able to demonstrate one of the fastest ROIs in the communications industry. Westcon is here to help as well. In order to sell Avaya and Polycom you will need to be accredited. For more information on accreditation or for any assistance selling a video solution, please speak to your Westcon Account Manager.

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