Window shopping, premise-based UC systems are appearing to have the lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and attract buyers who do not look into limitations in scalability or functionality, as well as hidden costs impacting productivity.  BroadSoft’s whitepaper brings clarity to decision-makers by comparing the actual costs and features of today’s hosted and premise-based UC systems, including the following TCO areas:

1. System & capital costs
2. Maintenance, management & support
3. Installation
4. Training
5. Equipment housing & power
6. IT staffing

For more information, please read the full whitepaper or contact your BroadSoft sales representative.

As a result, UC-One IMS delivers several benefits to the enterprise:

• Significantly lowers telecommunications costs 
• Simplifies enterprise management of UC services 
• Enables employees to work from anywhere, on any device

If you did not have the chance to meet with us in Florida, please check-out our events page for an updated list of where you can hear more about BroadSoft and UC-One™ IMS.

We look forward to meeting you at:

• LTE Latin America (16th -17th April 2013, Janeiro, Brazil) – Please visit us at our exhibit booth.
• IMS World Forum (23-25 April 2013, Barcelona, Spain) – BroadSoft will be speaking.
• Acme Packet Interconnect (24-26 April, Las Vegas, NV) – BroadSoft will be speaking.
• CTIA (21-23 May, Las Vegas, NV) – Please request a meeting.
• LTE World Summit (June 24 – 26, Amsterdam) – BroadSoft will be speaking, please visit us at our exhibit booth as well.

Feel free to Contact Us as well for more information at anytime or any location.

And be sure to you’re following and commenting on our LinkedIn Group, on Twitter, or on Facebook, for the latest news and answers.

From a user experience standpoint, UC-One™ IMS enables the seamless movement between services, devices and the addition of others to a conversation.  Enabling employees with the freedom to work from anywhere, on any device, UC-One™ IMS provides employees with access to all of their Unified Communications services, from: a laptop computer, mobile or smartphone, tablet, desktop computer or desk phone. By separating communication devices from service subscriptions, the benefits to enterprises are substantial, including: significantly lowering telecommunications costs and simplifying enterprise management of UC services.

By forgoing the power of fixed-mobile convergence, Mobile Network Operators may also be missing out on a very real opportunity. Leveraging an IMS architectural framework, LTE networks and VoLTE, UC-One™ IMS enables mobile operators to enter the higher margin mobile UC market and to offer a truly superior communication experience.  UC-One™ IMS offers several advantages for innovative Mobile Operators, some of which include:

• New revenue opportunities through enhanced services
• Increased customer satisfaction and churn reduction 
• Ability to more rapidly monetize their LTE network investments 

By offering UC ahead of LTE, BroadSoft believes UC will be the first applications of volume over LTE – an evident step in this unbending trend of seamless communication technology.

BroadSoft has and will always ensure the multiple layers of seamless UC services: that of the end user communication experience and the ability to manage such an experience.  To me, it seems astonishing, only a few years ago, it was standard practice for an employee to pick-up two separate devices to call or text for work or pleasure.

Now, it’s your turn to change the experience again.

[1] Red bars indicate a gap shown by a higher percentage of SMBs asking for solutions than current offerings, creating shortage and opportunity.

Evidence for the unwavering movement by enterprises, small and large, to cloud services continues to escalate.  Enterprises have embraced the operational and expense benefits of cloud services and are evaluating cloud models for all services:

• Gartner predicts the global public cloud computing market will grow 18.5% in 2013 to $131 billion, up from $111 billion last year.
• Juniper Research similarly finds annual revenues from cloud-based mobile applications will grow to reach nearly $9.5 billion by 2014, fueled by the need for converged, collaborative services, the widespread adoption of mobile broadband services and the deployment of key technological enablers.

And for the telecommunications industry specifically:

• Infonetics forecasts the Hosted VoIP & UC market to reach $10B by 2016.[2] 

Such unmet demand creates a strong opportunity for Service Providers who provide a comprehensive Unified Communications solution.  Service providers need to pick up the pace of their UC services deployment beyond voice and become the single source solution for businesses of all sizes, including SMBs.  My fear is the already large UC cloud solution gap will continue to include mobile Unified Communications. I hope this does not become a reality.

BroadSoft’s UC One™ is the only platform designed specifically for service providers, enabling them to offer comprehensive Unified Communications solutions that meet the needs of the market segments they serve.  As Service Providers adopt and offer comprehensive offerings, solutions such as UC-One will help us all close the supply gap for hosted Unified Communications services.

When I’m feeling sad, I simply remember the things that I need… And then I don’t feel so bad…

Whether prescribing a solution for Sally the teleworker or Phil the Plumber, a Service Provider should be able to address the pain points of an organization and showcase how a UC solution will remedy unique frustrations and create a healthier business.  The same research points to universal communication pain points; the top three frustrations are cited as:

1. Waiting on information (78%);
2. Locating and contacting someone (69%); and
3. Email is an ineffective communications tool (58%).

Rather than continuing to work harder than a gopher in hard dirt, as “Dr. Phil” explains, 76% of communication users in our survey results cite they would be “very keen” or “somewhat keen” to adopt UC solutions.

As the industry draws closer to Mobile World Congress, and as we often focus on the capabilities of mobile communications, let us also remember the importance of excellent customer care.  Such care, we believe, is made possible through individualized messaging – describing how today’s solutions will benefit employees in increasing individual efficiency, effectiveness, and reachability concerns.

For more on BroadSoft’s most recent research, please see our white paper here: http://broadsoft.com/pdf/whitepaper-what-users-want.pdf

BroadSoft’s most recent research, a survey of more than 700 users across the U.S., Europe and multiple industries, highlighted this growing demand for mobile UC.  Focusing on “everyday” business users’ attitudes towards various communications technologies, the research found top three universal frustrations, including:

1. Waiting on information (78%);
2. Locating and contacting someone (69%); and
3. Email as an ineffective communications tool (58%).

The research results also indicated a strong desire for tightly integrated mobile unified communications (UC), with 76% of respondents stating they would be “very keen” or “somewhat keen” to adopt UC solutions.  For more on the research findings, please visit: Unified Communications: What Users Want.    

Providers are already looking to the opportunities of the New Mobile Horizon to deliver mobile UC solutions.  Whether though instant messaging and presence, Web collaboration or additional solutions, providers can meet customized user needs based on specific frustration(s) through mobile UC solutions.  For example, watch as a consultant, rarely in his office, uses a mobile UC solution called UC One.

UC One allows the user to keep connected to colleagues and clients and juggle multiple clients’ needs while roaming from site to site, all on his mobile devices.

While the frustrations of end users are seemingly endless, the possibilities of LTE and mobile UC are limitless and will forever change the mobile landscape.

For more information on User Frustrations, Mobile UC, and LTE please visit and share the following resources:

• Research- http://bit.ly/BSFTSurvey
• Survey Paper – Unified Communications: What Users Want
  Survey Infographic – Users Frustrations with Today’s Communication Services
• Mobile UC Solutions- http://www.broadsoft.com/solutions/

Recently, Forbes’s published my outline on four key ways to monetize the LTE opportunity:

1.     Speed is sexy, but applications drive revenue

Mobile operators need to extend beyond marketing campaigns that focus exclusively on faster speeds in order to generate the business case for higher monthly charges. Read more.

2.    Own the user experience

Compared to Over-the-Top (OTT) providers tied to specific applications (i.e., Skype calling) and devices, mobile operators, with ownership of the network, are well positioned to provide end-users with one identity and mobility across the devices. Read more.

3.    Meet exploding bandwidth requirements

LTE delivers the cost-effective bandwidth that enables mobile operators to realize economies of scale required to drive down the rising costs associated with delivering data over existing networks. Read more.

4.   Look beyond tried-and-true consumer segments

Compared to OTT providers, MNOs can more effectively ensure a carrier-grade quality of experience for end users of services suited for consumers but inadequate for the rigors of enterprise use. Read more.

By leveraging ownership of the network and the quality of service LTE enables, MNOs are well positioned to capitalize on a lucrative market; although, it is essential for MNOs to begin the LTE monetization process today in order to fully maximize the benefits and ensure emerging competitor segments do not strike first to unravel these efforts.

Read my full article here: http://bit.ly/MonetizeLTENow.

Scott Hoffpauir, BroadSoft’s Chief Technology Officer at Connections 2012

Why is UC-One significant?  A 2012 Infonetics Research survey on enterprise plans for unified communications reveals that complexity has displaced cost as the leading barrier affecting UC deployment.  Also, when choosing a UC solution, 71% of respondents view mobile device integration as “very important.”  This landscape, fragmented by service providers, as well as communications silos for voice, video, text and collaboration, creates complexity and mobility that inhibits employee productivity.  The UC-One platform meets this productivity challenge through the integration of four key unified communications components (click for more information).

Many have agreed with me on the significance of this year’s reveal, including RCRWireless.  RCRWireless discussed the potential of UC-One as helping to serve, “Telecom operators [who] want to avoid becoming dumb pipe… [and] are looking for ways to increase their revenue with value-added services that complement their regular voice and data services”.   Dave Michels, UCStrategies’ UC Expert, independent industry analyst and consultant, also describes UC-One as:

 “An impressive move…a strong UC package that is as good or better than many premises-based solutions.…I expect it to do very well in the marketplace”.

With hosted VoIP and UC accounting for 30% of business voice in the third quarter of 2012(Source: Infonetics, VoIP and UC Services and Subscribers 1H12 ), UC-One stands to meet a large market in the New Year, while continuing to deliver user needs and gaining critical acceptance.  World Wide revenues of 3Q 2012 have increased over 12% for UC alone, fueled by “demands for tools to provide increased productivity and employee flexibility” (Infonetics, Enterprise UC, VoIP, TDM Equipment 3Q12).

http://www.broadsoft.com/uc-one/

UC-One’s announcement means it may be easier than ever to keep our business resolutions this year – Happy New Year to all connected to the BroadSoft family.

Interested in seeing a live demo?  Take a view from the front seat of Connections 2012.  In this live recording, meet Joe – the designer, as he discovers how UC-One works for him: .

For more information on UC-One, please visit: http://www.broadsoft.com/products/broadworks/uc-one/.