For the past few years, Android desk phones have been a curiosity that have piqued the interest of UC developers without exactly resulting in a groundswell of interest from buyers. As mentioned in my recent slideshow, the devices are an outgrowth from the line of "smart desk phones" that have been on the market for several years. Whether or not they run on Android, these devices' main selling point is their ability to run applications. It's also their main...er, whatever the opposite of selling point is. Let's go with drawback, unless you can come up with a better word.
After all, what's the first bit of snark you hear when the subject turns to Android on a desk set? Some variation of, "Come on! Do users really need Angry Birds on their office phone?" It seems like a valid point at first blush.
At last year's Cisco Collaboration Summit, the DX650 demo featured the Android desk phone playing a Star Trek movie that coundn't in anyone's wild imaginings enhance productivity at work. The movie actually looked great on the desk phone's display--crisp image, decent audio. But what IT manager wants to spend a thousand bucks a pop plus network upgrades to let end users stream some CGI fest to his IP phone? Or download and play Angry Birds or Minecraft or whatever?
But it's a straw man argument. IT managers should have no trouble allowing/blocking apps that end users can download to their smart desk phones. Just as end users who can't be trusted not to play Angry Birds during work hours will find some other way to do it. And to be fair to Cisco, the takeaway of the Captain-Kirk-on-DX650 demo was that the device can run regular Android apps like YouTube or Netflix. And that if streaming video looks this good on the device, then HD video conferencing will look awesome too.
So which apps, in fact, make sense to run on desk phones? I think there are a number of valid scenarios. But at the same time I'm not sure how prevalent these scenarios will be; and if they're not prevalent enough, it will likely not be worth the while of IT departments to purchase, deploy and support desk phones that can act as application platforms. So let's do a quick survey of smart desk phone apps and explore when it does or doesn't make sense to use them.
Apps Where There's No PC
Whenever I come across a business app that runs on a smart desk phone my first question is, "Why not run it on the end user's PC instead?" The question is only valid, of course, if PCs are everywhere, which they're not. It's rare to find them in hotel and hospital rooms, whereas phones are common in each. Nurse stations, building lobbies, conference rooms, and classrooms are also places where people could benefit from interacting with some app, but where PCs may not be easily located. Hence a plethora of vertical-specific apps emerge, such as:
* NewVoice's MobiCall, which runs on Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise's 8082 MyIC Phone and can be used in both healthcare and hospitality settings
* Smart Guest Applications, another hospitality app for ALU Enterprise's 8082
* LibaTel's TouchCon, which has a hospitality app for Avaya's 9600 series
We could discuss the pros and cons of these kinds of apps ad nauseam: Straightforward, graphics-driven way to access hotel services like housekeeping and room service (pro) vs. expensive endpoints that few cost-conscious hoteliers will want to put in guest rooms (con). Rather than going on and on about them, let's just agree that these kinds of apps have been around for years, have some practical value in specific scenarios, but haven't exactly led to huge volumes of smart desk phone sales.
Apps to Better Access Telephony Features
We've always heard of the end user that has a $300 IP phone capable of accessing a PBX's 500 telephony features, but the most advanced thing the end user knows how to do is put a call on hold, transfer it, and maybe set up a three-way conference call. (And if that end user is me, successfully conferencing in a third party is more than a minor triumph.) "Smart desk phones," regardless of whether or not they're running third-party applications, almost always come loaded with apps that provide a graphical interface to telephony features that are otherwise hidden behind feature codes. There's no end to examples of this, so let's take a few at random:
* Elastix Connect by EuropeSIP, which presents Grandstream GXP2200 users with a graphical way of accessing directory and call features of Elastix open-source PBXs
* DesktopCompanion and eFramework from Mida Solutions that provide Cisco DX650 users with easy access to call forwarding, call parking, and similar features for both voice and video calls
* e-IVR IP Phone Pager by Computer Instruments, which provides a GUI so Avaya 9600 Series users can easily record announcements, make announcements, and otherwise access IVR systems
* DasTelefonbuch by Systel for quick corporate directory access via Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise's 8082 MyIC Phone
I think this is a very good use case for "smart desk phones." The PBX is a very powerful tool that few end users understand how to utilize. A large touch screen display and a straightforward user interface help unlock useful features that for too long have been hidden from all but a few power users. But how many power users are there in an enterprise?...And if they're truly power users, then they've probably geeked out on feature codes and know how to get to the telephony features they need.
Next page: Job-specific apps, anywhere access to mobile apps and enhanced comms
Job-Specific Apps
It makes sense to have desk phones capable of running apps for employees who spend an inordinate amount of time using the phone. Admins and receptionists fit this bill, so there are apps like:
* LightTouch's LightTouch Reception, an Android app written specifically for Panasonic's KX-UT670
* Amcom's Operator Console software for Avaya 9600 devices
Isn't there operator console software for PCs? Sure, they've been around ever since CTI became a thing. But if the receptionist is using a desk phone--as opposed to some kind of soft phone or UC client on the PC--why not keep the app on the phone itself? Keep those calls flowing regardless of whether the admin's PC is on or off, working or crashed. There's also something to be said for freeing up PC resources. Why run all applications on the PC when you don't need to? Unclutter the admin's PC desktop by running the operator console on a smart desk phone instead.
Servion's Supervisor Dashboard for the Cisco DX650 also falls into this category. To be honest, I'm not as onboard with this as I am with operator console apps. I'm trying to imagine what supervisor would prefer to monitor contact center operations from a desk phone rather than from a PC or tablet. But I suppose if the "free up the PC" logic is valid for operators, then it could apply here too.
Anywhere Access to Mobile Apps
Get the same apps on your desk phone as are on your mobile and/or PC. Is that really useful? I suppose it could be. End users' communications experience can be very rich when they're using their mobile devices, with always-on access to apps that help them do their jobs. When they get in their office, their communications experience is often delineated by the antiquated phone on their desk. So make end users' desk phone experience as rich as their mobile phone experience by letting them run the same business apps on both devices. Cases in point:
* NitroDesk's Touchdown, which not only provides corporate email access from mobile phones but can also run on Android-based desk phones like Panasonic's KX-UT60 device
* IPcelerate's Streamz, which provides Cisco DX650 users with an interface to an enterprise social networking platform intended to enhance the collaboration experience by letting users easily share documents, videos, images, and other content. The software runs on tablets and smart phones, as well as on PCs and Macs. And last year it was ported to Cisco's Android-based desk phones, letting users view and create content from whichever device they are using.
I don't think apps like Touchdown and Streamz would lead an IT department to deploy smart desk phones to their employees in the first place. But if the app is something that's already in use in the enterprise...and the app is being accessed by other devices...and if smart desk phones are already deployed to end users--then I could see value in running the apps on the desk phones.
Enhanced Comms
Communications apps for smart desk phones don't just provide a different way of accessing the same set of voice features that standard desk sets can access. They can run apps that enhance the communications experience. Case in point: MindFrame from Akkadian Labs, which after three separate demos I still find a bit mystifying.
I think it's because of the unusual use case presented in the demos, which assumes my company has Myers-Briggs-type personality profiles on its employees and lets MindFrame draw on those profiles to prompt end users on the best way to more effectively communicate with each other. So when calling me, your Cisco DX 650's display would have the warning: "Brian goes nuts at the words 'Niagara Falls.' Never mention Niagara Falls to him."
I've not heard of companies profiling employees like this, so the example is a bit lost on me. But there are other possible use cases for MindFrame. A sales person, for example, could be presented with cues that might be helpful when speaking to a particular client or to a set of clients in a particular stage of the purchasing cycle. In this case, MindFrame would identify who is being called, map that to CRM data, and based on that data provide the sales person with prompts. Why put these prompts on the desk phone display? Well, I suppose it assumes that the desk phone--not a soft phone, a UC client, or a mobile device--is what the employee is using to communicate and is what he's focused on to speak with coworker or clients or whatever. Then I could see how it could make sense to have the app on the phone.
It's basically the same argument I used in the operator console section earlier: If the desk phone is what the employee is using to complete a specific task...and if that task can be performed better with some app...and that app can be made accessible on said desk set...then why not run the app on the desk set rather than having the employee fumble around with multiple devices?
To be honest, I'm not really sold on it. And in case MindFrame customers aren't either, the app also runs on PCs and Macs, not just on the DX650.
Still Looking for a Killer App
Generally speaking, I think smart desk phones are still waiting for--and forgive me for dredging up a hackneyed old term I don't think I've heard bandied about for years--a killer app. Something that captures end users' imagination and makes them say, "I need that app running on a desk phone. Having it run on my laptop or PC or tablet or smart phone just won't cut it." And something that makes CIOs say, "My employees need to have a desk phone that runs that app." But without that killer app, I fear that smart desk phones will remain a sideshow in the much larger carnival of business communications.
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