4.) BEGIN TO THINK STRATEGICALLY ABOUT WIRELESS
When most organizations consider wireless, they look at one or two small parts of the overall picture, most typically Wi-Fi and cellular. There are lots of other pieces to the wireless puzzle. A meaningful wireless plan should address all of the current and potential applications for wireless technology. WiMAX services are starting to appear, albeit on a miniscule scale, but if you have a location in Baltimore, you may want to consider a pilot test of Sprint-Clearwire’s new Xohm service. If you have groups that use push-to-talk systems, there are a growing number of alternatives to the Sprint Nextel iDEN service.
Many universities hold licenses for 2.5 GHz Educational Broadcast Service (EBS) channels. The EBS program is a legacy of the Kennedy administration, but those are the same Broadband Radio Service (BRS) channels that carriers are using for commercial WiMAX services. Recently, Florida Atlantic University entered an agreement to sell their EBS rights to Clearwire for as much as $173 million over the next 30-years.
While you may not have a wireless windfall in your future, you have to learn to think outside the narrow confines of what is being offered in the marketplace today. The FCC appears to be poised to move on the white space initiative, and that could evolve into a real alternative to cellular in the future. Unrealistic speculation abounds in the wireless arena, so you should be sure that what you are considering is feasible from a technical and regulatory standpoint. You may want to bounce your ideas off a consultant who specializes in wireless to make sure you’re not wasting your time. However, you should not expect any revolutionary ideas from a cellular carrier who has the most to gain from maintaining the status quo.
5.) USE WIRELESS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE AND PLAY TO WIN
Wireless holds the potential to shrink communications links, eliminate human latency, streamline countless business processes, and directly impact overall organizational responsiveness. Every businessperson recognizes the impact that mobile data services have had on the package delivery business, but they falter when it comes to taking the next step, which is to ask: "How can I make something like that work in my business?"
Cost saving and better controls are important, but you should really be looking at how mobility can be used to change your overall business processes. I recently posted an article on UC Strategies titled, "Managing the Mobilization of UC" that lays out some basic steps for organizations to move past canned applications like push email to real mobile communications enabled business processes. The biggest step is to recognize that these types of systems can be built, and enterprises of all types can benefit from them.
Unified communications is going mobile and users have already recognized the productivity advantages, even if their companies have not. Organizations that have not put systems in place to manage their wireless expenditures are in a poor position to capitalize on these trends. If you find yourself in that position, it is time to start getting the wireless house in order. Depending on where you are in this overall process, it may take years to get to a point where you are technically and organizationally ready to take advantage of the move to mobile communications. Regardless of where you are today, the sooner you start, the better.
Michael Finneran is president of dBrn Associates, an independent consulting firm in Hewlett Neck, NY, specializing in the design and installation of domestic and international networks. He is a regular blogger for No Jitter and he helps create the Mobility/Wireless content for the VoiceCon events.
