Scandinavia leads in mobile communications and Finland is the leader of the pack. The Nordic countries recognized the importance of roaming back in the days when cellular was analog, while the rest of Europe was stuck in nationalistic grooves dominated by incumbent operators. In addition, Finland was different from its neighbours because there was no incumbent: several operators competed for business, so when cellular kicked off, rates were low. The price difference between wireline and wireless calls was marginal, so the latter took off, helped by justified pride in the fact that Nokia pioneered the development of pocket-sized phones--the devices that today we take for granted. The rest, as they say, is history.
In the pre-bubble era I made regular visits to Finland and saw what was surely the world's first wireless Centrex solution. It didn’t get anywhere at the time: the marketing was poor and the functionality of regular 2G phones was limited, but today we have smartphones with big screens and significant computing resources. One would therefore think it logical for a Finnish company that was moving into new premises to go down the all-wireless route, but instead one company, the SGN Group, went for an FMC solution--one that enabled UC client software to be embedded in the wide range of Nokia phones that were in use.
That decision underlines the importance of IP PBXs, in this case Avaya's Communications Manager, implemented by ProVAD, which is Avaya's preferred value-added reseller in Finland. IP Centrex solutions can support a phone number associated with a particular business, but the cell phones have less functionality than desktop devices. Nor do they support business and personal numbers side-by-side. In an enterprise-class FMC solution the PBX sees the cell phone as a regular extension, so the functionality on both wireline and wireless devices is the same. The mobile registers with the PBX through the FMC mobility server. Said Tomi Korpaeus, ProVAD Director: "In Finland, many carriers provide mobile-centric systems that offer limited intelligence. Because customers are having problems with these solutions, the carriers are getting a lot of complaints. Customers want a smarter way to route their calls."
SGN's FMC/UC solution
For the SGN Group's deployment, a wireless LAN from Extreme Networks, designed to support VoIP, was deployed throughout SGN’s new headquarters. The PBX was Avaya's SIP-based Communications Manager PBX and the FMC/UC component came from DiVitas. The DiVitas solution employs the SIP protocol and this allows the server to sit in between the PBX, the mobile handsets and the PSTN. Systems integration is no walk in the park, but ProVAD is also the preferred distributor for DiVitas, who in turn have a partnership deal with Avaya.
Around 80 SGN employees have been using Mobile UC since the end of 2008. Eventually the company will have about 100 of its headquarters-based employees on the system, including sales staff, warehouse staff as well as marketing and administrative staff. DiVitas Client software runs on all Nokia's ESeries (right), which were SGN's legacy devices.
Call Quality
The quality of VoIP calls made over Wi-Fi has historically been problematic, and while there are solutions that hand calls over to the cellular network when it deteriorates, call quality over cellular networks isn’t that great either. We’ve come to accept this, but part of the Mobile UC proposition is based on mobile devices used as an extension to an individual’s desk phone, which means that voice quality should be equivalent. The same is true for voice over WLAN.
The DiVitas Client incorporates a mobility manager that constantly monitors the viability of the active network link and collaborates with the DiVitas Server on network roam decisions. The server incorporates a mobility management service to monitor network connections with the clients, and it proactively identifies the optimal network connection for each call. The voice quality engine monitors the audio stream and makes decisions based on jitter, error rates and out of sequence packets.
Brave decisions in an uncertain environment
SGN is an importer/exporter/wholesaler of internationally known brands. The company focuses on sports and leisure products, agricultural and industrial machinery and landscaping equipment. Sales and marketing are mainly handled by specialized retailers. SGN therefore required a particularly robust communications system because, for example, issues emanating from international callers need to be addressed quickly, which means finding the relevant person quickly. This is where presence comes into play. Calls that come in the middle of the night (Finnish time) will go to voice mail so there is a clear need to prioritize replies, which is where visual voicemail comes in.
Conclusion
Recognizing the value of UC is one thing: doing something about it in such an ambitious way is another. In large organizations the pro's and con's would typically be debated for months, but SGN is a medium-sized family business so in this case there was an owner who could recognize the business case and make a fast decision.
Bob Emmerson is a freelance writer who lives in The Netherlands. Email: [email protected] Web: www.electric-words.org
