Avaya: six benefits of cloud-based video conferencing

The decision whether or not to choose a cloud-based video conferencing solution involves first questioning whether it fits the business model and needs as a company., as analyzed by José Paz, Managing Director Avaya Spain and Portugal, in this Tribune for Digital AV Magazine.

Many executives often ask me, Why should they consider the option of a cloud video conferencing solution? And they always end up asking me the same question again., Why is this option better than a solution deployed at my headquarters?? My answer is always the same: "Better is not the term we should think about".

What we really need to ask ourselves is whether a cloud solution fits our business model and our needs as a company..

Whether companies are going to engage and interact with the public, the answer is clear: they need a platform accessible to everyone that enables and facilitates collaboration. If this is part of your strategy, the rest of the reasons no longer matter.

Our company must go to the cloud before our competitors do. So stop reading this article right now and go to an expert who can help you, advising you and offering you the best solutions available in the market. Do not be surprised that ours are offered to you.

If you are not sure that your company will interact with customers and users in the way I have pointed out before, nor that aims to participate in the increasingly important collaborative economy in the short term, nor resign. Here are six elements that can serve as indicators that a cloud solution may be right for your business.:

The first is to know if your company has the technical knowledge to maintain video solutions.. I remember the case of a large public body that a few years ago had acquired a videoconferencing solution. Discussing with technical managers why they made such low use of videoconferencing, the response was bleak. No one on the team had the knowledge to set up the expensive mcu, and that's why video conferencing couldn't be used. If by a remote chance this was your situation, the cloud is your solution.

Let's now analyze temporality. In many companies, the preparation of tax documentation is concentrated at certain times of the year, with a much lower intensity of work in the rest of the time. To equip itself with the appropriate capacity at certain times it would be necessary to make a significant investment that, without a doubt, would lead to consider video communications as something quite expensive, or even prohibitive. Variability in demand is another important element to consider when considering a cloud solution.

It may happen that your company is one of those that like to implement the new solutions as soon as they are available in the market, making your IT departments always go to the limit facing new challenges and challenges. Technology manufacturers are delighted to be able to count on these companies, always ready to be beta thanks to their desire to try new solutions, make suggestions and include new technologies in your daily processes.

If ever a provider has told you that they are the best beta customer, who appreciates your suggestions and ideas for improving the product, then the cloud is an option that will probably make you happy. Why? Cloud solutions have a much faster upgrade and innovation cycle and, In addition, makes all users receive new functionality automatically, as soon as they are available. Companies like ours are committed to constantly updating proposals, adding continuously and permanently, new features and improvements in the versions that we regularly launch to the market.

If your company plans to open a new delegation, branch or even a new division, perhaps you should consider using the cloud. For many companies opening a new office or moving an existing one, the cloud allows them to avoid the consequences of the typical and business-dangerous "buy or build" theory., that we will already use it or we will already fill it". One of our clients was finalizing a merger and needed to communicate very quickly the headquarters of the two companies.. In just a few days our video solution was fully operational, seamlessly connecting the employees of the two companies involved in the merger.

To not go crazy with technology and face a technological market in constant and rapid evolution, many companies may prefer not to invest and pay someone to take that tech risk.. We are thus facing the typical situation recommended by many business schools and that is well expressed in the phrase "shoemaker to your shoes". There are so many fields and so many areas that why not focus on what we know how to do and what will differentiate our company from others?, instead of getting lost in worrying about the maintenance and attention of a permanently obsolete technological infrastructure in the face of continuous and rapid changes in technology?

Many companies believe that work is what is done, and not where it is done. For those who have many centers that interact intensely with customers and suppliers, and that they have an active remote work and commuting policy (not just what we know as "road warriors", but also teleworkers, employees in the cafeteria, Etc.), cloud video solutions may be the right ones.

Let's think about two important reasons. The first is that our service provider can offer us economies of scale in the cloud and make us forget about extra point needs for bandwidth and other resources at any given time.. Needs that are not usually very economical and that sometimes do not become available in times of urgency.

The second is that cloud solutions are designed from the grassroots., allowing the connection of all types of terminals to the web, whether tablets, laptops or dedicated rooms, ensuring a more useful and convenient collaboration experience.

There are some companies where the nature of their communications, or the content of your conversations, can make it appropriate to have a solution installed at their headquarters. However, we think the cloud can be the architecture of choice. Deployed volume of cloud-based unified communications and collaboration solutions licenses will double in the next four years. Don't be surprised that your company is one of those that will contribute to that growth..

Jose Paz

Managing Director Avaya Spain and Portugal

 

 

 

 

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