Unified Communications (UC) first sprang up in the 90s, introducing new forms of software-based communication, planting voice and messaging systems in the IT network. But as UC footprints grew, businesses struggled to find new tools and processes necessary to keep up with the complexity that accompanies next-generation communications environments.
Identifying the problems
Lack of standards was a big problem. Whereas the ITIL framework helped rein in the chaos of fast spreading of IT, the arrival of UC was largely free of processes and tools to smooth adoption and management.
So, businesses made do with what they had – IT tools – which was a bit like trying to run an airport with flags and clipboards rather than air traffic control. Suddenly the promises of a newly-connected world and collaboration tools looked a little shaky.
IT tools monitored basic functions, but failed to address capacity management and impacts of individual components in the comms network. Auditing was almost impossible, and IT managers had to maintain spreadsheets and diagrams to understand the makeup of their UC networks, how everything worked together, and the likely impact of changes. It took way too long, it was expensive, and often inaccurate.
Traditional IT tools couldn’t deal with the growing complexity. So, when calls got jittery, managers scrambled to find the root of the problem. Only they couldn’t find it – at least not quickly. Network teams argued and fingers were pointed.
Technicians were working blind, and without a real-time view of latency, jitter, or MOS 24x7, they couldn’t respond to warning signals. When things broke, technicians relied on instincts rather than alerts to pinpoint problems. Customer hang-ups skyrocketed, and attention put to fixing things came at the expense of improving customer experience.
Establishing the solution
But as specialist UC management tools gain a foothold in the broader portfolio of systems used to manage everything on the IT network, UC applications are running much smoother. Complexity that once bamboozled IT managers and escaped the attention of traditional monitoring tools are fading as specialist tools automate the heavy lifting – taking care of tracking and modelling servers, gateways, handsets and software versions, together with settings and platform configuration.
These tools help managers understand the impact of even the smallest change in complex systems comprising hundreds, even thousands, of components and a matrix of interrelationships.
Whilst alarms sniff out potential trouble and tell administrators how they should respond, highlighting hotspots and ‘danger’ levels, and propose remedial action (before things break), smart reporting ensures managers are able to switch off unused resources – things like software licenses and telecoms trunks – saving large companies tens-of-thousands of dollars.
