Damovo Mobility
Mobility solutions increase flexibility and choice of working environment, by allowing users to access business applications wherever they are.
Enterprise Fixed Mobile Convergence (eFMC)
As workers become increasingly more mobile 'smartphones', which typically also enable access to email and other corporate applications, are rapidly becoming the primary business tool and are often used as a substitute for the office desk phone. However, the proliferation of these smartphones is significantly increasing many organisations' mobile call costs, creating a very real need for control.
This has lead to an emergence of new innovative solutions in enterprise mobility, such as eFMC which converges fixed and mobile telephony allowing users to access telephony features and other applications from a single device operating seamlessly across multiple networks.
Elements of eFMC
eFMC is much more than just Dual Mode (GSM / WiFi) handsets. It includes the following elements:
Fixed Mobile Substitution - the replacement of fixed infrastructure (PBX desk phones) with wireless handsets.
Fixed Mobile Integration - enabling the mobile to operate as an extension of the PBX. At its simplest level this could be just being able to dial an extension from a mobile using the office linked numbering scheme (desk to desk dialling plan). At a more sophisticated level this may include providing the mobile with the same PBX features as a desk phone.
Dual Mode handsets - with the possibility to have a VoIP client on the mobile handset and integrate with the PBX via the corporate WiFi network or it could embrace Mobile Mobile Convergence (MMC) - where calls can be moved between the GSM mobile network and the corporate WiFi network either manually or automatically with seamless transition.
View our quick animation eFMC - The Business Benefits
eFMC drivers
eFMC has been in existence in a number of forms for many years but generally has, up to now, not really happened in the UK. However a combination of technical innovation and the current economic climate is both encouraging businesses to become more mobile and at the same time increasingly cost conscious. With mobile call charges forming a significant part of corporate ICT spend there is an increasing need to apply cost control to this area whilst not diminishing the benefits of a mobilised workforce.
These coupled with other significant trends is driving an increased interest in eFMC:
- Mobility Remains A Top Priority - Despite The down turn in the economy. Forrester 2009
- FMC solutions have become one of the most sought after technologies by IT departments all over the world...FMC solutions can provide savings of at least 10 to 20 percent on the monthly mobile bill. Frost and Sullivan June 2009
- FMC connections for business customers are forecast to rise from 6.3 million in 2009 to more than 27 million by 2014.WiFi in smartphones will grow from a 45% attach rate in 2009 to a 90% attach rate in 2014. ABI research August 2009
FMC options
There are three broad options in the way FMC can be addressed:
1. Mobile Operator (Network Centric) The basic premise of this approach is to enable mobiles to operate within an enterprise "linked numbering scheme" and look like extensions of the enterprise PBX for basic call connectivity.
2. Service Provider (Hosted Centric) A replacement IP solution is hosted by the Service Provider in a data centre (Centrex type). Typically a solution can incorporate a number of client types e.g. mobiles, IP phones and soft clients for PC based telephony.
3. Enterprise (Integration Centric) In this approach all call routing control for mobiles resides within the enterprise environment. Additional equipment either in the form of an additional IP PBX (mobile PBX) or an integrated call router is added to the enterprise infrastructure to provide mobile integration capability and hence better control over the mobile phone calls. Most solutions support the use of WiFi and provide varying forms of seamless call handover between GSM and WiFi.
The Damovo enterprise based solution fuses WiFi, cellular, IP telephony and location awareness to mobilise Unified Communications applications, while supporting cellular carriers, enterprise IP-PBXs and Wireless LANs. This allows users to seamlessly move between these environments and take advantage of the lowest cost network available whilst accessing telephony features and other applications from a single device completely independent of the network being used.
The solution addresses the main challenges faced by many organisations:
Benefits of eFMC
Damovo eFMC provides the following benefits to any organisation:
- Control and reduction of mobile call costs
- Reduced cost of infrastructure
- Improved in-building coverage
- Support for flexible / mobile working
- Improved personal productivity and increased business efficiency
- Compliance
- Supports Business Transformation
Damovo can use any of the eFMC approaches described - the key is to choose the right option or combination of options to meet our clients' needs.
Mobile Extension
Mobile Extension is to be seen as an enabler for increasing enterprise communications functionality. Mobile solutions based on cellular technology integrated with corporate communications systems are now seen as a fundamental necessity for the future development of enterprise communication solutions.
Mobile Extension is the service in the PBX that integrates cellular phones into the corporate PBX and communication network. A call set-up on a Mobile Extension user's cellular phone is executed in three steps. A call is first established from the cellular phone to the PBX; thereafter a call is established from the PBX to the final destination; finally, the two calls are linked together as one. Mobile Extension allows mobile users to use short number dialling and, in combination with the PBX enables the use of traditional PBX services as if they where using their normal extensions. On the terminal side Damovo's offers a variety of devices, providing different capabilities to end users.
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Enterprises and the mobile workers can expect a changing selection of mobile devices over the coming years. More and more employees are working flexibly and using mobile devices to access data and information on the corporate network. By 2012 the average organisation will have 73% of its workforce mobile at one point or another. To ensure corporate information and data is held securely and devices connecting to the corporate networks adhere to standard policies then MDM is required in the corporate arena.
MDM is a critical consideration for organisations investing in mobility solutions. Successful implementation requires a combination of processes, policies and tools. Firstly understanding and identifying the key requirements and capabilities needed to support users and IT organisation needs is paramount before making and implementation decisions.
The analysis of the organisational requirements must take into account the five phases of MDM -
- Provisioning
- User Support
- Updates
- Monitoring & Management
- Decommissioning.
MDM should be aligned with the needs and expectations of the IT organisation and users. In exchange for more flexible working users will demand increasing autonomy, flexibility and freedom in their choice of device.
Furthermore, because of the growth in IT consumerisation, more traditional consumer orientated technology products like the iPhone are increasingly found in the enterprise. IT organisations invariably do not provide support for employee-owned devices, so employees try to find alternative ways to connect them to company data. IT departments cannot ignore user demand to allow user chosen devices in the corporate network and do not have to with MDM technologies, instead they must define rules and policies when assessing user requirements.
