Firms advised to plan flexible networks

Companies choosing to adopt unified communications (UC) will soon have to begin planning how to increase the flexibility of their office networks, it has been suggested.

Industry analyst Art Rosenburg, commenting on the findings of one firm who had experienced performance issues on their networks, said that more flexible systems could adapt to the different demands on the network at certain times of the day.

"UC migration will present enterprise organisations with a chicken and egg problem," he said.

"Until enterprises can gain intelligence into their business operations, they really won't know what their new network requirements will be."

To allow companies to avoid suffering a breakdown of their communications systems, Mr Rosenburg suggested that pilot tests of the system are conducted before a total switch-over to an internet-based network is completed.

UC systems allow employees to access sensitive company information even when outside the office, make and take voice calls using the companies secure VoIP connection from anywhere in the world and make communications systems more user-friendly by, for example, allowing voice calls to be made by clicking on a contact's name in the user's email address book.

But successfully installing these systems, while avoiding running into connection or performance difficulties, often requires that companies bring in experts in the field to design and install bespoke systems for the company's specific needs.