HOW CLOUD COMMUNI

CATI
ONS
ARECHANGINGTHEWAYWE
WORK
 www.
knowl
ari
ty.
com

Tabl
eofCont
ent
s

I
ntr
oduct
ion

Bus
ines
sPhoneSys
temsToday

TheCl
oudCont
inuum ofBus
ines
sCommuni
cat
ions

TheModer
nBus
ines
sDi
alogue

I
nsi
ght
sfr
om t
heExper
ts
I
ntr
oduct
ion

Sinceitsinvention Inr ecenty ears,ther iseofdi gitalnet wor ks ,mobi ledev i

ces ,and
ev en WebRTC hav ef urthers treaml i
ned how we communi cate
nearly150y earsago, wi th any one,anywher ei nt he wor ld.Thr ough al lt hispr ogr ess,
thetelephonehas from i tsadv entt ot hepr esent,t hephonehasr eaffir med t ime
repeatedlyunder gone and t ime agai nt he poweroft he v oice forconnect ing peopl e.
rapidtransformations And y et,foral lthisev olution,t herei sone s etting wher et he
phone hass t
agnat ed f ordecades :int he wor kpl ace.When i t
andt echnol ogi
cal comest odoi ngawaywi t
hl andl ines,bus i
nes s
esar ekeepi ngup
upgrades ,each wi th or dinar yhous ehol dsint he U. S.Accor ding t o pr eli
mi nar y
enhancementmaki ng res ultsf r
om aNat ionalHeal t
hI nterview Sur vey,near lyone- hal f
(47.4%)ofAmer ican homesonl yus e wireles st elephones .That
i
teas i
erthanev erto par allelsours urveyfindi ng t hat47% ofwor kpl aces( acros sal l
connectpeopl eacross i
ndus tri
es) don’ t pr ov i
de des k phones f or ev ery empl oy ee.
theglobe. Butbus ines seshav emor ecompl exneedst hant het ypi cal
hous ehol d. Theyneedt oconnectmor eindi v i
dual sandt heyneed
to of fermor et han v oi
cecal l
s.Moder n bus i
nes sesr equi r
et ool s
thatpr ov i
dev oiceasameansofcommuni cat i
ng, butt hey
i
ncr eas i
ngl y need way st oi ntegr atet hos e conv ersationswi t
h
ev eryot heras pectoft hebus i
nes s ,
includi ngi t
ss alesand
mar ket i
ng pr oces s
,i tsHR management ,and bey ond.Thedes k
phonei si ll
-equi pped t omeett hesegr owi ngneeds .That ’swhy
i
t ’
snos ur priset hat62% ofr espondent sin ours urveys aidt hey
bel ievedes kphonesar eanout dat edpi eceoft echnol ogy .
What evert he reas on—ov erwhel med I T depar tment s ,compl ex
plansf rom pr oviders ,orfinanci alwor r
iesf r
om execut i
v es—i t’
s
obv i
oust hatphonesi nt hewor kpl acehav enotkeptupwi tht he
lates ttechnol ogicalcapabi l
iti
es .
I
NTRODUCTI
ON

Sti
llwors
e,workpl
acecommunicati
onssi
gni
ficantl
yl agbehindprogr
essmadebyor
gani
zat
ionsi
not
herar
eas
,
i
ncludingsal
esandmar ket
ingmanagement,
resourceplanning,
andmore.

Wit
ht heai
m ofel
uci
dat
ings
omeoft
hes
eis
suesandes
tabl
is
hingawayf
orwar
d,t
hisr
epor
tisbr
okendown
i
ntothrees
ect
ions
:

BUSINESSPHONE Thes
tat
eofbusines
scommuni cat
ionsandalookat
SYSTEMSToday someofthet
rendsinfluenci
ngwherewe’reheaded.

I
ntroduci
ng and elaborat
ing on the concept of
BUSINESSPHONE
buil
dingacompleteclouds t
ack,
from CRM
SYSTEMSToday sof
twaretocl
oud-basedcommuni cat
ions
.

BUSINESSPHONE An expl
orat
ion ofwhatorgani
zat
ionscan achi
eve
SYSTEMSToday oncetheyhaveadvancedt
hroughthecloud
conti
nuum.
BUSINESSPHONE
SYSTEMS
Today
“Keys olutiondeficiencies Assugges t
edi nthei nt r
oduct ion,communi cati
onsi nthe
i
ncludel ackofimpor tant workplacehav enotkeptupwi thot heradvancement sacros sthe
enterpr
ise.Whi lesales ,mar keting,andot herbus i
nes sunit shave
features,lackofintegrati
on upgradedt oclouds olutionsinor dertostreaml ineact i
vit
iesand
options ,l
ackofclient processes, communi cations t oolsr emain out dat ed, cl unky,
functional i
tyormissing and/orimpr actical.
Her e,wei dentifysomeoft hef actorshol di
ng
functionsonmobi ledev ices
, businessesbackand,wi ththehel pofmi ll
ennial s
,getagl i
mps e
orlackofs cal
ingformor e ofwher ewe’ reheaded. “
The[ UnifiedCommuni cationsasa
Servi
ce]mar keti spoi sed forcr i
ticalmas sin 2016 [ .
.
.][A] sthe
demandi ng workplacebecomesi ncreasinglydecent r
alizedandmobi le,
environment s,
”writ
eEl l
iot businessesar efindi ngt hatl egacycommuni cationst oolscannot
andBl ood. supportt heircoll
abor ationneeds .

I
ncumbent
spr
ofitf
rom compl
exi
ty
Ulti
mat el
y,ever ycompany’ sexecut ivet eam, l
etalonet heI Tdepar t
ment ,shoul dal way sai mt ounify
communi cati
onsacr osstheent erprise. Afterall
,communi cationsisthebr eadandbut terforget t
ingbus i
ness
done. It’
snotj ustas i
depr ojectt hatmayhav esomet angent i
albenefit s,butr athers ervesast heact ual
under lyi
ngi nfrastructuret hatmakesev erybusinessuni tcapableofdoi ngwhati tneedst odo.I nt hemos t
recentMagi cQuadr antforUni fiedCommuni cati
ons,publ i
shedi n2015, Gar tneranal ystsBer nElli
otandSt eve
Bloodwr i
te,“Thepr i
mar ygoalofal luni fiedcommuni cations(UC)s oluti
onsi stoi mpr oveus erproduct ivit
yand
toenhancebus i
nes sproces sesasr elat edt ocommuni cationsandcol l
abor at i
on. ”Thatist osayt hat
communi cati
onsi snotanendt oi ts
el fbutr atherawayt oens urethatt hebus i
nes sisef fici
entinev er yt
hingit
does .Andy et,thoughanal ys
tscons iderUCt obean“ earlymai nstr
eam”s ect or(meani ngonecanfindanumber
ofv endor soffering av arietyofs olutions )
,manygapsper si
st:
sremai n out dat ed,cl unky,and/ orimpr acti
cal
.
Her e,wei dentifys omeoft hef actorshol dingbus i
nessesbackand, witht hehel pofmi ll
ennials,getagl i
mps e
ofwher ewe’ r
eheaded. “The[ UnifiedCommuni cati
onsasaSer vi
ce]mar keti spoi sedf orcriti
calmas sin2016
[.
..
][ A]sthewor kplacebecomesi ncreas i
nglydecent r
alized and mobi l
e,bus i
nes sesar efindi ng thatl egacy
communi cati
onst oolscannots uppor tt heircoll
aborationneeds .
BUSI
NESSPHONESYSTEMST
oday

Theflawsandf
ail
uresofBYOD

Withl egacyprov i
dersreluct antt orockt heboatoft hei rrev enue
st
reamsandCI Ost ooov erwhel medbyt hecompl exityoft hos e
providers’t
oolstoi mprov et hingst hems elves,somet hingunexpect ed
occurred:theindus tr
yl atchedont ot hev is
ionofBYOD.
Fundament all
y,BYOD ( shor tf or“bringy ourowndev ice” )refer stoa
poli
cywher ebycompani esal low empl oyeest obringt heirownmobi le
devices(and/orcomput er s)t owor kandt ous et hem f orpr ofes s
ional
purpos es.
Thepol icy,whi chonl yent eredcommonus agei nt hepas tdecade,
grew outoft hemobi l
er ev olut i
on: today, ov ertwo- t
hi rdsofadul ts
i
nt heU. S.ownas mar t
phone, accordi ngt oPew Res ear ch. In2016,
85% oft el
ecom andI Tpr of essionalsi nt heU. S.andCanadas aytheir
organizati
onshav eatl eas ts omeBYOD us ers,accordi ngt ot heCas s
BYOD &Mobi l
it
ySt udy,whi leov erat hirds aytheyhav e1, 000ormor e.

I
t’
sobvious,t
hankst othenumerousadvant
agesaffor
ded
bymobi l
edev i
ces,whythevastmaj
ori
tyoforgani
zati
onshav
e
BYOD users
:it
’sjus
teffici
ent.

Whet hery ou’ r

eenr out etowor k, si
tti
ngaty ourdesk, awayf rom your
desk,ortrav elingel s
ewher e, youcanal way sbereachedi fyou’recarr
ying
yourowndev i
ce. Youcancheckandr espondt oemai ls,
youcanmake
cal
ls,
y oucan, ins hor t,communi cateandcol l
aborat
ewi thcol l
eagues
andcus tomer sef fortlessly.
Unfortunat ely, ashasbeenbr oughtupagai nandagai n,thepromi se
ofBYOD hasonl yt akenushal fwayt or eali
zingmoder nbus iness
communi cat ions . Thefir stpr oblem, andper hapsforemos ttothe
mindsofCI Os , isthatt her ear en’tenoughs ecuri
typr ocedur esto
saf
eguar dpr i
v atecompanydat aandi nformat i
ononaper s
onaldev i
ce.
Manyor gani zat i
onsov erthey ears,howev er,havesoughtway stolimit
thi
spr oblem t hr oughs ecur eemai lprotocolsandot hermet hods ,
but
thebroaderi ss uehasnoty etbeenf ullyresolv
ed.
BUSI
NESSPHONESYSTEMST
oday

BYODdoner
ight Addi t
ional l
y,abi ggerands til
lloomi ngpr obl em isthes ameone
plaguingl egacypr oviders:BYOD ( byi t
self)doesnot hingt ounif
y
1.Allow y ourempl oyeesto use communi cations wi t
ht he res tofa bus i
nes s
’act i
v i
ties.Even
thoughani ndi v
idualcanbeacces sedatanyt i
me, there’snot hi
ng
thei
rowndev ices. bridgingt hos emobi l
econv er
s ationswi t
h, f
orexampl e,sales
2.Puts ecur i
typrotocolsinplace activi
ties
,pr ojectcollaborations ,orot hert asks.I
t’
saconv ers
ati
on
toprot ectemai landot her inisolati
on, fr
agment edandunr ecor ded.
sensit
ivedat a. Thus ,
BYOD hass olvedmanypr oblemsf orindividualsbymaki ng
3. Int egrate communi cati
ons itmor econv enientt oconnectwi tht heirpeer s
,buti thasdone
nearlynot hingf orthebr oaderor ganizationi nunifyi
ng
app t hat allows empl oyees to communi cationsandi ncreasingef ficiency .
useadi f
ferent
busines sphonenumberont hei
r
samedev ice.
4.Make s ure empl oyees have
accesst oalltheirwor ktoolsand
datat hroughmobi le.
BUSI
NESSPHONESYSTEMST
oday

Mi
ll
enni
alsdemandmoder
nbusi
nesscommuni
cat
ions

Mill
ennials(adul
tsaged19to35)lasty
earsurpassedGenerati
onXt obecomet hel
argestagegroupintheU.S.
workforce.Withbabyboomersret
iri
ngindrovesandGenXatl as
toutpaced,we’
rel
ookingatachangingworld.
Everybus i
nessthatwantst
osucceedtodayandf ortheyearstocomemus tqui
ckl
yunderstandthebroad,
underlyingcharact
eri
sti
cst
hatdefinemi l
lennial
s.

Thesingl
emos ti
mpor tantthingtoknow isthatthi
sgenerati
ongr ew upwi t
ht echnol
ogy.Whetherthatmeant
playi
ngvideogamesoni ncreasi
nglycommonhomecons ol
es,stayi
ngup l at
et ochatonli
newi t
hf r
iends,or
evenowningacel lphoneinmi ddles chool
,thebottom l
ineisthatmi l
lennial
sarenos t
ranger
stotechnology.
Ont hecontr
ary,
theytakeitforgrantedasapar tofli
feandwork.

Thataloneshouldbeawake- upcal
lforthoseor ganizationsthatdon’tseri
ouslyconsi
dertheirworker
s’needs
wheni mplementingsyst
emsandpr ocesses.I
fintell
igent,user-
centri
ctechnologyisnotpartofthewayanor -
ganizati
ondoesbusiness
,oneoftwothingscanhappen: thewor kf
orcewil
lbeper pet
uallydis
sat
isfiedorwork-
erswills
implyfindway saroundt
hees t
ablis
hedpr ocesses.Neit
herisawi nforanybusiness.

Fort
hedominantandgrowi
ngmill
enni
alwor
kfor
ce,
technol
ogymus
tpl
ayar
olei
nhow i
nfor
mat
ioni
sshar
ed
andpeopl
econnectwi
theachot
her.

Ones t
udy, conductedbyUpwor k,
foundthat92% ofmi l
lenni
alsagreedwit
ht hestatement,“
Icanacces sinf
o
whenev erandwher everIneedit.
”As t
atementthatthatmayhav esoundedoutlandis
handi deali
sticadecade
ortwoagoi snow s een asuniv
ersal
lyaccept
ed among t hefast
estgrowi
ng segmentoft hewor kforce.And
thankstotheev er
increasingr
esourcesoftheWeb,themi ll
ennial
sareri
ghtaboutaccesstoinfor
mat i
on.
BUSI
NESSPHONESYSTEMST
oday

73% Whatel
sedot
heygetr
ight
?

ofmi l
lennials I
nt hesames t
udy,73% ofmi llennial
sagr eedwi tht hes t
atement,
“Iam expectedt obecont actableatalltimes .”Again, s
omet hing
agreewitht he unthi
nkabl eto priorgenerationsmakesi ntuiti
ves ens etothis
stat
ement ,“
Iam onebecaus eofthemobi l
erev ol
ution.Overt wo-thirdsofadultsin
theU.S.ownas mar t
phone, accordingtoPew Res earch,butthat
expectedt o figureisclosertototals
aturationformi l
lennials,wi t
h98% oft hat
becontactableat groupowni ngs mar t
phones .
allt
imes.” Assuch,i
t’scl
earthatt
hedes kphoneandot herlegacymodesof
communi cati
ondon’tplayanysi
gnificantr
oleforthemi l
lennial

>2/
3 wor
Ov
ti
kf
or
ert
nuet
ce.
henextdecade,
oaccelerat
e.
thetrendstouchedonher ewillonlycon-

ofadult
sintheU.S.
ownas mart- Millennialsunderst
and t
hes echangesbecaus ethey’
renatur
all
y
drawnt ot hosewaysofli
vingand workingthatmaket hemos t
phone. sens e.
Bus inessesarebecomingincreasi
nglyglobal
ized,wor
kfor
cesare
growi ngmor edi
str
ibut
edandr emote,andtheneedf ormobi l
e

98% sol

Bus
ut

i
ionst

nes
ses
oconnectev

,howev er
,wi
l
eryonei

lneed t
sgoi

ocat
ngup.

ch up.Thos
ethatwantt o
ofmil
leni
alsown succeed and exceli
nthischanging world mustmeetthe de-
asmartphone. mandsf ormoder nbusi
nesscommuni cat
ions.
THECLOUD
CONTINUUM
ofBusi
ness
Communi cat
ions
Peoplet odaytreat“wor kingi nthecl oud”asifitwereabi nary
question.Accordingt ot hisperspective,yourbusinessi seitherin
thecloudori t’snot.Butasev i
dencedbyt hevastarr ayofcl oud
servi
cesandt ool sav
ailabl eforbus i
nes stoday,
differ
ent
organizati
onscanhav ev aryi
ngl evel
sofi mmer si
oni nt hecloud.
Forexampl e,canaFor tune500companyt hatusesSal es f
orce(a
cloud-based salessolution)butt r
adi t
ionalon-premis es oluti
ons
foreverything elsetrulybe cons idered to be “wor king int he
cloud”?

And,byt hes amet oken,

aretheyasmuch“ workingi nt hecloud”
asas tar
tup t hatus escl
oud-based servi
cesforev eryt
hi ng,f
rom
sal
esandmar ketingtocommuni cat
ionandcol laboration?Obv i
-
ousl
ynot .That’swhy, i
nst
eadofabi nary,i
t’
smor eaccur atetoper-
cei
veanor ganization’
sexperi
enceandus ageofcl oudt oolsona
conti
nuum:on oneend,y ou’
recompl et
elyon-premi se,and,on
theotherend, you’vebui
ltacompl etecloudstack.
THECLOUD CONTI
NUUM ofBus
ines
sCommuni
cat
ions

When we s peak ofthe It

’st
ruet hattherewasat imewhenor ganizat
ionshad
“ol
d world,” we’r
e not ever
ything establi
shed completel
yon- premise,incl
udi
ng CRM,
tal
kingaboutt heti
me email,
communi cat
ionsyst
ems ,
databases ,
vir
tualmachi
nes,and
soon.Butt hosewer eancientti
mes .
when ev eryt
hi ng was
on-premis
e. Whati sincreas i
nglyknown asthe ol d worldtodayi sthe way
manyoft hel argestcompaniesst
illdobus i
nes s.
Thes ear e
compani esthathav eshi
ft
edami norpor ti
onoft heirsystemsinto
thecloud,mos tcommonl yemailand CRM.I ns hort,theseare
thecompani esthathaveexplor
edt heposs i
bil
it
yofus ingcloud
solut
ions,buthav enotyetundertakena s ystemat i
c
trans
formation tointegr
ateallt
hei rresourcesand s ystemsinto
thecloud.

Thi
s“ old world”wayofwor king s ucceeded f ora reasonable
peri
odoft imebecaus eitaccor dedwi thindi
vidualway sof
working.Forexampl e,peoples ti
llworkedatt heirdesksmos tof
the day,alongside mostoft heircolleaguesint he office.Spot
sol
utionsinthecl oudmayhav emadet hingsabi tmor e
convenienther eandthere,butt herewasnocompr ehensive
impet ustocompl etel
yshif
tev erythi
ngi ntot
hecl oud.
THECLOUD CONTI
NUUM ofBus
ines
sCommuni
cat
ions

At
ransi
tionar
yper
iod

Incr
easi
ngly,wit
ht heprol
if
erati
onofmobiledev i
cesandcompl et
ely
new waysofwor ki
ng,we’r
es t
arti
ngtoseeorganizat
ionsbravel
y
wadingalitt
ledeeperintothecloud.Not
ably,however,t
heneedi s
ari
si
ngbecaus epeopleareseekingoutmoreef f
ecti
vesoluti
onsonthei
r
own.

Themos tobviousexampleoft hisi

smobi l
e,aswedi s
cussedinthe
sectionon“ BYOD.”Again,
ov ertwo-thi
rdsofadult
s(and98% of
mi l
lennial
s)intheU.S.ownas martphone.Thes
ear edrov
esofpeople
bringingtheirdevi
cestowor kandus i
ngthem forworkpurposes
regardlessofcompanypol icy.

Anotherexampleischat.
Whileemailrev
oluti
onizedcommuni cati
onin
the1990sbyallowingpeopl
et ocommuni cat
emor equickl
y,theri
seof
employee-t
o-employeechatsoonaft
erprovedthatevenli
ghter-
forms
ofcommuni cat
iontool
scouldbei ndemand.

Yetanotherexampl eisGoogleApps .WhileMi crosoftOfficehas

beent hebusinessstandardforproducti
vit
yt oolsfordecades ,
ris
ing
expectati
onsaroundcl oudcollabor
ati
ont oolsincreasi
nglyled
i
ndividualst
ous eGoogl eDocsands imil
arpr ogramsf oreverythi
ng
fr
om casualbrainst
or mingsessi
onstolong-form, offici
alreports.

Again,
evenifnotful
lys
ancti
onedbytheor
gani
zat
ion,
thetemptat
iont omoreeas
il
ycoll
abor
atet
rumpsany
est
abli
shedpolici
es.
Buteveninthesecaseswherei
ndiv
idualsandcertai
norganizat
ions
st
artusi
ngmor ecloudsol
uti
ons,westi
llhaven’
treachedthemos t
ef
ficientendofthecloudconti
nuum.
THECLOUD CONTI
NUUM ofBus
ines
sCommuni
cat
ions

Wecont i
nuet
oli
vei
na Thecompl
etecl
oudst
ack
changi
ngworl
d.
Today,37% ofU.S.workerstelecommut eforsomepor ti
onof
thei
rwor k,accor
dingt oGall
up’ sStat eoftheWor kplaceSur vey .
Additi
onally,PGi
’srecentStateofT eleworkresearchr eveal
st hat
75% oftelecommut er
sleveragev ideo,real-t
imev ir
tualmeet ing
tool
swi t
hwebcams ,scr
eens haring,t hecloud,files haring,and
soci
almedi aaspar tofthei
rbus ines ssolut
ions.

And whi l
ethes eindivi
dualsar e finding incr
easi
ngl y ef
fecti
ve
waystogetwor kdoneand engagewi t
ht hei
rcoll
eagues ,CIOs
ar
epul l
ingtheirhairout:accor
dingt oar ecentsur
veybyRober t
HalfT
echnology,30% ofCI Osrepor tthatcommuni cati
oni sthe
gr
eatestchall
enget heyfaceinmanagi ngar emotewor kforce.

Thecommont hreadbindi
ngthesefiguresiscloud
communi cat
ions.
Somehow, af
teremailt
rumpedt hephoneand
chattrumpedemai l
,peopl
eandbus i
nessesar
es ti
llst
ruggl
ingt
o
sortoutthebes twaytocommuni cat
eandcol l
abor at
e.

That’spreciselybecausewel iveinaf as t
-mov ing, dynami cwor l
d.
Unl i
keadecadeort woago, mos twor kersar erarelyattheirdes k.
They’remov i
ngar oundconf erencer ooms ,edit
ingpr es
ent ati
ons
from thebackofanUber , andwor kingf r
om t heirhomeorhot el
.
Thecl oudr evoluti
onsoft hepas tsev er alyearsbr oughtmos t
organizationsanew wayofmanagi ngs alesdat abases ,
mar keti
ng aut omat i
on,and human r es ources,butnooneev er
full
yfigur edoutt helar
gerpr oblem ofconnect ingpeopl e
efficientl
y.Thathasbi ggeri mpl i
cat ionsbecaus ei tmeansal l
thoseot herclouds oluti
onsar eles
sef fective,
ascommuni cationsi
swhatneces sarilyconnect sallthedispar ate
parts.Somuchmor eispos sibl
ewheny oucompl etet hecl oud
stackbybr i
ngingt hephones ys
tem i nt ot hecloud.
THECLOUD CONTI
NUUM ofBus
ines
sCommuni
cat
ions

Thinkaboutthemos tfundament alneed:connect i

ngacal l
ert oan
empl oyeeatyourcompany .I
nst
eadofhopi ngtheycallt
her ightdes k
phoneorappr opri
atemobi l
enumber ,
clouds oft
war emakesi tpos s
ible
toringsever
alofthatemployee’
sdev i
ces,incl
udingt hei
rdes ktopor
laptop,smart
phone,tablet
,anddes kphone. Oryoucanev enr out
et he
singlecal
ltoanentir
edepar t
ment ,ensuri
ngt hatthebus i
nes snever
mi ss
esanoppor t
unity.

Imaginewhatbecomespos si
blewheny out henintegr atethev oice
channelintoothercloudtools,i
ncludingpr oductivi
tys oftware,
CRM, ands oci
almedi a.Wi
thpr oductivi
tytools,
youcant i
ev oice
convers
ationsdirectl
ytodocument s
,emails,andconv ersati
onst hat
havehav eprevi
ous l
yoccurr
edonot hermes sagingpl atforms .
Wheni t
comesCRM, youcanaut omat i
call
ylogcallsinSalesforce. Anadv anced
cloudcommuni cati
onstoolshouldalsoaut omat i
call
ybr i
ngi nsocial
i
ns i
ghtsaboutcol l
eaguesandcus tomer st
omakeconv ersati
onsmor e
effici
ent.

Andalloft
hisdoes
n’tevenment
ionhow mucheas
ieracl
oud
sol
uti
onwouldbet osetupandmaint
ain.

Compani esthatwi llthri

veinthecomi ngdecadewi llbet hosewho
hav ereachedt hefarendoft hecloudcont inuum bycompl et i
ngtheir
clouds tack.Itwillbet hosecompani esthatdos alesinthecl oud,
mar keti
ngi nt hecloud, andcus t
omers ervicei
nt hecloud. Theywi l
ldo
theiraccount ingandhumanr esourcesmanagementi nthecl oudtoo.
And, mos ti
mpor tantlyofall
,theywillhaveanent erpris
e-widecl oud
soluti
onf orcommuni cati
ons,bi
ndingt hephone, emai l,
chat ,andall
thepr eviousl
yment ionedcloudt oolsi
nor dertobes tconnectpeopl e.
THEMODERN
BUSINESS
Dial
ogue
It’
sonet hingt oimaginer eachingtheidealendofthecloud
continuum, andit’
sanot hertoactual
lyreali
zei
t.Butmany
organizationstodayar ewellont hei
rwayt odoingso.Companies
li
keUberandPer colatehavecommi tt
edt hemsel
vestocloud
i
nf r
astructure,notj
us tforasinglebusi
nessunitorspeci
fictaskbut
foreverything.

Sal
es,marketi
ng,communi
cat
ions,andbeyond—compl
etel
y
cl
oudfr
iendlycompani
esar
ealreadyengagi
nginthemodern
busi
nessdial
ogue.

Connectever
yone.
Wor
kanywher
e.

Whatacompanycanachi evethroughamoder nbus inessdi

alogueis
notobscur
e. I
t’
sactuall
yquit
es i
mpl e:i
tmeanst hatpeopl ecanwork
anywhere,
connectwi thanyone,andcr eat
eanything.Breakingthat
downintoitsindi
vidualpi
ecesrevealssomeimpor tantpoints.
THEMODERN BUSI
NESSDi
alogue

Wor
kanywher
e

Remot eworkingandt hefreelancegigeconomyhav eaccelerat

-
edi nr
ecentyearsthanksinlargeparttomanyoft heconvenient,
cloudbasedtechnologi
esdi s
cussedearli
er.
Today,23% ofAmer i
-
cansarecompl et
ingallorsomeoft hei
rworkfrom home,accord-
ingtotheBur eauofLaborSt at
ist
ics
,upfrom 19% in2003.

Forindiv
iduals,thebenefitsofremoteworkingareself
-ev
ident
.
The flexi
bili
ty,independence,and pot
enti
alcostsav
ings(fr
om
lackofcommut e)thatgoalongwithworki
ngf r
om homemake

23% theexper

Forbus i
ienceuni

nes ses
quel

,t
yempower

he advant
i
ngf

agesar
ori
ndiv

e ev
i
dual
s

en gr
.

eat
er.Remot e em-
ofAmericanare ployeesar enear lyt
wi ceasl i
kelytowor kov er40hour sperweek,
compl et
ingallor accordingt oI nc.Magazi ne.Atypi calbus i
nessthatletsindividu-
alsworkf rom homehal fthet i
mecans ave$11,000pery ear,ac-
someof cordingt oGl obalWor kplac
thei
rwor kf
rom Analyti
cs .And bus inessest hatgi vewor kerstheoppor tunityt o
wor kremot elyatleas tthree timespermont h have a greater
home. chanceofgr owingr evenueatl east10%,accor dingt ot heWal l
StreetJour nal,compar edt ofirmst hatdon’ thav
et hesepol i
cies.

Moder n archit
ecture,supported bytheful
lcloud stack,al
lows
teamsno mat t
erhow l arge orsmalltofr
ee thems elvesf
rom
phy s
icaltethers.You can go global
,open r
emot e officeswith
ease,ands ti
llmakes urethatpeoplewhoneedt obeconnect ed
stayconnect ed.
THEMODERN BUSI
NESSDi
alogue

Connectever
yone

Moder narchit
ectureletsyoutossoutdeskphonesandbypas scar
rier
costsandcompl icati
ons.Wehav ealr
eadys eens omeofthesechanges
takingpl
aceov erthepas tdecade,asorganizat
ionsandindi
vidual
s
haverapidlyadoptedev olv
ingtechnologi
esi nmobile,
webconf er
encing,
videochat,andot hercommuni cati
onsandcol labor
ati
onstools
.

Butbecaus eeverybus i
nessunder s t
andst hepowerofv oice,
wes til
l
haven’tl
ef tthedes kphonebehi nd. Appl i
cat i
onsthatconnectl arge
groupsqui cklyinreal-t
ime, l
ikechatmodul esandt as
kmanagement
programs ,areincrediblyusefulforinternalt eams,butt heyaren’t
designedf orreachingoutt oext ernalindiv i
duals,l
ikecustomer sor
partners
. Communi cati
onst oolsthatlev eragev oi
cewi l
lalwaysbe
aroundf ortheses i
tuations
.

Now, engagi
ngi nt
hemodernbusi
nes
sdial
ogue,
everyorgani
zat
ion
hastheoppor t
unit
ytomov
ev oi
cei
ntothecl
oud,makingthedesk
phoneopt i
onal.

Cr
eat
eanyt
hing

Finall
y,moder nar chitectureletsy ouincreasethev alueoft he
restofyourclouds tack.Cloud- basedt ool
sfors al
esormar keti
ng
managementar ev eryef f
ectivealready,asevidencedbyt hev oracious
appet i
tecustomer shav eforthes esoluti
ons:SaaSwasa$31. 4bi l
li
on
i
ndus tryi
n2015andcoul dgrow anot her20% t hisyear.Butthes e
soluti
onsares t
illnotper f
ect.From as alesandmar ketingper s
pect iv
e,
compani eshav ebeendr eamingofa“ compl ete”or“single”vi
ew oft he
customerfordecades .Butasl ongascommuni cati
onst akeplaceona
diff
erentplanet hant heot herSaaSt ools,i
twillremai nadr eam.

Withcommuni cationsintegratedintothecloudstack,howev er,

organi
zationswillsuddenl yseethoses ameCRM andmar keti
ng
automat i
ontoolsenr i
chedwi t
hi nf
ormationthey’
dbeenmi ssi
ng
al
lalong.Thatmeansgr eat eri
nsightsoncall
sandmes sagesby
i
ntegrati
ngdat afrom ot herbus i
nessapps.Asaresult,
empl oyeeswil
l
st
opwor r
yingaboutdat amanagementandot hertri
vialtasks,and
i
ns t
eadfocusonconnect i
ngwi thcus t
omers,cr
eatingbet terproduct
s,
andgr owingthebus i
nes s
.
THECLOUD CONTI
NUUM ofBus
ines
sCommuni
cat
ions

I
Tthati
nspi
respeopl
e

Moder nCIOs—t hos ethats

hareinthevi
s i
onoft hemoder nbusines
s
dial
ogue—ar erebr andingI
Tandf undament al
lychangingtheway
peoplewor kacr ossteams,depart
ments ,
andphy sicall
ocat
ionswith
thegoalofcr eatingamor econnected,coll
aborati
ve,andproducti
ve
workforce.

AsCI Osaimt oachievethisvi

sion,theywil
lnotethatthereisnothing
i
nher entl
ywr ongwi t
ht heideaofades kphone. Attheendoft heday,
nothingr epl
acespi
cki ngupt hephoneandt al
kingtos omeone. But
thedes kphoneisli
mi tedintwof undament always:i
t’
sphy s
ical
ly
tetheredt ot
hedeskandi tdoesn’tcapt
ureimpor t
antinsightst
hat
couldhel pyoubemor eproduct i
veorprovi
debet tercust
omer
experiences.

I
notherwords
,themodernbusi
nessdial
oguerequir
esI
Tmor
e
t
hanever,
butitdemandsI
Tthatputspeoplefirs
t.
THECLOUD CONTI
NUUM ofBus
ines
sCommuni
cat
ions

Inpr evi
ousdecades ,whenempl oyeess til
lhadl i
ttlesayinadopt ed
technologi es,nobodyt ookamomentt oas kthes eques ti
ons.
Technol ogywasi mpos eduponwor kerswi tht heas s
umpt i
onthatthey
woul dboos tefficiency, butintoomanycas est hos esamewor kers
saw technol ogyasabur dent hatdidt heoppos ite.Int hepastdecade,
thankst ot hemobi l
eandBYOD r evolution,individual sthemselves
selectedtechnol ogi esthatwoul dhelpt hem wor kdone.
Butt hatonl yget sushal f
wayt ounifiedcommuni cati
ons .I
ndivi
duals
cannotgetust hereal one.
Iti
snow onCI Osandt hei rt
eamst ofir stunder st
andwhi ch
technologi esrestrictandwhi chinspi
re, andt hent ocommi tthems el
ves
tot helatter.Onlyt hencani tber epeat edacr osst heent erpri
se—the
firststept ot r
ulyuni fiedcommuni cati
ons .
THEMODERN BUSI
NESSDi
alogue

Inspiteoft hev astarr

ay Anew er
aofbusi
nesscommuni
cat
ions
ofchangest hathav e
alr
eadyt r
ans formed Ast hewor ldcontinuestot ransform, asindividualscomet o
wor kandt he expectdifferentthingsfrom t heirempl oyers,andas
wor kplace,ther ateof technologies
changehas n’tslowed.If rapidl
yadv ance,it’
splaint oseet hatt hebus i
nes s
est hatsucceed
i
nt hecomi ngdecadewi llbet hoset hattrulyachieveuni fied
anything, we’ r
eata communi cations
. Notjustint hes enseofchat ,
IM, t
ext,voice,and
turningpoi nt . video,unifiedcommuni cationsmus talsoincreasingly
encompas sotherbus i
nes sappsandt oolsregardlessofpl atf
orm
ordev i
ce.

BobO’ Donnel l,presi

dentandchi efanaly
stofTECHnal ysi
s
Research,LLC, predictsinar ecentFastCompanyar t
iclethat
wear equi ckl
yaccel erati
ngt owarda“ post-
dev i
ce”fut ure.PC
manuf acturershav ealreadynot edthatwor l
dwi des hipment s
alr
eadypeakedi nthef ourt
hquar terof2011, andt abletand
smar t
phones hipment shavealsoappearedt oal r
eadyhi t
theirpeakquar ters.Lookingatt hesedatapoi ntsandbr oader
technologyt r
ends ,O’Donnel lsuggest
swhatcomput i
ngwi l
llook
l
ikeint hecomi ngdecades :

Whi l
ewecan’ tpr edictthef utureofdev i
ces ,
wedoknow t hatt he
powerofv oicei sn’tgoinganywher e. Bus i
nes scommuni cati
ons
oft hefut urewi l
lneedt os i
mpl ywor k—andwor kwi thv oice—no
mat t
erwhatt echnol ogyi sputi nus e.Inot herwor ds,nomat t er
themanuf act ureroft hepaneofgl ass,nomat terthes i
zeoft he
paneofgl ass,nomat t
ert hepl atf
orm di splayedont hatpaneof
glas s
,dev ices( whet herper sonalhandhel dcomput ersor
mas si
ntegr atedi ns t
all
ations)wi l
lneedt or espondt ov oice.
“[
T] hef utureofcomput ings eemst obeaboutas etofpl at
for m
anddev i
ce-independents ervi
ces.Speci ficall
y,voice-based
i
nt eractions ,drivenbyl argei nstal
lationsofcl oud-bas eds erver s
runni ng deep l earning-bas ed algorithmsar e what ’shott hes e
day s.
”
THEMODERN BUSI
NESSDi
alogue

Ulti
mat ely,wor kisnotapl acey ougo, butat hingyoudo. Thishas
alwaysbeent rue,buti thast akenonanew l eveloftrutht hanks
totrendsi nt echnol ogyadv ancement sandr emot ewor king.The
convergenceoft radit
ionalcommuni cationsanddat aacros s
businessappl icati
onswi l
lfundament all
ytransfor
m pr oductivi
tyand
cult
ure.Trav elt i
meandcos tswillplummet .Meet i
ngswi l
lbecome
mor eeffective. Dispersedwor kerswi l
lfeelass upportedast hose
attheflags hipof fice.Ef ficiencywi llbebakedi ntoeverysingle
communi cat ionsandcol laborations ystem.

Wi t
hcommuni cat
iontool
sthatgivet
hem theflexibi
li
tytowor
k
anywher eandconnectwithevery
one,peoplewil
lfeelempoweredt
o
l
iteral
lycreat
eanythi
ng.

Andthat
’st
hefundament alv
isi
onof
themodernbusi
nessdi
alogue.
ABOUTKnowl
ari
ty

Inspiteoft hev astarr

ay Knowlar
ityi
st hepioneerandleadingprov
iderofcloudbas edtelephony
ofchangest hathav e sol
uti
onstobus iness
esintheemer gi
ngmar kets
.ASi ngaporebas edcompany
alr
eadyt r
ans formed f
ounded in 2009,Knowlari
ty’
sproductsand servi
cesareact i
velyadopted by
morethan2mi l
lionuser
sandi st
hel ar
gestprov
iderofsuchs erv
ices.
wor kandt he
wor kplace,ther ateof Knowlari
ty’
smiss
ionistot
ransfor
mthebusines
st ocus
t omercommunicat
ion
changehas n’tslowed.If i
ndustryi
nt heemergingmarketswi
thper
sonal
izati
on,automati
on,
AIand
anything, we’ r
eata anal
yti
cs.
turningpoi nt .
Knowl ari
ty’sflagship producti s‘SuperRecept i
onist
’,a plug-and-playvirt
ual
contactcent erforabus i
ness.Thecompanyandhasgr ownf rom scratchtoa
globalv enture with 300+empl oyees,1000 partner
sand 8 of ficesinI ndia,
MiddleEas tand Sout h-EastAsia.Continuousinnovation and excell
encehas
ledtoKnowl ar
ityreceivi
ngmanyawar dsandr ecogni
tions uchast heAmazon
Excell
enceAwar d,Sili
conI ndiaStartup oftheyear,Nas s
com Emer ge50and
mor efrom medi aandi ndustry.
Thecompanyi salsobackedbymar quee
nv
i es
torslikeSequoi aIndiaandMayfiel dfund.