By: Gina Jacobs, Senior Director of Marketing Communications
When you’re not familiar with the lingo, encountering acronyms like DID or FMC in a unified communications (UC) presentation can create confusion. Words that mean one thing in a particular context can mean something completely different when the topic’s UC.
Don’t be befuddled. Just download ShoreTel’s brilliantly simple business communications glossary that can give you the ABCs of VoIP UC, PDQ.
This blog is the third of a series to demystify key UC phrases. First we’ll make a statement loaded with specialized terms, then we’ll translate it with help from our Business Communications A to Z: A Helpful Compendium of Unified Communications & IP Telephony Terms, Acronyms & Phrases.
If you missed the first blog in this series, check it out here. It started at the historical beginning of UC with a focus on the As. Blog 2 concentrated on the Cs to introduce collaborative contact centers. Now, let’s target D, E and F with:
DEF Connected 24/7
For business phone system users, the advances of DID and frame relay circuits enabled more and faster direct connections. With the expansion of FMC, VoIP companies have flocked to deliver “always on” connections to mobile users, and features like find me follow me have boosted employee productivity dramatically. However the ergonomics of integrating employee-liable mobile devices, as well as the security and firewall implications to prevent such things as a DoS attack, demand that you chose your mobile UC provider wisely.
Translation:
Users of business phone systems benefit from more and faster direct connections through advances like direct inward dial (DID), which bypasses a central receptionist and routes calls directly via uniquely assigned phone numbers, and frame relay circuits, which share bandwidth across many users. These cost-effective technologies vastly improve the quality and operational flexibility of telecommunications services.
The expansion of fixed mobile convergence (FMC), which integrates cellular services with private communications networks, has enabled users to access enterprise and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) telephony features from their mobile phones, dramatically decreasing roaming charges. With the resulting cost savings, VoIP companies have flocked to deliver advanced “always on” connections to mobile users. Features like find me follow me can route calls automatically and reach people regardless of where they’re working, boosting employee productivity dramatically.
But this rush to extend business telecommunications’ reach and depth is not without challenges, for example balancing ease of use with rigorous standards for internal security controls. The creative science of ergonomics ensures that products and applications are designed to suit employees’ workflow needs while also maximizing safety and efficiency. This is critically important when integrating employee-liable mobile devices, such as personally owned tablets and smartphones, into a corporate communications network.
To ensure your network’s data integrity and security, make sure your firewall, the barrier between enterprise communications functions and the Internet, is enabled for VoIP. To prevent a range of malicious attacks such as a denial of service (DoS), which bombards a network with trafficand can result in a crash of enterprise applications and servers, choose your UC provider wisely.
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