The cost savings, increased functionality, improved productivity and mobility offered by VoIP is fast making it a business priority. But what are key factors to consider when evaluating and choosing a VoIP provider, and how can you be sure that the vendor you select will be flexible enough to meet the growing needs of your company?

It's getting tougher out there. Many IT managers want to invest in new technology, but are struggling to make the case. Spiralling energy costs have eclipsed savings on cheap hardware, while users don't seem to be able keep corporate data secure. The risk grows with every new mobile device added to the mix. Help is at hand. New, low energy technology that minimises the risk to data integrity could be the answer. This session explores the new innovations in thin client converged communications.

Whilst many enterprises have seen both cost and operational benefits in the deployment of VoIP, it is the further migration to unified communications that promises true business transformation. But, with so many VoIP implementations running into difficulties, management tools and management operations also need to be unified through each stage of the project. This session discusses how to ensure availability and performance of key network, system and application services on the road from VoIP to unified communications.

VoIP is not limited to the fixed space and is equally at home in wireless networks. This session looks at best practice, practical illustrations and case studies to show how VoIP can be exploited to provide extended reach and mobility allowing your company to get more out of its IP telephony investments

VoIP is now accepted as the way forward for voice infrastructure so whenever new systems are required, enterprises will consider both in-house and hosted VoIP solutions. This session looks at case studies of outsourced VoIP solutions for medium and large businesses, the problems the solutions had to address, and how the offerings available succeeded in providing answers

Telephony applications are evolving quicker than ever before with development driven by changing regulations, varying business demands, budgetary issues and Disaster Recovery considerations. This session looks at how hosted and managed services such as landline and VoIP call centre applications, voice recording and mobile recording addresses these challenges, assisting organisations to both leverage and reduce their risk.

Whilst many enterprises have seen both cost and operational benefits in the deployment of VoIP, it is the further migration to unified communications that promises true business transformation. But, with so many VoIP implementations running into difficulties, management tools and management operations also need to be unified through each stage of the project. This session discusses how to ensure availability and performance of key network, system and application services on the road from VoIP to unified communications.

VoIP flows differ from many other application flows because they are real-time and peer-to-peer. For traditional applications, a lack of resources can result in deterioration of application performance, but for VoIP, these results in the service being unavailable. What steps should an organisation take to ensure that the deployment of VoIP applications does not make overall WAN performance unpredictable, endangering both the VoIP rollout and existing application performance.

Enterprises are striving to maximise the potential of their infrastructure and collaborate across geographical boundaries and time zones. Achieving increased productivity and profitability are critical management objectives. Unified Communications solutions are increasingly being viewed as a means of realising this objective. Verizon Business will present how enterprises can leverage their capabilities and and the migration paths available to them.

These are challenging times, with organisations facing continuous change, including the shift to an agile virtual organisation, increasingly mobile workers, and the unremitting demands to increase productivity and lower costs. The requirement for a multi-channel IP network and unified communications to support all an organisation’s interaction needs has never been more evident. It is becoming increasingly important for IT management to begin to make possible the availability of common communication services, either by infrastructure upgrades or through Managed Services. If organisations have not already, then enterprises should look to put in place the foundation of a converged IP environment.

Andrew Penn will discuss likely scenarios familiar to IT teams across the UK and will look at how current infrastructure need not determine future Unified Communications technologies. Looking across the IT product and service spectrum, this master class will help the IT professional understand what and where their legacy systems are. By using this knowledge they can determine the path to Unified Communications understanding how, with a flexible system and service lead approach, organisations can ensure they are able to adapt to meet the changing needs of both their users and customers.

Unified communications comprises a powerful set of converged network applications that can directly enhance all aspects of a company’s operation. This session discusses the characteristics of unified communications, its ability to enhance the quality of the interaction across the enterprise and how it can be used to optimise application performance according to the unique needs of each business

Having a unified communications strategy is fast becoming an enterprise must-have. This session shows you how to align your communications roadmap with your business strategy and how this can help you build the business case for unified communications.

In this session Richard McCammond will discuss the changing face of telephony as Carriers migrate from traditional PSTN services to the new world of VoIP and IP Telephony. Richard will explore how Carriers are addressing the technology challenges in their core networks, and finish by looking at the opportunity for organisations and consumers to benefit from the integration of voice with other “Collaborative” applications.

This session will look at the integration of the Microsoft and Cisco Unified Communications products. We’ll look at the overall architecture and features provided along with a comparison of the various products from each vendor and how they fit into the overall solution.

Every business starts along the path to unified communications - where speed, reliability and network capacity are of the utmost importance - with a unique set of needs and an existing infrastructure. This session describes how companies should go about planning and implementing unified communications in these circumstances

Successfully deploying advanced services such as VoIP on today’s complex multi-vendor, multi-technology networks is a challenge for service providers and their enterprise customers, particularly with automated service activation through portals. A key ingredient in efficiently delivering and assuring VoIP services is accurate network data showing exactly which network devices, cards and ports are involved in a given business VoIP service, enabling service activation with low fallout, and ensuring rapid diagnosis and resolution of faults that are often reported as simply "my phone doesn't work".

This session describes the business benefits that can be achieved by unifying infrastructure, bringing life and intelligence to buildings through simplifying systems, making sure security is at the forefront of business operations, reducing the carbon footprint and cutting the energy bill and reducing costs and increasing your productivity. The session will also describe proven solutions in these areas by referencing a number of case studies.

Unified communications infrastructures must systematically incorporate security features and use well-known security techniques. This session discusses the security that should be foremost in your mind when evaluating or implementing a UC product or solution in your company

Organisations are increasingly challenged with juggling environmental obligations and forthcoming regulations, with the pressures of running an efficient, cost effective and competitive business. This session will look at the key environmental issues and how a Unified Communications strategy can work in harmony with the green agenda, rather than in conflict.

With the business workforce becoming increasingly mobile, employees need to have access to enterprise applications and communication tools wherever their workspace is located. Hear about the latest innovations in mobile Unified communications technology and customers who have achieved real business results.

From desktop to mobile: realising the end-to-end unified communications solution.
The service provider opportunity: delivering differentiated unified communications and mobile services to SMEs
Mobile presence and location-aware context: intelligence and semantic priority in the mobile environment

An efficient network is the lifeblood of a business. External and internal security threats can cripple your company, affecting communication, productivity, and most damagingly, reputation. This session explores how a secure network platform can contribute towards business objectives such as revenue generation, business process streamlining and operational productivity through the effective utilisation of people, processes and technology.