Mobile Work Force for Dummies

Top Ten Tips for a Successful Mobility Implementation

Understanding the characteristics of your workforce Figuring out what your employees need to communicate effectively Putting yourself in your client’s shoes Making the most of your existing infrastructure Seeking ways to converge existing networks Using proven technologies Achieving single-number connectivity Adding powerful management tools to your arsenal Asking for help when you need it Embracing change

Let’s face it — you need a mobile communications strategy. Given the changing nature of the workplace and the technologies available, there is no reason to not create your own strategy, unless you want to give up your competitive advantage.

Only you know your business well enough to know what is best for your organization. You know where your organization is now and where you want it to be.

Just as your vision is different from that of other people in other businesses, so your mobile strategy will be different. The differences that make your enterprise unique mean that there is little chance that I can exactly define what your strategy should include. I can, however, provide tips that you can profitably use to create your own strategy. The ten following tips, if heeded, will help you create a successful mobile communications strategy in short order.

Create a Worker Snapshot

The first tip for creating a mobile communications strategy is to examine what your employees do and where they do it, and use that information as the basis for your plan.

If your organization consists of deskbound workers, located entirely within a single building, you probably don’t have much need for a mobile communications strategy. However, fewer and fewer workplaces of any size fit this single-location definition. You may have

Salespeople in distant cities

Development teams in major technology centers

Workers who spend all or part of their time working from home

Workers who spend a large amount of time commuting

Vendors and clients who need secure access to your networks

After you know your workforce and where they are working, you will be better able to understand the communications challenges that they face. Your mobile communications strategy can then help meet their needs.

Determine Your Workers’ Needs

Different employees need different tools to accomplish their work. Many of the tools they need have a communications aspect to them, such as phones, cell phones, PDAs, and laptop computers.

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Your mobile communications strategy will help shape which tools your workers use. If your strategy implements an infrastructure that accommodates different tools and provides a consistent number of features across those tools, your workers will be more productive.

With the right strategy, employees can accomplish more work, more easily, by using the tools they already have. For instance, if your strategy calls for implementing a voice-command unified communications system, employees can use the voice tools they already know (phones) to intuitively manage all their communications media: e-mail, voice mail, phone, and fax.

Focus on Your Client

Organizations who fall into the trap of not meeting clients on their own terms run the risk of losing their market share to other organizations.

With that in mind, make sure that you put yourself in the position of your client. If you have a mobile workforce, does your mobile communications strategy help the client reach the proper person in your organization, regardless of where that person is? If not, your client’s experience isn’t as good as it could be or should be.

Leverage Existing Infrastructures

Every business has a communications infrastructure already in place. It may not be fancy, and it may not be as efficient as it could be, but good money was spent on hardware and software to help your business communicate.

An effective mobile communications strategy should not include the necessity to scrap your existing infrastructure. Instead, a good strategy helps you leverage your existing investment. With the right solutions, you can add hardware or software that works with — instead of against — your existing phones, computers, networks, and application software.

Make sure that as you develop your strategy you avoid solutions that replace your existing systems lock, stock, and barrel. Instead, look for migration solutions that can help your current systems evolve to a point where they will do exactly what you want.

Converge Networks

Most businesses utilize two major networks: voice and data. When you converge these into a single network, you can reduce overall costs immediately.

The concept of converged networks has applicability outside the walls of your physical office as well. If you have more than one location or if you have teleworkers, you can use common networks — such as the Internet — to route both your data and voice traffic. Utilizing an existing network structure in this way can significantly reduce your overall costs.

You’ll also find that your mobile communications strategy is easier to implement, manage, and maintain if you use a converged network. Most solution vendors can provide you with equipment that allows you to merge your existing networks easily.

Utilize Proven Technologies

Technologies for mobile communications, both data and voice, are mature enough that you should resist the urge to try unproven technologies. If you lock yourself into a newly developed proprietary technology, you run the risk of your investment becoming obsolete (if the technology is abandoned) and committing yourself to expensive replacements and support.

You can ask potential solutions providers a few questions that will help remove much of your risk:

How long has their technology been in the field? How many organizations have adopted their technology? What is the service record of their technology? Will their technology work, out of the box, with equip

ment from other vendors?

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Use the answers you receive to help make the best decisions for your mobile strategy.

Shoot for One-Number Connectivity

As discussed in Part III, the concept of one-number connectivity has two facets. The first is the number clients use to contact your organization, and the second is the number used to contact individual employees.

One-number connectivity for your clients allows you to provide a single, manageable point of entry for communications with your organization. Your clients call one number, and they immediately have easy access to all parts of your organization. The single number is easier to advertise and easier for your clients to remember.

One-number connectivity for your employees means that the employee can be reached by dialing a single number. It shouldn’t matter where the employee is physically located; a good mobile solution can route calls wherever necessary to reach the person. (Systems can even map cell phones or IP phones so that they automatically ring if someone dials the employee’s desk phone number.)

When you achieve one-number connectivity, you improve the experience of your clients because they can get the information they need easily. In addition, employee productivity increases because important calls are less likely to be missed. And, for both clients and employees, telephone tag is reduced — a great benefit no matter how you look at it!

Implement Powerful Management Tools

Any mobile communications solution that you implement should provide you with a rich suite of management tools. With the proper tools in place, you should be able to easily

make configuration changes, such as assigning phone numbers to different employees or adding new equipment or services.

In addition, your management tools should provide reliable methods of tracking down potential network problems, such as failure points and bottleneck areas. That way, you can quickly find ways to get your network functioning again or add capacity to alleviate the bottlenecks.

Finally, an important part of any management suite is the ability to generate a variety of reports. Management reports should indicate vital metrics such as network usage, equipment usage, system availability, downtime, and even carrier usage.

In some industries, your management tools may include the ability to record phone conversations. For instance, you may want to record client support calls or telemarketing calls, either for training or remediation. Regardless of whether your workers are local or remote, your mobile communications solution should be able to handle recordings in a flexible manner.

Seek Expert Help

We can’t be experts in all things at all times. Chances are good that you are an expert in your business field. But, unless your business field is mobile communications, you may not have all the answers you need to make informed decisions for your mobile communications strategy.

Don’t be afraid to seek help when you need it. The fact that you’re reading this book is a good indicator that you’re interested in more information. When you’re considering solutions providers, don’t be afraid to ask questions — seek their help. If they are truly experts in their field, they should be able to get you the answers you need.

Also, don’t hesitate to hire an external consultant, if necessary. Many times, consultants can help you recognize opportunities or identify areas of exposure that may not be immediately evident to you. A consultant with a broad understanding of mobile technologies can help you confidently make choices that are in your best interest.

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Don’t Be Afraid of Change

Change can increase anxiety and be downright scary. For those trying to run a business, the pace of change in the communications industry is astonishing. At times it may seem like implementing new technologies is like trying to hop onto a rushing train.

The biggest thing that you need to guard against is allowing the fear of change to immobilize you. Some organizations find themselves in this situation, with management knowing they need to make changes but unable to come to grips with exactly how to do so.

Change need not be that scary. If you apply the information in this book, you’ll find that you have a better grasp of how to effect change than you might have thought. Remember that change is going to happen whether you plan for it or not. But if you do plan for it, you’ll find yourself in a stronger business position.

One other word about change: You have to be ready to change your mobile communications strategy — even during implementation — if you discover that the assumptions on which that strategy was based have changed. Fortunately, if you apply the tips presented earlier in this part, you’ll find that your strategy is flexible and adaptable.