A recent market survey of the Belgian telecom market showed that 68% of the small and medium companies surveyed considered telecommunications as crucial to their operations. For this reason it's important for a company to think carefully about how it can optimise its use of telecommunications.

Solution tailored to the company

The specific telecommunication solution with the right proportion between fixed and mobile telecommunications depends on the size of the company and the type of industry. For example, with a large or multinational company, telecom requirements are largely geared to the internal employees. In this respect the company should ensure seamless contact between the staff and the various branches and offices, the representatives or technicians working outside the office and those members of staff who work partly from home. These factors also come into play with working out the appropriate telecom solution.

Solution tailored to users' profiles

By 2010 the number of employees depending on input from their colleagues will reach 70%. The collaborative enterprise will then become a reality. At the same time, nearly half of all workers in industry will no longer be desk-bound. So it's important to decide what user profiles your staff fit into.

Deskbound staff:
traditional clerical staff who spend their working hours in the office, at their own desks.
Office Roamers:
they usually work in the office, but often not at their desks. They are in meetings or shuttle to and fro between branches.
Road warriors:
representatives, technicians, doctors, etc., who visit customers, prospects, patients, suppliers and partners.
Teleworkers:
these work mainly from home and have to be able to communicate smoothly with the company.

For employees who don't always work at a desk, mobile telephony offers major advantages. Not only can they always be reached, but with their mobile phones they enjoy the same services as through the fixed telephone exchange. What's more, this is a flexible and relatively economical solution compared with technologies such as DECT, WiFi or VoIP.

Challenges

An optimum mobility solution is based on:

a successful integration of fixed and mobile
the affordability of the solution
the integration of all types of mobile data: text messages, PIM, mobile ERP and CRM, Sales Force Automation and Field Force Automation, machine-to-machine
the flexibility and scalability of the solution
a positive Total Cost of Ownership and Return On Investment.

Mobile telephony scores well on all these points. Nevertheless, it doesn't make sense to replace all fixed phones with mobile ones. It is crucial to develop the right combination of fixed and mobile technology.