Overview

Business communications have become even more complex and employees have several peripherals, applications and face to face interactions to manage in order to remain connected in a productive manner.

For a growing number of employees, the working day doesn’t just run between 9am and 5pm, but 24 hours a day and knows no geographical borders (employees spend less time socializing in order to work). In this context, communication and decision making is more complex when time is an issue.

The incapacity to communicate with others at crucial moments leads to a number of consequences and a lack of productivity (for example: clients waiting for an immediate response regarding sales and support).

From the time problems related to this type of latency have been resolved, the challenge is then to raise efficiency levels by improving the joint effort of the workforce.

A new set of integrated technologies, called Unified Communications (UC), allows the convergence of vocal, data and video communication, whilst removing a number of obstacles which hinder communication, in order to allow businesses to considerably improve the productivity of their IT staff.

Unified communications involves many players (solution software publishers, vendors, video conference providers…) and numerous technologies such as email, voice, audio, video, video conferences; instant messaging, etc of which the inter- compatibility sometimes remains to be demonstrated and the complexity of the implementation process can sometimes appear to be quite frightening.

NEC’s approach

NEC has a strategy to develop other types of unified communications according to a simple approach which starts with an analysis of the client’s work environment, how the company works and the business issues that can be analyzed in order to optimize employee productivity. UC responds to this demand for raised productivity levels, but the success of an ambitious unified communications project relies on a trustworthy relationship.

NEC is committed to providing a simple solution which is adapted to the needs of each customer, through respecting the client’s demands in terms of security and high availability.

The NEC offer therefore revolves around so-called unified communications (Microsoft Exchange 2007), complete optional modules which allow the implementation of a complete solution and ready to use unified communications.

An unprecedented technological advance

A strong unprecedented technological advance, NEC is in fact the only player in the market to propose a packaged unified communications infrastructure (Servers, storage, telephony, software suites, professional services) to its clients from the same manufacturer, ensuring full interoperability and overall cohesion…

Detailed analysis of the needs and issues of the company
Manufacturer’s expertise for the design and provisions of the infrastructure (servers, storage, back up devices…)
Control of the certified platform Exchange 2007 unified communications environment
Expertise from a worldwide leading IPBX manufacturer
A complete unified communications software suite
Integration and overall support of hardware and required software
Virtualization of integrated workstations.

NEC Offer

Unified communications

NEC Computers proposes packaged unified communications solutions based on Exchange 2007, which are simple and adapted to the demands of the customer in terms of security and high availability:

A strong differentiator

The NON STOP Exchange 2007 communication service optimizes the relationship between cost and performance and the level of availability.

With the Fault Tolerant server, the Exchange 2007 communication service provides an unmatched level of availability in the market (Rate of availability: 99.999%).
All the components of the Fault Tolerant server are redundant and synchronized in real- time (NEC Patented). In the case of a technical failure of the hardware, the redundant module instantly becomes the intermediary, without any interruption of service nor loss of data (CPU, memory, disk) or of transactions.

Key benefits of a Fault Tolerant server for the Exchange 2007 environment:

An unmatched level of high availability: 99,999%
Only 1 Exchange 2007 (standard edition) software license required
Only 1 Fault Tolerant server required, in comparison to the 4 servers and associated licenses required for the classic high availability Exchange 2007 communication service
No technical expertise required
No regular testing required

Assistance and service

NEC Computers, with its partners, assists its clients through the process project, through pre-sales and then the deployment of the solution. To ensure the best results, a project team is designated and guarantees the following services:

Installation meeting
Hardware installation (servers, storage, etc…)
Exchange 2007 installation
Migration of existing communication environment towards Exchange 2007 communication service
Taking into account nomadic posts (according to client typologies)
Tests and validation
Transfer of skills
Compilation of a configuration and operation file
Receipts

From Unified messaging to unified communication

The second step of the implementation of global unified communications, integration of the IP patch and associated software suites.

Telephony and VOIP

NEC proposes an extensive range of hardware applications and software which can be implemented into the global business solution. Reduced costs, better levels of productivity, easy management of your communication system and improved performance are just a few of the many advantages of our tailored telecom solutions.

Thus, NEC puts at the disposal of its clients a full range of perfectly integrated IPBX into an existing work environment, and ensures the interoperability without any limits with the NEC’s unified communication Exchange 2007 infrastructure.

Unified Communications software suite

With the NEC Business ConneCT and Microsoft OCS software suite, users will discover a new way to work, communicate, share and make decisions. All of the integrated functionalities of the unified communication service:

Presence
Instant messaging
Calls through applications (contacts, emails…)
Call diversion with a simple click
Web conferences
File sharing, collaborative work in real-time

Vertical Markets

NEC analyses the needs of each business and business sector in order to respond to the issues of recent years and also the specifics of each business sector.

Banking / Insurance

In the context of a multi-site organization, where data is sensitive and critical, the implementation of unified communication solutions must meet the requirements of this business sector if the following issues are addressed correctly:

Security
High availability
Management of operational risks (BALE2 reform)

Unified communication for the banking/insurance sector not only allows the optimization and improvement of the productivity of employees but goes even further by treating problems from the call center and new services such as the online client service (direct access to a consultant through an instant messaging service).

Industry: Energy, automobile industry

The development of communication tools within industries becomes a major issue considering the operational complexity associated with production chains at different sites or distant platforms, supplies, supplier relations (SRM: Supplier Relationship Management), decision-making and all the processes directly linked to the company’s performance.

NEC unified communications responds to the issues by integrating communication solutions at the heart of industrial processes and the Business model.

Industry: Construction

Construction companies owe their performance to good management- related sites, the supply of raw materials, team co-ordination, and operational mobility (foremen, etc…).
The question is: how to respect the phase of development deadline without communication tools allowing the reactivity and pro-activity of the different industry players, to make decisions in real-time?
NEC brings its expertise in taking into account the functional and operational constraints of its clients.

Services: Transport, logistics

Transport or logistics businesses must give their customers a quality of service which includes product quality, respect of deadlines or timetables because the brand image is important.
They are based on multi-site organizations or on mobile employees and the co-ordination and processes which are at the heart of the business. This is a response to hazards which may be diverse or varied (unavailability of an employee, traffic jams, weather, technical incident, etc…) in order to maintain a flawless quality of service.
The traceability of trade and share data is also important when it comes to dealing with appeals or protests. Furthermore, the rising costs of fuel differs according to country and where competition is difficult, unified communications are an asset to increase operational efficiency within the field to centralize and archive trades.

Services: Retail

The challenge of big chain-stores, supermarkets and shopping centers is to have the right products, at the right price, at the right time. Supplier relationships, purchases, management of stock, management of personnel and associated processes are at the center of the daily challenges of these brands.
Unified communications, integrated into IT systems (CRM, SRM, ERP, Telecom, etc) is therefore a major component in order to improve decision-making, reduce execution time and reduce telecommunication costs overall.

Management / Civil Services

Management is so diverse and varied just as the civil services are numerous. The difficulty lies in the variety of services offered, the variety of managed facilities and bringing about overall coherence. They commit to many sites; fixed and nomadic users, developing services day by day that affect the social, health, security, finance and a range of other sectors.
Each administration must control its defenses whilst modernizing its equipment and organization to meet government requirements.
Unified communication within the public services meets the challenge of heterogeneity, which requires control and modernization of the defenses as well as efficiency within the organization. Given the very specific character linked to each administration, the relationship of trust is for NEC, historically present in this sector, a key asset for putting in place, step by step, a global unified communications solution.

Unified Communications