Triple Play is the ability for a Carrier/Service Provider to deliver Telephony, High Speed Internet and Interactive TV services to a residential customer over a broadband connection. The residential customer gets the benefits of a bundled solution together with Interactive TV services, which allow him/her to view the content at the desired time. |
Triple Play is the ability for a Carrier/Service Provider to deliver Telephony, High Speed Internet and Interactive TV services to a residential customer over a broadband connection. The residential customer gets the benefits of a bundled solution together with Interactive TV services, which allow him/her to view the content at the desired time.
Enterprise Triple Play is the ability for an organization to deliver Voice, Data and Video services to users’ desktops. IP Telephony and collaboration applications are part of it and are the first wave. Video services such as e-Learning, e-Marketing and IP Video conferencing are the second wave.
Companies’ business processes can expect significant improvement with Enterprise Triple Play. In 50% of cases, employees need to speak to a colleague prior to making a decision, according to research firm Gartner. Another study highlighted that employees have a tendency to interact together within a 30meter radius. Interactions with people outside of this 30meter radius are much less frequent.
Business processes require user interaction for decision-making. Enterprise Triple-Play services like collaboration, IP videoconferencing, and so on, encourage and facilitate interactions, which in turn translates into speed for the organization.
Enterprise Triple Play is about delivering IP based applications to users, including IP Telephony and IP collaboration. IP Call Servers and IP SoftSwitches will ultimately replace traditional TDM Telephones systems (Enterprise PABX and the Carrier Public switch). In the short term enterprises with IP-enabled PABX may be able to deliver IP Telephony to their users. One thing is sure – enterprises investing in a new Telephone system today, should definitely evaluate IP-Telephony to future proof their investment. Buying a pure PABX would greatly limit flexibility, mobility and team collaboration in the years to come.
The Two Waves of Triple-Play Services
Triple-Play services will come in two waves. Enterprises will first deploy Voice services and related communication applications – IP Telephony, Unified Communication, Collaboration tools – to their users. Enterprises will then look for the second wave of business productivity by adding video services. One of the Video services will be IP videoconferencing. Teams will be able to engage in a collaboration session inclusive of video with just a few mouse-clicks. But the main growth for video, according to Gartner, will be for e-Learning and e-Marketing. Employees will be able to watch the company’s announcements and be trained on-line. Companies will also use Video significantly to promote/demo their products over the Internet.
Video Servers in the Data Center will deliver IP-TV, Video broadcasting and Video on demand over the LAN. Technology has really improved; users can access these video applications through their browsers, which greatly simplify IT administration (no need to install software clients in each desktop). Applications like Video Furnace are an example of Video service distribution in the Education sector.
Factors Determining Successful Use of Triple Play
- First companies should ensure they have the right LAN infrastructure in place to be able to deploy Enterprise Triple Play services over the next few years. For example, some organizations in Asia invested in IP Telephony only to realise that their existing network was not ready for it.
- Business processes will be shortened if Enterprise Triple-Play services are widely used by employees. But deploying the required infrastructure and applications is not enough. Strong Senior Management support and User acceptance are critical. The Project Team within the enterprise will need to train and supervise users in the initial phase when the new applications are used.
Key Drivers for Adoption
A number of drivers are expected to encourage companies to deploy Enterprise Triple-Play. Typically organizations with offices in multiple locations and having Mobile employees will benefit the most. Some of the key drivers for adoption include:
- Requirement to lower telephony costs due to mobile employees or office-to-office communication.
- Making employees more easily reachable by their clients and the office.
- Need to improve Team collaboration and overcome geographical constraints.
- Reducing travel costs for meetings and Training sessions (eLearning).
The beauty about Enterprise Triple Play is that the user still has Real Time communication applications like IP Telephony available. Things are not going to move to email and chat overnight. Because Asians have a strong sense of personal relationships, it is possible that they may not jump on Video Conferencing as aggressively as the west as an alternative to cut down travel related costs. Ultimately the desire to stay competitive and cost effective will also encourage this mode of collaboration.
Brian Witt is Director of Product Marketing at the Network Infrastructure Business Unit with-in Alcatel’s Enterprise Solutions Division. Brian oversees the launch of new products, partnership programs and web tools. Prior to product marketing, Brian oversaw Alcatel’s workgroup LAN switching portfolio and he continues to collaborate on Alcatel’s enterprise data strategy with a focus on product directions for availability, security and network management. |
