Datasheet

Cisco Preferred Architecture for
Midmarket Collaboration PAGE 5
Introduction
Introduction
In recent years, many new collaborative tools have been introduced to the market, enabling organizations to extend
collaboration outside the walls of their businesses. Providing access to collaborative tools for employees outside the office
is no longer a luxury; it is mandatory for businesses to stay relevant in today’s market. Today’s users expect immediate
access to these tools from a wide variety of portable and mobile devices. Many of these same tools can be extended to
customers and partners, helping strengthen these relationships.
Organizations realize the added value that collaboration applications bring to their businesses through increased
employee productivity and enhanced customer relationships. Not long ago, interoperability among collaboration
applications was sparse, and applications were difficult to deploy and use. Since then, significant advances have been
made in the collaboration space, simplifying deployment, improving interoperability, and enhancing the overall user
experience. Additionally, individuals have adopted a wide variety of smart phones, social media, and collaboration
applications in their personal lives.
Organizations can now feel comfortable providing collaboration applications that employees will quickly adopt and that
provide maximum value. These new collaboration tools enhance an organization’s overall business processes, make its
employees more productive, and open the door to new and innovative ways for communicating with business partners
and customers. Today’s collaboration solutions offer organizations the ability to integrate video, audio, and web
participants into a single, unified meeting experience.
Technology Use Cases
Organizations want to streamline their business processes, optimize employee productivity, and enhance relationships
with partners and customers. The Cisco Preferred Architecture (PA) for Midmarket Collaboration delivers capabilities that
enable organizations to realize immediate gains in productivity and enhanced relationships. Additionally, the following
technology use cases offer organizations opportunities to develop new, advanced business processes that deliver even
more value in these areas:
•
Consolidate communications infrastructure — Bring together voice, video, and data into a single IP network to
simplify management and support effective communications.
•
Incorporate video into meetings — Improve communications, relationships, and productivity by making it easier to
meet face-to-face over distance.
•
Extend telephony with video — Facilitate face-to-face video communications directly from end-user phones or
softphone applications.
•
Support teleworkers and branch offices — Let employees work from multiple locations, whether satellite offices,
home offices, or when traveling.
•
Collaborate with external organizations — Easily share information, interact in real time, and communicate using
technologies beyond email and telephone.
•
Create flexible work areas and office spaces — Scale office space and create work areas that foster employee
inclusiveness, collaboration, innovation, and teamwork.
•
Deploy a Unified Communications architecture — Provide the entire global organization with a single
communications tool set for all users.
Information about Cisco Collaboration Technologies and use cases is available on Cisco.com.