Not really news, but certainly news to me is the realization that managing large numbers of mobile UC devices is a lot different than managing a large number of desktop IP phones. Sure, the IP phones are from time to time disconnected and moved around the office so that the cubicle users can go to a conference room to take a private call from their sickly mother while at work, for example. But for the most part, IP phones don’t move very far from where they were first installed.
With mobile UC clients on mobile phones however, they move around as intended. They also get dropped, tossed into toilets (usually not on purpose), stolen and otherwise reconfigured into nonsense. One vendor cleverly calls this problem ‘configuration drift’.
We will have to manage these devices and there will be benefits to doing so. Our review of the Odyssey Software Athena client proves that the benefits are quite real. Benefits like capturing call and messaging logs so that they can be aggregated and presented to a mobile operator as part of the price negotiations the enterprise telecom (now wireless) manager can begin to entertain with their favorite (or less favorite but more responsive) mobile operator. Benefits like faster and more pleasant support interactions with features like remote device emulation where the IT professional can control the mobile device in your hand, from their computer console.
What support features do the various mobile UC vendors currently support, and what features will they begin to offer in the coming releases?
