IST-CNS Unified Communications

Unified Communications Business Model

Executive Summary

Communication and Network Services, a department of Information Systems and Technology, is testing and implementing a Unified Communications solution for the U C Berkeley campus, to begin in the spring of 2002. Unified Communications can be defined as access anytime, anywhere, via any communications device. This includes features like single-number reach services, presence management, on-demand conference calling and access to a single inbox containing email, voicemail, fax, video and page messages. Unified Communications will be a new service, offered on top of CNS's core service offerings. The Unified Communications service will enable Berkeley's faculty, staff and students to communicate anywhere, anytime, anyway!

Case model

What behaviors will Unified Communications support?

Designed to unify and simplify the various methods of communications in use today - including email, voicemail, fax, and video messages - the CNS Unified Communications solution combines unified messaging, advanced call management, personal information management and notification features into one Unified Communications framework that is accessible from any device - the web, wireless internet devices, desktop device and phone. Unified Communications allows the consumer to not only manage messages, but manage communications. Unified Communications is both network- and device-agnostic, scales from dozens to thousands of members, provides a medium-independent representation of information and can seamlessly incorporate new technologies as they emerge.

Everyone today has multiple phones and devices. We're all users of multiple networks - fixed, Internet, cable, satellite. Unified Communications is the tool for bringing them all together.

Unified Communications enables you to become geographically independent. You no longer have to wait by the phone for that important call. Or stand by the fax machine because your boss said she "just sent" an important fax that needs immediate attention. Unified Communications allows you to send/receive communications from any location, using any device.

A unified mailbox is really just the small repository piece of a broad, active system that actively routes and handles all of your communication interactions.

Unified Communications broadens the view of what constitutes a "message". Increasingly, "messages" are sent not by people, but by processes and software agents. A student can be notified instantly when a class spot becomes available and he can register for the class through his wireless device. A lab technician can be notified of the results when her spectrometer analysis is finished. A faculty member can send an instant message that a class has been moved to a new location due to a building evacuation.

Unified Communications service provides:

Unified in-box. The service provides integrated message notification, which allows consumers to receive all their messages in a single mailbox, regardless of how the message was originally sent. When you return to your office, instead of checking your new email on your desktop and your new voice mail on your phone and your new faxes on the fax machine, you can check all of your new messages in one place: either the phone, the desktop, or your wireless device.
Ubiquitous communications. The Unified Communications service enables consumers to send, receive and manage a variety of message types from virtually any communications device. For example, you can listen to an email through the telephone. Or reply to a voice mail from your desktop computer.
Convenient call return. Unified Communications will enable you to return a call from a message, either voice mail message or email message. Unified Communications allows the user to determine the method used to return a call.
Single-number reach services. Also known as find-me / follow-me service. Callers can dial one phone number and, depending on where you have configured that phone to be forwarded, you can be reached whether you're at your desk or at an alternate location.
Personal phone number: This is an expansion of the single-number reach service. A person (student, faculty, staff) would receive a phone number upon joining the campus community and would retain that phone number throughout their campus tour. The option exists for people to retain the personal phone number for life. This will take more study to determine if this fits in with the University mission.
Call screening capabilities. This allows you to see or hear who is calling. You can then accept the call, forward the call to voice mail, or forward the call to another person who can better assist the caller - all before the call is answered from the caller's perspective.
Filtering for relevant content. Relevant content is content explicitly desired by and expected by the consumer. "High relevancy" content is considered personalized information created by users themselves for themselves, such as calendaring events, address book entries, personal communications and other personal information. Other kinds of relevant content is based upon importance of the senders/originators of the information to the user, such as messages sent by business colleagues, family and friends. You may not want to listen to all of your email messages through the phone; you can filter the messages so that only certain types of messages (by sender, by date, by key words, etc.) will be read.
Notification. You may want to be notified when a certain message is received (by sender, by date, by key words, etc.). Unified Communications allows you to send/receive notifications to any phone, wireless device, pager, email or fax. Unified Communications can also initiate reminder calls.
Presence and availability management allows subscribers to let others know where they are or their availability status.
Other value-added services: Short messaging services allow subscribers to send and receive short messages through their mobile, interactive devices. Voice activated services, which allow subscribers to place calls and navigate their mailbox utilizing voice commands. Conference-call initiation. Fax-, voice- and email-broadcasting are available to reach a large number of users at once. Fax- and audio-on-demand services can allow customers to receive the information with minimal intervention from a person. The capabilities of Unified Communications are endless.

Content Model

How does unified communications fit into the University of California, Berkeley environment?

UC Berkeley already offers some of the features available in a Unified Communications system. Information System and Technology offers free email to all students, faculty and staff. Communication and Network Services offers dial-tone and voice mail to the faculty, staff and some affiliates. Communication and Network Services offers dial-tone to residence hall students. A Unified Communications system will integrate the disparate systems, enhancing the functionality of each. A customer will be able hear email read to her over the phone and listen to her voice mail through her desktop computer. A Unified Communications system will enable the campus to offer new services: fax services, single-number reach, call conferencing. The META Group predicts that 75% of the workforce will be mobile at least 25% of the time by 2003-4. Unified Communications is the powerful tool to drive productivity for this growing mobile workforce.

Business process model

How will Unified Communications get done at UC Berkeley? Business process, roles/departments involved, how will data flow between them?

There are five affected business processes:

Account provisioning (set-up, change, delete)
Billing for services
User assistance
Software and hardware administration
Infrastructure monitoring and maintenance

Establishing accounts will be done in real-time by the customer through a web page. The customer will need to obtain a valid employee ID, student ID, or Campus Accounts Receivable billing ID before establishing a Unified Communications Account. Unified Communications will also be services offered in the Communication and Network Services shopping cart system. Account setup assistance will continue to be provided by User and Account Services. In an ASP-model, this service could be outsourced to the vendor.

Billing for Unified Communication services will be done through the Communication and Network Services telemanagement system. This system can currently charge to the campus general ledger system, the Campus Accounts Receivable System, or to inter-campus accounts. Unified Communications monthly service charges, one-time charges and Unified Communications phone usage will be processed through the CNS system.

As a central campus service, Unified Communications trouble calls would be served by the general campus trouble number 642-4920. Problems would be escalated as appropriate. In an ASP-model, this service could be outsourced to the vendor.

Unified Communications will be a new service supported by IS&T, providing user assistance to students, faculty, staff and affiliates. This could be structured separately as it is now (uclink help, socrates help, email help, PC help, etc) or restructured. Support structure will be determined during the project pilots. In an ASP-model, this service could be outsourced to the vendor.

Communication and Network Services and Central Computing Services will perform software, hardware and infrastructure monitoring and maintenance. This structure will be determined during the project pilots. In an ASP-model, this service could be outsourced to the vendor.

Each of these units are departments within Information Systems and Technology. They have a long history of working together to provide solutions to the Berkeley campus and we expect that working relationship to continue.

Technical inquiries: unibears-website@lists.berkeley.edu

Created on: December 18, 2001
Last revised: May 11, 2005

Executive Summary

Case model

Content Model

Business process model

Business case

Project Plan

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Promotion Plan