I initially thought that this was a good read. I saw the link of this article posted in 1 of the UC groups in LinkedIn and I thought it is a good article to share.

Link: http://advice.cio.com/christopheperetou/best_practices_for_a_successful_unified_communications_implementation

Best Practices for a Successful Unified Communications Implementation

POSTED BY: christopheperetou in Best Practices TOPIC: Enterprise Management COMMENTS: 0

Unified Communications (UC) can yield significant benefits for any organization by boosting employee productivity and responsiveness. However, implementing UC can entail some significant challenges. Here are some UC best practices for achieving optimal results:

• Assembling the Team
Gather the right project team to take a technical inventory to define the teams’ functional, operational and human requirements. The team should be selected based on their ability to achieve UC milestones as well as their ability to manage service providers and train end users on the use of UC tools.

• Analyzing Legacy Infrastructure
Take an inventory of existing architecture including WAN capacity, types of email solutions being used, the use of LDAP directory, the configuration of workstations, security policies and the impact that any large scale IT initiatives may have on UC.

• Establishing Requirements
Establish a roadmap, a key reference document for the project. This involves selecting UC platforms that integrate smoothly with legacy applications. Bear in mind that UC must accommodate communications from inside and outside the company. Mobility of users and interactions over the Internet must be taken into consideration.

• Analyzing and Planning Usage
Analyze and plan for the various channels of communication that will be used. VoIP will require special attention as it is the most commonly used UC tool and will have the greatest impact on overall network performance.

• Monitoring & Controls for WAN Performance
A solution for network visibility and traffic control must be in place to ensure that all network applications continue to perform well despite the increased demand that UC will place on a company’s limited bandwidth. Only with the proper network visibility, prioritization and controls in place can the full benefits of UC be achieved.