by Ed Mass

For companies to increase their competitiveness, they must examine their voice, data, and video communications as strategic resources for creating competitive advantages. As with microcomputers, the costs for equipment and services related to communications are rapidly falling. At the same time, functions and capabilities are rapidly increasing. Computer and telephone technologies are merging and blending into a smoothly integrated system.

Cost effective voice, data, and video communications technologies are merging, opening new opportunities for conducting your business, and forging computer telephone integration. Strategies for using these technologies can attain the following business benefits: improved customer service; shortened customer response time; more timely information provided directly to the customer; decreased expenses; greater efficiency through electronic interactions with suppliers and customers; shortened design, manufacturing, and delivery times; increased productivity; and enhanced internal communications.

Restructuring Your Thinking

As prices for communications services and equipment have dropped, their capabilities have expanded at a rapid pace. New communications technologies are causing a restructuring of the way business is conducted. In this climate, companies must realize that restructuring is continual and inevitable — the question isn’t “do you change” but “how do you change?” How do you restructure to increase your competitive position?

Often new technologies are first justified by cost savings resulting from doing the same tasks in a new way, or by making improvements for the same cost as the original tasks. But change also means that new ways of conducting business can lead to increasing revenue from current sources and creating entirely new sources of revenue.

Using communications technologies, businesses of all sizes are able to compete by eliminating distance and time. Creating a “seamless” office with locations across the country or around the world can easily be implemented. The seamless office is one in which multiple locations are integrated. Picking up the phone at a remote site acts just like picking up a phone right in the main office. All the functions and capabilities are the same. An outside call to the main office is routed to an individual extension in the remote office just as if it was located in the main office.

With downsizing and reduction of overhead, telecommuting is increasing. The “virtual office” is becoming a greater reality. People are working out of their homes, cars, and on the road locations, in their “virtual offices”, just as if they were sitting in their company’s physical office. Your goal should be to discover how the above technologies are used to create the “seamless office” and the “virtual office” and the advantages they offer you.

From Operational Necessity to Strategic Resource

When a business adopts an attitude of viewing communications as a resource, it takes on a new view of itself and its industry. This new world view allows a thinking process to create competitive advantages and leave other firms playing “catch up.” It allows communications to move from being used simply operationally, i.e. “keeping up”, to being used strategically, as illustrated in the following progression:

• Operational needs — control costs to keep up with customers and internal operations
• Defensive positioning — match the competition
• Competitive advantage — create an edge
• Change the rules — develop a new way of viewing and conducting business that creates a new paradigm for the industry. (Changing the rules is rare but powerful when it can be accomplished.)

Consider your business: Who within your organization looks at communications from the above viewpoint? Who will take your organization from “operational needs” to a “change the rules” position?

The Case for a CCO

It is all too common that an individual is given telecommunications responsibilities as an adjunct to their primary duties. This often means secondary status for these responsibilities. The telecommunications systems are viewed as simply a cost for a necessity rather than a strategic resource. In addition, the data communications manager is often looking at the company’s needs completely independently of the telecommunications manager. These two individuals often operate separately and from different perspectives. Hence, there’s no integration between their strategies and goals.

To address this problem, I propose the creation of a CCO, Chief Communications Officer. The CCO would be the catalyst for integrating voice, data, and video communications solutions. This individual would be instrumental in formulating an action plan for people, processes, and technologies related to communications. Now before you moan about another position, especially with all the cost controls, consider the critical need for this individual and an alternative to having an in-house person.

Let’s combine the concepts discussed so far: Business benefits can only be attained by 1) the people within an organization using the internal processes and 2) using the processes for communications between a business and its customers, all of which are created from an optimized implementation of the voice, data, and video technologies. In looking at the relationships between people, processes and technologies, you’ll find three situations in implementing communications strategies:

• In some cases, the communications technologies will be transparent to the people using them.
• In other situations, the people will need training in order to maximize their use.
• Lastly, people may need to learn different ways of doing their jobs to maximize the business benefits.

Consider an option to assigning an internal CCO. For small and medium organizations, as well as larger organizations that are outsourcing, an outside consultant can act as an internal CCO. A good consultant will become familiar with your business and, with their understanding of communications technologies, will be a strategic partner. In either case, this individual must be proactive in keeping the organization current with today’s benefits as well as planning for tomorrow’s enhancements. Technologies that didn’t exist just a few years ago have come into being. Others that were leading edge just a few years ago are now commercially available and cost effective. The CCO must bring together your voice and data communications people to maximize efficiencies, lower your costs, and think strategically about your business.

Move Ahead of the Pack

Challenges and opportunities are presented by new technologies. When you’re driving in your car and rapidly change acceleration, you feel a “jerk” on your whole body. That’s what many individuals feel by the rapid changes in communications and computer technologies. The companies that will thrive are the ones that take advantage of the changes to create competitive advantages and leave their competition “in their dust.”