OpenTouch™ Conversation software helps enterprises unify their communications capabilities while taking advantage of the fast-growing 'bring your own device' to work trend
Paris, March 26, 2012 - New software from Alcatel-Lucent
(Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is to give businesses the
ability to make it as easy for their employees to shift
between different types of business communications services -
instant messaging, data sharing, voice calls and video
collaboration - without interrupting their conversations.
With the fast-growing 'bring your own device' trend of employees using personal devices for work applications, Alcatel-Lucent's OpenTouch™ Conversation software will deliver all of these services to employees' personal devices, including smart phones and tablets. A recent study from IDG Connect indicated that 91% of business and IT professionals worldwide were using their iPad in some capacity for work communication.
By 'handing off' a conversation from platform to platform,
OpenTouch Conversation (OTC) will enable enterprises to
give employees the freedom to seamlessly start a voice call
on an office phone, move the conversation to a video
conference on a PC or tablet and then conclude it on a mobile
phone.
Employees will no longer have to hang up and redial as they
switch between devices coming into or out of the office or
make special arrangements to have a video call. OTC
also makes it possible to quickly and easily add participants
to the conversation or collaboration session. The end result
is more efficient, more effective and more collaborative
conversations across the enterprise.
OTC is an interactive software application, or interface,
which builds upon the company's leading-edge
OpenTouch™ communications platform. Designed for multiple
platforms, the first release of OTC supports iPad, runs over
Wi-Fi and 3G networks. A simple-to-use user interface is
intuitive and engaging for employees, while offering the
levels of security and ease of management that IT managers
expect.
Brian Riggs, research director at Current Analysis: "IT
departments are under increasing pressure to let end users
access corporate resources from the mobile devices of their
choosing. When it comes to unified communications (UC) and
collaboration software, this means making telephony, video
conferencing and other UC features available on personal,
rather than company-issued, devices. OpenTouch Conversation
will help Alcatel-Lucent's OpenTouch architecture become a
catalyst for UC adoption."
Alcatel-Lucent has worked to make OpenTouch Conversation a
user-friendly interface that looks and acts the same across
all device screens. On screen an employee can see a
graphical timeline of recent, current and future
conversations, pictures of their current key contacts and a
"stage" where their current conversation(s) takes place.
Real-time rich presence information about availability of
other people that can be added to conversations is displayed
so the status of all concerned is immediately visible.
Eric Penisson, vice president and general manager of
Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Communications business said: "The
genius behind OpenTouch Conversation is that it leverages the
power of smart devices and reconciles all the modes of
communication in one place in an intuitive, easy-to-use
interface. This new communications breakthrough pushes
the evolution of unified communications and 'bring your own
device'. With OpenTouch Conversation's outstanding
approach, employees will be able to get much more out of
their tablet or smart phone."
While the first iteration of OTC will support iPad, the most
popular tablet device being used in enterprises today, OTC
will soon support multiple platforms including Windows and
MacOS, Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Microsoft
smartphones.
With this announcement, Alcatel-Lucent continues to expand its efforts to create a secure and innovative enterprise environment that advances BYOD (bring your own device).OTC is currently undergoing field testing. Enterprises will be able to begin deploying OTC in June, 2012.
distributed by | This press release was issued by Alcatel-Lucent SA and was initially posted at http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd4x3tXDUL8h2VAQ AURh_Yw!!?LMSG_CABINET=Docs_and_Resource_Ctr&LMSG_CONTENT_FILE=News_Releases_2012/News_Article_00261 1.xml . It was distributed, unedited and unaltered, by noodls on 2012-03-26 17:32:02 PM. The issuer is solely responsible for the accuracy of the information contained therein. |