Tablets at Work - Beyond BYOD

One of my many writing hats is a monthly column I started this year for TMCnet's flagship publication, Internet Telephony magazine. My column is called Rethinking Communications, and you can probably guess what I'm writing about from the title. Better yet, read 'em all, and if there's a topic you'd like me to explore, let me know. As Obama said last night, it's all about you - I'm here to serve, so your ideas are always welcome.

The September print edition is out now, and the digital version just went online yesterday, so if it's not in your mailbox, you can just click here to read it now. This month's focus is on BYOD and the broader implications for both IT and the business overall. It's a messy challenge for sure, but businesses have to embrace it unless you have no intention of ever giving up your rotary or touchtone phones. Going the other way, if you've adopted BYOD without skipping a beat, I'm sure a lot of readers here would love to know how you did it, so don't be shy.

ShoreTel Investor Day 2012 - takeaways and photos

My travels took me to San Francisco on Wednesday for ShoreTel's Investor Day event. Held primarily for financial analysts, a few industry analysts were invited, including myself. It was a great opportunity to hear from the management teams of both ShoreTel and their recent acquisition, M5 Networks.

I posted about this deal recently, and pulled a new set of thoughts together based on what we were hearing on Wednesday. That missive is running now on UCStrategies, and is part of my regular monthly contribution to the UCStrategies community.

Aside from that, thought I'd share a few photos from the event, which was held at AT&T Park, home of the SF Giants, who happen to be a ShoreTel customer. The weather was pretty dreary, but otherwise, I'd say this worked out pretty well all around. Enjoy...

ShoreTel CEO Peter Blackmore kicking things off...



M5 CEO Dan Hoffman doing the same - as per the really cool graphic above him - yeah, he's pretty much hitting it out of the park in terms of having built the cloud model into a successful business over the past 10 years.


Ok, now look carefully - I'm only going to tell you this once. This was during their demo showing seamless 4 digit PBX calling integration with an iPhone. They've got this trick figured out pretty well, but how about what's going on with the IP phone?

If you look closely, you'll see it's a Cisco phone - fair enough, since that's the standard endpoint M5 supports with their customers. However, now that they're here with ShoreTel, the branding needs to be updated, since these are now ShoreTel apps. So, as explained, this was the world's first example of a ShoreTel app running over a Cisco phone. Cool, huh? Maybe a sign of where the market is going? Time will tell...



Ok, these updates were really interesting guys, but hey, the rain has stopped, and being a die-hard Red Sox fan, c'mon, let's get to the fun stuff - the ballpark tour.

So, channel your inner child - you're 7, and your Dad is taking you to your first MLB game. Is there anything more exciting and awesome than emerging from the tunnel and the incredible anticipation of seeing the baseball field explode into full green glory for the first time??? Not a chance. This is probably the first time you've realized that TV is cool, but can't hold a candle to being there in person. Can you think of a more all-American memory seared into your brain? I can't.

This was a halfway experience since the ballpark was empty, and not even groomed for baseball. Still pretty cool, though. I'm in my sixth decade of taking in games at Fenway, so nothing new here, but it took me back to my one and only time seeing the old Yankee Stadium - during a Dialogic event in 2008. I had the same 7 year old flashback there too, so if you want to compare photos, here you go.



It's not everyday you get to wander along the warning track of an empty ballpark, so I took full advantage.


The bullpen phone in the dugout - not very sophisticated, but probably gets the job done. Memo to ShoreTel and M5 - this setup shouldn't be too hard to improve on, right guys?



This was fun - the telecom room deep in the bowels of the building. Don't worry folks, this isn't what they use today - it's what they used to use, and now it just sits idle against this wall. Pretty graphic reminder about how telecom has evolved, and I'm sure ShoreTel has done a good job reminding the Giants about how their Brilliantly Simple solutions are a big improvement.

MobileMonday Toronto - Feb. 6 - You There?

Just a friendly shout-out for this event before I head off to Miami on Monday for the ITExpo. On Monday, Feb. 6, I'll be moderating the "Meet the Analysts" event at MobileMonday Toronto. It's part of a regular series held at the MaRS facility downtown, which is probably Canada's leading business incubator, especially for technology and health sciences startups.

This will be a fun panel, as we'll share our views on the outlook for mobility in 2012, with a particular focus on how the financial sector sees this space. Joining me will be buddy Ronald Gruia from my alum Frost & Sullivan, and Mike Abramsky from RBC Equity Research. Don't worry, it's free! Registrations have been strong, but there's still room, so it's not too late. Plus, if you're going to MWC, this will be a great networking event to get caught up on where mobility is going.

Metaswitch Forum revisited - a different take on UC

I tend to think differently than most about communications technologies, and hopefully that's a good thing. I'd like to believe that's what my clients think, right?

As you may know, I participated earlier this month at Metaswitch Forum, and in an earlier post shared my overall takeaways. Today, though, I'm honing in on UC.

This is the focus of my October contribution to the UCStrategies portal, and I came away from Metaswitch with some concerns that mobility's wake may push UC off course. For vendors who can readily ride this wave, they should be fine - but others may have a harder time going with the flow. I think there are some important trends emerging here, and for my take on what it could mean for UC, I welcome you to read my analysis, which is posted now on the UCStrategies portal.

Mobile Unified Communications - Another Variation

My latest UCStrategies contribution is running now on the portal, and the focus is mobile UC.

This all started with a briefing I had recently with an Irish company called Openmind Networks. They have a pretty distinct offering built around messaging, and it got me to thinking this could serve as another flavor of UC. To find out more, please read the article, and if I've done my job, then you'll reach the same conclusion too.

Rogers Launches New SMB WiFi Service

Interesting launch today from Rogers here in Toronto. You don't usually associate wireless business services with cable companies, but Rogers is no ordinary cable company. They've long been one of Canada's major cable operators, but they got in the mobile game very early, and are #1 up here. Cable is a regional business by nature, but wireless gives them a national footprint, and that's where things get interesting for SMBs. The business market has always been the last great frontier for cablecos, and if you can't get in the door with wireline data and voice, wireless is the next best thing. Rogers has always been on the front end of the curve, and today's news is more of the same.

So, the new service is called WiFi Calling for Business. Rogers may be a tech innovator, but they could use a bit more creativity with their branding. Am not a big fan of their TV spots either, but that's another conversation. Anyhow, the name says it all, so I'm pretty much done. Sort of.

You may be wondering why a mobile operator is offering WiFi for their business customers. It's no accident that the incumbent telcos were the very last ones to offer VoIP - why kill the golden goose of legacy telephony? Clearly, market dynamics are changing quickly, and all carriers know that all voice will eventually be some variation of VoIP running over a data network. Rogers is simply being proactive here, and making sure they keep as big a share of wallet as possible with their business customers - most of whom are SMBs.

Basically, the service allows subscribers to keep their mobile calls going when moving out of network coverage by automatically switching over to WiFi. It's a pretty handy service, especially since the UMA software is embedded in the smartphone, and subscribers don't need any downloads or upgrades - they just need to be on the Rogers network. Not only does it keep your calls live when going in and out of places like elevators, office towers and garages, but it lowers your telecom costs by routing LD calls over less expensive WiFi networks.

Of course Rogers wants to maximize wireless revenues and usage potential among subscribers, and this service will definitely help do that. More important in my mind is the bigger overall trend toward mobility, which is where so much of our communications usage is going. Rogers is simply making it easier for SMBs to do that, and for now, they're the only ones in Canada who can offer this service. Just like they had an early monopoly with the iPhone, Rogers is first to market here, and like you, I'll be keen to see what the takeup rate is.

If you want to know more about WiFi Calling for Business, I can show you - and tell you with two links:

- today's press release

- RedBoard Biz - their SMB community blog, featuring a post from Duane MacDonald, and a 3 minute video interview with me, conducted by Miranda MacDonald. I should add that RedBoard, the host of the RedBoard Biz blog was 1 year old the day we did this shoot, so a belated happy birthday!

Tru - Making Mobility More Affordable

My latest Brief is running now on Focus.com. It's based on Truphone - a company I've followed for some time, and a briefing I had with them last week about how/why they recently re-branded themselves as Tru.

From the beginning, they've been disrupting the status quo in mobility, and under the Tru moniker, they're taking this to a new level. I welcome you to read this Brief to get my thoughts on why they're doing this and what Tru brings to make life easier for SMBs and international travelers.

Videotron Goes Mobile - Finally, Some Real Competition

Been totally backed up today, but I feel it's important to comment on yesterday's mobile launch from Videotron. I was all primed to be on the analyst call yesterday, but for some unexplained technical glitches I was blocked out and missed it. The window has since closed for me to comment in near real-time, but I did want to add a few thoughts while it's still relatively fresh.

The main thing I want to say - and haven't been hearing from others - is that Videotron is finally bringing some real competition to the Canadian wireless market. We all know how successful and disruptive they've been with VoIP in Quebec, and I think the same thing will happen here with wireless.

There's a lot to like about this news - unless you're Bell. First, this is the first major wireless play from a cableco since the AWS auction, so now we're seeing competition from a different side of the market. Of course Rogers is a cableco, and they're the #1 wireless provider in Canada - how cool is that? - but they've been in this from the beginning, and are really an incumbent for mobility. Shaw is actually Canada's largest cableco, and they've been biding their time for wireless. Am sure they want to see how Videotron does first, since they both are in similar positions in terms of what they can bring to market.

Another first of note is Android. Videotron is first to market to support an Android device - HTC. That will also be interesting to follow. They don't have the iPhone yet, but I don't think that's going to hurt them too much.

It's also worth adding that Videotron's launch is totally different from all the other new entries, which are built 100% around breaking into this market. They have to live and die by stealing subscribers with low priced plans or bottom feeding from first time wireless users who don't have much money to spend. In my view, there's zero innovation or disruption here aside from some short term pricing strategies to grab the low hanging fruit. But that's a treadmill with no loyalty - or contracts to keep customers from jumping to the next deal that comes along as they price shop at all those kiosks in the malls.

By its nature, Videotron has much more to offer, and they're chasing an entirely different piece of the market. First and foremost, mobility strenghtens the bundle to keep existing subscribers from running to Bell or Rogers. Secondly, they have what I think is the real differentiator - content. Videotron - more so its parent, Quebecor, is a media company. They're not in the telephony business, and their entry into mobility is not about voice. I've been writing about the post-AWS space a fair bit, and I've been saying from Day 1 what most people are just saying now.

Videotron doesn't really have to make its money on selling voice plans. Long term, it's all about data services and content. Mobility is really just another - and sexier - channel for their vast empire of content. Not just any content, btw. Sure, they have lots of mainstream stuff that everyone likes - but the real value of course is French language content. If you don't know the cultural landscape up here, you need to understand how important this is in Quebec. Videotron is a homegrown favorite, and you can be sure interest for this type of content will be off the charts. I don't think they'll run into pricing issues around this - they'll probably be more concerned that the network can hold up and meet demand.

Bell will really have its hands full now, and the more successful Videotron becomes, the more confident Shaw will be about their plans to go up against Telus out west. This type of competition is SO much more interesting than what the pureplays are trying to do, and with flanker brands like Chatr from Rogers coming to further clutter up the market, I just don't see these players having a sustained impact. For my money, as I've been saying all along, Videotron is the one to watch, and I'm sure Telus will be taking good notes to prepare for what's coming their way when Shaw is ready to go.

Wind Mobile - Wireless Competition comes Canada

Mobile competition came to Canada last week, and there are more questions than answers. No doubt the market could stand some competition, and the federal government has gone to great lengths to make sure that happens. I have long contended that the economics are not workable, but now billions of dollars have been sunk into creating a new set of operators who are chasing the few million people who haven't gone mobile yet, as well as the zero sum game of stealing subscribers from the incumbents.

It's too late to turn back, and with last week's surprise news from Industry Canada, Globalive's Wind Mobile service has been allowed to launch. They've gambled big time and done a of things to look and act like an operator in anticipation of a favorable ruling - hiring staff, building kiosks, erecting statues, etc. - and now they can finally be one. I still have a sneaking feeling that something isn't quite right in how they got the green light, but they're here, and the market can finally decide with their wallets if it's time for a change.

There's a lot of fat to chew on here, but I'll save that until the early results are in. Until then, here's a good starting point - an article from Friday's ITWorldCanada that included some comments from me.

There's a pretty major shopping center in my neighborhood, and here's what the Wind Mobile kiosk looks like:



Pretty good crowd, and after a few visits over the weekend walking by, you can quickly gauge the type of customer they're attracting. Mind you, it's not always this busy. I walked by at 3pm this afternoon, and it looked like this:



Sure, you can argue it's mid-week, mid-afternoon. However, it's Christmas week and school's out. Sorry, but I would have expected a bit more than this. Anyhow, if Wind is new to you, here's the basic story. They've come to market with a basic value proposition - simple plans, simple service, great prices. Fair enough - they've done tons of research to validate this, so it must be true, right? We all want these things, no doubt, but whether it's a strong enough pitch to win over the market, only time will tell.

If you're looking for this kind of plan, sure, Wind is a great deal. And I have no doubt they'll capture a decent share of the market. However, they're not alone. This is basically a prepaid service, and all 3 incumbents have well-established budget brands that cater to this market - Koodo (Telus), Fido (Rogers), and Solo (Bell). Makes you wonder why Globalive didn't keep the same theme and called their service Wino - then again, maybe not.

As prepaid plans go, they have lots of appealing packages and features - feel free to review them at their website - however, I'm not interested in those details. Give or take, prepaid is prepaid, and I don't really see that much here to get excited about. The service will be appealing to first-time mobile users, but so will the incumbent's budget brands, which have far more visibility. Fido built its base around this market, and long term, it's a tough haul to make money. Since there are no contracts, you have to buy the phone up front, and given how price conscious the prepaid market is, they'll probably be selling more low end $100 phones than $300 smartphones. That makes it hard to upsell customers to more lucrative plans.

I have to tell you, hanging around their kiosk a few times, it doesn't take much to see that these are novice technology users, and are going to need a lot of hand holding just to explain how the plans work. Then you have to tell them they have to fork over the cost of the phone as the price of admission. Hmm. If all you can afford is a $15 plan, you're not likely buying anything to write home about for a phone. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be taking on almost a billion dollars in debt to chase a market like this.

Having no contracts cuts both ways of course. Easy to join and easy to leave. There's a reason why mobile carriers like contracts - it takes time to earn back the phone subsidy that so often serves as the hook to get you on board. On the other hand, with no contract, the carrier gets their money upfront for the phone, and it's less of a issue when customers moves on once a cheaper plan crosses their path.

Bottom line - loyalty is hard to build with prepaid, and when the other new entrants come to market - most notably DAVE - they will likely have to resort to the same tactics just to get a foothold. I just don't know how much greenfield market there really is out there - even my 13 year old has a cell phone. I don't know anybody who doesn't have a cell phone these days, so I don't know where this 30% of first timers is that this whole fuss was started over. They sure don't live around here, and if they do, they're either too young or too old to care.

If I sound cynical, you're right. The incumbents are already serving the prepaid market with their budget brands, and we have MVNO's like Virgin Canada chasing this market too. Wind Mobile may be a good service and a well executed marketing package, but how are they going steal business from these competitors, who can easily match them on price to keep them out of the market? Price and features are good short term levers, but competitors can usually match these, especially if they already control the market. It's also worth noting that Wind was planning to be in the market in time for the Christmas season, which could have jump started them nicely. They're just going to catch the tail end now, so it's not quite the splash they were expecting.

Let's not forget the postpaid market, which is where the vast majority of subscribers and revenues lies. I don't know how much of Wind's business plans are based on capturing these customers, but this will be a tough market to crack since most are tied into contracts. Sure, Wind can buy them out - we've seen that before - but that just puts them on the same treadmill as Vonage, buying market share and then spending a fortune to keep them.

I'm just not seeing the light here, especially when you consider how much money was spent - and borrowed - to get into the game. In this day and age with 4G and LTE being the next wave, one would think that with a brand new network, there might be some innovation here - something new to leverage all that wonderful technology. Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, but there's nothing here that changes the game and really challenges the market - both subscribers and carriers. Zero.

On the other hand, this is Canada after all, and people generally play things a bit safer here. Industry Canada has pushed for more competition so we can have more choice and lower prices. I guess we'll get that, but we're sure paying a high price for it, and not getting much more. For all that money, you'd like to think the market would get something better. This isn't Android, this isn't Apple, this isn't Skype; it's more of the same - just a little cheaper, a bit more flexible and a bit easier to understand. I know - it's hard to take risks when so much debt has been incurred - but you'd think there would be more to it than this. More to come, but don't hesitate to jump in now with your thoughts!

BNN TV interview - Canadian Wireless Market Update

This morning I was interviewed on BNN TV about some recent issues around the Canadian wireless marketplace. There is definitely a lot of flux and confusion right now, not just among consumers, but also the operators. Not only do we have new competitors poised to enter the market, but two of the major incumbents - Rogers and Telus - have been sparring loudly about whose network is faster and more reliable.

Lots to talk about here, and for my 7 minutes of fame this week, I covered as much ground as I could. You can watch the clip here, and if that link doesn't work, my segment ran at 8:15 today on The Street, hosted by Michael Kane. With a bit of searching the TV Clips section of their website, it shouldn't be hard to find. The link will only be live for a week, and after that, you'll be able to access it on my website. And if you still need help, just drop me a line.

CBC TV Interview on Wireless Substitution in Canada

I was recently interviewed for a story on wireless substitution in Canada that aired nationally on CBC TV. It's quite short, but an interesting segment overall, and features a Calgary-based company that's come up with a device that allows you to route mobile calls on to your wired phones inside the home. Not a bad idea, and it can be pretty practical, especially for people who get poor - or no cellular reception inside their home.

I don't normally post about things like this, but as I'm learning more about the new blogging platform, it looks like this is the only way I can share the interview so you can see it for yourself. You can view the segment here - it runs about 2.5 minutes.