FAQ fact sheet.

1. What is Hosted Unified Communications?

Because business communications have evolved independently, more and more companies find they have separate systems for their email, telephony, instant messaging, voice mail and audio/video/web conferencing. Hosted Unified Communications drawsall these disparate elements together using software to create a single easy-to-use system.

2. So it’s a new type of programme or application?

No: one of the great things about Hosted Unified Communications is that it uses established and familiar Microsoft technology.

So your employees continue using applications they know and like: Outlook, PowerPoint , SharePoint ® etc. Microsoft Software seamlessly integrates these tools with your phone and conferencing systems so your people can work much more effectively.

3. Why should I be interested in Hosted Unified Communications?

Hosted Unified Communications enables you to dramatically reduce your firm’s costs and increase its productivity.

4. How does Hosted Unified Communications save my company money?

In several ways. Hosted Unified Communications can reduce or even eliminate third party costs for telephony and conferencing because it uses your existing IP network (the network your IT systems use). You’ll save on travel costs, via UC’s range of cost-effective and flexible audio/video/web conferencing features. Your real estate costs can shrink, because when your people can work remotely with Hosted Unified Communications you’ll need fewer desks. Finally, you’ll no longer need to buy and manage separate hardware for all your collaboration and communication needs.

5. How does Hosted Unified Communications increase my company’s productivity?

By improving the critically important areas of communication and collaboration. Your people can communicate more effectively because they have the same familiar Microsoft productivity tools on their phone and laptop. This lets them communicate from any location: by making a call, sending a message or initiating a conference on the fly direct from the desktop, Hosted Unified Communications’ presence feature lets people see who is available and the best way to contact them. This puts the means to communicate at their fingertips within their most frequently used applications. In terms of collaboration, because Hosted Unified Communications lets users share their desktop in seconds, your people can work together on documents remotely and in real-time. These benefits apply whether you’re working with colleagues, suppliers, clients or any other stakeholder.

6. What level of cost savings and productivity gains could I expect to achieve?

An ROI of 240% and an annual saving of $212m was achieved by Microsoft in its internal Hosted Unified Communications deployment. Independent analyst Forrester Research found that Microsoft Hosted Unified Communications typically shows an ROI within a single budget cycle – often within 6-9 months*. Forrester Research quantified other savings and gains you could expect from Microsoft Hosted Unified Communications:

7. Would I need to replace my existing communication and collaboration systems?

No. One of the great features of Hosted Unified Communications is that it joins up your current investments – like your PBX, conferencing and messaging systems – so you get more out of what you already have.

Save costs: Increase productivity:

Up to 40% lower travel expensesImprove end user and team productivity: up to 30 minutes per day per employee

Up to 40% lower telephony and audio conferencing costs Complete sales cycles up to 10% faster

Potential office space and facility savings of up to 40% Shorten sales cycles by up to 20%

Up to 40% lower messaging and voice mail charges Resolve customer queries up to 20% faster

Up to 50% lower communication systems costs

Carter Allen Unified Communications

www.ca-plc.com

8. Why should I choose Hosted Unified Communications from Carter Allen?

Other vendors’ equivalent solutions often use an array of different hardware and software alongside Microsoft applications. With Carter Allen hosted Unified Communications every element is designed to work together: so there’s less risk of integration problems, performance issues or security loopholes. In its 2009 Unified Communications Magic Quadrant, leading analyst firm Gartner rated Microsoft Communications Services as the best in the market**. In addition, market feedback highlights the superior end user experience on offer from Hosted Unified Communications, with its rich range of productivity and communication features all available using familiar tools like Microsoft Office Outlook.

9. How much does Hosted Unified Communications cost?

Although the price will vary depending on the options you choose, Carter Allen Hosted Unified Communications offers superior predictability and control of costs. We host your software and underlying data – all for one fixed monthly fee –so there’s no need for a sizeable upfront capital investment. And with a hosted model funded from your opex, you can quicklyscale up as your needs change and simply ‘pay as you grow’, without having to invest in new on-premise systems.

10. Which products does Hosted Unified Communications use?

Hosted Unified Communications is built on the productivity applications that your end users work with every day, plus well-known Microsoft servers that will be familiar to your IT people:

• Microsoft Exchange Server

• Microsoft SharePoint Server

• Microsoft Office Communications Server

These combine with familiar productivity tools, and new user-friendly desktop applications, which are seamlessly integrated in the desktop Offi ce suite:

• Microsoft Outlook

• Microsoft SharePoint

• Microsoft Offi ce

• Microsoft Dynamics ® CRM

• NEW: Microsoft Offi ce Communicator

11. We’re only a small fi rm: surely Hosted Unifi ed Communications is for larger organisations?

Almost any fi rm can achieve cost savings and productivity benefi ts from Hosted Unifi ed Communications. In fact, if you have less human resource to devote to IT management and less capital reserves than a large enterprise, Hosted Unifi ed Communications’ advantages could be even greater for you. With a Hosted Unifi ed Communications solution from a trusted Microsoft business partner, the cost is within reach of even the smallest fi rm. So you can transform your business performance with cutting-edge features that until now have been the preserve of large enterprises. All for one predictable monthly fee in a single monthly invoice.

12. How long does Hosted Unifi ed Communications take to implement?

Hosted Unifi ed Communications can be easily and quickly deployed because it’s managed by a specialist and delivered over the internet. Hosted Unifi ed Communications can be activated in a matter of weeks, days or hours to completely suit your requirements and deployment timelines. You can choose to adopt Hosted Unifi ed Communications in phases: a popular starting point is the presence feature. Thanks to Hosted Unifi ed Communications’ familiar technology, you won’t need a long user training programme– so the ROI starts ASAP!

13. So I don’t need to install all Hosted Unifi ed Communications’ elements if I don’t want to?

No. You can pick and choose which elements of Hosted Unifi ed Communications you want to include based on your business requirements. If you don’t use a great deal of room-based conferencing, for example, there’s no obligation to include it in your Hosted Unifi ed Communications environment. But if your needs change it’s easy to add new elements retrospectively.

14. Why should I invest in Hosted Unifi ed Communications?

The great thing about Hosted Unifi ed Communications is that working Carter Allen means you don’t need to make an upfront investment or capex payment to start enjoying the benefi ts of Hosted Unifi ed Communications. Hosting allows an organisation of any size to take advantage of a great range of communication and collaboration tools for a predictable monthly cost.

If you’re planning to grow and prosper, and need the sharpest competitive edge, let Hosted Unifi ed Communications transform your business. When you can permanently drive down your operating costs and simultaneously boost the performance of your workforce without a hefty up-front investment, you should consider Hosted Unifi ed Communications right here, right now.

For more information, simply visit: www.ca-plc.com or call us now on: + 44 (0) 203 463 1700

www.ca-plc.com