Fascinating to read about a recent pitch that Avaya made on NoJitter about their views on the demise of the deskphone hypothesis. Instead of defending the value of the deskphone, Avaya chose to attack the PC. The essence of Avaya’s argument is that PC’s are unreliable, not on when you need it, questionable quality and that users want a desk phone. They even make a pitch for a better together story that preserves the legacy mode ….

“We can all have our cake and eat it, too, btw...use whatever IM Client we want on the desktop to make Click-to-Communicate easy for the User, ubiquitous within the Enterprise and simple to Admin--while keeping it Scalable, Reliable and Feature-rich, simply by gluing two solutions (e.g. OCS + Avaya) together in a true "Best-of-Breed" fashion.” 

It’s telling that this is a direct attack against Office Communicator, which says a lot about where these guys heads are at. I guess if everyone wants red and you only sell black, you have to attack the red. But that doesn’t quite take into account the momentous changes in the communications industry taking place, driven by demographic changes and by need to cut costs. Like many industry giants in the last 100 years, Avaya misses the point here. Avaya is in classic innovators dilemma mode here – how do I maintain a revenue stream of $200/user with 50%+ margin from deskphones when everything points to alternatives as the future. If the total acquisition cost of a UC solution is in the $800 range per user, that deskphone represents 25% of your revenue and more in profit. You don’t want to lose that. I feel for Avaya; Microsoft has been in some of these dilemmas too. But the only way out is to read the writing on the wall and invest in the future.

I would never tell anyone that PC is the only way to go. In fact, I have an IP Phone in my office and a PC. The key thing to realize is that the last decade of demographic change where a new generation of workers is emerging in the workforce and new work styles, such as remote working, are becoming prevalent has fundamentally changed the way the technology we need to perform our tasks.

Our customers tell us that their analysis shows that office space is empty for 40%+ of the time – people in meetings in other rooms or working from home or travelling. In that scenario, having a deskphone is of little value. In fact, you will be more reachable if you have a softphone on your laptop or a mobile phone. I don’t pack up my deskphone when I go on a business trip or decide to work from home, but I will have my laptop and cell phone with me. If you wanted to be reachable by a critical customer, you have the choice of sitting by your desk all day or taking the call on your mobile or softphone based on your own preferences. Does someone at Avaya really think the best way to be reachable is to sit by a phone all day?

Our customers also tell us about the diversity in roles and the need for choice. Different workers have different needs of technology to be productive. Some are deskbound and will effectively be off the clock when away from the office (e.g. your receptionist). Others are mobile on premise (e.g. your typical worker). Some are totally mobile (e.g. your sales guy). Some are remote but in a fixed location (e.g. a teleworker). Some spend most of their day on the phone while others spend it in meetings or in an application (e.g. SAP, or Petrel). What’s needed is for these workers to have a choice of devices that they can use. An IP Phone may be needed for some. A PC softphone is appropriate for others. A USB device gives a lot of flexibility for comfort to workers. Legacy players have had vertical solutions where they own their phones. They have had little incentive to meet customer needs in this way as it increases their costs, and because customers have had no choice. What’s needed is an ecosystem of device manufacturers who innovate to meet needs of users based on open technology that enables them to plug into any voice infrastructure.

Our customers also tell us that voice has been silo’ed for too long and the iconic symbol of this is the deskphone. Almost all my other modes of communication and collaboration have become integrated (e.g. video, IM, email, unified messaging, conferencing) and importantly, many of these have converged on a PC. Telephony has been the last hold out. It’s critical to understand that as a worker I don’t want to reach phone or even to talk, I want to achieve a goal. Sometimes, that can be done using IM alone. Sometimes, I need a desktop sharing conferencing session. Sometimes video adds to experience. And with a PC, I can all of these communication modes from anywhere with Internet access. Except the old phone. That’s still back in my office so having to click to call makes little difference. Voice is just another communication mode and needs to be integrated in to the broader experience. Focusing on the device is pointless as the problem to solve is enabling more efficient communications. The device is just a means to an end.

I personally don’t have any issues with my softphone on my laptop. But it’s futile having that argument as I know people has their own experiences here. There have been huge technology leaps that have improved media quality and reliability of PCs to make it a contender. Given the cost savings, choice, and productivity enhancements customers should at least evaluate it as an option. You would be surprised how it performs and most importantly, how many of your workers embrace it. 

If folks in the industry would focus on solving the problem rather than defending the past, we might end up with some breakthrough solutions. Avaya and the other legacy telephony vendors have lots of smart people, they just need to address the right problem. Right now, it feels like Microsoft with Office Communications Server and Office Communicator is the only game in town. Instead of freaking out about the fact that customers are embracing our technology and approach and trying to punch holes, wouldn’t the industry benefit from more players trying to solve the real problem?