Stern Curator| Whatech
There are many benefits to Cloud-based applications such as the cloud contact centre services offered by Premier Technologies. They enable the full functionality of the application to be available to anyone, anywhere. All they need is a sufficiently fast and sufficiently reliable broadband connection. Indeed, Premier already has a customer who is successfully using its Premier Contact Point cloud based solution over the 4G network.
Mobile broadband provides a connection to anyone anywhere within its coverage area. And the latest mobile broadband technology, Long Term Evolution (LTE) (better but incorrectly known as 4G) provides a mobile broadband connection that is sufficiently fast for most applications.
Telstra has the most extensive 4G network in Australia and claims typical download speeds of between 2Mbps and 40Mbps and upload speeds typically between 1Mbps and 10Mbps.
Back in November 2011 Canadian consultancy Maravedis produced a study “4G + Cloud = Innovation & Profits?” It focussed on “how 4G wireless combined with cloud computing will drive a new wave of innovation and RoI for operator content, services and applications.” It identified the main challenges to offering cloud services as being “strategy, investment, and business model, followed closely by network performance.”
It suggested that mobile network operators seeking to exploit the synergies between 4G and cloud computing should focus on “industries that are communication intensive and/or positioned for transformation through innovative telecom and mobility solutions.” Key verticals identified were health, utilities, government and transport, but Maravedis added that there were numerous other vertical market opportunities.
Another commentator, Wing Lee, CEO of Malaysian telco YTL Communications, interviewed last month for the Broadband World Forum blog, said: “Cloud computing is one of the most exciting internet megatrends globally. For those that understand the value of cloud computing, this is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for operators to finally be in sync with the innovation curve of the Internet.
“But cloud computing is only as effective as the availability of consistent high speed; low latency connections. It therefore underscores the key attributes of 4G – mobility, high speed and low latency. Surely you can get the latter two attributes of high speed and low latency from fibre connections, but when cloud is ubiquitous, so should the connection. For all these reasons, we feel the ubiquitous mobile 4G network we have built is perfect for cloud computing.”
Telstra, of course, is also trying to exploit the synergies between cloud computing and its 4G network. Telstra’s Enterprise & Government division in its ‘Next’ newsletter last June published an article saying: “Cloud computing has found a new ally in mobile broadband, which thanks to new 4G technology, is accelerating the pace of change. For business, it aims to fulfil cloud’s ultimate promise to the mobile workforce: desktop-style productivity from almost any location.”
In late 2011 Deloitte produced a report “The Impact of 4G Technology on Commercial Interactions, Economic Growth, and US Competitiveness,” in which it said: “The advent of high-performance wireless capacity, coupled with cloud infrastructure and other advances, is proliferating new offerings and capabilities that exceed what has been possible with 3G technology.”
Deloitte pointed out that the benefits aren’t just one way: in addition to the enhanced communications that 4G offers cloud computing, cloud computing can benefit 4G services. “Cloud computing will allow handheld devices to be more compact and efficient while making them tremendously more useful and powerful. Applications, storage and computing power all can largely reside in the cloud … if connectivity is robust, reliable and secure.”
About Premier Technologies Cloud Contact Centre Solutions
Premier Technologies Premier Contact Point provides cloud-based hosted contact solutions that meet the needs of businesses in a tough and competitive environment. Businesses that use their services decrease their capex and increase their agility while providing the highest quality customer service.
