Executive Thought Leadership

The Right Information at the Right Time

People are growing accustomed to having rapid access to information and to each other. Broadband and mobile networks have dramatically shrunk delays in personal and business interactions. A wide choice of mobile access devices allows people to use multiple communications channels, sometimes concurrently. Expectations are high for conducting many kinds of interactions in real time.

However, business executives are learning that real-time interaction is just part of the picture for enhancing productivity and gaining a competitive edge. The greater goal is more precise: making the right information available to the right people at the right time. And as we begin conducting our activities from converged handsets and networks, the desire to make sure interactions occur at the right time will grow even more pressing.

Furthermore, people require information in the right format for the device at hand, whether they're working from PCs at their desks or making quick queries from mobile phones. Fortunately, today's network technology enables virtualized applications and services, making them available anytime, anywhere, regardless of the underlying network type and device display.

Managing the Information Flow

People can't possibly be available to everyone all the time. Not only would the interruptions prevent any work from getting done, but the volume of information would be overwhelming. And the coffee break would quickly become a thing of the past.

The challenge, then, is to get or give information quickly when it is needed, which may or may not be when it is created. In the case of information that resides in a database, the situation is analogous to current practices for inventory management- goods are shipped and received when ordered, rather than in a constant flow as they are produced.

The accumulation of information inventory creates a requirement for data storage systems, acting as a virtual warehouse and data clearinghouse, that are accessible from all parts of the network. Another requirement is that today's multiple information databases, which are synchronized only periodically, be merged. Access to the right information at the right time requires an interactive database model with a single trusted source of continually updated information.

And when it comes to interpersonal communications, an important prioritization and filtering technology is emerging called presence management. It lets the urgent communication of the moment prevail while diverting other communication using store-and-forward methods.

Selling in Real Time

Consider an account representative in a meeting with a client, where an important piece of information is needed now in order to sign a contractnformation that is available from a few people on the sales team. The account rep might automatically call a preferred colleague to obtain the information.

If the preferred colleague is in an important meeting and cannot respond immediately, a presence management application would show which other members of the team are available. The account rep could quickly query another team member and get the answer needed to finalize the contract.

It might also be important, when seeking information quickly, to have intelligent networks that virtualize services. Service virtualization gives users the same service regardless of where they are or what devices they use. It also can find the resources needed regardless of where they might reside across the network. In our scenario, service virtualization would allow the account rep to use a laptop, a phone, or a PDA to find out which team members are available.

Application-aware networks, which combine the network infrastructure and application functions into a unified system, help foster service virtualization. In an application-aware network environment, consistent application services can be available anywhere, regardless of what application version or format is being run on endpoints. The network simply performs the necessary translations in the background, transparent to the user.

All these aspects of intelligent networks come together to assist the account rep with getting the right information at the right time. Network intelligence can contribute to landing a deal that might otherwise have gone to a competitor.

Operating in Real Time

In a hospital environment, presence applications could alert the appropriate specialist of an emergency. An intelligent wireless network could make the decision about who to contact based on skill set, location, and availability. This could replace the public address system used to make a general announcement that relies on an appropriately qualified M.D. nearby choosing to tend to the emergency.

Similarly, in the public safety sector, interactions are being enhanced by network intelligence. Many public safety radio networks run on different frequencies and are not interoperable with one another. When an emergency requires the collaboration of the local fire department, local police department, state police, and others, voice communications must take place with each entity one at a time, if at all.

Intelligent networks can connect any radio system with any other at the push of a button. They can convert other communications systemsncluding computers, cell phones, and even public address systemsnto ad hoc radios so that during an emergency, key people wherever they are can be reached and connected to a central communications channel.

These networks support push-to-talk (walkie-talkie) and cellular voice capabilities for interactive and broadcast communications and will soon gain data and video functions. For example, an officer on duty with a wireless display could download a local map and other data that could be of assistance in an emergency situation. Video cameras on a fire marshal's helmet could tie in with local surveillance cameras in a burning building so that the emergency personnel on the scene could see what is going on inside.

Serving Customers

Intelligent mobile networks are changing the customer service and inventory management capabilities of field service organizations, too. Personnel in the field, for example, can view current information on their handhelds about locally available parts. And they can electronically consult up-to-date equipment manuals rather than leaf through the typically outdated paper documents toted around in service vehicles.

Dispatchers could also strategically route field service technicians based on many variables, including their skill sets, locations, and the inventory stocked in their vehicles. These capabilities contribute to servicing a job faster, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and lowering operational costs.

Conclusion

Intelligent networks that dynamically adapt to specific needs enable people to get the right information at the right time and in the right format for the task at hand. Everyone will continue valuing the ability to access other people and information in real time. However, people are not always accessible and not everything can always happen in real time. Soon, we'll be able to rely on transparent, automated tools in the network to securely organize information and communications on users' behalf to help ensure business and personal success. And we'll still have time for that cup of coffee.