Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Information Systems in the Global Economy
Unified Communications for Financial Management
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, also known as Deloitte & Touche, or just Deloitte, is one of
the world's largest financial services firms. Established more than 150 years ago by
William Welch Deloitte, the company grew from a small accountancy office in London to a
global network of member firms employing 150,000 professionals in 140 countries with
$20 billion in total revenues.
Today's demanding and competitive business environment requires professionals to
extract the most value out of every minute of the workday. This means staying connected
to corporate networks, accessing information, and communicating with colleagues from
all locations: at the office, in a warehouse, in conference rooms, at airports, in vehicles,
and at home. Businesses such as Deloitte realize that the quality of telecommunications
systems and the services they deliver can dramatically affect a company's success.
Recently, Deloitte in Milan, Italy, conducted a major reorganization to consolidate its
five branches into one complex. The consolidation was intended to improve communica-
tions and service while reducing costs. The reorganization presented the opportunity to
replace Deloitte's telecommunications systems with the most current technologies.
Deloitte decided to invest in a unified communications system that provides voice,
video, and data communications over one network. A unified communications system can
help companies save money because it can eliminate the need to set up multiple networks
for differing uses. However, a unified system can do more than reduce redundancy: A
company can design software and hardware to integrate various forms of telecommuni-
cations into one powerful and easy-to-use system that is accessible anywhere anytime from
a variety of devices.
The unified communications system that Deloitte purchased from Cisco included sev-
eral interconnected services, including the following:
•
About 1,200 unified communications lines to stream voice, video, and data to
computers and videophones
•
Videoconferencing services using Internet Protocol (IP)
•
Television broadcasting service over IP
•
Call management system
•
Local area network management system
•
Wi-Fi wireless networking in all buildings in the complex
Deloitte uses the television broadcasting capabilities of the new system to broadcast
regular messages from the CEO. It uses the videophone service to improve communica-
tions between employees and to support conferences and meetings while team members
are away from the office.
The system also allows Deloitte to make better use of its office space. In most busi-
nesses, many offices and desks are often unused throughout the day due to employees that
are traveling, in meetings, or otherwise out of the office. Because everything Deloitte em-
ployees need is delivered over the network, and the network is available anywhere,
employees can use any available space. The Hot-Desks service, provided through the net-
work, keeps track of which workstations, desks, and conference rooms are in use and can
direct employees to unused space.
