Enterprise impacts from the Consumer Electronics Show

In many ways, consumer electronics is just about the opposite of business information technology. Consumers often go gung-ho for the latest gadget, while business buyers are far more conservative. But that doesn't mean the two groups are mutually exclusive.At CES this year, I saw a few great examples of new consumer tech that businesses might want to consider, including a dual-mode phone, a full-featured SOHO/home PBX and many great headsets, plus portable storage and keyboard devices. And I saw convergence at every turn, some of it clever but a lot of it ridiculous. (See the "Questionable convergence" section below.)VoIP choices lead the wayBusiness IT customers aren't the only ones who have been playing it safe: the legacy PBX manufacturers have hedged their bets and dragged their feet as well, especially when it comes to VoIP. Of course, they have to offer "gradual migration" to their installed base, but that doesn't explain why six or seven years of converting to IP have produced systems that are buggier than their predecessors and require more frequent patches and updates. Many loyal business customers have been waiting to replace their legacy systems until the IP-PBXs were reliable, and they have been disappointed.Meanwhile, consumer VoIP devices have taken a huge lead in terms of functionality, with mobile phones that support five different forms of communication (standard voice, push-to-talk, email, instant messaging and photo/video) and home network equipment that features failover and dual-band capabilities exceeding those of many enterprise networks.The D-Link V-CLICK dual-mode phone will allow the user to switch between GSM cellular and Wi-Fi networks with one click of a button. It's essentially a two-line phone, but this is a capability some PBX vendors have been developing for four years. Granted, they have been trying to provide seamless handoffs between cell networks and WLANs, but vendors like Avaya Inc. have given up and scrapped the project, while the consumer sector took the risk. Now customers can get a single device for GSM and Wi-Fi. How long do you think enterprise users will want to keep carrying a separate cellphone?Another clever innovation is the Equivox PhonePort telephone system. For just US$880, this turnkey "PBX in a box" includes a SIP proxy, voice mail server and auto attendant, and comes pre-configured for quick and easy connection to several SIP- or IAX-based IP services including Vonage Business Plus. Users configure individual stations through a Web interface. Again, while vendors are trying to offer what they call economical small office solutions for $5,000-$10,000, here's one springing up in the residential market for a tenth of the cost.Function meets fashionDevices that showcase their aesthetic value over features and functions have little impact on the future of technology. However, they do illustrate the creative effort that goes into shoring up the falling price of commodity devices - in this case, VoIP handsets and Bluetooth headsets.The beautiful Futiro Luna Skype phone looks a little like a shiny $75-dollar shoehorn, but Futiro advertises the phone with this slogan: "Do more than talk, make a statement."The Joby Zivio Bluetooth headset received CES Innovations Design and Engineering Showcase honours. Available in the near future, but not yet priced at CES, it has a jewelry-like casing and a retractable boom microphone for what Joby calls the "moments that matter." Another Bluetooth headset vendor advertised its headset thus: "You're wearing a $400 suit and $200 shoes to the meeting. What headset will you be wearing?" Personally, I'm not expecting to attend any meetings in the near future that require a $600 get-up, but if I'm invited to any, you can bet I won't walk in talking on a headset, no matter how well it matches my tie.One of the most dramatic products at CES was the Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard (VKB), built by i.Tech Dynamic and distributed in the US by Golan Technology. Attendees flocked around the demos of this Innovations Award winner. The device is small - just 3.7 inches tall by 1.4 inches wide and 1.1 inches thick, and it weighs only 3.1 ounces, and priced just under US$200. When paired with a Bluetooth-capable PDA or laptop, it laser-projects a full-sized keyboard onto any flat surface.After several false starts a few years ago, this latest VKB attempt may be poised for adoption by users frustrated by mobile devices' tiny keyboards, although it is still a separate component to carry around, like the non-virtual adjunct keyboards that have been available for years. I wondered if typing on a hard surface continually would be a long-term health risk for your fingers; Golan reps in the booth had no information regarding the matter.Technology trends are people trendsNew systems and applications come into the work world in two ways: either management mandates them, or end users bring them. In either case, end users will not adopt something new at work unless they perceive it as a convenience rather than a burden. Consumers might not be as demanding at work when it comes to using virtual keyboards and headsets, compared with the enthusiasm they showed for surfing the Web, but I think some of these devices reflect trends that will influence business technology:* Headset use will increase.* Multimedia cellphones will raise expectations of audio quality.* Portable USB storage devices will move more and more digital content.Consumers may not buy the idea of headsets as a fashion statement, but hands-free laws requiring that drivers refrain from holding cellphones while behind the wheel are becoming popular. Consumers are not about to give up the combination of driving and mobile phones; commoditized Bluetooth headsets will make this transition much more convenient for drivers.Headset manufacturers also seem to be ramping up with many more headset options. One interesting development is the bone conduction headset, which carries sound through the bones of the skull and jaw. It provides clear audio despite outside noises while letting you continue to hear your surroundings. This is not a new technology. Magazines in the 1970s advertised the "Bone Fone," a vest-like radio that conducted the sound up from your shoulders to your inner ear. Since then, bone conduction has had serious use in hearing aids as well as emergency response and high-noise environments.Some drivers may be more comfortable using this technology in traffic than ear-covering headsets that block outside noise. At CES, Phicom displayed the Alljoy AH510M, while Hanho Electronics Co. displayed the HIB707W I-Bone Bone Conduction Headset. The I-Bone (both in wireless Bluetooth and a smaller corded model) allows the user to hear music in stereo and answer calls on a cellular phone. Banking on this technology crossing over to the business market, Hanho Electronics plans to release a call centre version late in the year.Another new headset, the BW 900 from Sennheiser Electronic Corp., is compatible with all types of speech-based Bluetooth devices, and allows the user to easily switch among them - say, from a mobile device to an office phone. This high level of interoperability and ease of use will not only appeal to users, but also help them become comfortable with PC-based softphones.Consumers will love softphones Today, many users resist the PC softphone, not because they are used to a handset, but because they don't trust the reliability of a PC-based phone application. But headset use in their consumer lives will (ahem) soften them up, especially as they start to depend on dual-mode capabilities and as more of them use headsets with PCs and laptops as part of their work (in call centres, for example).Once even the casual desk jockeys get used to headsets in their private lives, they will find old-style handsets annoying. Tucking the handset between their chins and shoulders will feel awkward, and they will wander away from their desk until the cord pulls them back.If PC softphones are pulled along by cool headsets, maybe Apple's iPhone will pull along another old innovation - the touch-screen tablet PC. At CES, the iPhone was touted as a music player and telephone combination, but the attendees really went wild for the "soft key" screen. Earlier touch screen tablets were considered cumbersome, but now Apple is making a smaller version of the same technology fun and innovative. The Apple iPhone may not break into the business market, but it could help to usher in a new level of comfort with softphone-type technology. And the idea of integrating portable music and video into communications devices could have other consequences as well.Make my mobile a multimedia model...My second prediction, that multimedia cellphones will raise expectations for sound quality, is based on the obvious proliferation of dual-use cellphones (for voice connectivity and music listening) - and now, dual-use headsets. A good example is Ubixon's Lubix Bluetooth Stereo Headset (model LC1). The two pieces click together so the device can be worn as a "necklace" when not in use, and the sound enhancement features are extraordinary. Ambient sound distractions can be eliminated, while various 3D field effects can be invoked to simulate a live performance, spatial dispersion, and wide (3D) stereo sound image. The Lubix is as focused on sound quality and as cool as anything an MP3 listener would use, but this is also a Bluetooth mobile phone headset, not a "music only" headset. The headset displays information such as the incoming phone number, volume level and type of 3D sound effect on the LCD screen.In the same vein, Shenzhen Neopoint's Lanso A5+ Bluetooth headset comes with a stereo multimedia chipset. It allows you listen to music, then switch to voice when a call comes in.While these devices improve the audio on cellphone calls, they can't entirely compensate for the low fidelity that most mobile services deliver. Network operators plan to increase revenue by delivering real-time content such as mobile music and television, but consumers won't want it unless the quality is better than phone-call voice. Carriers should expect subscribers to ask, "If I can listen to an MP3 in full stereo, why does my headset have to sound so tinny once I switch to a call?"...and gimme a side order of storage Another prominent trend is the use of USB drives to hold music, video, work files - and now softphones. At CES this year, Vonage was recognized with an Innovations Award for the V-Phone, a USB memory stick pre-loaded with Vonage Talk Software and a phone number.The V-Phone looks like a pocketknife on a key chain. It costs US$40. You plug it into a USB port and make calls through the detachable stereo earpiece/microphone (included). And 250MB of storage is also included. A Bluetooth version is being planned. The SanDisk Cruzer Titanium, a USB Flash drive, costs about US$50 and includes Skype software, allowing users to make voice and video calls from PC to PC anywhere in the world. Downloading or sharing files requires not only storage, but also high-bandwidth connections. Video calls in real time will be even more demanding. And that brings me to one last observation gleaned from CES.Customers won't mind paying for broadband Many of the home network items on display at CES included wireless Gigabit Ethernet routers, gateways with dual WAN capability, as well as devices optimized for streaming multimedia content. All these products are based on the assumption that residential network users are willing to pay for massive amounts of last mile bandwidth.D-Link's Gaming Router has four Gigabit Ethernet ports and 802.11g wireless connectivity boosted to provide 108 Mbps. The router's GameFuel software is optimized to recognize and prioritize packets from PC, Xbox and PlayStation 2 games. It seems game players are as serious about traffic latency as network engineers. To meet increased network demands for games, video, and other applications, both the residence and the enterprise will likely have to increase bandwidth significantly. Paying for bandwidth probably won't be an issue, at least on the consumer side. But what other perceptions about latency and selective performance will these consumers bring to work with them?Perhaps if they get used to the idea that they can't use all their bandwidth for top performance in a game, and expect at the same time to video-conference with Grandma and download a movie, they will expect to see variable performance of different applications at work.On the other hand, I have seen such low prices for such hefty increases in bandwidth - less than $100 per month on an MPLS contract to go from 512 Kbps to 1.024 Mbps, for example. That's cheaper than TDM, even if you run non-compressed voice. I wonder if network managers are still stingy about adding bandwidth because their "best practices" training comes from a few years ago when this type of capacity increase would have been cost prohibitive.Questionable convergenceOne of the silliest combinations I have ever seen is the mouse that doubles as a phone. A company called DreamNovia manufactures the DreamMouse Phone, a USB mouse with VoIP phone features. Imagine you're busy "mousing" away on the computer when suddenly the mouse rings. You stop your work, open the mouse and start talking into it. The caller needs you to look up something up on the computer. So you close the mouse and...you just hung up on the caller.I asked the exhibitor if the device had any business application. "Sure," he said, "you start using this as your phone and you save money from the first call." He also said the device retails for $50 less than the Sony version.The Sony version?Sure enough, last year Sony created the Skype Mouse Phone. It sports a similar clamshell design but has the added feature of opening a directory on your PC when the device is opened - which you can consequently no longer navigate with the mouse.ConclusionThe interesting thing about this year's CES is the re-emergence of some "old" innovations, but in such a way that they will probably have a better chance of entering the enterprise. I think the acceptance of softphones, for example, will accelerate as a consequence of USB phones and headsets. Ironically, mobile phones that also play music and video will now raise the bar for phone call quality - just as they once lowered expectations.In both the business and the consumer markets, bandwidth will get faster and cheaper on both wired and wireless networks. It all starts with these somewhat frivolous consumer products: car phones, music on phones, video games and Internet alternatives to cable television.Robert Lee Harris is president of Communications Advantage In., a telecom consulting firm. This article is reprinted by permission of Business Communications Review (www.bcr.com).

Enterprise impacts from the Consumer Electronics Show

News | April 24, 2007

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