You are aware of the advantages of Unified Communication and have decided to integrate a UC solution in your company. You are convinced that this communication solution enables better structuring of internal and external business processes and a more efficient integration of mobile and locally operating employees. The result: increased company-wide productivity. 

Like I said, you have selected your future UC solution. The software application meets the requirements in terms of price, technical specifications and individual features. The manufacturer's corporate presentation was also good. But now the question arises: Is a test installation useful or not?

PROS - Reasons in favor of a test installation:

• Finally you and your employees can thoroughly check the solution at first hand.
• Test the features mentioned on a one-to-one basis and ensure that they meet your requirements.
• You can now thoroughly test compatibility with your own infrastructure. Often a software application runs without problems in a laboratory environment. But problems arise in the company's own network which would not occur in a different network. In spite of international standards, every network is different.
• Answer potential outstanding questions, such as: Is it really as intuitive to use as demonstrated in the corporate presentation? Do problems arise which we had not thought about previously?

But the central issue still arises as to who should be involved in the test installation. Make sure that not only employees in the IT department but in particular users of the new software solution are involved in the test installation. In the case of an attendant solution, for example, this would apply to operators in reception, who also distribute incoming calls within your company.

CONS - Reasons against a test installation:

• A test installation costs resources, i.e. time and money. It takes up the time of your own department, where there are many other important issues to be dealt with. You ask yourself if you can actually afford to make your employees and/or their time available for a test installation.
• A test installation delays the activation of the selected product, whereas the aim is often to go live with a new application as quickly as possible.
• How can you explain the additional cost and time incurred by a test installation to your own management?

Safe or simple variant?

You make the final decision. Do you accept the additional costs and time of the test installation or rather take the risk of a bad investment? Or in other words: Do you really want to buy a pig in a poke? Like in earlier times, when market traders would often place a cat instead of the agreed pig in the bag, in order to deceive an unobservant customer. 

Unfortunately, it is possible that the newly purchased application runs after installation, but that problems arise after a few days. For example, incompatibilities may appear due to upgrades of operating systems or also due to different browser functions in the case of web applications. 

What consequences does this have for you and your company?

Resentment on the part of employees within the company grows. In the worst-case scenario, the new application is deactivated again. Your investment in the new communication solution turns out to be a bad investment. The process then has to begin from scratch. Different products have to be evaluated again. Internal resources are expended again for this solution. Further costs are incurred. A thorough test would have prevented this.

CONCLUSION

When we look at the pros and cons it becomes clear that a test installation is generally useful. This is the only way to gain initial experience of the product and its reliability in person, and test interrupted operation. Negotiate the conditions of the trial version with the supplier. If testing is successful, this should be free of charge if the contract is concluded. This test installation will be worthwhile in spite of having to invest a number of resources. For one thing is clear: a setback during the introduction of a new product can turn out to be more expensive than the costs incurred for a test installation. 

The Web-based attendant solution talkbase is available as a free test license. We provide a customer-specific test installation which is tailor-made to your company. Ask our consultants, they will be happy to help you in setting up your UCC tools.