OnBoard`s IP Phone Interface (IPPI®)

 

IPPI (Internet Protocol Phone Interface) leverages your investment in Cisco’s CallManager IP Telephony system as a workplace management tool as well as a communications device.

IPPI is an OnBoard user interface that uses Cisco handsets as a display device to address the management of the workplace and the measurement of the actual use of real estate. IPPI turns the Cisco phone into a mini Kiosk to publish workspace availability and allow users to secure the desks or conference rooms they need to get their work done.

IPPI performs the following functions:

• Displays the availabilityof the room where the phone is located,
• Allows the person to make an instant reservation for the space,
• Allows the person to check in to the space, and
• Allows the person to check out of the space.

Many workplace strategists believe that worker productivity is reduced if they have to perform additional tasks when they come into an office to find an available shared desk. In this “free address scenario” they believe that workers should be able to sit at any available shared desk and, using CallManager’s Extension Mobility feature, activate the telephone as their own. (Extension Mobility is a feature of Cisco’s Call Manager that allows users to configure any Cisco 7940 or 7960 phone as their own by logging into that phone. Once logged in, the phone adopts the user’s phone profile including line numbers, speed dials, service links, etc.)

IPPI adds value to this process by first letting the user know if the workspace is truly available, or if it is in use by someone who has momentarily stepped away from the desk. If available, the user enters their logon information as described previously and IPPI/OnBoard will capture the workspace location of the user. This solves one of the most vexing problems associated with “free address” – locating teammates. IPPI improves collaboration by providing teammates the ability to view each other’s locations through the other OnBoard interfaces.

IPPI also provides management control by enforcing the workplace rules you choose to deploy, such as neighborhood access to certain people or departments, control access to certain conference rooms or workspaces and other business rules.

But IPPI does not stop at just operational management of the workplace. It is a key strategic asset management tool for measuring the actual use of real estate. Every time a person uses IPPI to activate or transfer their extension, the AgilQuest OnBoard system gathers data about the use of each workspace and the use of space by each person. This vital data transforms real estate management by allowing space planning, programming, invest/divest and many other decisions to be made using actual use data.

. Here’s how it works:

1. A person enters their logon information into a Cisco phone in order to perform various tasks, such as Extension Mobility to deliver their extension to their chosen desk.
2. AgilQuest’s IPPI accepts these commands and routes them to OnBoard. OnBoard keeps track of the association of the MAC address of the handset, its physical location, and the ID of the person entering the information.
3. If the action requires phone switching, OnBoard passes the logon information to CallManager using the Extension Mobility API over XML.

To the person using the phone, using IPPI is the same as using Extension Mobility –they get their extension moved to the location they desire. To the workplace manager, the difference is tremendous – it provides accurate use of workspace data on a continuous basis.

Benefits:

IPPI provides all the configuration benefits of Extension Mobility and adds the workplace management benefits of OnBoard.

• People gain access to the rooms they need within management’s business rules and policies.
• People can see who is in the office, even on different floors.
• Rooms that are reserved for others cannot be overtaken.
• “Gorilla” or unauthorized moves of people from one desk to another are tracked because if a person moves their extension to another room, the action is recorded by OnBoard.
• Conferrence rooms that were booked but unused can be returned to availability if the person does not check in to their booking.
• Workplace managers can now know the actual utilization of all space – permanently assigned, shared or collaboration space.

All these benefits and more. With IPPI there is no phone switching that goes unnoticed by OnBoard which records the actual use of every workspace in the facility.

• IPPI/Extension Mobility works well with a “free address” work environment. The user does nothing different than they normally would….they enter their id to the phone and sit in the free address workspace. Behind the scenes OnBoard has tracked the presence event and over time can report utilization statistics for the free address workspace. Without IPPI there would be no way to track utilization of free address workspaces.
• IPPI/Extension Mobility works well with “assigned” work spaces as discussed previously…assuming that the phones are turned off each evening. Without IPPI another way of generating presence events would need to be invoked…perhaps the security system for the building.
• IPPI/Extension Mobility works well with “collaborative” workspace because IPPI is a very convenient way to check in to a reserved conference room….if there is no check in then the space is freed up for a new meeting reservation. Without IPPI there is no convenient way to check in. Without checkin there will be scheduled conference rooms that go unused.
• IPPI/Extension Mobility works well with “scheduled” workspaces because IPPI is part of OnBoard which contains all the features to handle reservations and check in. Without IPPI it is possible for squatters to take over reserved workspaces.

In all cases, the strategic value of adding IPPI to Extension Mobility is to measure the actual use of space. IPPI provides the perfect balance between worker productivity and management control of the workplace.