UC Mobility
by Fred Siff, VP and CIO
We in Information Technology aspire to using IT to 'transform the business.' It is not enough to support the operations. I think we do that - consider the extent to which your activities are facilitated by the PC, the network, etc.; if you can't, think about what happens to you when network connectivity is lost. Years ago, the ubiquitous and reliable data network (wired and now wireless) transformed how we connect. I think our deployment (which includes promotion, support and continued development) of Blackboard has transformed teaching and learning. I believe that our implementation of UC Flex, the SAP business system, will transform how we conduct business as we collectively learn how to fully take advantage of the power of that system.
The new UC Mobile project will have the same effect on how we live, work, and play. It will profoundly change how we all communicate.
Years ago, some promoted the vision of everyone walking around campuses with laptops, connected wirelessly. That hasn't materialized. Rather, the ubiquitous connectivity/communications device is the cell phone. As that device gets more powerful - the new smartphones are much more powerful than an IBM PC AT/XT ... remember those? - it is becoming the primary, must-have communications device. Corded phones are becoming as much a thing of the past (even though we continue to have them in our offices) as phone booths. (Remember them?) All of us, as individuals and as organizations, are going to have to move into this new world. We at UC have taken on this challenge, more aggressively than most. Our partners, IBM, Microsoft, Blackboard, and Cincinnati Bell have all said that we are on the cutting edge. One may ask: why bother, why risk being on that edge which we know can cut both ways? It is because UC can be a leader here, just as it is in the classroom and in the research lab. Because we are developing UC as a place to live, work, and play - and this raises the quality level of each of those.
UC Mobile will enable a higher level of connectivity, which is increasingly a quality of life issue. There are many other practical business reasons: the timing is right, and the business partners are there. Lest anyone worry about funding - and we all have to - the project is self-funded. Usage fees customers pay will cover the costs of the project, much as monthly phone bills cover phone costs do now.
Other articles in this issue cover the details, but I want to emphasize that UC Mobile provides UC-centric applications which can't be found elsewhere, on world class devices, all at below market rates. Some of these features are: guaranteed 3-bar service virtually throughout the Uptown campus, a critical feature: nothing works if you can't connect, and random carriers will have random service coverage; a personal mobile security 'button' that connects and identifies the caller directly to campus police; 5-digit on-campus dialing with unlimited minutes; notification when something changes on a student's Blackboard course site. Very important, these example features and more will all be available not on the high-end smartphone but on the free "Bearcat" cell phone available to students. And the UC-centric applications will not
stop there - our corporate partners Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and Cincinnati Bell are sponsoring a student programming competition to provide both opportunity and incentive for our students to design and develop creative applications for the mobile environment.
In earlier communications regarding this project, we envisioned service throughout the Uptown region, creating a Wi-Fi Zone throughout the campus environs into the community. That has been effected: see the article on guest access and neighborhood service. We also had envisioned replacing all corded phones (whether in dorms or offices) with cell phones. I expect that will all happen as this project unfolds. We are currently completing pilot projects on the Uptown Campus. But don't be surprised if, this time next year, you are reading your e-mail from a phone as you sit out at the baseball stadium and then walk over to your office, McMillan Manor, Bogart's, or Stetson Square, picking up voice and e-mail messages as you travel, continuously and seamlessly connected and in touch. Count on it.
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