Stories from the Front Lines

by CoSo

February 19, 2015

Why Replication and Persistence in UC Matters

Why is replication and persistence in today’s UC systems important? Consider Defense Connect Online (DCO).
DCO is a military-grade unified communications system set up, powered and maintained by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Adobe, and ConnectSolutions. With one million users, it’s by far the largest unified communications network in the world. Launched just over seven years ago, DCO helps the men and women of our nation’s Armed Forces stay connected regardless of where they’re deployed—whether it be land, sea or air. The system delivers a rich, multimedia experience with VoIP audio, video conferencing, real-time chat, file sharing, white boarding, screen sharing, and mobile device support.
ConnectSolutions developed the proprietary software that allows our nation’s military to have multiple sites replicating data in real time. In the event of any kind of outage or failure, the system automatically switches to the back-up site.
Given that DCO is used to host training webinars, connect with bases, and deploy troops, ships and jets all over the world, losing the system for even a few minutes is more than an inconvenience. Consider a training webinar in which 100 officers are participating. While ongoing training of all military staff is critical, it also means taking time from the people tasked with protecting our nation. Any disruption in a training session or briefing translates into wasted productivity and even more time away from their posts. That’s why it’s so critical to ensure rapid restore time with all the system’s in-progress data and communication streams reconnected to allow the military to resume their work without any further complications.
Another key element of DCO is what we call persistence. Take for instance, daily briefings or military training. Should they need to present a recorded version of the briefing, it comes with all the corresponding chat rooms, info on users in attendance, supporting documents, and more without making any compromises in security or performance.
This may not be your typical UC installation, but it’s one that more organizations should consider using. In many instances, persistence is not present, because it can slow down overall performance—especially in maximum security installations. This means if you were to upload slides in a chat room during a training webinar, the next time you visited the room, you would not see them. With persistence, you can. And with ConnectSolutions, you can do it even in the most secure environments.
It’s one of the reasons why ConnectSolutions serves so many governmental and commercial organizations that require security, performance and reliability in their UC deployments. ConnectSolutions is the only trusted private-cloud solutions provider with more than five years experience delivering unified communications in the private cloud, where data is more secure and reliable.
DCO has enjoyed tremendous growth as it continues to help the DISA foster stronger communication and collaboration within the ranks while dramatically cutting travel and training costs. And it demonstrates just how much similar systems could benefit other globally dispersed organizations both in the public sector as well as commercial industries. We know replication and persistence is a requirement for our nation’s military, but without a constant stream of seamless communication and collaboration, productivity grinds to a halt, regardless of the type of organization—including, perhaps, your organization.
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