Wednesday’s keynote panel at the VON Conference & Expo, “The Future of Enterprise Telecommunications,” will feature frank discussions on the future of enterprise networking. Executives from BroadSoft and Callis Communications will appear along with the IT manager for American Family Insurance, one of the country’s largest insurance firms.

Previewing the panel, Jeff Pergal, I/S BT communications and telephony manager at American Family Insurance, talks about the company’s reliance on IP and unified communications, some of the challenges involved, and the technologies American Family aims to incorporate to better serve its customers.

VON: Attendees probably will be intrigued that an IT guy for an insurance company is on the keynote panel. Talk about why you’re participating and what you want to impart to the audience.

Jeff Pergal: The easy answer is that Polycom asked us to participate. But certainly American Family has embraced IP telephony in a big way in our call centers, corporate locations and field offices. We expect this will give us a consolidated platform to be able to provide an enhanced customer experience.

And while it hasn’t been without its challenges from a technical, political, and financial perspective, we have seen benefits from a customer service perspective.

VON: How are IP communications changing the way American Family operates? Any specific examples you can share?

JP: We feel that our strategy of providing a unique and meaningful customer experience is closely tied to our communications channels. Based on our culture and customer base, the phone is the primary tool for that. We have converted all of our call centers and leveraged integration points to back-end systems, for instance. And we are able to pass data among contact centers and users with the call as it is transferred.

We’re also converting our entire carrier-based infrastructure to SIP and MPLS networks.

VON: What trends is the company hoping to incorporate as IP grows even more mainstream?

JP: Video and more IM/chat-like functionality to round out our touch points.

VON: And most analysts say that cloud-based telephony really only appeals to large enterprises right now. How is American Family viewing cloud computing and when might it use the technology? Alternatively, if cloud computing is not an option for the company, why?

JP: We are constantly investigating cloud computing in our messaging and other areas. Because of the nature of our financial data and regulations, it is not an easy decision for us. But we do see potential for reduced cost.

VON: What obstacles does the use of IP technology pose when it comes to regulatory compliance? What extra measures must your department implement to ensure compliance? (Or, if IP technology actually makes regulatory compliance easier, talk about why and how that has helped American Family serve its customers.)

JP: As a financial institution, we are highly regulated. This has caused issues with our unified communications strategy. IP hasn’t directly affected this but concepts such as unified messaging have met with certain internal legal hurdles.

VON: The purpose of this panel is to talk about where IP communications will be for businesses five and 10 years out. What is your vision or expectation?

JP: That this type of communication will be the standard for all voice communication. But I certainly see IP communications (Unified Communications) as a much broader topic than just voice; our customers will want and expect ubiquitous communications channels that allow them to interact with companies any time, anywhere and in any way they want. IP communication is consistent across those channels.

VON: Other thoughts?

JP: When you say IP communications I would normally think and speak to IP telephony only. But our strategy around unified communications is so much more encompassing. IP telephony to me is the framework and backbone that the more robust and strategic strategy is built on.