"Unified communications" might describe a genuine
technological advancebutthe term is wide open to abuse by
marketers.
There can hardly be a company involved in
voice or data networking that does not have a product with a
unified communications badge on it.
Cisco has over 90.
Microsoft
can take much of the blame for that. The company kick started
the unified communications movement two years ago with the
launch of
Office Communications Server.
But the process of integrating voice and data began well before
that, with
the technology that underpins most unified communications -
voice over IP (VoIP).
Unified messaging gave
an additional boost to the emerging technology.
But it was not until suppliers began trying to
remove the distinction between fixed and mobile communications
and introduce services such as presence software (dashboards tells
the user how best to contact someone),
instant messaging and desktop
video conferencing that unified communications got going.
"Microsoft's entry helped unified communications to really take
off,
as hard as it might be for a competitor to admit that,"
acknowledges Jirina Yates, EMEA solutions marketing director at
Avaya. "However, Microsoft is on release one, we are on release 50
and we are not approaching unified communications from the desktop
but from a business need."
The key product for
Avaya is its
Communication Manager server-based call processing
software.
This year
Avaya
launched Intelligent Presence, software that collects presence
information from telephony and desktop applications from third
parties including Microsoft and IBM. The company also introduced
Unified Communications Solutions, lower priced packages for
different types of businesses including stores and banks.
Meanwhile,
Microsoft has built its portfolio around three core software
products:
Exchange, its
Office Communications Server and
Live Meeting. Microsoft
Exchange handles e-mail, fax and voice mail. One fifth of
Exchange deployments now have an element of unified communications
in them, says Mark Deakin, unified communications product manager
for the company.
Office Communications Server delivers instant messaging,
presence services, as well as audio, video and web conferencing. In
many ways it is Microsoft's version of the
private branch exchange. Live Meeting is a web presentation
tool that allows users to exchange information during meetings.
NHS trust United Bristol Healthcare is a showcase for
Microsoft's unified communications, says Deakin. Clinical staff
-
often resistant to new technology - can locate and consult
specialists during clinical emergencies using Exchange 2007 and
Office Communications Server. "As long as they see enough
advantage, people will adopt the new technology," comments
Deakin.
Despite the fuss, unified communications remains at the early
adopter stage. Last year just 5 per cent of UK businesses had
adopted the technology and only 18 per cent had prepared roll-out
plans, says analyst firm PMP.
Cost, complexity and problems with incompatible systems are
among the stumbling blocks for IT managers. The industry is
responding with partnerships, joint research and developing open
standards.
Suppliers are keen to stress they are
targeting mid-size and small businesses, which arguably have
most to gain from more agile communications.
Private branch exchange (PBX) company Nortel's four-year
research and development alliance with Microsoft - signed two years
ago - underlines the big effort needed to
weld
traditional telephony with data communications. The pact
involves integrating Nortel's IP telephony services with Office
Communications Server and Exchange.
"Since January, we have been the first and only vendor - on our
Communication Server 1000 - to reach Microsoft's IP PBX
qualification for Office Communications Server," says Paul Rowe,
Nortel's unified communications product marketing leader, EMEA.
Nortel has set up a collaboration centre with Microsoft in
Maidenhead, where 500 Microsoft sales staff who serve unified
communications customers across the UK.
Not all the big players are keen to collaborate.
Cisco, for example, keeps its portfolio proprietry with a
hardware-oriented approach. The company's flagship product is
Unified Communications Manager, designed to deliver voice,
video, mobility and presence services to devices that include IP
phones, voice over IP gateways, mobile devices, and multimedia
applications.
Another key element in Cisco's strategy is WebEx,
a subscription service for web-based conferences and data
sharing, which the company acquired last year.
Despite its 'not invented here' attitude, Cisco - in common with
all the major players - supports the Session Initiation Protocol
(SIP), a unified communications standard for making calls.
However, the company's UK communications sales manager, Mark
Forster, stresses the importance of business processes. "In future,
unified communications is going to be about collaboration and it
will exist in applications such as SAP and Oracle. When someone
working on accounts in SAP hits a snag they will be able to
identify a colleague who can help them, find out if they are
available and call them."
Cisco is not alone in wanting to embed presence functions in
business processes. It is likely to be the next big thing in
unified communications, as suppliers strive to deliver on earlier
promises to boost productivity and improve customer service.
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VoIP and unified communications prompt new technologies and
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Microsoft unveils new SME server platforms>>