I agree with Pamela that it's important to think of unified communications as a set of features that varies with every vendor. I frequently talk with people who are researching IP phone systems and they are confused by UC because they're led to understand that there's an accepted, standard definition for UC. For these people, I always recommend they think about what specific functions they want their phone solution to be able to perform based on the needs of their business. For example, what features would allow me to significantly reduce response time and optimize business processes? How would my business benefit if we could get calls to our office phones forwarded to our cell phones, or voicemails converted to emails or text messages? Don't be intimidated by UC. Keep in mind that a UC platform can be tailored to a specific job or section of a company.

Pamela Avila

Consultant, Sierra Summit Group

Posted on Jan. 12, 2011

Recommended by:
Andy Hamilton,
Zach Bell

First, it's important to realize that UC is NOT products, it is a strategy or philosophy. Although vendors tend to define it based upon their own product offerings, UC is communications integrated to optomize business processes, according to UCStrategies. UC solutions can encompass a broad range of products/applications - including VoIP, presence, IM, VM, UM, advanced mobility, various forms of collaboration (including video), integration with business processes, etc. UC solutions can be delivered on premise, via the cloud, or a combination of both.
The important point is not what it IS (since that has evolved and still evolving) but rather what it DOES and CAN DO for business and for the end-user.

Joshua Beil

Director Market Strategy & Research, Parallels, Inc

Posted on Jan. 8, 2011

UC typically refers to integrated voicemail and email (eg, your voicemail is converted to an audio file and sent as an attachment). The most common products are Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Notes, and Open-Xchange.

UC can also include online presentations (eg, Webex) as well as VoiP/IM (Skype, GoogleTalk).

Mike Barnes

Consultant, Linked World Ltd

Posted on Jan. 19, 2011

Great answers from Pamela and Andrew, I absolutely agree: UC is not a set of products, or even a set of features, but a way of working all communications channels together effectively. Joshua is right too though - at the end, it does come down to products and MS Lync, Cisco's UCM and allied products, and hosted solutions such as Webex are all part of the mix.

The challenge for businesses is that although there are plenty of standards in the UC space, there aren't simple ways to unify a set of communications tools. Interwork, maybe, but not unify. Unification is much more than interworking, and I think the example from Cisco identifies this quite well - they talk of the desktop/mobile (IM/telephony/etc) client: through it you can locate a person, start communicating with them via text (preferably with the option of persistent message storage), opt to send them an email if they go unavailable or, more interestingly, opt to move to a voice call if the IM session gets too involved. Then opt to move up to video, perhaps. Not only can the end users move between different media really easily within the same communications session, but the technology can also ensure that the capabilities of the two endpoints are used to best effect (HD video if available, dropping back to voice from video when bandwidth is reduced).

What's missing in general from UC offerings is real session management (knowledge of cost - varying with location, endpoint, carrier - and enforcement of policies to control it on a real-time basis), social networking, and knowledgebase tools. That doesn't mean they aren't a part of UC, it just means the vendors are struggling to keep up with the emerging technologies.

For many businesses, as the others have already said above, there are real business savings and/or efficiencies to be had from even small steps into UC.

blog.mike-barnes.co.uk