The Core Technologies That Make Up Unified Communication

Unified Communications is no longer just for large businesses; it is now widely used in government, education and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB). The bar for commercial Unified Communication services is being set very high with the growth of internet and bandwidth combined with strong free programs like Skype and Google Hangouts that enable for high quality real time communication.
Without a doubt, competing with “Free” is a difficult task. However, the enterprise UC market is still expanding quickly because to security, flexibility, and specific business needs.

However, the leaders in the UC market now need to keep raising the bar for the services they provide to their customers. both those with systems and those looking for more

But when it comes to pushing the envelope, what does that mean?
More than anything it means being ahead of the curve. Building tools and applications to extend your UC service beyond the traditional Voice, Video, Instant Message and Presence that comprise UC today. It means spotting the trends and implementing them into your suite of products. With technology moving at what feels like the speed of light the trends can seem to come and go quickly. But right now there are five that are shaping the Unified Communications space. This includes Web Real Time Collaboration, Mobility, Bring your Own Device (BYOD), Hosted (Cloud UC) and Social Integration.

Here is a rundown of these game-changing technologies:

1. Web Real Time Collaboration (WRTC):

The ability to move from a call to a collaboration session has never been truly ubiquitous. Services like Webex and GoToMeeting have existed for some time and their service capabilities have continued to expand. But real time collaboration required the creation of a meeting, an email to the invitees and a login to the service making extra steps for collaboration to take place. Now this is all starting to change. UC providers are building the capabilities for group chats in a desktop client to launch a web collaboration meeting or a screen share right out of the browser giving instantaneous capabilities to collaborate. This tool will allow companies to collaborate and move faster than ever before seamlessly within their UC environment.

2. Mobility:

Being connected anytime anywhere is increasingly becoming the goal for business communication. While a cell phone more or less provides this ability, the requirement to be fully connected to the office requires more than a disparate device on a wireless network. What it comes down to is the ability to utilize the widely available broadband to reach back to the office so whether you are riding the train to the office or you are on a beach in Fiji that so long as you have Internet you are fully connected. Perhaps the most mature of the five trends; mobility is still a growing trend as it hasn’t fully been embraced among Unified Communication platforms. Starting with applications that ride on the mobile device, such as Jabber from Cisco or UC-One from Broadsoft, companies are giving the mobile device instant connection to the contacts, communication tools and services that would be available from the office when logged in.

3. BYOD:

This may be one of the most discusses trends in workplace technology let alone Unified Communications. The ability for a user to integrate their personal tools into the business environment is an exciting yet controversial subject as IT leaders and business leaders feud over the ups and downs of BYOD. The bottom line is IT leaders battles will likely be futile as CEO’s are among those seeking to bring their iPAD to the office. For UC providers the trend is making this service useful and accessible as the individual business choices to utilize the capability is not within their control. The one thing that is for sure is that this trend is going to continue to evolve and you will see more and more personal devices enter the workplace each and every day.

4. Hosted (Cloud):

Cloud was long seen as a less secure and less reliable to go about information technologies. With equipment being hosted elsewhere, the lack of control for many IT leaders was unacceptable. But with top down pushes for cost cutting and the growth of cloud as a viable business model, the resistance has become futile. For UC, the cloud now offers everything on-premise solutions could offer and more. For instance, scalability with cloud is rarely an issue as the only requirement on the user side is bandwidth and QOS on the switch. Those are items you would really need whether on or off premise so the cost becomes a non-factor. The great thing about cloud for UC is that upgrades and growth are often included and don’t require much in the way of technical resources on the user side. The provider takes care of those things so businesses can focus on their business rather than technology.

5. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP):

VoIP has revolutionized the way we communicate and has become the preferred choice for businesses and individuals alike. Here are some additional points to consider about VoIP technology. VoIP systems are highly scalable and can easily accommodate the changing needs of businesses as they grow and expand. It can integrate with other communication tools, such as video conferencing and instant messaging, to create a unified communication platform. This systems offers advanced features such as call forwarding, call waiting, voicemail, and caller ID, which are often available at no extra cost.

Conclusion:

Unified Communications has evolved to reach beyond just large enterprises and is now widely used in education, government, and small to medium-sized businesses. With the advancement of technology and free communication applications such as Skype and Google Hangouts, the paid UC market faces tough competition. To stay ahead, UC providers need to offer more than just traditional Voice, Video, Instant Message, and Presence functions and incorporate game-changing technologies such as Web Real Time Collaboration, Mobility, Bring Your Own Device, Hosted (Cloud UC), and Voice over Internet Protocol. These technologies offer businesses the ability to collaborate seamlessly, stay connected anytime and anywhere, integrate personal devices into the business environment, and take advantage of the benefits of cloud computing. With these advancements, businesses can focus on their core operations while technology takes care of the rest.

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