Unified communications soon to become business differentiator

The analyst reports that recent trends indicate rapid adoption of fixed/mobile convergence, ‘presence’ management as well as Internet telephony, underpinned by integrating technologies on a session initiation protocol (SIP) platform. “Consolidation of software is a must when it comes to UC as it is vital for an enterprise to support multiple features in a single application,” notes the organisation’s technical insights research analyst Gaurav Sundararaman. “The urge to consolidate is visible among the enterprises, and more and more companies are looking to combine all the features into a single software. Multi vendor consolidation is the right way to go to achieve state-of-the-art business communication.” This will grow. Frost & Sullivan believes that how people communicate with one another inside and outside a business is fast becoming a key business differentiator. Sundararaman points out that UC describes a way to combine today’s mix of technologies into a single communications strategy that makes communication faster and far more pervasive. He also observes that, as a result, it fosters genuine collaboration between individuals and departments within and without organisations – and does so very cost-effectively. “Standards-based, converged IP communications tools can enable seamless interoperability with fixed and mobile networks, terminals, and corporate IT services,” says Sundararaman. “This opens up a great opportunity for enterprises to introduce solutions that cater to the needs of the end user. Achieving UC is the ultimate goal for most vendors and this challenge will motivate smaller companies to work toward this goal.”