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Cisco's Unified Communications
By Andrew Border
Cisco Systems
Senior Product Manager, Unified Communications Business Unit
Around the world, the implementation of Unified Communication solutions is accelerating rapidly. At Cisco, we're seeing steep adoption of important technology that enables employees to work anywhere on any platform. Unified Communications creates a single Unified Workspace that effectively manages multiple applications, devices, networks, and operating systems. Its ability to enhance productivity and help organizations solve problems, streamline processes, and reduce costs is proven. Ensuring that information reaches every recipient every time, regardless of device, environment, or location is a benefit few companies can afford to ignore. Essentially, it's the synthesis of technology and business used to break down barriers.
The rapid growth of Unified Communications in Europe can be credited, I believe, to early adoption of 3G technologies for cell phones while newer mobile products are a contributing factor in the US. But both markets are converging on innovative technologies that combine increasing broadband speeds with Web 2.0 protocols. Unified Communications advantages both to enable different applications and data to speak the same language through devices connected to a single network.
It's been my experience that the initial step of integrating unified voice, video, data, and mobile applications often occurs as a strategic response to a change in the existing IT infrastructure. An event such as bringing a new ordering system online, consolidating a call center, or even moving to a new building can be the catalyst for a phased introduction of Unified Communications. And once integrated into the organization, it tends to spreads rapidly.
The reason is simple: it lets companies access data and interact with virtual teams all over the world in real time, no matter where, no matter when. Unified Communications enables genuine collaboration on advanced applications like video conferencing, integrated voice and Web conferencing, and voicemail, from a single interface, and on wired and wireless devices. As a result, communications are more effective and secure. Every interaction is more valuable and everyone gets more efficient. A 2005 Sage Research study discovered that more than 60 percent of companies using Unified Communications save three or more hours per week for each mobile worker. It delivers capabilities that can have a profound effect on how companies act and interact.
In a world getting increasingly faster, Unified Communications provides the agility to innovate and adapt, and not just for enterprises. Organizations of all sizes are realizing the benefits that carrying voice, data, video, and mobile communications across a converged IP network can bring and how important it can be to an effective IT strategy.
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