Think about how many different communications systems, service providers, devices, interfaces, and more your customers, staff, and partners have to muddle through to complete something. How much is it costing you to cobble together all those pieces and keep them functioning as things change? And how much revenue are you losing when things fall through the cracks or messages get dropped, lost, garbled, or otherwise mishandled?

Unified communications (UC) promises a seamless flow of voice, data, video, and applications across different networks, protocols, vendors, and devices as if it were all one. Heating up the UC market are Cisco, IBM, and Microsoft aggressively staking out their UC turf.

According to the International Engineering Consortium, UC refers to all forms of call, multimedia, and cross-media message management functions controlled by an individual for business purposes, including enterprise informational and transactional applications. UC encompasses unified messaging, where voice, fax, IM, and text messages are accessed via a single mailbox; collaboration and interaction systems; real-time and near real-time communications; and communications-enabled applications.

UC is one of the brightest spots in today’s gloomy technology market, according to International Data Corp. (IDC), which reports that the UC market in Europe alone rang up $2.6 billion in 2008. IDC projects it to increase at a 39 percent CAGR to $13.5 billion by 2013.

Three issues are driving interest in UC.

1. Environmental concerns and carbon footprint reduction through videoconferencing or tele-presence and anytime/anywhere accessibility.

2. Process redesign through UC in conjunction with event management and complex event processing to streamline previously voice-intensive processes and deliver productivity gains.

3. Cost saving through streamlined business processes. For example, the finance department can speed financial roll-ups or budgeting through UC.

UC already is crowded with telecom vendors, carriers, and mobile providers. However, the arrival of the big IT platform vendors along with their partners will drive UC interest from this point on.

Cisco promises to deliver UC to the desktop, in conference rooms, in vehicles, and in a range of public and private spaces, including airports, hospitals, warehouses, and stores.

IBM is offering its Unified Communications and Collaboration, dubbed UC2. IBM will leverage its Lotus Sametime Unified Telephony software and IBM Global Technology Services in conjunction with various telephony, audio, and video vendors to deliver a complete software, services, and hardware offering for UC and collaboration. The plan is to offer integration with multivendor environments based on open standards and cultivate an open vendor ecosystem.

Microsoft offers its Office Communications Server 2007 R2, which was recently written up in a Gartner case study of UC at the University of Kentucky. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 brings enriched audio and video conferencing, new developer tools, and enhanced voice capabilities to UC. The product promises to integrate audio, Web, and video conferencing, instant messaging, and e-mail into a single collaborative platform.

Expect to hear much more about UC going forward as vendors from across the IT and telecom spectrum jump in. As more case studies like that at the U of K get published, business managers will begin think seriously about UC for their organizations. wiredFINANCE will continue to follow UC going forward. ###