Unified Communications: the next big thing?
April 9th, 2007Digital communication is changing and businesses need to keep up. This means software companies have new opportunities to develop and market solutions that just might be the next killer app.
The problem businesses (and individuals) face is a proliferation of ways to send and receive digital messages: IP phones, PDAs, e-mail, instant messaging, cell phones, text messaging, digital video. Can these technologies be integrated?
According to Jeff Raikes (Microsoft Business Division President, pictured above), software will unite today’s disconnected communications. It’s a safe bet that software will play a key role in the future of business communications, but whose software will we use? IBM and Cisco want developers to embrace an open source unified communications platform called “Unified Communication and Collaboration”, or UC2. Microsoft, on the other hand, has a lot of muscle in the software industry and isn’t shy about marketing their vision for unified communications technology.
How will corporations use unified communications? A server-based solution (e.g. Microsoft Office Communications Server) is Microsoft’s answer; a network appliance with an open source management interface is Cisco’s answer. The Internet, as a gateway for private communications, will not be used without proper inducements, such as the force of arms. Sorry, Google.
