http://www.ucstrategies.com/rss/content_all.aspxUnified Communications Strategies - An industry resource for enterprises, vendors, and system integrators. http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/unified-communications-directly-links-to-gartner-end-user-predictions-for-2010.aspx This week, Gartner published “Gartner Top End User Predictions for 2010: Coping with the New Balance of Power” (see the report on scribd) which highlights 9 major trends that will redefine and reshape IT (and communications), especially where related to the ultimate markets – the people of the world who are the End Users. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:51:10 GMT Marty Parker http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/unified-communications-directly-links-to-gartner-end-user-predictions-for-2010.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/ibm-integrates-unified-communications-with-social-software.aspx Many people have misconceptions about social software. It’s more than just chatting with friends or letting your “followers” know what you did over the weekend. Tools such as social bookmarking, content tagging, wikis, blogs, and microblogs let workers participate in communities where they can build expertise and share knowledge. Social networking and unified communications each have inherent value, but are even more powerful when we can blend social software nonsynchronous communication tools (such as wikis and blogs) with UC’s synchronous communications capabilities (such as click to connect). Integrating unified communications with social software lets workers better network with peers within the organization, identify and connect with experts within the company, collaborate on projects, and help workers feel connected. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:27:50 GMT Blair Pleasant http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/ibm-integrates-unified-communications-with-social-software.aspx UCStrategies Expert Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/net-delivers-valuable-sip-phone-options-for-microsoft-ocs.aspx Network Equipment Technologies – NET – is adding even more value to Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 (OCS). In addition to the enhancements now available with the NET VXe Series Voice Switches delivered last October, NET will formally announce its new SmartSIP module to support connection of a wide variety of SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) phones to Microsoft OCS. Availability of SmartSIP is expected almost immediately, in April 2010. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:47:48 GMT http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/net-delivers-valuable-sip-phone-options-for-microsoft-ocs.aspx UCStrategies In The Spotlight http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/mitel-sues-shoretel-again.aspx In 2007, Mitel filed suit against ShoreTel alleging patent infringement on the same day of ShoreTel's planned NASAQ IPO. ShoreTel responded by delaying its IPO and filing a counter-suit of patent infringement. Now, prior to Mitel's planned IPO, Mitel filed suit against ShoreTel for making "false or misleading statements about Mitel". Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:05:58 GMT Dave Michels http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/mitel-sues-shoretel-again.aspx UCStrategies Newsroom http://www.ucstrategies.com/white-papers/analytics-drive-workforce-optimization-an-essential-approach-to-enterprise-customer-service.aspx When deployed as part of a workforce optimization (WFO) solution, analytics can extend the reach of WFO beyond the contact center, into other areas of the enterprise — including branch, remote, and back-office operations — to enhance the customer experience, drive down costs, and improve competitive advantage. Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:50:00 GMT http://www.ucstrategies.com/white-papers/analytics-drive-workforce-optimization-an-essential-approach-to-enterprise-customer-service.aspx UCStrategies White Papers http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/cebp-with-ibm-lotus-sametime-to-accelerate-people-centric-business-processes.aspx Applications for unified communications can take many forms and support many kinds of employees. The popular vision of UC is the executive or knowledge worker on a desktop workstation developing business plans, collaborating on strategies, or creating proposals. However, the impact of these new networking technologies can be much broader, reaching into virtually every corner of the organization. Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:28:44 GMT Michael Finneran http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/cebp-with-ibm-lotus-sametime-to-accelerate-people-centric-business-processes.aspx UCStrategies Expert Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/zoomsafer-a-compelling-tool-to-frame-the-proper-use-of-compelling-mobility-applications.aspx The concept of distracted driving comes up a lot when we think about mobility applications, particularly as applications multiply exponentially every year. At UCStrategies.com, and at the companies we follow within unified communications, we are constantly promoting the benefits of mobility solutions and mobile workers. Rarely do we mention the downside or dark side of UC, which has to be distracted driving, or even walking. For now, let’s focus on distracted driving. Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:40:00 GMT Nancy Jamison http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/zoomsafer-a-compelling-tool-to-frame-the-proper-use-of-compelling-mobility-applications.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/actionable-intelligence-through-uc.aspx In today’s economic climate, information has never been more critical to business – information about customers, employees, and about how processes are working or not working. In fact, the very success of an organization can often be tied to how much information it collects and, more importantly, how well it analyzes this information for key trends to drive its business forward. Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:38:09 GMT http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/actionable-intelligence-through-uc.aspx UCStrategies In The Spotlight http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/excuces.aspx Unified Communications is a variety of tools and services intended to improve business processes. But as with all technology, sometimes the results are not what was intended. In Unified Communications there are various issues or "excuses" people use when things go wrong. Communication failures happen with and without technology. Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:26:47 GMT Dave Michels http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/excuces.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/users-what-users.aspx Recently I examined the 2010 program of VoiceCon, the major industry conference, and found two sessions that had user representation. This doesn’t imply that the event lacks important material and guidance of value to the CIO, CTO, IT manager and other “users”. Not in the least, quite the contrary. However, the lack of users in lead roles got me thinking. Where are the users and potential users of UC and related advanced communications technologies in the mix? Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:46:58 GMT Jay Brandstadter http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/users-what-users.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/added-security-for-microsoft-hosted-services.aspx Microsoft added new standards and compliance certifications for the BPOS and introduced a new, dedicated government cloud offering as part of BPOS. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:10:33 GMT Blair Pleasant http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/added-security-for-microsoft-hosted-services.aspx UCStrategies Newsroom http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/uc-in-government-nec-perspective.aspx Back in May of 2008, I briefly examined UC in the federal government in this article: UC in Government-A Walk on the Mild Side. It was referred to as a “walk on the mild side” since attitudes by key federal officials on VoIP remained somewhat skeptical at that time, hence casting doubt on potential UC uptake in the near-term. Recently, I re-encountered Doug Martinez, Director of Government Markets, NEC Corporation America. Doug is an old colleague and he brought me up-to-date on what NEC is learning and doing about the total government (local, state, federal) IT and communications landscape. Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:40:50 GMT Jay Brandstadter http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/uc-in-government-nec-perspective.aspx UCStrategies Expert Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/press-releases/toshiba-and-smart-choice-communications-certify-interoperability-of-strata-cix-voip-systems-and-smart-choice-sip-trunking.aspx Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Telecommunication Systems Division and Smart Choice Communications (SCC) today announced the certification of interoperability of Smart Choice SIP Trunking services with Toshiba’s family of Strata® CIX™ IP business communication systems. Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:40:00 GMT http://www.ucstrategies.com/press-releases/toshiba-and-smart-choice-communications-certify-interoperability-of-strata-cix-voip-systems-and-smart-choice-sip-trunking.aspx UCStrategies Press Releases http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/skypes-all-business.aspx Want to know where enterprise UC is headed, take a look at Skype now. Skype has been a consumer service, but its impact on business is significant and growing. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:17:16 GMT Dave Michels http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/skypes-all-business.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/cisco-hp-collaboration-review-confusion-and-opportunity.aspx Today's split between Cisco and HP is big news, and combined with Cisco's latest collaboration plans, there is both confusion and opportunity in the UC space. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:37:20 GMT http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/cisco-hp-collaboration-review-confusion-and-opportunity.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/what-convergence-means-to-the-channel.aspx Today Mitel announced its call processing software can be virtualized in a VMware environment. This isn't just another feature – it is a game changer. Today for Mitel, and potentially for the industry, and specifically for the channel. Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:16:43 GMT Dave Michels http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/what-convergence-means-to-the-channel.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/do-you-practice-safe-sip.aspx Put your feet up on your desk, you just saved your employer 60% on long distance by implementing a SIP trunk telephony solution. A promotion must be imminent and obviously well earned. But the cigar isn't the only thing beckoning your attention - the call center manager is at your door. Evidently all incoming calls to the call center stopped. Then someone else reports that calls are coming in to the rest of the company - but it's a pre-recorded venomous message going to every phone or message-box in the firm from a former employee. Good news, a position has opened in the firm's Antarctic branch. Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:42:53 GMT Dave Michels http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/do-you-practice-safe-sip.aspx UCStrategies Expert Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/hosted-all-in-one-ip-telephony-platform-supports-uc-services-for-both-enterprise-users-and-customers.aspx As recent studies have found, customer-service business processes are the top priority of enterprise organizations that have started implementing UC capabilities. Those applications account for over 90% of the highest priority responses in a study of business process applications that are primary targets for UC implementations. This means that communications involving either customer-facing staff or customers directly (self-services) are of most importance to the enterprise for UC flexibility benefits. Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:11:48 GMT Art Rosenberg http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/hosted-all-in-one-ip-telephony-platform-supports-uc-services-for-both-enterprise-users-and-customers.aspx UCStrategies Expert Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/the-changing-relationship-between-customer-and-reseller.aspx Where we seem to have some difficulty, as an industry, is in figuring out how to get UC tools into the hands of the end-user. Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:15:00 GMT Pam Avila http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/the-changing-relationship-between-customer-and-reseller.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/sprint-and-tango-raise-the-bar-in-mobile-uc.aspx A description and analysis of the new mobile unified communications (UC) offering called Mobile Integration from Sprint and Tango Networks Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:05:00 GMT Michael Finneran http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/sprint-and-tango-raise-the-bar-in-mobile-uc.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/mitel-mobile-adding-mobility-to-uc.aspx Last month, Mitel announced a new mobility play, and is of interest for a number of reasons. Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:03:57 GMT http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/mitel-mobile-adding-mobility-to-uc.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/siemens-enterprise-communications-announces-openscape-voice-v4-with-new-uc-concierge-attendant-console-application.aspx Last week, Siemens Enterprise Communications Group (SEN) announced the availability of the company’s latest release of OpenScape Voice – Version 4.0. Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:45:06 GMT Nancy Jamison http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/siemens-enterprise-communications-announces-openscape-voice-v4-with-new-uc-concierge-attendant-console-application.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/net-acquires-smartsip-simplifies-full-use-of-sip-phones-with-ocs.aspx Many enterprises find themselves in a difficult quandary, both technically and financially when they are considering deploying Microsoft’s OCS as a full UC solution, including telephony. The first quandary – is the price of phones – most users need and or Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:37:24 GMT David Yedwab http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/net-acquires-smartsip-simplifies-full-use-of-sip-phones-with-ocs.aspx UCStrategies Newsroom http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/business-process-when-implementing-uc-is-not-a-1-done-project.aspx Management and improvement of end-to-end business processes is difficult and requires more than a simple, one-time effort. Continuous process improvement means a fundamental shift in leadership values and disciplined measurement and management of the value that processes create for customers and shareholders. IT pros must think in terms of how technology enables performance as opposed to considering only siloed applications. Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:45:00 GMT Samantha Kane http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/business-process-when-implementing-uc-is-not-a-1-done-project.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/recap-of-lotusphere-what-it-means-for-unified-communications.aspx Here’s a rundown of some of the announcements and news from Lotusphere 2010. Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:45:01 GMT Jim Burton http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/recap-of-lotusphere-what-it-means-for-unified-communications.aspx UCStrategies Expert Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/ciscos-2qfy10-uc-results-shine-indicating-strong-uc-market-recovery.aspx Cisco’s reported exceptional recovered results for its second quarter of its fiscal year (2QFY10) on February 3, 2010. Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:17:18 GMT David Yedwab http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/ciscos-2qfy10-uc-results-shine-indicating-strong-uc-market-recovery.aspx UCStrategies Newsroom http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/genesys-and-alu-enterprise-come-together.aspx A recap of the Genesys/ALU Enterprise Group analyst conference, focusing on the transformation taking place in the organization and how these groups have come together. Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:22:47 GMT Blair Pleasant http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/genesys-and-alu-enterprise-come-together.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/our-views-on-the-avaya-nortel-roadmap.aspx In a recent podcast, the UCStrategies team weighed in on the Avaya road map and what the Avaya acquisition of Nortel means for the end-user community, the Nortel customer base, and the Nortel channel partners. Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:16:00 GMT Blair Pleasant http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/our-views-on-the-avaya-nortel-roadmap.aspx UCStrategies In The Spotlight http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/beat-the-competition-and-keep-the-cfo-happy-the-argument-for-communications-as-a-service-solutions.aspx When the economy is weak, the first thought is how to trim expenses and continue to provide the best customer experience possible. Many times capital investments are the first to go by the wayside. The question is whether this is penny wise and pound foolish. Will the impact on customers be more expensive than the cost of the investment? There is no easy answer. But, with communications as a service (CaaS) solutions, now there are better alternatives from which to choose. Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:49:12 GMT http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/beat-the-competition-and-keep-the-cfo-happy-the-argument-for-communications-as-a-service-solutions.aspx UCStrategies Expert Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/white-papers/beyond-the-customer-satisfaction-horizon-fostering-loyalty-through-customer-service.aspx The contact center industry can reference decades of success in automating customer interactions using IVR. In the early years, the use of IVR was focused primarily on cost savings for the contact center and after-hours availability for the caller. Back then, customers were simply happy to have access to their information at night or over the weekend when agents weren’t available. And, regardless of the awkward touch-tone interface, IVR became a required component of every contact center strategy and one of the most annoying yet ubiquitous customer service tools. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way from those early years. Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:00:00 GMT Nancy Jamison http://www.ucstrategies.com/white-papers/beyond-the-customer-satisfaction-horizon-fostering-loyalty-through-customer-service.aspx UCStrategies White Papers http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/voxeo-acquires-clackpoint-to-build-on-unified-communication-and-unified-self-service-strategy.aspx Voxeo continues to build out the company’s unified communications strategy and portfolio with the acquisition of ClackPoint, a real-time multi-media collaboration platform, that is both simple and easy to deploy, and inexpensive compared to traditional standalone conferencing/collaboration offerings. Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:02:24 GMT Nancy Jamison http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/voxeo-acquires-clackpoint-to-build-on-unified-communication-and-unified-self-service-strategy.aspx UCStrategies Newsroom http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/if-buys-cloud.aspx Ifbyphone offers unique telecommunication application services and its portfolio just got stronger with today’s definitive agreement to acquire Cloudvox. Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:15:16 GMT Dave Michels http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/if-buys-cloud.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/uc-and-the-smb-aastras-new-compact-offering.aspx Can small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and Unified Communications (UC) find happiness together? In other words, is UC just for large enterprises that have the financial wherewithal to invest in and support UC solutions, or can SMBs also take advantage of the many benefits of UC? Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:31:56 GMT Blair Pleasant http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/uc-and-the-smb-aastras-new-compact-offering.aspx UCStrategies Expert Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/mitels-intriguing-announcement.aspx Mitel today announced a private branded wireless offering for voice and data. This is an intriguing development from what, at least most consider, is an equipment maker. Mitel is quietly building a strong service portfolio around its voice platforms. Mitel Mobile will join Mitel NetSolutions (wired services) and Mitel TotalSolutions (finance and services) in what appears to be a further transition from an equipment dominant to services based portfolio. Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:01:48 GMT Dave Michels http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/mitels-intriguing-announcement.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/does-the-avaya-nortel-roadmap-salve-most-nortel-customers-concerns.aspx Avaya’s announcement of its combined Avaya-Nortel Enterprise Product Roadmap has broad implications across the UC space. However, for one group — the Nortel Embedded Customer — it has special significance. How stable will my existing platform be? Will I still have the same reseller? What upgrade path is recommended by Avaya? How will Avaya be handling futures such as business process integrations? These are some of the key questions embedded Avaya/Nortel customers have interest in understanding. Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:55:00 GMT David Yedwab http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/does-the-avaya-nortel-roadmap-salve-most-nortel-customers-concerns.aspx UCStrategies Expert Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/-no-its-more-nec-univerge-sphericall-for-ibm-lotus-foundations-a-different-approach-to-unified-communications.aspx Today, NEC took a leap forward in Unified Communications for Small and Mid-sized Businesses (SMBs). In what may be the biggest announcement at one of the industry’s biggest shows, the annual IBM Lotusphere, NEC announced that its open, software-based Unified Communications (UC) platform, Sphericall, is fully integrated with IBM’s Lotus Foundations platform for SMB collaboration and business applications. Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:46:14 GMT Marty Parker http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/-no-its-more-nec-univerge-sphericall-for-ibm-lotus-foundations-a-different-approach-to-unified-communications.aspx UCStrategies In The Spotlight http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/ucstrategies-joins-twitter.aspx While many members of the UCStrategies team are regular Tweeters, we have decided to begin actively tweeting as UCStrategies. You can follow us at www.twitter.com/ucstrategies. Sun, 17 Jan 2010 03:16:51 GMT Jim Burton http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/ucstrategies-joins-twitter.aspx UCStrategies Newsroom http://www.ucstrategies.com/white-papers/acme-packet-session-border-controllers-in-the-contact-center.aspx Session border controllers (SBCs) are being deployed by contact centers to enable the delivery of secure, high-quality, real-time interactive communications, including VoIP and UC. Similarly, service providers are using SBCs in their new offerings for their hosted and outsourced contact center solutions. Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:24:07 GMT http://www.ucstrategies.com/white-papers/acme-packet-session-border-controllers-in-the-contact-center.aspx UCStrategies White Papers http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/business-users-want-choice-for-smartphones-and-mobile-uc.aspx Recent survey confirms demand from business users for personal mobile smartphones. Problem is mobile OS compatibility. Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:30:00 GMT Art Rosenberg http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/business-users-want-choice-for-smartphones-and-mobile-uc.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/lessons-in-uc-from-the-classroom.aspx NEC has been successfully building UC applications and solutions based on its vertical expertise, including higher education. Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:55:00 GMT Blair Pleasant http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-expert-views/lessons-in-uc-from-the-classroom.aspx UCStrategies Expert Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/the-five-key-questions-about-session-border-controllers.aspx After establishing their position in the consumer market, IP telephony services are poised to make the jump into the enterprise space. Certainly the growing use of IP-based PBX systems has paved the way for that migration, but the growing interest in SIP trunking services indicates that the shift to IP telephony is extending into network services as well. That change is bringing the session border controller (SBC) into the lexicon of telecom services, and it is a device that will play a critical role in the deployment of those services. Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:36:34 GMT Michael Finneran http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/the-five-key-questions-about-session-border-controllers.aspx UCStrategies In The Spotlight http://www.ucstrategies.com/white-papers/acme-packet-session-border-controllers-in-the-enterprise.aspx Large enterprises have been expanding their deployments of IP telephony (IPT) for several years now. Planning has already begun to extend the benefits of interactive communications over IP beyond voice services to include real-time presence-based voice, videoconferencing, chat/instant messaging, multimedia collaboration, telepresence, and more. Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:02:35 GMT http://www.ucstrategies.com/white-papers/acme-packet-session-border-controllers-in-the-enterprise.aspx UCStrategies White Papers http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/will-speech-technologies-deliver-in-2010.aspx On Monday in my Jamison Consulting.com blog I wrote how speech technologies fared in 2009, which I’m contrasting here with what I think will happen in 2010 for speech within unified communications and other market segments. Here is what I Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:36:34 GMT Nancy Jamison http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/will-speech-technologies-deliver-in-2010.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/google-shakes-up-the-mobile-world-again.aspx Google's introduction of the Android-based Nexus One smartphone is important, but the bigger story is Google's ability to shake-up the mobile operator's business plans and trigger a move to open mobile networks and a division between the network and handset markets. Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:52:12 GMT Michael Finneran http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/google-shakes-up-the-mobile-world-again.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/the-decade-that-was-from-y2k-to-avaya-nortel.aspx Now that 2009 has concluded, we note the end of the decade of the 2000’s as well as the termination of a year. Many of the usual suspects have already blogged about their retrospectives of either the year or the decade. I’ll take the long 10 year view and hopefully will have something different to add to what you might have already read. For those involved in IT and telecom--especially telephony--2000 to 2009 was a wild ride. Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:17:48 GMT Jay Brandstadter http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/the-decade-that-was-from-y2k-to-avaya-nortel.aspx UCStrategies Views http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/interactive-intelligence-moves-toward-caas-for-contact-center-automation.aspx The trend toward SaaS–Software as a Service–has been strong all year long, and has evolved to the point where we now have an acronym of particular relevance to Unified Communications. That term is CaaS–Communications as a Service–and Interactive Intelligence Inc. has been quick to embrace it. Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:10:16 GMT http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/interactive-intelligence-moves-toward-caas-for-contact-center-automation.aspx UCStrategies In The Spotlight http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/plantronics-becomes-preferred-avaya-uc-headset-provider.aspx Plantronics has been named the Avaya preferred headset provider for Avaya Unified Communications and contact center solutions. Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:10:00 GMT Blair Pleasant http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/plantronics-becomes-preferred-avaya-uc-headset-provider.aspx UCStrategies Newsroom http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/large-enterprise-deployments-full-of-challenges.aspx Whether a customer is looking for a way to make their mobile sales force more productive and hence generate more revenue, or reduce product development time and speed up time to market, there are cost-effective solutions available. But most customers have already made a significant investment in their voice and data infrastructure, not to mention the voice systems themselves. The good news is that many of the solutions available today rely on open architecture and industry standards to make them compatible with existing systems and infrastructure. Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:55:00 GMT Pam Avila http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/large-enterprise-deployments-full-of-challenges.aspx UCStrategies In The Spotlight http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/nets-one-number-fax-the-gateway-between-the-past-and-the-future.aspx One oft-overlooked dimension of unified communications (UC) is unifying the past with the present. While enterprises are advancing their deployments of software-based, integrated communications capabilities that link voice, video, email, collaboration, and text, many area of the business world still depend on technologies that date from decades past. Facsimile clearly falls into that category. Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:27:07 GMT Michael Finneran http://www.ucstrategies.com/in-the-spotlight/nets-one-number-fax-the-gateway-between-the-past-and-the-future.aspx UCStrategies In The Spotlight http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/avaya-completes-acquisition-of-nortel-enterprise-solutions.aspx Avaya announced completion of its acquisition of the Nortel Enterprise Solutions business. Now things get interesting. Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:10:00 GMT David Yedwab http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-newsroom/avaya-completes-acquisition-of-nortel-enterprise-solutions.aspx UCStrategies Newsroom