TMCnet Unified Communications Week in Review

Unified communications (UC) is key to the ongoing success of businesses throughout every industry. No matter how small or large an organization is, it’s crucial that they have a next-generation system in place that will enable a geographically dispersed employee and client base to remain connected at all times.

This week in the space, Lync 2013 made its debut on Apple’s (News - Alert) iOS mobile devices. Already available on the Windows 8 Phone, the Lync 2013 for iPad app became available in the App Store at the end of last week. The offering is touted as enabling users to access important business-related functions like voice and video calls, as well as instant messaging with ease.

 Helping mobile users communicate from anywhere, at anytime and from any device can dramatically enhance the footprint of a firm, enabling it to see many advantages, including increased efficiency and a higher profit margin overall.

In other news, in a recent blog post from UC provider Teo, it was revealed that firms turning to conferencing platforms are increasingly demanding “a middle ground between expensive in-room systems and free, mobile-oriented options.” To accomplish these goals, businesses are developing fully customizable solutions that work on top of specific video conferencing suites.

Hence, in spite of the fact that video conferencing has become an increasingly popular way for employees to engage with clients located around the globe, it is vital that the approach taken to implement this system can yield a significant return on investment (ROI) while powering an extremely professional business image.

"It's about the level of professional presentation and the ability to stream and have that more immersive experience," said Ross Forgione, CIO at the law firm, Johnson Winter and Slattery. "If I'm using Skype (News - Alert) to talk to my dad, I don't care if it goes click sometimes or the connection goes down. When you're in a corporate environment and you're doing deals or you're looking out for the best interests of your client, the clarity of the image and the distribution of that content adds to the message you're driving towards. It's almost a chalk and cheese scenario; I don't believe you can compare the two."

Closing out the week, TMCnet Contributor Robbie Pleasant revealed that oftentimes organizations are faced with the crucial decision of whether or not to lease distributed SIP trunking from providers and carriers or implement them into their own networks directly. An increasingly popular trend is in firms centralizing their UC operations, with nearly 60 percent of businesses throughout North America and Europe travelling down this road.

“However,” Pleasant added, “that has not stopped many voice and data providers from offering services such as SIP trunking. Smaller firms are attracted to enterprise-class applications and services from major carriers, as it allows them to handle higher voice and data traffic than their own networks would permit. SIP trunking services tend to be very scalable, so customers can get the services that meet their needs and budget, while upgrading as necessary.”

For all of the most vital breaking news in the industry, be sure to stay tuned to the unified communications community, exclusively on TMCnet!