Unified Communications Featured Article

Unified Communications Week in Review

By Adam Brandt
Web Editor

Each week in review for unified communications (UC) continues to drive home the perennial maxim that this market is not static, not stagnant, and continues to move forward and evolve. Between one major product change from Google (News - Alert), and some exciting national and internationally focused facts and figures, it is clear that for UC, evolution is indeed the name of the game. So without further ado, let’s dive in.

First up this week we delved into the Latin American market with Lavanya Rathnam, who highlighted the increasing demand for UC offerings in the region. Many marketing campaigns over the past few years have made UC a commonly known and sought after commodity throughout much of the area, due to increasing sociological stability which, in turn, is yielding advanced workplace cultures and bigger business. UC demand, since being offered by such companies as Microsoft, Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, and IBM (News - Alert), is continuing to rise in the Latin American market, the ceiling on which appears to be topless.

Next we had an illuminating piece on a growing trend in the workplace, or more appropriately, out of the workplace. According to an American Community Survey, telecommuting as a work practice grew 79 percent between 2005 and 2012, a staggering evolution in the realm of business and enterprise practice. Some analysts predict that soon over half of the work force will be telecommuting, and in order to get your business ready for the demand, here are a couple of tips worth taking a look at.

Our own Steve Anderson this week took a look at the Center for Services Leadership, the CCMC, and the W. P. Carey School of Business’s academic endeavor, entitled “Customer Rage Study”, which highlights the general disdain consumers are feeling toward most customer service departments.

Another study Steve looked at, however, depicted a lighter side of customer service. According to Software Advice’s recent survey, 69 percent of customers thought their customer service experiences to be improved when dealing with a representative who wasn’t reading a script. The good news is that customer service departments are getting better; the bad news is that they have a long way to go. Check out the full article and plenty more stats and statistics here.

Last in this week’s review is some exciting news from Google, who announced earlier in the week that Hangouts will no longer require Google+ as a prerequisite for operation. Instead, any Google Apps account user will have unlimited access to Hangouts’ screenshare and chat function’s, all over a desktop or Chromebox device, and soon to be over all mobile devices as well.

Also, with eyes on the enterprise, Google is offering Hangouts as an inclusion in the Google Apps for Businesses suite as they continue to gain strength in the UC market.

For more on these or any other stories you may have missed, be sure to check out TMCnet’s Unified Communications page.