Unified Communications (UC) has ushered in the second state of the Evolved Office, where mobility and collaboration take center stage. The mobile client enables more than just access, it enables real-time interaction via presence and messaging, and enhanced collaboration with other network users. This enabling of your “office phone number” on the smartphone, connected laptop, or tablet has been a key driver for the continued growth of UC. It truly enables your office to be borderless.
Unified Communications is a natural evolution of the PBX as it combines voice/telephony, unified messaging, mobility, presence, desktop sharing, and conferencing/collaboration into a single integrated application. It also supports several modes of communication, including voice, chat, email, fax, and texting (SMS/MMS). It enables a user to switch between these modalities of communication as needed to enhance the exchange of information and ideas.
All employees can benefit from UC, whether they are in the office, away-from-desk employees, on the road, or working from home. All the tools that are available to office workers, such as video conferencing, presence management, screen sharing, chat, etc. are available from the desktop, laptop, or mobile device. In addition to significantly enhancing team collaboration and productivity, UC can also improve engagement with customers, vendors, and sales prospects because it enables faster answers in a variety of ways.