Unified CommunicationsUnified communications are based on the idea of having a single storage box for fax, voicemail, email. Fortune 500 companies are strongly interested in unified communications. But for the most part, moving into a unified messaging system requires a lot of restructuring and effort. Up till now, voice and data were treated separately, so at some places it's impossible to deploy UM. Unified communications solutions combine data, fax, voice and video capabilities into a single service. This type of technology has plenty of applications, one of which is in the case of natural disasters such as the when the Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, leaving the area in a state of total disaster. Unity unified messaging is about consolidating into one different services such as hosted pbx, unified messaging fax, fax server, voicemail, fax to email and ip telephony. The Government was criticized for responding slowly, because it had a hard time breaking down all the forms of communication channels. This problem could've been avoided with the installation of remotely hosted unified communication services in the first place. In that way, all the business affected by Katrina could have re-routed their calls to different locations or to cell phones, so that they won't loose any customers and still be able to receive their voice mail messages and faxes. Unified communications are able to streamline the operations of an organization. They unify into one the different communication channels of a single user or entire business. One can also apply the concept of a virtual phone systems that redirects the calls to different locations depending on the time of day. This is especially useful for companies that are outsourcing part of their staff. Unified communications are particularly popular among sale pros who use it while on the road to check for faxes, have their emails read while driving or listen to their voice mail messages. It can also be used for sales force automation and access to mission critical documents in the case of emergency. In the present days of constant terrorist threats and unexpected situations, it's essential for business to be able to perform their daily operations from various unaffected locations and that's just a small fraction of what makes unified communications so important. We all know that the essence of communication is sharing information which reduces the unknown factor in the world, or in other words, we receive information that gives us new knowledge. The goal of UC is to break down all physical barriers and allow for people to communicate by any means available, using different devices anywhere, anytime. Unified messaging systems provide access to e-mail, voice mail and faxes via a common computer application or by telephone. |