Extending Unified Communications Beyond the Office

According to Ovum, a consulting company, mobile users are the ones that will get additional benefits of the greater communication flexibility and efficiency that Unified Communication (UC) can provide. “Users on the move will be able to complete time-sensitive tasks that involve several people, either inside or outside of an enterprise organization”, said Claudio Castelli, senior analyst. Contacts will be accessible at anytime, anywhere, by the most efficient communication way. The next step in UC will also link critical business applications, offering more capability to mobile users.

Ovum’s recent survey shows that the top three budget priorities for CIOs at large enterprises are mobile data, IP convergence and overall cost management. The complete UC ecosystem will include mobility and address these priorities.

However, CIOs believe that the high cost of mobile data plans could limit their rollout of services to employees, and mobility is still a weak link in most of the UC offerings today.