What is Unified Communications?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Improving the efficiency of business processes is achieved in various ways. One of them is the integration of all means of communication used by the company. According to experts, and companies themselves, this process can be simplified through Unified communications (UC, unified communications). What it is? Learn about it from the article.

Relevance of the issue

Despite the fact that unified communications is not something new for representatives of business, for many it remains not entirely clear. In this regard, various questions arise.

For example, are companies ready to invest in unified communications? Does the existing fragmented communication system interfere with their normal use? What are the benefits of integrating software products from different manufacturers? How to build an efficient and cost-effective unified communications model?

These and many other questions were tried to be solved by the participants of the round table organized by CompTek and Avaya withassistance from representatives of Microsoft and IBM.

Currently, there is no single view on Unified communications, so there are enough topics for discussion.

Definition

Most experts agree that unified communications is a technology that allows real-time services to be integrated with email systems. The former, in particular, include chat (instant messages), presence information, telephony (including IP), video conferencing, collaboration on documents, speech recognition and call control. Mail systems are voice, email, fax, sms.

Characteristic

UC is a complex of several products that provide the user with a single interface and enable him to use services on different devices: landline and mobile phones, computer, laptop, etc.

Due to unified communications, one subject sends a message using one technology (video, text, voice message), and the second has the ability to read it through another application. For example, voice messages can be sent to e-mail, answering machine, etc. If the sender is available based on presence information, a reply can be sent to him via video conference or chat.

Expert Opinion

In technical terms, unified communications is a set of software and hardware tools that provide more successful communication between partners, ranging fromvoice messages to video conferencing.

If we consider UC from the point of view of production, then they can be called tools for increasing efficiency. Accordingly, the goal of all manufacturers or sellers of unified communications is to improve the business of their customers. This opinion was expressed by V. Dyuzhin (IBM representative).

G. Sanadze, head of the Avaya pre-sales team, has a slightly different approach to the issue. Unified communications, in his opinion, is a system that allows the user to have access to all functions, regardless of his location and the device used. There is a certain information space and a range of services provided in it. The user must have free access to all of them. This is mobility and convenience.

According to M. Kochergin, a representative of Microsoft, unified communications is an area in which the user is given maximum opportunities. The specialist believes that at present communications are a kind of crossroads. The customer traditionally invests in IT and telecommunications. There is little overlap between these two areas now, despite the fact that office workers desperately need a system of unified technologies.

As M. Kochergin notes, every day an employee in the office receives about a hundred messages on different devices. This includes phone calls, emails, and text messages. Switching information between sources takes about 40 minutes/week.

Development specifics

There are two approaches to the creation and development of technology. Conventionally, they can be divided into "European" and "American".

The first involves participation in the development of technology research and expert commissions led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU / ITU) and ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). After that, the technology is approved by the specified organizations. The process, of course, is long, but the opinion of all participants is taken into account during it. As a result, the most complete standardized software product enters the market. This approach, for example, was used in the implementation of technologies such as TETRA, GSM, ISDN.

However, in practice, another option is more often used. The essence of the second ("American") approach is to quickly promote a certain intra-corporate product on the market without looking at other companies. The goal is simple - to take the most advantageous or dominant position.

With obvious success, such a product can be de facto turned into a standard, which will subsequently be recognized in the telecommunications community as an international one. Then the technology will be finalized with the participation of other interested organizations and firms.

As practice shows, the development of UC is carried out in the second way. If you analyze this market segment, you can see the active work of such companies as Ericsson, IBM, Microsoft, NEC, Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Nortel, Siemens, Mitel. Unifiedthe communications they presented were developed without coordination, standardization and certification by international or intergovernmental bodies. Accordingly, the work of each company goes in a certain direction. However, the activities of the developers do not exclude the alliance between the participants of the respective market segment.

Product standardization

Currently there are no hard and fast standards for UC, with the possible exception of SIP. According to IBM representatives, a kind of unified messaging platform is being developed to integrate with existing external systems. The company creates the main interface, and then partners around the world develop additional system modules.

Today, therefore, UC do not comply with the standards, respectively, we must be extremely careful to talk about unification. Less hassle when purchasing products from one of the members of the alliance of IT companies.

Compatibility of solutions

A user who has purchased a particular software product may subsequently encounter a compatibility issue. Companies operating in the market deal with this issue in different ways.

For example, Avaya's strategy is that the higher the compatibility, the better. Of course, in the past, many firms tried to release some kind of private product and impose it on the market. Today, however, as Avaya says, the challenge is not to create a solution that can only be purchased from this vendor, but todevelopment of such a system, which, although other companies have, is significantly superior to analogues in its quality. In such a situation, it is quite simple to take the platform of company "A" and combine the software of company "B" with it.

Such a scheme, in principle, is already being used today. Currently, these are SIP and Web services. There is a trend towards the development of standardization, the creation of open protocols. As a result, the issue of compatibility loses its relevance.

If the solution is presented on the market in the form of Web-services, then it is quite possible to connect them to other products that also contain them and are available today for almost every user. The customer decides where to purchase the system. At the same time, he is guaranteed to be able to replace the product if difficulties arise.

Developer Engagement

According to a Microsoft representative, an interoperability program has been created, covering SAP, Polycom, HP, Dell, NEC, Avaya, Nortel, Ericsson, Cisco. Unified communications are created as part of the exchange of data on source codes in the part responsible for the protocol.

Microsoft has a very close relationship with some manufacturers. Employees actually sit at the same table and discuss issues related to basic functionality.

UC Products

Pretty much every major developer now has multiple unified communications solutions. For example, the Avaya package includes 6 products.

One of them is the solution forfreelancers and mobile workers. It connects remote workers to the central office.

Another solution - Home Agent - allows contact center operators to attract skilled home workers to work, providing them with a high level of service.

Avaya Intelligent Branch Solutions is a product that integrates branch offices with headquarters, contact centers and other departments. With it, you can quickly create a remote unit online. For bank tellers, consultants and agents, Avaya releases a specialized product that allows you to interact with customers by phone, on the site and in branches.

Unified communications in Russia

The domestic UC market cannot be called formed and saturated. However, in Russia today there are many companies that develop telecommunication solutions at a professional level based on systems that have gained popularity in the world.

So, for example, IC "Telecom-Service" uses Cisco Systems products as a base. One of them is the project of building a single information network at a large industrial enterprise. In the course of production development, modern technological solutions were required to create a transport network and improve telephone communications with the further integration of these areas into one information environment.

Before the introduction of the product, a technical audit is mandatory. According to its results, thetasks and choose the best ways to solve them.

Mobile configurations are being developed for domestic enterprises, allowing them to quickly provide reliable and high-quality communication between the main and remote offices. Accordingly, managers from the center can contact employees of any representative office, wherever they are.

Difficulties

Domestic enterprises cannot take full advantage of UC because there is no unified communications system. Rospotrebnadzor has not yet developed any general policy in this area.

Of course, work on the implementation and development of UC is underway, but it is not active enough.

Meanwhile, analysts estimate the Russian telecommunications market as a very promising platform. Experts believe that a unified system of unified communications will soon be formed. Rospotrebnadzor, in turn, will act as a body providing control and coordination of the development and implementation of information solutions.

In closing

Before implementing Unified Communications, all possible risks must be assessed. First of all, the company's management must understand that the acquisition and launch of the system will require considerable investments. Secondly, specialists are needed who understand not only the basics, but also the intricacies of a complex system. Third, using and maintaining the quality of UC will also require financial investment.

The best option iscooperation with an operator providing a platform for unified communications. In this case, the enterprise can not only buy, but also rent the system. During the use, the company's managers evaluate the advantages of the software product, identify the weaknesses of certain solutions, evaluate the usefulness for the enterprise.