UC is the undisputed future of enterprise communication

What, according to you, is the reason behind slow acceptance of unified

communication (UC) among SMBs in India?



What I have seen about the Indian working pattern is that various

communication systems are not functional. This is because most of these

organizations use very basic communication systems. I personally feel that this

status quo is just a matter of time. Corporate houses will need some time to

take decisions on how to invest correctly on the right kind of technologies,

which will up their employee productivity. But this is bound to happen, sooner

than later.

Many Indian organizations feel that videoconferencing (VC) can give UC a

run for its money. Do you agree?



Today, video and voice are integrated within a communication system.

Companies go for VC or UC depending on their requirement. There are dedicated VC

systems, which can successfully support the communication network. But this is

only if there is a need for room conferencing.

At the same time, UC is a totally different ballgame. It seamlessly joins

various communication devices in an organization in such a way that employees

are accessible at all time. This, in turn, cuts down on the decision making

turnaround time, thereby increasing productivity, cutting costs, and minimizing

delays.

How do you view the UC business, given that there are many components to

it today?



Avaya looks at UC in three different levels. The first level is integrated
desktops featured with data, voice, video, and conferencing. The next level is

communications. For instance, systems are integrated in a way that if people

cant attend calls at office, those calls get diverted to either their desired

cell phones or home phones. In the US, people are already working with mobile

handsets, which can be tuned to a virtual private number (VPN), which means they

are on the corporate network at all times. The third phase is not just people to

peopleits system to people. This is the most important facet of our

communications messaging today because we are saying that our communication

solutions will not negate the need for human intervention.

Archana Swamy



maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in