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An updated version of the iSeries platform from SpeakerBus is designed to support larger deployments of the company’s unified communications (UC) system, according to the company. The updates will position the company to take advantage of an upswing in UC adoption rates.

It’s a strong move in a tricky industry, where growth has not completely met expectations. Part of the problem is a variable return on investment for some companies. However, industry insiders expect the UC market will grow with the rapid adoption of mobile technology, an area where UC holds promise for organizations that are looking for new ways to collaborate across geographical distances.

"Cloud-based UC is gaining interest, but not huge adoption yet among all sizes of companies," explained Robin Gareiss, executive vice president and senior founding partner of Nemertes Research Group, a research and advisory firm in Mokena, Ill., in an article for ComputerWorld. "For now, we see small and midsize companies, those with fewer than about 1,000 endpoints, making the strongest business case for cloud or hosted UC services."

SpeakerBus is preparing for that upswing in corporate interest with its updated software. The iSeries platform from SpeakerBus comprises the iManager Centralized Management System and Communications Server, iTurret dealerboards and iSeries Media Gateways.

Revisions include an updated graphical user interface for iTurret called SLATEUX. The interface reportedly has a simplified screen layout as well as icons designed to enhance usability and provide a common user interface across all Speakerbus endpoints. The iTurret now supports Japanese in addition to the German language option introduced last year.

Speakerbus also introduced its Automated Resource Management feature, which reportedly enables support staff members to add, change and audit services without the need for specialist technical skills. The iG330 Media Gateway (News - Alert) also has been upgraded to support automated failover to a standby gateway so customers can create self-healing communication infrastructures.

For organizations looking to UC for enterprise management, Speakerbus added granular control of user privileges to help manage large voice user populations as well as automatic device firmware update technology to ensure that everything is running the correct versions in a customer environment. The company also reports that gateway pairing tools reduce the workload in iManager Portal and VMWare tools can now be installed from the iManager Communications Server command line.