Mobile Unified Communications Featured Article

What is Mobile Unified Communications?

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Within the enterprise, there is much talk about unified communications as an integration of real-time communication services. On one platform, the organization can enjoy instant messaging, presence information, telephony, video conferencing, data sharing, call control, and even speech recognition, all integrated with voicemail, e-mail, SMS and fax technology. Now, what if you wanted to take all of these platforms mobile? The end result, of course, would be mobile unified communications.

The important thing to remember is that mobile unified communications is not a single product, but instead is a set of products that are designed to provide the convergence between real-time communication services and non-real-time communication services. As a result, the platform can easily provide a consistent and unified user interface and user experience across a number of different devices and media types.

If you look at mobile unified communications in a more broad approach, this platform can truly encompass all forms of communications that are exchanged through the medium of the TCP/IP network and include other forms of communications. These forms may be something like Internet Protocol Television (IPTV (News - Alert)) or Digital Signage Communications. As these different approaches become an integrated part of the network communications deployment, they may be easily directed as a broadcast communication that can be one to many, or one-to-one communications.

When mobile unified communications is in place, you gain the capability to send a message on one medium and receive the same communication on another medium. This capability is essential when you are on the go. If you need to connect with a client through one portal, but access the client’s account through another, you want to have mobile unified communications in place to enable this function. As a result, you not only become more efficient, but also more effective.

Plus, mobile unified communications actually has the ability to extend the benefits of unified communications for your mobile users. This enables your professionals who have to travel to produce results to do so freely without being tied to their desktop or the office. The platform offers cost efficiency and portability, making mobile unified communications an attractive offer for those companies seeking to update their unified communications capabilities.

When searching for mobile unified communications solutions, there are a few things to keep as priority for your mobile users. Look for a customizable converged communications interface, and embedded optimized voice and video. Demand carrier grade quality and interoperability, including multi-protocol, complete Skype (News - Alert) integration and remote management integration.

Mobility is not likely to fade anytime soon, which puts more importance on mobile unified communications for your workplace. When you have a clear understanding of what to expect, you can also know what to demand in a robust solution.


Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Stefanie Mosca