www.tmcnet.com/8212.1
IDC: Conferencing Emerges as Lead UC App
Nothing ever goes as planned in the broad unified communications business. Developers spent great attention creating products for the business customer. And then consumer VoIP exploded. Great effort went into creating Session Initiation Protocol. And then Skype exploded.

For the past couple of years, "communications-enabled business processes" has been the mantra. But something has happened to the overall UC market, it seems. IDC specifically singles out conferencing and collaboration applications as something we might call "lead" applications, not the more typical "unified" applications people tend to talk about.

The unified communications market in Europe will grow at a cumulative average growth rate of 39 percent to 2013, reaching $13.5 billion, up from $2.6 billion in 2008, say analysts at IDC. "In such a challenging market, where spending is plummeting,
there is a strong opportunity for solutions that can reduce expenses, such as travel, in the short term," IDC analysts say.

"This means that UC, which includes video and audio conferencing and collaboration solutions, is one of the few technology areas well placed to grow during the recession."
www.idc.com

www.tmcnet.com/8213.1
Demand for Unified Communications Grows Down Under
An assessment of the latest Australian unified communications market by Frost & Sullivan has revealed that the search for cost savings will drive the demand for UC solutions.

The report, "Australia Unified Communications User Behaviour Report 2009," concedes that Australia's IT spending in 2009-2010 will be impacted by the global financial crisis. However, sales of UC solutions will benefit as organizations try to achieve cost savings. According to Audrey William, ANZ research director at Frost & Sullivan, in order to achieve cost savings, the need for conferencing and collaboration tools will increase. To effectively capitalize on this interest, vendors will have to quantify and demonstrate real life benefits from local UC deployments.

The report lists telephony, e-mail, conferencing and collaboration, and instant messaging as the key UC applications that will deliver value. Nearly 50 percent of all respondents expect to deploy videoconferencing or telepresence technologies in the 2009-2010 timeframe. Applications that support, automate and create efficiencies in customer service like interactive voice response voice portals, speech recognition and performance optimization will also have strong demand.
www.frost.com

www.tmcnet.com/8214.1
CallTower Announces Hosted Microsoft-Based UC Solution
Hosted enterprise communications are gaining momentum - thanks to their ability to deliver fast results and ROI without the need for expensive infrastructure and network upgrades. CallTower, which provides managed enterprise-class unified communications solutions for growing businesses, is offering a new on-demand unified communications solution based on the latest version of Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 R2.

The new offering, according to company officials, "provides a cost effective, powerful option for growing businesses seeking enterprise-class unified communications capabilities without the expense of owning or managing it."

CallTower's offering provides a single interface and bill for telephony services, Web and audio conferencing, unified messaging, voice to text, text to voice, Internet, presence, screen pops and more. In addition, CallTower's hosted OCS does not require any other telephone system or softswitch to be involved and the system can use any Microsoft Office Communicator compatible phone as the primary telephony platform.
www.calltower.com

www.tmcnet.com/8044.1
CommuniGate Launches Mobile Office UC Solution
CommuniGate Systems has recently launched their latest offering, the "Mobile Office." Mobile Office addresses the market shift from fixed to mobile convergence for broadband and communications, and is designed to help mobile operators deliver Value-Added Services through mobile UC to the lucrative business subscriber market.

Mobile Office, which empowers mobile operators to deliver a "Virtualized Office" with UC as Software-as-a-Service to small- and medium-sized businesses, is a fixed to mobile convergence solution that includes CommuniGate's Flash-based Web 2.0 client called Pronto!

Pronto! delivers messaging, contacts and collaboration tools such as shared folders and shared calendars in a single dashboard. The mobile device access for Mobile Office is supported natively for the iPhone 3G, Nokia, and WinMobile devices.
www.communigate.com

www.tmcnet.com/7492.1
AltiGen Communications Enhances MAX Communications Server
AltiGen Communications, a provider of Microsoft-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business phone systems and unified communications (UC) solutions, has announced updates for its MAX Communications Server (MAXCS) 6.0 VoIP unified communications platform.

The new MAX Communications Server 6.0 Update 2 provides call center customers with completely redesigned desktop applications for agents and workgroup supervisors. In addition, it provides several improvements to existing features and new applications such as New MaxAgent 6.0 Desktop Application for Call Center Agents, New MaxSupervisor 6.0 Desktop Application for Call Center Supervisors and New MaxInsight 6.0 Readerboard Application for displaying real-time call center statistics. The MAXCS 6.0 also features a new .NET-based desktop telephony client with enhanced call control features and an expanded meet-me conference bridge with scheduling application supporting 120 participants.
www.altigen.com

www.tmcnet.com/8216.1
NEC Unified Offers Sphericall for Hospitality
NEC Unified Solutions has introduced a new IP-based unified communications system designed for the hospitality industry. UNIVERGE Sphericall for Hospitality is designed for hotel operators to improve operations and cut costs while at the same time wowing their guests and earning repeat business. The software-based solution, built on NEC's Sphericall enterprise softswitch platform, delivers a slew of advanced features that will boost staff productivity including unified messaging for e-mail, voicemail and fax; click-to-dial calling and conferencing; and presence with IM and texting capabilities.

The solution offers advanced services and features such as self-service wake-up calls in seven languages with snooze option; direct-room dialing; streamlined guest check-in and check-out processes through integration with popular third-party property management system solutions; and safety and security features with direct E911 connection from guest rooms.
www.necunified.com

www.tmcnet.com/8217.1
Sipera Systems Intros Distributed Workforce Communications Solution Sipera Systems, a provider of real-time unified communications (UC) security, has announced the availability of a distributed workforce communications solution - Sipera Business Continuity Communications Solution (SBCCS).

The solution is designed to enable enterprises to establish comprehensively secure VoIP, video, messaging, collaboration and other UC sessions for a geographically extended and dispersed employee base.

SBCCS is central to an enterprise's Pandemic Planning and Disaster Recovery strategies and allows enterprise to extend rich, fully functional communications to any worker in any location with IP network connectivity. The offering also includes full encryption, access control, policy enforcement and other security as required by statute or business best practice.

This allows enterprises to plan for better workforce flexibility and availability in responding to public health concerns, such as the recent Swine Flu (H1N1 Virus); natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes; national security issues, and other crises.
www.sipera.com