Now that the first issue of Unified Communications has made its way from desk to desk, several readers have asked why the new landscape format. The gist of it is really to create a like experience for our hard copy and digital readership (check out Zippy Grigonis' Editor's Notes on page one of the July issue for a lengthier explanation). So, I guess you could say it's a way of unifying our communications with our readers. But it got me thinking about whether people "get" Unified Communications and, more importantly, how it impacts their daily lives.

 

There's no question that everyone is talking UC. The major vendors have all introduced UC product lines or, at the very least, have rebranded existing products to develop a presence in the space. But is it all talk, or are businesses really jumping on the UC bandwagon?

 

James Messer, director of technical marketing at Network General, was able to shed some light on the situation - Network General recently conducted a survey of 576 businesses regarding their use of UC applications. As James explained, this was not a particularly scientific endeavor, but it provided some interesting high-level insight into the market.

 

Importantly, nearly seven out of ten respondents are currently using VoIP in their daily work, showing that people have certainly caught onto the voice aspect. In addition, almost four out of ten respondents are using unified messaging solutions, the same number are using integrated voice, video, and Web conferencing, and nearly half are IMing. Perhaps most telling is that only nine percent are not using any UC applications.

 

In terms of messaging applications, responses were, for the most part, predictable. Email, voice mail, integrated voice mail and email, IM, Web conferencing, email on a mobile, and voice mail on a mobile were, in descending order, each used by more than 44 percent of respondents. A bit surprising was that 14 percent are still using pagers, including more than a quarter of the respondents from companies with more than 5000 employees.

 

What this tells us is that, though they may not be using all available aspects of UC, each of these companies is still enjoying the benefits of multiple UC services.

 

However, the survey also clearly indicates that, while businesses are adopting these new services, they are ill equipped to handle the effect on their networks, and their use is having a detrimental impact on their corporate networks. Almost four out of ten respondents said their critical business applications have suffered due to these new converged communications applications. And another 18 percent said they did not know, which means that, more than likely, at least half of the business using UC solutions are not adequately managing their network resources, negating some of the benefits to be gained by adopting the solutions in the first place.

 

Furthermore, more than three-quarters of the respondents expect traffic from communications applications to increase during the next twelve months - which could create an even greater instance of network resource failures. Only 1.6 percent of respondents expect their communications-related network traffic to decrease. Two things are patently obvious: First, companies are adopting UC strategies, and second, they need guidance on how to effectively go about it.

 

That, of course, is where companies like Network General can be a crucial asset, as it is focused on providing information about the health and availability of network resources, including critical business applications. As James told me, the company is single minded in its drive to ensure, as businesses continue to adopt Unified Communications solutions, they are able to maintain peak network performance levels, and in cases where that is not happening, determining the cause.

 

James and his colleagues, as his data indicates, can rest comfortably, knowing that not only is VoIP adoption increasing, but Unified Communications is here and it is growing. Which also means that businesses will need to rely on companies like Network General to ensure they are not wasting their precious network resources. Incidentally, James also tells me he may conduct a more in-depth statistical survey in the near future, which should certainly produce even more interesting results.

 

 

Unified Communications Communications Magazine Table of Contents