Unified Communications 2011

Unified communications (UC) is the integration of real-time communication services such as instant messaging, presence information, telephony (including IP telephony), video conferencing, with non-real-time communication services such as unified messaging (integrated voicemail, e-mail, SMS and fax).  As employees demand ever more collaborative solutions and instant communication channels, ensuring that the best products are deployed is essential.

In October 2011 The Corporate IT Forum conducted a Reality Checker survey to understand the objectives behind UC strategies, the components deployed and the challenges faced.  Key findings show that organisations with a documented strategy are achieving costs savings, infrastructure is commonly hosted in-house and environments are relatively immature.  Contributing organisations represent an annual IT spend of £8.7 billion and employ over 1 million people.