Feature
Business Benefits of Unified Communications Take advantage of what UC has to offer
I
T professionals have long been experts at deploying messaging systems. When email was a new technology, it brought about a huge cultural shift in businesses; now it’s a well understood concept that both IT departments and end users have become accustomed to. Although a messaging deployment can touch a wide range of systems within a business, from the directory to the desktop, such a deployment can also be carried out without having a huge effect on day-to-day operations. Unified communications (UC) is a different type of solution, with multiple components that touch all aspects of a business. Because a true UC platform includes many components, the number of touch points with IT systems, business systems, and users is greater than with other solutions. For example, in IT, UC affects the directory more broadly than an email project does, because of UC’s reliance on a wider set of correct identity information (e.g., manager and telephone fields). A UC solution can also combine with video endpoints, telephone lines (and carriers), fax machines, and PBXs. From a business perspective, UC integrates with business applications and processes more widely than email does. For end users, UC changes the way people work. Although email is now mature and widely adopted, UC brings new technology and a new mentality, providing the ability to truly change the culture and working practices of a business—which is a much more difficult task than the simple IT project that email has become. Bringing UC into your business can present many challenges. In this article, I explain how a business might benefit from UC, and
Nathan Winters is an Exchange technical specialist at Microsoft and leader of the UK Exchange Customer Council. He’s lead author of Mastering Lync Server 2010 (Sybex).
Facebook Website
w w w . w i n d o w s i t p r o . c o m W i n d o w s IT P r o / N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 2
71