Unified messaging
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Unified Messaging (or UM), also known as Unified Communications (or UC) is the integration of different electronic messaging and communications media (e-mail, SMS, Fax, voicemail, video messaging, etc.) technologies into a single interface, accessible from a variety of different devices.[1] Unified messaging is a subset of a fully integrated Unified communications system.[2] While traditional communications systems delivered messages into several different types of stores—voicemail systems, e-mail servers, and stand-alone fax machines—with Unified Messaging all types of messages are stored in one system. Voicemail messages, for example, are delivered directly into your inbox. You see them right beside your e-mail when you open up Outlook, offering powerful new ways to collaborate more effectively. For example, you can forward a voicemail or fax. You can even take notes in your voicemail message or search for old voicemail messages. No more notes stuck to your monitor!
Unified Messaging was expected by many in the consumer telecommunications industry to be a popular product, first augmenting and eventually replacing voicemail. However, UM was slow to gain consumer acceptance, and UM vendors such as Comverse were badly hit when the slowdown in the telecommunications industry in 2001 made carriers wary of spending large amounts of money on technology with little proven consumer demand.
Today, UM solutions are increasingly accepted in the corporate environment. The aim of deploying UM solutions generally is to enhance and improve business productivity while decreasing communication issues.[3] UM solutions targeting professional end-user customers integrate communications processes into the existing IT infrastructure, i. e. into CRM, ERP and mail systems (e. g. CallXpress[4],Phoenixnet PH, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, SAP, etc.)
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[edit] Indistinct Definitions
Unified Messaging is an indistinct term that can refer to the typical definition[5] of simple inclusion of incoming faxes and voice-mail in one's email inbox, all the way to dictating a message into a cell phone and the intelligent delivery of that message to the intended recipient in a variety of possible formats like text email, fax, or voice recording. Because of the nebulous definition of UM, it was number one on the 1998 Wired Magazine "Hype List".[6]
[edit] Unified Messaging vendors
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Unified Messaging. Definition and Overview". International Engineering Consortium. 2005. http://www.iec.org/online/tutorials/unified_mess/index.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-02.
- ^ Pleasant, Blair (2008-07-28). "What UC is and isn't". SearchUnifiedCommunications.com. http://searchunifiedcommunications.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid186_gci1322973,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-06.
- ^ Kostek, Jessica (2009-02-29). "Frost & Sullivan: Unified Messaging to Become Ubiquitous Enterprise Communication Solution". TMCnet.com. http://hdvoice.tmcnet.com/topics/unified-communications/articles/51217-frost-sullivan-unified-messaging-become-ubiquitous-enterprise-communication.htm. Retrieved on 2009-04-07.
- ^ Popova, Elka (2007-07-05). "Customers Attest to the Value of Flexible Independent Messaging Solutions". Frost & Sullivan. http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/market-insight-top.pag?docid=101501095. Retrieved on 2009-05-12.
- ^ PC Magazine Unified Messaging definition The Computer Language Company Inc.
- ^ 6:06 Hype List Wired.com
- ^ "Report: AVST Named a Top Unified Messaging Provider". TMCnet.com. 2008-10-08. http://ivr.tmcnet.com/topics/ivr-voicexml/articles/42237-report-avst-named-top-unified-messaging-provider.htm. Retrieved on 2009-05-12.
