Smart-Phone-Cards Blog

The enterprises show interest in the new concept called unified communication which simplifies their telecommunication job. The invention of telecom devices has revolutionized the way the world communicates. People are now tired with the varied telecom devices used for different purposes. The connectivity and similarity of telecom devices encourage the enterprises to have a vision about unified communication integrating all the telecommunication tasks. The VOIP technology makes it possible to send voice and data at the same time, paving a way for the unified communications. This unified communications (UC) technology provides real time connectivity to every part of the world at low cost.

Unified communication means integration

Integration of voice and data on a single wired circuit infrastructure has eliminated the business cost for many companies. VOIP technology has led to the concept of UC that sends data and voice over the same wire. This convergence has made the experts think about a unified platform to use for all communications. This means video conferencing, mail service, call conferencing, call waiting, business telephone features, voice commands to control business processes can all be operated using the same single platform. This reduces the number of devices in the office, but it increases flexibility and convenience. When connectivity is improved, the productivity can also be improved. This is the reason behind the enterprises searching for such a unified system.

Unified communications is not a product

It is now time to discuss what UC does not include. The need for a unified platform does not mean that a new device has to be invented. It is the new architecture and platform that has to be designed to bring about integration of the existing devices. The telecommunication industry already has many devices that have to be integrated. UC will have no use if the enterprises have to use a set of new devices to integrate the communication system. For many, UC includes a set of products to integrate various telecom devices. A new platform and architecture to bring about the necessary integration is now under development.

Challenges faced by unified communications

The VOIP technology assures that it is possible to integrate voice and data, but the technology isn’t fully developed. This technology is not matured to handle integration of all possible telecommunication systems. Unifying the entire system is complex because the businesses already have the telecommunication infrastructure comprising of all the telecommunication devices. Convergence has been achieved to some extent where the devices share the same resources in the network. The technical world is now working on the fully converged network, which supports both voice and data. The mobile devices operate on different technology, which makes convergence a difficult task. However, the mobile companies started developing devices suitable for integration with the existing telecommunication network. Unified communications is sure to simplify the communication, but it is going to incur a lot of set up cost in the initial phase wherein the underlying telecommunication platform and architecture has to be replaced with the new system.