UC has big business future

Unified Communications (UC) is to play a big part in the future of business, according to Azzurri.

The real advantage of the technology, according to the consultant, is that it allows workers to communicate in real time.

It is not the first praise that UC has received recently, with Microsoft saying it will "bridge the gap between telephony and computing" and Frost & Sullivan predicting the UC market to grow by 13 per cent in 2008, with IP telephony solutions a significant part of that.

However, UC is about more than just cost savings - it can improve business process, according to Tony Corlett, Azzurri product development director.

"The concept is one of enabling users within organisations to access services and functionality regardless of where they are and the modality that they are in," he said.

"Unified Communications is about real time communications where you can make a decision to communicate with somebody based on the knowledge of where they are and what mode they are in."

This means that, for instance, if someone is on a meeting anyone trying to contact them can see that fact.

They would then be able to instant message the person instead of call if they feel this would be more appropriate.