Which unified communications vendors are getting mobility right?

Mostly due to the triumphs of Apple’s iPad and iPhone, mobility has arrived in the enterprise in a big way. The following data points illustrate this eloquently:

Research organisation IDC recently included iPads in its definition of PCs, positioning Apple to overtake HP as the leading notebook vendor in 2012.
This year, sales of smart phones (handsets with computing capabilities) overtook “dumb phone” shipments for the first time in the US, according to consumer data company Nielsen.
Market research firm In-Stat foresees a time when enterprises will replace fixed-line voice over IP with mobile VOIP.

Mobile’s advantages for UCWhile these results and predictions speak for themselves, it makes sense to recap why mobile has been so successful — in short, it emphasises the importance of a UC solution that fully leverages mobility. Mobility offers the following benefits to enterprises:

Up to 80% lower roaming charges — logging into WiFi hotspots or foreign branch networks to make calls via the internet or a virtual private network cuts international roaming charges
Fewer devices — with modern mobile handsets doing duty as extensions of the network, a degree of device rationalisation is possible
Greater productivity — mobility makes mobile workers more available (while the present settings of UC allow them to manage incoming disturbances)
Greater coverage — poor GSM penetration inside buildings presents a good usage case for WiFi phones, which in turn makes it easier to extend enterprise apps to mobile warriors

Shape up or ship out
With this in mind, it’s clear that unified communications (UC) vendors should recognise mobile as a fully-fledged component and platform in the UC technology collective.
Either that or they must make room for those with the vision and execution capability to lead the pack.

Which vendor?So what should you look for in a UC product suite, to get the full benefits of mobile UC?
The vendors that get it offer the following:

Desk phone capabilities — one extension, voice mail and caller ID, call forwarding, enterprise conferencing, call recording, hold, native office directory access; and other call management features
Separate personal and business calls — make and receive calls on both numbers
Transfer to and retrieve from the desk phone, simultaneous ringing with desk phone
Automatic selection of the best network (WiFi, cellular, 3G/4G), seamless handover
Location-aware presence to help select the best network in the sense of local corporate points of presence
Support for multiple smart phone models and native UI integration for ease of use
Integrated security
Centralised reporting and trending for expense management
Scalability beyond 5 000 users per appliance
High availability

Embrace mobile UC
The right mobile UC solutions extend communications and collaboration to a wide range of handsets, providing a fully converged device for both business and personal communications while automatically selecting the best network.

It is simple, cost-effective, high-quality, unified communications on the go and neither customers nor vendors can afford not to embrace it completely.