The free exchange of information is at the core of any enterprise, meaning the communications network is fundamental to doing business. Clearly, communication and collaboration are much more than the sum of your PBXes and smartphones and IM clients and QoS schemes - and in this InformationWeek Tech Center, we'll cover the technical, policy, and strategy considerations.
Commentary/How-To's
Qualcomm Touts Smartphone Battery Life, Not 4 CoresMobile World Congress will showcase new advances in LTE 4G power efficiency, not smartphones with quad-core SnapDragon processors, says Qualcomm exec. What One-Time Passwords Could Do For Mobile
Smartphones will soon be wallets. They're already corporate data repositories. And finally, Yubico lets us stop using static passwords to lock it... Social Networking: Open Is The New Closed
It's a paradox that sites advocating collaboration are inherently closed. Stanford's MobiSocial team says we can do better. CES Sleeper Tech: 3 Mobile Collaboration Breakthroughs
Now that the hyperbole haze has dissipated, let's look at three products from small, innovative startups with the potential to break some mobile... 2012 Tablet Race: Where's Microsoft?
As I watch startup CloudOn and the hordes of Android mutants, I can't help noticing that CES isn't the only place Redmond is AWOL. Apps Need Collaboration At Core
Collaboration isn't a distinct activity anymore. It's an integral feature that people will soon expect from every application.
News
Why Cisco Is Challenging Microsoft-Skype MergerSkype integration with Lync shuts out competing video calling services, hinders interoperability and hurts the entire sector, says Cisco. FuzeBox UC Platform Adds Apple, Android Tablet Support
New version connects to other meeting rooms, adds videoconferencing features. 6 Steps To Maximize Your Unified Communications ROI
UC vendors don't like to admit how complicated it is to deploy today's systems. Follow our plan to get the most out of your UC deployment.
More Stories:
- Siemens Targets North American Unified Communications Market
- Zultys Adds Android Support To Unified Communications Software
- Logitech Videoconferencing Adds Flexibility
- BroadSoft To Deliver UC Platform For Service Providers
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Desktop Videoconferencing Ready For Wide Use
- Videoconferencing Systems Vulnerable To Hackers
- Avaya Flare Communicator iPad App Launches
By The Numbers
Why We Do UC
Collaboration and efficiency improvements are key.
UC Collaboration Technology Reports
Beyond Dial Tone: 6 Steps to Wring ROI Out of UC
Unified communications and collaboration represents a significant investment in money and IT resources. It's critical to determine whether your company will benefit from unified communications. Not every organization will. The key is to tackle complexity head on and ensure all stakeholders are fully engaged from the beginning. Our report provides in-depth detail on building an ROI picture for a UC deployment.
Desktop Videoconferencing: Ready for Its Closeup
The advent of Scalable Video Coding (SVC), which enables the use of the Internet for high-quality desktop videoconferencing, means enterprises can deploy videoconferencing to a majority of workers. Companies that value face-to-face communications can make it happen without breaking the bank. The report also includes exclusive research on IT’s adoption plans for videoconferencing.
2012 State of Unified Communications
The good news: The percentage of users who've deployed and are using UC jumped six points, to 36%, since our 2010 survey, and the number of "fence sitters" is down, too. The not-so-good news: For 65%of those who have deployed or plan to do so, UC currently reaches 50% or less of the employee base. What's the holdup?
Best Practices: Reliable Unified Communications
If your UC infrastructure is erratic or the communications quality poor, you're sunk, because end users today don't have the patience to give IT three or four chances to get it right. And that just adds up to wasted money. In this InformationWeek Best Practices report, we describe strategies to ensure quality communications between end users, whether they're on the LAN, WAN or a mobile device.
Into the Fold: Mobile Unified Communications Within Reach
IT’s been pushing UC and mobility initiatives on separate tracks. But if either technology is to realize its full potential, CIOs must make integration a priority. In this Strategy Session report, we discuss ways to bring smartphones and tablets into your overall unified communications plan.
Related Content
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Unified Communications Explained
This white paper defines unified communications (UC) and the business needs that drive it, highlights the challenges associated with a UC deployment and defines what a new UC architecture should look like. Plus, it provides insights on how to best to choose a solution vendor and pursue the next steps in UC deployment.
The Relationship between Unified Communications and Interoperability Defined
Unified Communications encompasses a wide variety of definitions. Common to all definitions is the idea of integrating multiple communication modalities and applications to increase employee productivity and collaboration, and improve business processes. To achieve its potential, the “unification” of communications is highly dependent on interoperability. This white paper outlines the key elements of Avaya’s interoperability strategy and explains how Avaya takes a structured and holistic approach to unified communications.
Avaya Deploys the Avaya Video Device with the Avaya Flare® Experience
A revolutionary new video collaboration solution, the Avaya Flare® Experience on the Desktop Video Device, has been making waves in the communications industry. This white paper takes you through Avaya's Desktop Video Device deployment and details the Avaya Flare® Experience. Discover the advantages Avaya users experienced; including enhanced voice communications, video conferencing and a range of data collaboration functions and learn how Avaya is managing its day-to-day operations using this ground-breaking new product.
Avaya Aura Scalability and Reliability Overview
The IT industry is entering a new era of communications. It's an era marked by mobile, tablet and cloud computing. At the center of this communications industry evolution is Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). SIP is a bridge to the future of real-time voice and video collaboration, both adding value to legacy voice systems and delivering a platform to a new era in communications enabled applications. The white paper provides an overview of SIP and reveals how the Avaya SIP architecture scales to support mobile, fixed and video endpoints.
People-Centric Collaboration Series - Part 1: Real-time collaboration should serve your people, not your infrastructure
Real-time communications and collaboration is a game-changer for enterprise network architecture. Attend this webcast to hear, Bern Elliot from Gartner Research, explain how to:
- Work in an multi-vendor environment and understand the importance of interoperable solutions
- Determine business value, ROI, and collaboration priorities
- Develop a roadmap, incremental deployment, TCO goals, organizational challenges and next steps
