Top UC Applications Are Now Apparent

Unified Communications (UC) is defined as communications integrated to optimize business processes. Competitive advantage in business is created by changing or optimizing a company's value, i.e. the series of business processes that deliver value, goods and services to customers. Most companies don't optimize their business communications strategies in such big leaps, rather than focus in on elements of their existing value chain to make significant improvements or innovations.

A typical value chain model will include the following elements:

Develop -> Market -> Sell -> Produce -> Deliver -> Service

Communications are present in some form and to some degree of intensity and criticality in each of these value chain elements. UC involves the people within these processes as they communicate with other people, as well as with their information resources and the tools of their jobs. In a wonderful synergy of customer requirements and supplier innovations, five applications of these technologies are emerging as the core of the UC market:

• Contact Management
• Seamless Information for Mobile Personnel
• Resource Identification and Problem Resolution
• Collaboration Acceleration
• Job-Specific Communication-enabled Portals

The UC applications attack the major communication bottlenecks or 'hot spots' in business processes. The UC applications add value and produce high returns in certain areas because they:

• Eliminate queues and queue-related delay
• Deliver information more effectively, often with self-service methods
• Facilitate information sharing and resulting decisions and actions
• Prioritize or schedule work to focus effort on the highest value activity
• Reduce or eliminate interruption of high value activities