Unified messaging
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Unified Messaging (or UM) is the integration of different streams of messages (e-mail, Fax, voice, video, etc.) into a single in-box, accessible from a variety of different devices. It differs from simple multimedia email in that UM systems typically try to integrate telephone-based voicemail as well, and to make the UM mailbox accessible from a conventional or cellular phone.
Unified Messaging was expected by many in the telecommunications industry to be a popular product, first augmenting and eventually replacing voicemail. UM systems were expected to take advantage of the ubiquity of personal computers, and eventually of smartphones and 3G networks. However, UM was slow to gain consumer acceptance, and UM vendors such as Lucent and Comverse were badly hit when the slowdown in the telecommunications industry in 2001 made carriers wary of spending large amounts of money on technology with little proven consumer demand.
Today, UM solutions are increasingly accepted in the corporate environment. The aim of deploying UM solutions generally is to enhance workflows and improve processes as well as services. UM solutions targeting professional end-user customers integrate into the existing IT infrastructure, i. e. into CRM, ERP and mail systems (e. g. Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, SAP, etc.)
[edit] Providers
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- Adomo - provider of Voice Messaging and Unified Communication solutions to enterprises
- Alcatel - provider of Unified Communication solutions to enterprises in a comprehensive suite of services.
- Avaya - provider of communication systems, applications, and services.
- Cisco - a vendor of Unified Messaging / Telecommunications for corporate use.
- Mitel - Mitel Messaging Server is a Unified Messaging platform for corporate use.
- Nortel - a vendor of Unified Messaging / Telecommunications for corporate use.
- Microsoft - vendor of Microsoft Exchange.
- Intertel - vendor of Unified Communicator.
- Siemens - vendor providing a UM product called OpenScape / Telecommunications for corporate use.
- Segway Communications - provides hosted unified messaging services.
