Mobile Unified Communication: unique products can survive

The Unified Communication market, especially the mobile Unified Communication Market, is developing rapidly, and new functions are constantly increasing at a crazy speed. In view of this, we no longer try to identify the specific characteristics of each product, because this analysis will soon become obsolete. In addition, the pricing of mobile unified products is usually associated with other functions, so it is almost impossible to determine the price of a specific product independently. Therefore, we will identify the vendor categories, identify the overall performance of each category, and differentiate their distinctive features.

Mobile Unified Communication Elements

With the wide recognition of the benefits of mobility, there are a wide variety of mobile communication solutions available. The mobile Unified Communication solution itself involves three main factors:

Unified Communication Platform: This platform includes directories, integrated applications, APIs, and dashboards for accessing different communications and providing data sharing functions.

Mobile network infrastructure: the network infrastructure includes wireless networks, cellular networks, and Wi-Fi. On this basis, the Unified Communication solution is implemented. If the scheme involves switching between Wi-Fi and cellular networks, the mobile controller needs to coordinate this function.

Mobile client device: the mobile Unified Communication solution runs through a smart phone. The supplier provides a special client software package for each mobile phone, thus limiting the user's choice of the device. If a user is used to a device that the mobile Unified Communication vendor does not support, there will be a huge controversy between the supplier and the user.

Mobile Unified Communication vendor

Mobile UC vendors can be divided into three categories: Unified Communication vendor, ip pbx vendor, and auxiliary fixed mobile convergence (FMC) software/hardware vendor.

Unified Communication vendor

Among software vendors, IBM and Microsoft have been the main providers of the Unified Communication Platform. IBM products are called "Sametime" and work with Lotus Notes products. Microsoft's Unified Communication Platform, known as the Office communication Server (OCS), is integrated with Active Directory, Exchange Server, and other Microsoft products.

Both IBM and Microsoft have developed smart phone clients that support Mobile users: Microsoft's Office Communicator Mobile and IBM's Lotus Sametime. Because IBM and Microsoft provide a unified communication platform, their solutions must be integrated with the infrastructure. They all rely primarily on cellular networks rather than Wireless LAN for mobility, which is easy to integrate but may increase network overhead.

Unified Communication Platform vendors are strengthening their cooperation with infrastructure providers, so we can foresee that over time there will be more extensive networks to choose from. The SIP-based IP Phone solution is becoming increasingly popular, which fundamentally ensures that this integrated configuration will have more functions in the future.

Ip pbx vendor

Realizing that its business model runs in the Unified Communication System, ip pbx vendors will invest a large amount of money in the Unified Communication Market. In this case, voice becomes "another application on Data Infrastructure", and traditional desktop devices are replaced by softphones and mobile devices. Therefore, there is less and more debate on PBX hardware.

Major ip pbx suppliers, including Avaya, Cisco, Nortel, and Siemens, have formed their own unified communication solutions, at the same time, they realized that it was necessary to establish a connection with the Unified Communication Platform of Microsoft and IBM. The formation of a Unified Communication Technology Alliance is critical, but the forms of integration are constantly changing. The performance characteristics of wired and wireless devices must be distinguished.

With the infrastructure, ip pbx vendors are also actively promoting the convergence of WLAN speech and fixed mobile facilities. The network that supports its mobile UC solution has a wide range of options. Both Avaya and Siemens have developed a mobile Unified Communication solution that uses mobile controllers to achieve Wi-Fi/cellular auto-switching. This mobile controller was launched by Cisco through an alliance with a third-party FMC supplier.

Ip pbx vendors also launched their own Mobile Unified communication products, such as Avaya's oneX, Cisco's Mobile uniied Communicator, and Siemens's MobileConnect. They generally support Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Nokia/Symbian devices. Nokia has developed software supporting the Cisco SCCP signal protocol for its dual-mode mobile phone, which is transmitted over a wireless LAN. FMC and mobile Unified Communication Products of ip pbx vendors are not fully bundled, so you will find that different performance and devices can support each other.

Supporting FMC software/hardware vendors

Many third-party vendors provide various mobile communication solutions. Agito and DiVitas provide mobile communication solutions that enable Wi-Fi/cellular automatic switching in any TDM or ip pbx environment. In September May, Agito was selected as a partner by Cisco to provide a FMC solution. FirstHand Technologies, recently acquired by CounterPath, provides branded FMC solutions for Nortel and other PBX vendors.

In addition, many vendors also provide different products of the mobile Unified Communication series. RIM acquired the Ascendent system that provides FMC solutions for Blackberry devices. Other companies, such as Speech Design, Zeacom, OnRelay, and Cicero networks, provide mobile software solutions based on cellular networks, you can use either a single channel (that is, dual-Tone Multi-frequency through mobile speech) or a dual channel (that is, cellular data includes cellular speech and cellular signal. The latter has the potential to support all functions of mobile Unified Communication.

Others, such as Tango and NextStep, are developing solutions to implement FMC using mobile phone carriers. Finally, Airvana, Aricen, RadioFrame, and Ubiquisys are building Small Femtocells base stations to attract individual users and Small and medium-sized enterprise (SMB, Small and Midsize Business) users.

Conclusion

The combination of mobility and Unified Communication provides powerful functions to improve the productivity of enterprises. However, a successful implementation does not require empty commitments. To begin the implementation process, business organizations should consider how to operate their businesses within three, five, or even ten years, and begin to develop plans to support the implementation of these projects. In this plan, mobility and Unified Communication are key elements. In the near future, commercial organizations should study mobile networks and applications for internal deployment and maintenance. One thing is clear: enterprises need to compete quickly in the future, and mobility and Unified Communication are the key to providing shortcuts.

1. Cisco Unified Communication Software mobile phone can access all functions
2. Voice and IP communication; Cisco Unified Communication