Unified messaging is a marketing buzzword describing the attempt at
integrating different electronic messaging and communications media
technologies into a single interface, accessible from a variety of different
devices. While traditional communications systems delivered
messages into several different types of stores such as voicemail systems, e-mail
servers, and stand-alone fax machines, with Unified Messaging all types of
messages are stored in one system. Voicemail messages, for example, can be
delivered directly into the user's inbox and played either through a headset or
the computer's speaker. This simplifies the user's experience and can offer new
options for workflow such as appending notes or documents to forwarded
voicemails. Unified messaging was expected by many
in the consumer telecommunications industry to be a popular product, first
augmenting and eventually replacing voicemail. However, UM was slow to gain
consumer acceptance, and UM vendors such as 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 and improve business productivity while decreasing
communication issues. UM solutions targeting professional end-user
customers integrate communications processes into the existing IT
infrastructure, i. e. into CRM, ERP and mail systems
Indistinct definitions Unified messaging is an indistinct term
that can refer to the typical definition of simple inclusion of incoming faxes
and voice-mail in one's email inbox, all the way to dictating a message into a
cell phone and the intelligent delivery of that message to the intended
recipient in a variety of possible formats like text email, fax, or voice
recording. Because of the nebulous definition of UM, it was number one on
the 1998 Wired Magazine "Hype List". UM brings together voice, instant
messaging, email, voicemail, and webvideo conferencing with the aim of
making communication seamless. If friends and colleagues are aware of each
other's state, they can then choose the most appropriate communication method to
use and therefore ensure effective communication.
Unified messaging is not to be mistaken for unified communications, although the
two share some similarities. Hosted UC services lack real-time communication
options like IM and presence-based telephone connections because they are
considered “frilly features” not demanded by the majority of hosted SMB
customers. So while unified messaging can be included in unified
communications, not all unified communication services are related to
unified messaging. See also
Real time enterprise Presence service
Regroup List of unified communications companies
Unified communications References
^ "Unified Messaging. Definition and Overview". International Engineering
Consortium. 2005. Retrieved 2009-04-02. ^ Kostek, Jessica. "Frost & Sullivan:
Unified Messaging to Become Ubiquitous Enterprise Communication Solution".
TMCnet.com. Retrieved 2009-04-07. ^ PC Magazine Unified Messaging
definition The Computer Language Company Inc.
^ 6:06 Hype List Wired.com ^ Art Rosenberg and UCStrategies, "Don't
Miss the 'Unified Messaging' Boat in UC ^ "Hosted vs. On-site Unified
Communications: Both Provide Advantages". eFax. 6 April 2012.
Retrieved 26 January 2014.