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July 31, 2008
FEATURE EDITORIALBenefits of Unified CommunicationsThis week a new survey of 100 IT managers and chief information officers in enterprise-sized organizations with 1000 employees or more, revealed that on average firms reduce communication costs by 10 percent using unified communications (UC). UC combines messaging channels such as voice, email, fax, instant messaging, videoconferencing and web collaboration through a single user-interface so that people can communicate anytime, anywhere on any device. Independent researches Vanson Bourne conducted the survey, on behalf of IT services provider Dimension Data.
According to the survey, organizations unifying their communications are experiencing a wealth of benefits, including 10 percent cost savings, 10 percent productivity improvements, and a 21 percent improvement in customer satisfaction. Of surveyed IT managers in enterprise-sized businesses, 62 percent said it was a key element in supporting the growth of their organizations. "Our study reveals that the promise of unified communications, which is still a relatively new technology, has become a reality in the enterprise," says Mike Robinson, line of business director, converged communications at Dimension Data. "Even the bottom line is feeling a positive impact: one business reported a 15 percent increase in revenues as a result of unifying their communications. It's no wonder that the majority of IT managers we talked to see it as crucial to growth." Of the 47 percent of IT managers that have a unified communications strategy in place quantified business benefits identified or estimated on average included:
Overall, the top business benefits identified by those with a unified communications strategy were more effective internal collaboration (66 percent), greater business efficiency, reduced travel costs and a more flexible workforce (57 percent each). Fifty-one percent said that their organizations were more agile and the same proportion noticed improved productivity as a result of unifying their communications. Even the 53 percent of IT managers currently without a formal unified communications strategy expected a range of valuable business benefits from the technology: 75 percent anticipated a more flexible workforce, 66 percent greater business efficiency and 64 percent improved productivity. Almost half (47 percent) of all respondents said unified communications is the de facto standard for the future of business communications. EDITOR'S NOTE: Messaging News is an excellent source for learning more about unified communications. Currently, we have two free Osterman Research podcasts available online: Unified Messaging and Security with Frank Cabri of FaceTime and A Vision for Unified Communications with Akiba Saeedi of IBM. MailSite Fusion Now Fully Tested and Verified for Use With iPhone 3GMailSite Software, Inc. announced yesterday that it has completed its testing and verification of MailSite Fusion 9 with Apple's new iPhone 3G. MailSite has also tested and verified the original iPhone with the 2.0 firmware installed and the iPod Touch with the 2.0 firmware installed. MailSite Fusion 9 now pushes email, calendar and contacts over-the-air to most major smartphones in the market today. This includes the iPhone, Nokia E and N series, Microsoft's Windows Mobile devices and other smartphones that are compatible with Microsoft Exchange 2007 ActiveSync. "Adoption of mobile push email, calendar and contacts is just beginning to take-off," said David Ferris of Ferris Research. "The new Apple iPhone 3G will take ActiveSync beyond the large enterprise to the mass market and MailSite is perfectly positioned to take advantage of this opportunity."
MESSAGING NEWS CASE STUDY BRIEF:Real World Solutions from People in the Trenches featuring Userplane and four community platform providersUserplane, a social software provider for online communities and one of the largest global social media ad networks, announced earlier this month that it has partnered with four leading online social media platform providers to integrate Userplane applications to enhance their offerings. The four providers—KickApps, a leading on demand social media platform; Small World Labs an enterprise social networking provider; Magnify, a fast-growing video community platform; and Pringo, an international leader in private labeled online communities—will integrate Userplane's live chat, instant messaging and presence functionality into their respective platforms. According to the company, members of sites powered by these four platforms can now engage in live text and audio/video conversations with each other via Userplane's chat and/or instant messaging applications. "Real-time interaction and presence are fundamental to vibrant social networking," says Michael Jones, CEO of Userplane and SVP of AOL. "These communications building blocks are great ways for members of online communities to grow their relationships with people that share similar interests. Web publishers typically experience significant growth, once they implement social media features like blogging, commenting, photo and video sharing. Adding Userplane will give them the ability to offer immediate communication between their members. Successful integrations can drive even greater levels of engagement to further fuel growth and sustained user participation." Userplane is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL. == We welcome your ideas and your news for Messaging Newswire’s News & Trends in Email Security. Let us know what you think by sending your comments to editorial@messagingnews.com. Written or compiled by Stephanie Jordan. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For marketing information on this newsletter or other Messaging News products contact jvictor@messagingnews.com |
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