Why Unified Communication and Collaboration Need to be Paired

By Michael Elliman, Senior Account Executive at IComm Australia

A growing number of progressive workplaces are moving towards pairing their unified communications (UC) and collaboration technology to ensure they get the most from both aspects of business communication. But why isn’t this more common?

Recent studies from InfoComm 2017 show that only four percent of meeting rooms are equipped with video conferencing functionality. Because of this, manufacturers are now looking to partner up to bridge the gap between UC and collaboration. Polycom and Microsoft have forged a strong relationship to ensure seamless integration between the hardware and software that drives communication. These partnerships are delivering simple and intuitive solutions for the end user that make adoption an easier process. Federation across platforms is beginning to become a necessity as users often have to communicate with people using different systems.

The increasing breaking down of the ‘walled gardens’ is reflected in the number of partnerships being announced and the products being produced to facilitate this cross-platform communication. The recent release of Polycom’s RealConnect for Office 365 in Australia is a good indication of the direction the market is going in. RealConnect gives businesses the opportunity to connect their legacy Polycom, Cisco, and Lifesize endpoints into an Office 365 environment. It is a solution designed for companies who want to simply pull the familiar experience of Skype for Business into any video experience. With RealConnect, customers can enjoy a video gateway service that simplifies the process of making connections, regardless of where they might be.

The migration to cloud computing has certainly assisted in this change. Team-based, cloud-based, persistent chat has been growing rapidly and many businesses are struggling to rationalise their existing UC with this new collaborative way of working. Luckily, developers are creating integrated UCC solutions to overcome the disparity that exists between business, and in some circumstances between departments in the same organisation.

With one-third of organisations now using a team chat application, businesses must ensure that they pair their unified communications with collaboration as early as possible to avoid adoption issues later on. Collaboration technology, particularly video, audio and content-sharing, is an enabler for businesses large and small. Not only for bringing people together and keeping them informed, but also in transforming productivity, workflows and ultimately business results and outcomes.

Michael is passionate about unified communications and collaboration technology. Follow Michael on twitter here @MichaelElliman.