A unified communication and collaboration strategy can help you boost productivity and innovation

Old is new
The components of a unified communications and collaboration strategy – instant messaging, web conferencing, real-time collaboration, mobile device support, telephony integration, and others -- aren’t new.

But open architectures and programming models are enabling organisations to pull these different pieces together in new ways. An instant messaging application, your telephone, or your email, for example, pulls all your social networking tools into a single environment.

The result is a unified communication and collaboration environment that’s easier for IT staff to configure, administer, and maintain and easier for users to use. Drive down the costs associated with disparate communication and collaborate solutions. Drive up productivity and performance, and leverage enhanced collaborations to foster a more innovative workplace.

IBM unified communications and collaboration solutions enable you to:

• Accelerate and improve the quality of decision-making based on real-time information
• Speed business processes and improve operational effectiveness
• Reduce travel, telephony, and other collaboration-related expenses

Real results
Finnish Defence Forces (US) use an IBM instant messaging and unified telephony solution that combines voice and collaboration tools on the same workstation. The result is availability and data security of voice communications as well as the improved connectivity of people.

Terna (US) is the major transmission system operator of high-voltage and very high-voltage electrical grids in Italy. It deployed a unified communications and collaboration solution that provides tools to help employees efficiently communicate and share information from disparate locations to decrease employee travel costs.

La Vacanza (US) is a small travel agency based in The Netherlands that offers rapid, personal, and friendly service to their customers. A communications and collaboration solution from IBM helps the agency improve personal, responsive service for a competitive edge.

Unified communications software supports and enables groups of users to work together in real time by sharing information and processes. Unified communications includes:

• Enterprise instant messaging applications, including text, audio, and video
• Online or web conference applications
• Real-time team collaborative applications
• Telephony middleware, such as softphone, PBX integration middleware, and Fixed-Mobile Convergence middleware
• Unified messaging software

All products - Unified Communications

Unified communications middleware

Stay connected with others in the unified communications community through social media

Participating in unified communications communities can help enhance your personal and professional development and establish your expertise.

Get connected with your colleagues and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere to stay up to date on the latest IBM news and information that’s important to you.

Communities

• SametimeBlog (US)
• Sametime design blog
• Unified communications strategies community blog
• Social Business Insights blog (US)
• Sametime wiki (US)
• Social business on Facebook
• @IBMSocialBiz on Twitter
• Social business on Tumblr
• IBM collaboration solutions community