Unified Messaging - Critical In Today's Technical Age

Unified Messaging, abbreviated as UM, is nothing but the
integration of different communication modes used by us -
such as the email, voice mail, and fax - into a combined
communication experience, such as a mail in-box and/or
alert service, which then can be accessed from a variety of
devices such as the PC, fixed network phone, or mobile
phone.

The advantage with unified messaging is that with this
technique, you have more control over the communication
methods you may be using, since now you can make use of a
single source for message delivery, repository,
notification, and access, thus cutting down the time factor
involved in the whole process.

UM is especially useful for companies that want to be in
touch all the time, and do not want to waste any time with
sending/receiving/accessing info.

Now, let's see the different UM capabilities in detail. The
UM capabilities are single delivery, single repository,
single access, and single notification.

1. Single delivery means one could send messages to a
person, an end user, by addressing to a single alias.
2. Single repository refers to one storage location for
access/retrieval and integration like text-to-speech,
speech-to-text etc.
3. Single access stands for making use of a single
addressing scheme that permits customers to access stored
messages through simple mailbox commands.
4. Single notification means utilizing SMS or similar
techniques to notify the user about incoming
messages/missed messages and/or communication attempts made.

However, there is still a bigger advantage that unified
messaging delivers. This is the technology's ability to
integrate flawlessly with other applications. For example,
using appropriate technologies, a UM system could sense an
incoming mail, decipher the receiver, find out his/her
position (location based services), and send a SMS
notification to him/her about a waiting mail in the inbox.
The receiver, on the other hand, will have the facility to
decide if the email is an urgent one and needs to be read
immediately or if it is something to which you can reply
later. With UM, end users can also choose to promptly read
the mail via text-to-speech conversion or SMS if needed.

Unified messaging, along with location systems and call
management, could enhance the existing communication
capabilities of individuals/enterprises in a way that has
not been witnessed before. For example, the UM system could
prompt a caller to speak the message he/she might want to
convey to a particular end-user, and the system then sends
the message in the form of an SMS to the customer after
assessing his/her current position and status. The receiver
can now choose to attend the call directly or leave the job
to the system itself.

The entire process is not only robust and prompt, but also
saves time, the one important factor on which every 21st
century management models are based.

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Lee Smith writes about Unified Messaging Systems
http://www.networklondon.co.uk/communications/index.html