SearchVoIP.com.au Articles

Even in a Web 2.0 world, the bricks and mortar still count. Ignoring intranet design and navigation best practices can spell death for even the most application-rich portals. Read more »

Enterprises have to put some teeth into enforcing social media governance or they may risk data breaches and compliance headaches. However, that doesn't have to mean that unified communications (UC) managers have to spend their days trolling users' status updates and tweets. Read more »

The goal of mobile unified communications (UC) is to enable the enterprise to extend telephony features to its mobile users, making them more productive, regardless of location. Learn how to evaluate mobile UC product capabilities and limitations in order to make an informed decision as to which solution to deploy to your mobile workforce. Read more »

Desktop video conferencing brings the medium to the masses, but it can kill your WAN. Avoid a saturated network with desktop video-conferencing network planning. Read more »

Proving short-term and long-term unified communications ROI is a prerequisite of implementing UC solutions, but is it really necessary? Find out the many ways to determine UC ROI and why justifying UC ROI upfront will become less important. Read more »

Smaller businesses or even larger enterprises that don't have the time or know-how can hire a UC consultant to help make those first steps down the UC trail less lonely. Read more »

SIP was supposed to standardize communications equipment, but not all organizations are all-SIP just yet, including the state of Delaware, which is using session border controllers for protocol translation between its newer Cisco and legacy Avaya systems. Read more »

To accurately benchmark VoIP system power consumption, a number of factors must be taken into account, such as VoIP handset configuration, the LAN infrastructure, system states, steady-state power draw, power factor and other variables. This guide will help you set benchmarks and parameters for measuring VoIP power consumption. Read more »

Editor's Note: Enterprises may feel as though they're just starting to get a grasp on basic elements of unified communications (UC) -- voice over IP, unified messaging and collaborative platforms -- but development labs are moving at a much faster clip. The dawn of the "natural user interface" will soon make the keyboard and mouse seem archaic, according to Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president of the unified communications group at Microsoft, who recently spoke to SearchUnifiedCommunications.com about his vision for the future of unified communications. Read more »

Avaya has staked its future of retaining Nortel customers on its flagship SIP-based communications platform, Aura, as the heart of the Avaya-Nortel UC portfolio. Read more »

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking is the use of VoIP to help connect a traditional PBS to the Internet. SIP trunking can reduce communication costs and combine voice, video and data in a single line, allowing for unified communications capabilities. Learn about using SIP trunking services in this primer. Read more »

Avaya's plans for Nortel's products shed little light on how the company plans to bring unified comms to the call center. Read more »

Rolling out and managing unified communications effectively can be daunting for even the most sophisticated IT teams. Thus, many enterprise organizations are turning to hosted unified communications deployment and management options. Learn about the key features and inherent challenges of hosted unified communications and how it measures up to in-house unified communications solutions. Read more »

Fixed mobile convergence (FMC) systems based on VoIP service build on convergence technology fundamentals to enable fully converged IP communications. This chapter will review FMC systems technology and discuss real-life deployments. Read more »

To manage enterprise unified communications apps, there are three options: on-premise with either internal management or third-party management or fully outsourced or hosted unified communications. Learn more about managed services providers (MSPs) and if managed services is a good fit for some or all your unified communications applications. Read more »

Video communications vendors are inching their way toward multi-vendor telepresence and video conferencing interoperability, nudging along the technology's metamorphosis from an intra-company to an inter-company medium for enterprises, partners and customers. Read more »

Unified communications improves productivity and collaboration, but there are inherent challenges associated with the technology. Learn the top five unified communications issues that users can expect in 2010 and how these issues, such as major mergers and acquisitions (think Nortel and Avaya), 4G deployment and cloud computing, can affect your organization. Read more »

This best practices guide from the Tolly Group defines and evaluates quantitative and qualitative characteristics of VoIP power consumption. It covers basic power consumption measurement tests, as well as total cost of ownership with respect to power and provides resources and sample calculations. Read more »

Hosted unified communications is becoming a viable alternative for companies of all sizes as vendors and service providers start to bring more mature products to market. Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) is enjoying such a boom that Gartner has published its first Magic Quadrant for the market. Read more »

The convergence between enterprise and consumer technology through Web 2.0 communications apps may increase productivity and save money, but often at the price of losing control. Read more »