Unified Communications on a Budget

The trouble with all that talk is that it usually requires the customer to rip and replace their existing PBX system in favor of a new server-based offering from any number of vendors. Case in point is Microsoft, which has been spending million of dollars promoting the merits of unified communications running on top of the latest version of the Microsoft Exchange platform.

That’s a perfectly fine approach to providing unified communications. But it’s also interesting how little Microsoft spends on promoting its Response Point appliance. This platform allows customers to connect phones that are compatible with SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and hook them up to an existing PBX system.

The benefits of this approach are that customers can start to bring the benefits of unified communications to their offices without having to replace all their existing PBX applications. Of course, you have to find telecommunications providers such as Junction Networks to provide services that recognize SIP-compatible phones form companies such as Aastra Technologies, D-Link or Quanta.

Obviously, there are any number of richer, albeit more expensive, approaches to introducing unified communications technologies into your organization. But if you’re a small company you may well want to consider learning how to walk before you run to unified communications.

The simple fact is that the richer platforms come with bigger configuration challenges. They also bring with them significant implications in terms of changing the workflow inside your organization that many people inside your company may not be ready to adopt.

Whatever your path towards unified communications, the benefits of these technologies are too great to ignore. But the pace at which your organization moves to adopt unified communications should be dictated by the culture of your organization rather than the specific agenda of any given vendor.