unified communications - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• Could Facebook be your next phone company?

  <em>This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter's approach.</em>

• Law Firm CIO Makes the Case for Microsoft Lync

  Law firm Holland & Knight already had a who's who of best-of-breed communications products deployed when the firm's IT team decided it needed to replace the tangled mess of PBX systems that provided voice lines at its many offices. It chose to jettison them all in favor of an infrastructure built on Microsoft Lync Server 2013.

• Why HP's successful turnaround Is closer than it looks

  Hewlett-Packard's turnaround effort under CEO Meg Whitman, like an object in the rearview mirror, is closer than it appears. Credit the impending success on strategic partnerships, good hires and a broad view of the future of tech.

• Opinion: How do you manage your social networks?

  I recently decided, somewhat randomly, to experiment a bit more with social networking. I was on LinkedIn and at some point the service asked me if it could access my Gmail contact list.

• Online video a must-have for these four businesses

  Adding video to the company website can set retailers and other businesses apart from the competition -- and ultimately boost the bottom line.

• Opinion: The Petraeus scandal and computer ethics

  Last week Gen. David Petraeus, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, resigned in response to what has turned out to be a much bigger scandal than it first appeared.

• Wikipedia celebrates a decade of edit wars, controversy and Internet dominance

  Wikipedia and its users are planning more than 300 celebration events across six continents for the 10th anniversary of the free, online encyclopedia that has become an Internet juggernaut by spreading access to information with a model that lets anyone edit its articles.

• 5 open source VoIP softphones to watch

  The steady rise in people using IP telephony to communicate -- for personal and business reasons -- has led to the development of a number of different VoIP "softphones" that can be used on a PC or notebook.

• Unified communications promises much, but does it deliver?

  It's hard to find anyone who likes audio conferences. Sure, worker bees can put themselves on mute to chat with fellow cube dwellers. Or play Facebook Scrabble and check e-mail until it's their turn to talk. Yes, for true lows in productivity, the fuzzy, disembodied, dial-in audio conference is hard to beat.

• Hawker Pacific gets its fax in order

  Aviation company Hawker Pacific has seen an improved its customer service and cut IT maintenance costs following the implementation of a new unified communications system.

• Teachers Credit Union mitigates risk with new UC call centre deployment

  Teachers Credit Union has deployed a 126 seat unified communications call centre solution to improve collaboration and interactions with its 155,000 strong membership.

• Why enterprises are moving to Google Apps, Gmail

  Though it started selling software to universities and small businesses, Google has pervaded more large businesses during the past year with Google Apps, the company's suite of messaging and productivity software. Analysts say Google Enterprise, the division of Google that runs Apps, has added many features to the product that make it more attractive to enterprise IT departments.

• How to Make Unified Communications and Collaboration Work for You

  Tips for implementation and achieving ROI and other benefits when adopting unified communication (instant messaging (IM), web conferencing, IP telephony, expertise identification, e-mail, unified messaging and mobile devices).

• Picturing the Future of Office Technology Today

  We all have a tendency to only look directly at what we're doing today, and not step back and say: "What do I, what does my company, need to be focusing on now, for the future?" Taking that step back is the step toward innovation and away from stagnation.