Individual user productivity is to Unified Communications as VisiCalc was to personal computing. VisiCalc, of course, was one the first software programs that enabled individuals to harness a PC to accomplish a task--to create and calculate spreadsheets. Everyone who needed to do these sorts of calculations immediately understood the benefit once they saw it in operation.

Individual user productivity is to Unified Communications as VisiCalc was to personal computing. VisiCalc, of course, was one the first software programs that enabled individuals to harness a PC to accomplish a task--to create and calculate spreadsheets. Everyone who needed to do these sorts of calculations immediately understood the benefit once they saw it in operation.Similarly, the tools of UC--including presence, click-to-call, click-to-chat, single identity access to any device--provide an easy-to-understand way for individuals to improve their ability to communicate with others, to improve individual productivity.

We all know and have benefited from how PC use has exploded in ways that were difficult to envision in the days of VisiCalc. The reason for this explosion is that armies of software developers took advantage of standard operating systems and the "horizontal" layering of components, connected through published specifications and interfaces. They created an array of software applications each designed to fill a specific personal or business requirement.

We are in the midst of opening up the proprietary, vertically-integrated communications industry in a way similar to how the computer industry evolved over the last two or three decades. The future is a horizontally-layered industry with open standards, published interfaces and new armies of ecosystem developers. They will bring to market a vast array of specialized solutions, each tailored to the specific communication requirements of a particular job, industry, or business relationship.

As readers of this column know, the UCStrategies.com team sees the use cases for UC in two broad categories: One category focuses on communications to enhance user productivity; the other concentrates on communications integrated into business processes. Many of the user productivity cases leverage the initial UC tools, just as VisiCalc leveraged the Apple II and then the early PCs. And just as early VisiCalc functionality presaged unimaginably varied PC applications, today's UC tools will evolve to provide a vast, rich set of applications for both individuals and for enterprise business processes.

All this came up at Interop last week, when I was discussing possible UC sessions and topics for VoiceCon San Francisco (Nov 10-13) with Fred Knight, VoiceCon's GM/Co-Chair. One of the sessions will be a discussion of what's available in the marketplace from various suppliers. Marty Parker, my partner at UniComm Consulting who designed the session, envisioned presentations describing specific UC tools that can enable specific business process applications--e.g., collaboration acceleration, or connecting quickly to the right resource to resolve a problem.

Fred wants the vendors to show what is in their UC portfolio, without being tied to specific applications--let the VoiceCon attendees see what's available and decide on how best to use them. Both approaches have merit in this rapidly developing environment.

My view is that the "user productivity" approach to UC can be successful and an important step, but the industry is already beginning to integrate communications into business processes and business applications. Developers aligned with suppliers are using plug-ins, SDKs and toolkits to fundamentally change the nature of communications. Software residing within a business application, workflow process or web portal is automatically initiating communication to the right person, using the best available method. It's software--not an individual--launching the communications.

VisiCalc was the harbinger of a revolution that moved far beyond spreadsheets. Using today's UC tools to improve user productivity presages a similar, vast revolution in which software-controlled or enhanced communications will be embedded in most business processes. Buckle up!