Mobility is one of the leading challenges in Unified Communications--and as Fred Knight notes in his recent post, it's also potentially a challenge to Unified Communications, at least enterprise UC. Enterprise leaders would love to find better ways to integrate mobile systems with enterprise communications platforms--and they'd love to see that happen before users leave them in the dust.
Another enterprise communications trend is the opportunity to use new communications modes and unique applications and integrations to enhance all types of enterprise collaboration. Whether it's enhanced video, high-definition audio, or various web-based communications capabilities, new opportunities are opening up. And it's not just established players bringing these to market: Startups--not a type of company you saw in the old days of PBXs--have the chance to deliver real value to the enterprise as well.
Finally, there's the challenge of dealing with the installed base--specifically, making it easier to migrate this existing base of more-or-less-traditional telephony to the next generation of UC. The more this migration can be facilitated, the more quickly and easily it can go.
These three challenges/opportunities are some of the most fundamental that our industry faces today. They have something else in common as well: They're the driving forces behind the 6 products that have been selected by our judging panel as Finalists in the Best in Enterprise Connect 2014 award. Without further ado, here's the list of Finalists:
* Acano: Product to be announced
* AirWatch: AirWatch Workspace Management, which "provides complete separation of corporate and personal data on devices, securing corporate resources and maintaining employee privacy."
* CafeX: CaféX Fusion Live Assist, which "integrates video conferencing and much more with existing business web and mobile applications, allowing customers to initiate personal interactions with in-house personnel at the touch of a button."
* Dolby: Dolby Voice, "an audio conferencing solution that makes virtual meetings sound and feel more like in-person meetings. BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice is a BT Conferencing service that delivers the Dolby Voice experience."
* Samsung: Samsung WE VoIP, "a mobile SIP phone client that makes your smartphone an extension of the office phone system. A dual mode smartphone and phone system communicate with each other over a private Wi-Fi network in the office and a public Wi-Fi or 4G/LTE network when out of the office."
* VOSS: The VOSS UC Migration Solution, which "comprises an advanced on-boarding toolset (OBT) to help organizations rapidly and efficiently migrate large volumes of users, devices and UC services, by using the latest technology developed for 'big data' and applying it to a next-generation UC migration project."
The next step will be for the judges--Robin Gareiss of Nemertes Research, Zeus Kerravala of ZK Research, Marty Parker of UniComm Consulting, and Dave Stein of Stein Technology Group--to put these finalists through their paces. We'll conduct briefings in which each company will make its case for why their product is innovative and worthy of the designation of "Best in Enterprise Connect." We'll announce the winner from the Enterprise Connect keynote stage at the beginning of the program day on Wednesday, March 19, and we'd love to see you there!
Be on hand when the Best in Enterprise Connect winner is announced! Register to attend Enterprise Connect Orlando 2014.
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