The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a great platform for emergency communications. Avaya's John Gaffney tells Unified Communications Edge that SIP and UC are perfectly positioned to add great value to the ability to interactively communicate when the need is the greatest. 
Companies in the news this week include Janalent, Microsoft,Verizon Business, Digium, BlackBerry, Zeacom, Broadcore, IntelePeer, GeniSys, GENBAND and Nortel.
The saying that there is nothing new under the sun obviously was first spoken by somebody outside of the unified communications business. Increasingly, companies must figure out how to incorporate emerging communications applications into established UC structures. Roberta Mackintosh, the director for Unified Communications and Collaboration for Verizon Business, tells Site Editor Carl Weinschenk that careful planning is a must.
A two-for-one offering from Scott Kinka, Evolve IP's Senior Vice President for Network Services. In the post below, Kinka outlines the benefits and challenges of cloud-based unified communications. In the accompanying podcast, Kinka and Site Editor Carl Weinschenk focus on testing, which is a vital aspect of the unified communications experience. (Podcast time: 22:17)
Few areas match up as well as UC and health care. There is great promise both within institutions and as a way to extend benefits to patients in their homes. The challenge is that in many cases these cutting edge applications must be rolled out on legacy infrastructure.
Reliability is a key to any telecommunications or IT initiative. It is vital to keep systems up and running and, if there is a problem, restore service quickly. The challenges could grow in an UC environment, however, as more services and applications sit on a common infrastructure. Unified Communications Edge asked disaster recovery/business continuity experts what questions organizations should pose to vendors and service providers to ensure that the job is being done correctly. 
In its second annual tracking poll of IT folks involved in unified communications, CDW finds that the category remains strong. The poor economy, Senior Manager Kevin DeMers tells Unified Communications Edge, is leading companies to focus first on projects that will save money in the short term. IT planners still are thinking about the big picture, but want to attract decision makers with quick wins. (Podcast time: 18:19) Carl Weinschenk
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