February 2001

BY CAROL DRZEWIANOWSKI

Do you remember how simple the concept of unified messaging once seemed? It was supposed to be a nice, neat package designed to make everyone's life less cluttered. But it didn't take off right away. It could have become know as "the killer app that wasn't." That is, until now. What is the goal of unified messaging?

It is to have all of your messages come to you in the most convenient way possible. A piece of software on your desktop computer just isn't going to make that happen if you're stuck in an airport. Companies are realizing this, and they're developing WAP-enabled unified messaging products, as well as incorporating unified messaging functionality into voice portals. With the new unified messaging products, you aren't limited to your in-box. Instead, your messages come to you, whether it's by e-mail notification, instant message notification, or notification on your mobile phone.

For example, look at the alliance that Philips Speech Processing and Brooktrout Software announced with 365 Corporation, a London-based digital media and communications company. Philips and Brooktrout Software will support 365 Corporation's development and launch of the United Kingdom's first comprehensive voice portal, which will be developed using Brooktrout Software's Show N Tel and advanced speech recognition technology from Philips Speech Processing.

Subscribers to 365 Corporation's voice portal will benefit from a central Unified Messaging System (UMS) that allows e-mail to be sent by voice and, using the latest text-to-speech technology, have incoming e-mail and faxes read over the phone -- regardless of how remote subscribers are from their offices or PCs. Subscribers will also have the ability to access, change, and update their diary and phone book, pick up voice mail, set up conference calls, and forward their calls to any telephone number. The voice portal also offers reminders via a Short Messaging System or voice alert.

Other companies that are offering innovative unified communications products include 01 Communique with their "I'm InTouch" unified communications center, and MailVision with their Wireless Internet Phone Access (WIPA) application for emerging Internet and next-gen communications service providers. With "I'm InTouch," users can access their voice mail, e-mail, pages, and faxes, as well as contact database information locally or from anywhere in the world using any web browser, phone, or wireless internet device. Meanwhile, WIPA allows CLECs, ISPs, and communication portals to offer advanced messaging services to their customers, including voice, fax, e-mail, and wireless messages from the new generation of WAP devices.

Clearly, the area of unified messaging is being fine-tuned into a tool that your typical "road warrior" will find invaluable. No longer is it just about shepherding messages into your line of sight -- it's about getting them to come to you, wherever you happen to be.

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BY RANDAL DEPRIEST 

Ask the experts what single messaging technology they believe will replace all others, and you'll get a variety of answers. That's because there are more ways to communicate now than ever, and each method is valuable for different reasons. Companies who are able to manage all basic types of messages -- fax, e-mail, and voice mail -- effectively are saving time and money. How? By implementing a complete unified messaging solution that takes advantage of the latest advances in technology.

True unified messaging solutions utilize virtually any preferred communications device to manage e-mail, voice mail, and fax messages. For example, users can be notified via their cell phones that they have a message. From the cell phone, they can send and receive an e-mail, voice mail, or fax message. E-mail is converted via text-to-speech technology and read to the user over the phone.

As if being able to access all your messages by using your e-mail account, telephone, or the Web were not enough, leading unified messaging software providers now offer users another way to access messages: via a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) compatibility feature. This feature allows early adopters of WAP-capable devices and a compatible unified messaging solution to not only access any message with WAP, but also access their calendar items, tasks, and contacts.

How is this accomplished? By using a WAP-capable device, commonly an advanced mobile phone or PDA with a micro Internet browser, to access a universal inbox in addition to using it for simple Web browsing. With these devices, a user can access virtually any Internet site. However, many sites are WAP-friendly, meaning they deliver only specific content to the limited WAP interface. WAP has been criticized for its small interface to the Internet, but these "WAP-friendly" sites allow the user to get only the information they need without downloading complex graphics and formatting. This is how several applications are overlooking the limitations of WAP and making it useful.

As the wireless industry continues to migrate from analog to digital technology, unified messaging software developers are realizing that next-generation users are going one step further by taking advantage of WAP-capable devices to expand the uses of the now-commonplace mobile phone. Consequently, unified messaging technologies are answering the call to truly provide anytime, anywhere message management.

Randal DePriest is president and CEO of Intersis North America. 

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BY VETE CLEMENTS AND PETE CARFAGNO 

The phenomenal success of personal communications tools has brought with it an ugly side effect for today's mobile communicator, the deluge of phone, fax, and e-mail messages that pile up on any combination of devices. With e-mail, fax, phone, pages, and more, people often spend more time sifting through messages than actually communicating.

The definition of unified messaging is deceptively simple: a technology that allows access to any electronic message form at any time from any device. A single technology that provides an easier, faster way to manage various message forms has been on the horizon for some time. The good news is that the reality of carrier-grade unified messaging is now at hand.

Today, unified messaging is still a relatively new technology that is struggling to be defined, both for potential customers and product manufacturers. There are several forms of unified messaging currently on the market, but most of them fall short of delivering the real communications solution users require. To really connect with the end user, a unified messaging platform must provide more than a receptacle for messages. It must provide users with complete control of all their messages, regardless of message type. And it must allow the customer to utilize the communications device of his/her choice.

However, delivering on this promise has proved for service providers to be a significant challenge. Service providers have found it difficult to deploy unified messaging systems that do it all. Many systems, for example, don't scale easily to meet the needs of millions of customers. There is also the challenge of delivering unified messaging over the typical integration of legacy circuit-switched, broadband wireless, and packet-switched (IP) networks. Add to this the obstacle of integrating software tools such as text-to-speech, or wireless access protocol (WAP) across all elements of the network.

Thus, service providers may need to look beyond the typical unified messaging software solution and explore a layered architecture that can converge various types of networks. By integrating specialized software across all types of networks, any message can be delivered to any device, providing customers true communications freedom. Next-generation platforms with open-architecture solutions are now becoming available to meet these objectives.

In the near future, service providers that want to remain competitive will need to deliver sophisticated unified messaging services that allow subscribers to access any message at any time from any device. To give consumers the convenience they crave in terms of managing messages, service providers will need to bridge legacy voice messaging systems, e-mail and IP telephony systems, and wireless data access, while combining many media types into an advanced unified networking environment.

This will require moving to a new type of network architecture, but the effort will be worthwhile. That's because customers who see an improvement in their productivity and efficiency by using unified messaging will be less interested in competitive offerings and more likely to become high-end users of the provider's telecommunications services.

Vete Clements is VP business development, 3Com Carrier Networks Business and Pete Carfagno is VP worldwide sales, Enhanced Services, 3Com Carrier Networks Business. 

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