IBM Predicts Five Future Trends That Will Drive Unified Communications

IBM released their five predictions for Unified Communications which were delivered during Mike Rhodins keynote address at VoiceCon

1.The Virtual Workplace will become the rule. No need to leave the office. Just bring it along. Desk phones and desktop computers will gradually disappear, replaced by mobile devices, including laptops, that take on traditional office capabilities. Social networking tools and virtual world meeting experiences will simulate the feeling on being there in-person. Work models will be changed by expanded globalization and green business initiatives that reduce travel and encourage work at home. 2.Instant Messaging and other real-time collaboration tools will become the norm, bypassing e-mail. Just as e-mail became a business necessity, a new generation of workers has a new expectation for instant messaging (IM) as the preferred method of business interaction. This will fuel more rapid adoption of unified communications as traditional IM becomes the core extension point for multi-modal communications. 3.Beyond Phone Calls to Collaborative Business Processes. Companies will go beyond the initial capabilities of IM, like click-to-call and online presence, to deep integration with business processes and line-of-business applications, where they can realize the greatest benefit. 4.Interoperability and Open Standards will tear down proprietary walls across business and public domains. Corporate demand for interoperability and maturing of industry standards will force unified communications providers to embrace interoperability. Converged, aggregated, and rich presence will allow businesses and individuals to better find and reach the appropriate resources, removing inefficiencies from business processes and daily lives. 5.New meeting models will emerge. Hang up on routine, calendared conference calls. The definition of “meetings” will radically transform and become increasingly adhoc and instantaneous based on context and need. 3-D virtual world and gaming technologies will significantly influence online corporate meeting experiences to deliver more life-like experiences demanded by the next generation workers who will operate more efficiently in this familiar environment.

I think we can already see the first four starting to happen, number five is interesting, but I think it will take a little more time before 3-D virtual worlds become the standard.  While the technology is certainly rapidly maturing, it is going to take more time for people to adopt,  and for companies to provision hardware to the desktop, and bandwidth to support these technologies. IBM Predicts Five Future Trends That Will Drive Unified Communications  

One Response to IBM Predicts Five Future Trends That Will Drive Unified Communications
  1. raju
    April 23, 2008 | 9:49 am

    Hi,
    Nice and useful post about IBM Predicts Five Future Trends That Will Drive Unified Communications.

    Have also given a link to it from my related post

    <a href= { Link } IBM Predicts Five Future Trends That Will Drive Unified Communications.
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    Cheers