If webcasts were art, this one might be entitled: “Mobile Unified Communications: The Musical.” Anyone interested in UC will find this webcast (click on the prerecorded webinar icon to the right of the webcast titled “Enabling Mobile Unified Communications: Providing the Gateway between the IP PBX and the Mobile Network:”) an auditory treat. Seriously, this is some really smart people talking about converging mobile integration and UC. It aired March 31, and is now conveniently archived for your listening pleasure. More...

How to implement QoS has always been a debatable issue for enterprise network engineers, especially those trying to take their TDM voice traffic and push it over a data network to save money. The goal in these cases is to make a change without end users ever knowing the difference. In such cases, the end user still uses the desk phone in the same way and ideally never hears any degraded voice quality as a result of poor QoS. As a result, the average end user has never been involved in the QoS debate. More...

Just recently, the FCC announced its plan to lead the world in providing high-speed broadband to all Americans. Should enterprises pay attention? At first glance, it seems the plan is all about the consumer. What’s really in the plan, and how will companies be impacted? More...

Unified Communications continues to be a hot topic in the technology industry. Read any enterprise-related blog or trade publication and you’re certain to find an article or two about UC. While UC alone offers some fantastic benefits, it becomes a real game changer when you combine it with mobility. More...

I attended my last VoiceCon event this week. Good riddance – the whole concept of a voice-centric, telephony show was so last decade. They actually had a general session titled “How many phones does your enterprise need?” With no disrespect to the panelists, they should have put a sign up on the stage that said “NONE” in big letters and saved everyone an hour. Of course, Eric Krapf and the VoiceCon gang will be back next year with the newly renamed Enterprise Connect event – and I’ll be there. Let’s hope that in the next year a whole bunch of other things, terms and traditions follow a similar path and disappear. More...

It would seem that Unified Communications is following the path blazed by so many excellent technology approaches before it. By that, I mean that even without the help of a GPS, you can pretty much plot where UC is right now on the famed “hype cycle” that Gartner has been referencing for 15 years now. More...

Watch Dan Jacobson’s interview with Eric Krapf, VoiceCon program co-chair, at VoiceCon Orlando today.

Ran across an interesting Gartner survey of CIOs the other day, regarding their technology priorities for the coming year. Coming in at the top three spots were virtualization, cloud computing, and Web 2.0. More...

Does your enterprise have a social media governance policy? According to TechTarget,  only 1 in 7 companies have social media governance procedures in place. Exactly what is included in a social media policy, and why is it important? Social media is the new media, and it is impossible to control with firm limits. It is possible, however, to provide guidelines to empower employees and to communicate with customers and employees in a new way. More...

Besides all of the cool technology and clever folks, HIMSS was quite an eye-opening event as the country’s healthcare discussion drags on ad infinitum. For those of you who think you know all the facts around the healthcare debate, check out the opening remarks of Barry Chaiken, MD, one of the head guys at HIMSS – scary! Interestingly, most of the problems and inefficiencies we continuously hear about had solutions on display at HIMSS. It would appear that integrated, ubiquitous solutions can in fact cure many of our major health care ills. More...