When it comes to leveraging the magic combination of Unified Communications and mobility – and you can't deny that UC isn't really unified until it is mobile, especially in today's environment – an enterprise does have to take a few things into consideration

The factors to consider are spelled out well in a recent Tech Notes article by Gary Audin. For instance, a typical IT organization is going to have to support four distinct mobile profiles. They are the road warrior, the person who's always on the road visiting customers, for example; the teleworker, the person who works most or all of the time at home; the campus roamer, who's always at a meeting somewhere or on his or her way to one; and the nomad, who works outside the office but typically at a specific location, such as a client site.

The hitch is, Audin notes, is that while these may be distinct profiles, an individual may not always be pigeonholed within one of them. The teleworker or nomad may come to the campus one day a week, and the campus roamer may split his or her time between being on the go and on the road. That affects how you manage these people's mobile needs.

Another big consideration is which operating systems to support. Audin notes that there is a Big Five to keep in mind: Android, Apple iOS, Symbian, RIM, and MS Windows Mobile. As the market shifts and one may get more popular, it affects an enterprise's strategy, but Audin maintains that these five will all be around for a while and need to be in the mix.

Other considerations include the necessary extent of cross-platform collaboration and how that will be achieved, as well as the questions of presence and 911/E911 integration.

This seems like a good time to point out that the mobile-UC integration conundrum has a most handy solution, in the form of Sprint Mobile Integration. Not to turn this post into a promo, but Sprint Mobile Integration does offer all the tools necessary to merge UC and mobility, seamlessly converging mobile phones and the enterprise network, giving the mobile worker – whichever profile he or she fits – the same features as they have back at the office or the desk.  It offers benefits such as a single phone number and voice mail,  seamless call transfers, a common dialing plan, and reduced local trunking needs.