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UC products: A comprehensive buyer's guide
Editor's note
Unified communications emerged from the limitations of legacy technology and the need to streamline collaboration and enhance productivity. The advent of voice over IP (VoIP) allowed telephony to be merged with other data streams, and gave rise to unified messaging. Following a natural progression, UC products have evolved to include messaging, desktop sharing, presentation capabilities and presence technology.
Despite rapid advancements in communication and collaboration, the value proposition for UC products can still be confusing for many organizations, even large businesses with well-established IT infrastructures. This buyer's guide describes the emergence of UC as an enterprise tool and explores the best use cases for its implementation. It also discusses critical purchasing criteria and provides a comparison of the leading UC products.
1The business benefits of adopting UC products
UC can offer several benefits over traditional or IP telephony, including worker productivity and company agility. These four use cases highlight those benefits, both for short- and long-term success.
2Criteria to consider when choosing a UC service
Knowing the important questions to ask before buying any UC products for your enterprise is crucial. Here you will learn the criteria to consider before making any purchasing decisions.
3Finding the service that fits your company
Compare the leading UC products and vendors on the market before you make your purchase in order to ensure your choice is best-suited to your organization.
4A look at the top UC products
Read our in-depth analyses of the top UC products on the market today. Each service offers a variety of features. Discover which service suits your organization.
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Article
Alcatel-Lucent OpenTouch suite: Product overview
The Alcatel-Lucent UC portfolio, including the OpenTouch Business Edition and OmniPCX platforms, offers a wide range of features for both small and large organizations. Read Now
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Article
Avaya UC product overview: Aura Communication Manager
The Avaya Aura Platform, perhaps best suited for larger enterprises, supports messaging, voice, video, presence and mobility features, as well as virtualization. Read Now
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Article
Cisco UCM: Unified communications product overview
The Cisco UC Manager supports instant messaging, video conferencing, mobility and presence technology. The platform can support up to 100,000 users in a cluster configuration. Read Now
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Article
Microsoft Skype for Business Server: Product overview
With its Skype for Business services, Microsoft has shaken up the unified communications market by launching an unconventional platform that's generating significant growth. Read Now
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Article
Mitel's MiVoice MX-ONE: Product overview
Mitel communications products include the MiVoice MX-ONE suite, which can support up to 500,000 users. Many of Mitel's products can be managed from a Web browser interface. Read Now
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Article
NEC UNIVERGE 3C: Product overview
Unlike solutions that are licensed by service, the NEC UNIVERGE 3C offers a unique licensing model, providing users with complete UC services without additional costs. Read Now
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Article
ShoreTel Connect ONSITE: Product overview
With a simple deployment model, the recently revamped ShoreTel UC platform is well-suited for multisite organizations and looks to contend with other major vendors. Read Now
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Article
Unify OpenScape Voice: Product overview
With support for mobility, video and scalability for up to 500,000 users, OpenScape Voice -- and the rest of the Unify UC portfolio -- is well-suited for large enterprises. Read Now