News

A year ago, Ben Lucier was going communications crazy. He had four phone numbers - two cellphones, an office phone and a home office phone. To keep up with business, he had to check four voice mailboxes for messages. Plus, he had to check e-mail and look for faxes in the company machine.

The irony? Mr. Lucier is the vice-president of HIP Communications Corp., a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) company based in Toronto.

One of the advantages of VoIP is unified messaging, in which all incoming calls are routed to whichever device the user chooses. When combined with a data network, VoIP promises to deliver voice, fax, e-mail and instant messaging to one application on the desktop or whatever computing device is being used.

Of course, Mr. Lucier only went communication crazy while HIP was rolling out its VoIP network. Once it was launched, HIP began to use its own technology, and Mr. Lucier's communication insanity ended.

He now lists just one phone number - the office number - on his business card.

"That's the number customers dial, but I program all incoming calls to ring on the phone of my choice," he says.

When he's in the office, he receives calls on his office phone. When on the road, they ring on his cellphone. When he's at home, he picks up the office phone at home. Even at the cottage, he can, if so inclined, have calls ring there. And when he is not able to answer, calls go to a single mailbox which he can access from any phone, at any time.

As the complexities of staying in touch threaten to overwhelm, unified messaging is coming to the rescue.

As companies move from analog to digital phones, or from old-style PBX systems to Internet protocol networks, voice and data have started to converge. About 2.5 million Canadians will have VoIP services by year end, giving them the ability to weave together standalone silos of e-mail, instant messaging, voice calls, voice mail and faxes, according to the telecom consultancy Seaboard Group.

For example, Mr. Lucier can receive all his office e-mail on his BlackBerry smart phone. Messages are also duplicated on his office computer, so later he can rest his thumbs and reply to e-mail from his desktop PC.

All this happens seamlessly. Those who are calling or e-mailing him do not know, nor do they likely care, how or where they are reaching him. "The magic is in the back end, or the IP network, that is routing voice and data to any selected device based on business rules the user, or the company, establishes," says Mr. Lucier.

Unified messaging also lets users decide how to reply to a message. The recipient of an e-mail message can click on the sender's name and reply based on the sender's preferences, says Bryan Rusche, unified communications product manager with Microsoft Canada. Preferences can include e-mail, phone or instant message and even conferencing via telephone, Web or video.

Instead of searching on the computer for a phone number and then picking up the phone, the recipient can select the mode of communication preferred by the sender at a given moment and reply from the desktop. Mid-conversation, two users can open up a Web-conferencing channel and share documents, or they can invite others to participate in a conference call or a video conference.

This mode of communication can be established within a company or it can be opened to vendors, suppliers and customers. "We're there now, but in early stages," says Mr. Rusche.

To install these systems, large enterprises have "taken a forklift" to their voice and data networks, tearing out the old and replacing them with the new, Mr. Rusche says.

But establishing a unified system need not be an all-or-nothing proposition. Small and medium businesses, many of which have computer networks held together with paper clips and rubber bands, can consider systems hosted by third parties, including telecom companies, business Internet service providers or a company like HIP.

HIP can host voice and data communications on its IP network for a company. However, many firms have solid data networks but analog voice systems in place.

In that case, HIP can host voice communications and integrate voice with a company's data network.

In addition, communications software in Microsoft's Exchange Server 2007 (with integrated messaging, e-mail and calendar functions) and Office Communications Server 2007 (with presence awareness, instant messaging, VoIP and Web and video conferencing) can be overlaid across existing networks.

Add hardware products such as Catalina, a USB phone; Tanjay, an IP phone; or RoundTable, a video conferencing device, and companies can bring unified communication to the desktop, Mr. Rusche says.

With "softphone" software installed on a VoIP-enabled laptop, a user can answer office phone calls from anywhere in the world, all while checking e-mail or accessing the company database.

In addition to saving time and easing frustration, unified systems also enable users to communicate more effectively with clients. Mr. Lucier calls that a "win-win" situation.