Unified communications (UC) is the merger of social software with enterprise IT, voice processing and call processing resources to support employee productivity and overall business objectives. Adoption has accelerated recently by successful packaging, marketing and go-to-market strategies primarily by three firms that have the greatest impact in setting the overall form, function and direction of enterprise computing and communications: Cisco, IBM and Microsoft. This report evaluates their unification efforts and those of major partners in call processing and contact center automation.
Featured Research
Ingenio-Harris Mobile User Survey: Mobile Web to Grow, Ad Outlook Mixed
A recent Ingenio-sponsored survey by Harris Interactive explored a range of topics pertaining to mobile voice and data usage, as well as consumer acceptance of mobile advertising. The results show consumers are quickly expanding the use of mobile phones beyond voice-only capabilities, but monetizing those activities through mobile advertising remains an uphill battle.
Nuance Buys Tegic: Takes on Texting
By acquiring Tegic Communications, the originator of predictive text entry, Nuance brings the multimodal user experience in house. The acquisition will accelerate the go-to-market strategy for two years of joint development efforts. Tegic’s global footprint includes partnerships with a diversity of wireless carriers, device makers and mobile content providers.
Private Equity Firms Acquire Avaya: Changes Afoot
In an offer valued at $8.2 billion, Silver Lake Partners, along with TPG Capital, acquired Avaya, Inc., bringing the networking stalwart into a fold of companies that includes MCI, Sabre Holdings, Instinet and Gartner. The new owners are in a better position to organize converged solutions that include call processing, speech processing and application workflows. In short, it furthers adoption of “communications-enabled business processes.â€
IBM Boosts Service-Oriented Architecture Adoption
Last week at Impact 2007 in Orlando, IBM assembled about 4,000 enterprise customers, prospects or practitioners of service oriented architecture-based software implementations. In comparison, just three years ago at IBM’s first SOA-oriented get-together in San Francisco, some 200+ attendees attended. The ranks have grown so dramatically because Big Blue’s framing of SOA is consistent with efforts to destroy computing silos, support unified communications and link IT development efforts more closely with overall business objectives.
Nuance with VoiceSignal: Hands-Free Leader in Speech-Enabled Mobile Search
The heated rivalry between two market leaders in embedded speech processing ended today when Nuance Communications acquired VoiceSignal for cash and stock valued at $293 million. Using its acquisition of Dictaphone as a model, Nuance seizes an opportunity to accelerate market share and technology leadership in a fast-growing market area, resulting in a $55+ million boost to its top-line revenue next fiscal year.
Speech-Enabled Mobile Search: Delivery Models for Information, Entertainment and Services
This report explores the evolution and transition from “traditional” wireless directory assistance (DA), where the revenue is supplied by consumers on a pay-per-use basis, to a “free,” potentially ad-supported model we’re calling speech-enabled mobile search (SEMS). In 2006, wireless carriers, device makers, mobile subscribers and advertisers combined to spend more than $4 billion on resources that used spoken words to extend the ability to search onto mobile devices. By 2010, that dollar value will exceed $7.5 billion.
Voice Biometrics Conference Takes on Growth and Challenges
High-profile implementations, like VoicePay (in the U.K.) and Bell Canada’s Voice Identification Service, signal a new era for voice biometrics technologies. Success in the near term is pegged on high levels of convenience and security for customer-facing applications. Long-term success will be linked to establishing spoken passwords as a highly trusted way to leverage existing infrastructure for securing Web-, mobile- and phone-based commerce.
Analytics and Reporting for Phone-Based Self-Service
With the sharp public eye on customer satisfaction, businesses need better and faster ways to tune phone self-service resources. A new generation of monitoring and reporting systems supports closer links to business intelligence and analytics. Determining suitability of new solutions hinges on compatibility with existing performance management resources, flexibility for accommodating multiple constituencies within the enterprise and out-of-the box capabilities, in terms of providing pre-formatted reports.
Soft Launch for Google’s Free DA: 1-800-GOOG411
The soft launch of 1-800-GOOG411 signals that Google, Inc. will vie with Microsoft (with Tellme), AT&T (with Nuance and others) and Jingle Networks in defining how directory assistance will morph from caller-paid, limited-function, query-and-response to an advertiser-supported, search/find/transact model. By 2010, advertiser support of free DA could capture roughly $3 billion of the $9 billion spent by advertisers and end-users for speech-enabled mobile search. Yahoo! is yet to be heard from.