Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The unified messaging concept is basically the ability to send and receive communication by any electronic means anywhere, at any time. Longer term this will also apply to and from any location.

Most people are aware of email; mobile phone SMS?ing; faxing; and voice mail. However, few are aware of the ability to be able to use all of these techniques from one source, the PC or PDA.

Frequently people have a message that they want to communicate, but the intended recipient of the message cannot be reached. Technology is helping people overcome this problem. Products are available that are powerful as well as flexible to meet these needs.

Unified messaging is a personal resource for the individual user. It can help send and receive messages, whether they are voice, e-mail, SMS, or fax. It also will notify the user whenever mail arrives.

The concept of notification is becoming a large part of messaging. Some people want to be reached at all costs, anywhere, at any time. Whether they are at home or on holiday, they want to be notified of messages. Others are more protective about their privacy. They do not want to be reached when, for example, they are sleeping or having dinner. Unified messaging technology provides the power to reach people almost anywhere, at any time and the flexibility to allow people to control when they can be reached. This is based on a concept of "your time" communications, where users can send and receive messages how and when they want.

With unified messaging, users can reduce the number of places they must check for incoming voice, fax, and e-mail messages. From a single interface, they can check for all message types.

Technologies exist that enhance the integration of voice mail and e-mail, such as text-to-speech software that converts e-mail into spoken words. For example, at the airport a user could call in on a phone and hear e-mail messages, making it easy to reach important decisions without delay. Other enabling technologies, such as speech recognition, are becoming more reliable and cost-effective. For example, people who are driving will find speech recognition a particularly convenient interface.

Easy-to-use user interfaces are essential to accessing the unified mailbox. Whether from the phone or from the Internet-enabled PC, the subscriber can navigate through the unified mailbox with ease and full control at all times (see Figure 1). Checking e-mail from the phone becomes intuitive, and likewise, hearing voice messages from the PC becomes second nature.

Unified messaging is a business tool as well. It can provide a twenty-four-hour shop window. People can use the phone to get information or to make transactions. They can purchase items without talking to a live person. With the emergence of new technology, especially the Internet, the twenty-four-hour shop has flourished. More information can be accessed and more shopping can be done than ever before. Through the Internet, people can search for the items that they need and find out more information about what they want to buy.

The phone and the personal computer have become transaction terminals. Newer technologies are emerging for the phone that will make it more than a device by which customers can listen and use the keys to order items. People can use it for banking transactions, and even to order a book or a pizza. On the other end of the network, a pizza restaurant, for example, would have a small database of users on their computer system. Customers call in and enter the data mode. Their calling number is recognized immediately as a previous customer, and they can order their pizza with choices presented to them on the phone's display. The caller's address and telephone number is then retrieved from the database. This application is an example of technology yielding business solutions.

A significant part of unified messaging is consolidating different mailboxes in a way that allows people to retrieve their messages through a single point of access and to have all their communication needs met.

Another important consideration is scalable systems. A lot of the current technologies and products in the market only work well on a small scale. The unified messaging platform should reach thousands of customers. The network deployment cost for scaling up these systems must be manageable?merely having the technology to provide a user service is not sufficient. For example, users must be added to the system en masse rather than having to type them in one by one. The systems also must be integrated with the existing back office service infrastructure of the company. A similar infrastructure service is needed, such as providing management reports, research data, or data-collection facilities to allow the company to know which part of the service is being used, what the popular services are, and which services or features are not as popular. This information helps company determine where to invest next. The data-collection facility is another feature that companies want to integrate into their service and system.

For the users, it is important that the interface is simple and intuitive. In a business environment, people are forced to learn to use a service?such as voice mail?that their company provides. There may be training sessions for employees to learn how to use the sophisticated features. If it is simple and people can use it, they will benefit from it and will want to continue to use it. If the service is less than satisfying, users will drop it. Instead of making products and services ever more sophisticated, they must be made intuitive, simple, and useful in solving problems.

Unified messaging can also streamline operations. The Internet has changed technology and communications. It has shown how standards work and how they can benefit even competing products. With standards, less training is required. Different machines and different systems can work together based on common standards. The power of the standard will streamline products and services as well as operations. Fewer service reports are needed. With network-management standards, for example, an essential system of control by polling different machines can be established to find out how these machines work. Streamlining operations will provide large cost savings for companies.

In addition to storing voice; fax messages; and SMS messages, the unified messaging platform can also house the e-mail text messages. This would ensure real-time access to messages as well as a more tightly integrated robust architecture for the company.

The new and dynamic growing company will be the first to adopt fully enhanced unified messaging. Whether these Companies are heavy messaging users at home or small office home office (SOHO) business entrepreneurs, with unified messaging, they have a means of saving time and increasing productivity by having access to all their messages?voice, fax, SMS, and e-mail.

With text-to-speech technology, users are able to hear their e-mail from any mobile or office phone. Using standard voice protocols, they are able to hear their voice messages on a PC. For example, the travelling salesperson who may be delayed at an airport, or in traffic is still able to stay in touch with the office. With unified messaging, the salesperson is able to check voice messages, e-mail, SMS, and faxes all from the convenience of an airport telephone, or mobile phone or PDA, or while in a car.

For users who make use of a fax machine, having a unified mailbox will provide them with added fax functionality. Not only are they able to print faxes to the destination of their choice, but they can also view their faxes directly from their PC. They can treat the fax as they would a voice message, with reply, forward, and save capabilities. They can also create and send faxes singularly or in bulk from their PC. How about faxing your invoices and statements?

With unified messaging, users can also have text-to-fax functionality?directing e-mail to a designated fax machine to be viewed in hardcopy.

For more detail of what Unified Messaging can do for you please contact Computime on 01675 469020 or email info@computime.co.uk

Computime are one of the main developers and suppliers of Tobit, the Unified Messaging Company. They are also able to develop integrated solutions from Accounting; Databases; and CRM systems.