Situation: "Hey, did you get my message?"

The communications tool kit for employees which allows for multiple paths to be used to communicate with them appears to be hurting productivity not improving it.  Per the "Managing Corporate Communications in the Information Age" study which was sponsored by Pitney Bowes revealed that of Fortune 1000 companies the following tools are used as percentage of a workers time:
 

Source: IFTF/Pitney Bowes/ Gallup Organization, Corporate Communications, 1996

With individual efficiency dominating the above equation. Persons choose the tool which is the most efficient for them and takes the least amount of time to execute. Unfortunately, it is estimated that workers dedicate three hours per day to processing messages, resulting in lower productivity, reduced availability and lower customer service satisfaction (Gartner Group, K. Dulaney, June 12, 1997). Many would argue that  efficiency has been improved by via increased accessibility but having to scan multiple communication channels may be a limiting the efficiency gain and in some cases reducing it.

Therefore, if  we must continue to provide multiple routes of communication between employees, employees and customers, are there now opportunities to realize further efficiency improvements? Can we consolidate the communication channel (at least on the receivers end) without depriving someone of their most efficient means of communication?
 

The Potential Answer: Unified Messaging
 
Unified messaging is a concept of having a universal inbox for all types of messages: voice, fax, email, and attachments. It is the unification of all incoming messages into a central location while providing access via one channel (computer or telephone).  "The key battle cry among voice mail vendors since 1995 has been the promise of unified messaging: wireless world delivering anywhere/anytime calling and messaging.

Unified messaging brings together into a single queue an individual's incoming voice, fax and E-mail messages, and gives the user the option of using the input and output devices of choice such as E-Mail messages read aloud over the phone or fax messages viewed on the computer screen". Source: Merging E-Mail, Fax and Voice: Boon for Service Providers, Gartner Group, J. Graph, A. Scholler, R. Egan, D. McCoy, March 4, 1998.  Simply put the value proposition is one where person A can contact and leave person B a message through any of the three mentioned channels (fax, voice mail, email) and person B can choose to access that message via whichever channel they desire. The choice each person makes is dependent on what they view as the most efficient method.

"The term "unified" refers to a single data repository where all messages reside. Unified messaging is championed by Microsoft through Exchange and other MAPI-based messaging initiatives. "Integrated" refers to messaging store that consists of links to a number of message repositories and is championed by Lotus/IBM through Lotus Notes. Source: Wandering the Road to One Number Access, Gartner Group, K. Dulaney, June 12, 1997.
 
 
 

Benefits of Unified Messaging

The biggest potential benefit from unified messaging is simplicity. These systems will allow you to access one channel for managing, hearing, and responding to your messages, regardless of the channel the sender chose to use.

The E-Mail Channel

A person can either listen to their voice mail message via their E-mail through their computer speakers and then respond to it, either by recording a voice mail (again via your computer) or by E-mail. Also via E-Mail faxes can be reviewed and responded to in a fax viewer. of course you can still read your E-Mail messages as you always have. This eliminates the individual from having to check their PBX system for voice mails, tracking down and responding to faxes which may have been sent to various locations, and then when done with that they can review their E-Mails. Using their E-Mail inbox as their "universal inbox" they can do it all through it.

The Voice Channel

A alternative channel might be to use voice mail or the PBX system as the universal inbox. With the maturation of voice-to-speech technology you can listen to and respond to your E-Mails via voice mail, of course listen to your voice mail, and at least be notified automatically that a fax has been received. The beauty and simplicity of using either voice or E-Mail as the consolidating message channel is that it can be entirely up to the user to choose which is the most efficient for them.
 

E-Mail Integration with Voice Mail

The recent trend in messaging has toward software based  products in the voice/call processing industry. This technology of text-to-speech conversion  has enabled the ability for you to listen to E-Mails via your voice mail system. Thus allowing persons the opportunity to control when and how they access their E-mail messages via a touch-tone phone. Some systems will provide information as to the size of the e-mail, whether it has attachments including the file names.

When going the other way: voice mail to E-mail conversions the voice mail is stored as a WAV file (the standard audi format  used by Windows, and is a de facto standard format for audio files). The listener (who is reading his E-Mail also) can listen to the voice mail through his computer speakers when he runs the WAV file. He can also record a response via the built-in computer microphone (creating his return WAV file) to the sender.
 

Fax Management Via E-mail
 
By having parties send their faxed to your universal mailbox allows you to manage your faxes from your desktop or laptop computer. You can possibly notified via voice mail or E-mail that a fax has arrived for your viewing. You can even cut and paste pages of the faxes into other documents if you so choose. Fax access via e-mail is the combination of computer based fax technology with E-mail system technology.
 
 

Do I Implement or Outsouce?
 
Unified messaging systems can be implemented internally through the purchase of vendor hardware and software or the entire service can be provided by a outside vendor. Which avenue a company chooses to pursue depends on a number of factors including:

• size of the company;
• amount of voice and data traffic;
• number of remote users accessing voice and E-mail; and
• condition of companies currently installed base of PBX and E-mail infrastructure; and

available IT resources to monitor and maintain the security and integrity of the system.

• Set-up individual "road warriors" to receive services from a provider and then carefully track usage, and costs.
• Consider departmental deployment of premises-based products if they appear to be cost effective.
• Continue working toward a unified infrastructure (TCP/IP, SMTP/MIME, message store with optional browser access and IMAP4 access. Source: Merging E-Mail, Fax and Voice: Boon for Service Providers, Gartner Group, J. Graff, A. Scholler, R. Egan, D. McCoy; March 4, 1998.

• control and security of information
• trust: can you be assured that the data will be secure from prying by the outsourcing company
• viability of service provider
• lack of success stories
• relationship management (escalation policies, recourse in case of disagreements and service failures).

Who Are the Major Players in Unified Messaging?

The field of providers of both outsourcing and in-house implementation of unified messaging systems grows more crowded by the day. Provided below is a listing for the both in-house and subscriber sources for unified messaging software and hardware technologies:

•   purchased Octel Messaging Division to bundle with their own services to provide unified messaging.

• with CallXpress for Windows NT, you can join your telephone system, LAN groupware (Lotus Notes) and the Internet into one dynamic communication system.

•   offers Infinite Voice  a full featured E-mail voice attendant offering users the ability to send and respond E-mails using any touch tone phone.

•   provides Internet/Intranet software solutions for network based voice mail, unified messaging. and call processing.

• - recently introduced Troopers ISP, a high performance messaging server  that will enable Internet Service Providers and telecommunication companies to provide scalable, reliable messaging services including unified messaging capabilities.

• Oracle and Call Sciences recently joined forces to produce Oracle InterOffice which integrates Call Sciences call management solution Personal Assistant with a unified messaging approach from Oracles database messaging product. It will enable service providers and large corporations to delivery web based call and message management services via open internet standards.

• - Virtualplus introduces Messagepoint which allows you to collect all your messages; E-Mail, Voice mail, Faxes, Web Messages and Phone Messages from one In-Box. Only Messagepoint gives you your own E-mail, Web Page and a Phone Number in your choice of city from around the world. message port allows you to receive messages (fax, phone, voice mail, pager, email) via the web.

To review a interactive report card on how some of the Unified Messaging technology providers are graded click below:

Is Unified Messaging Right For Your Company?
 
The Value

The value of unified messaging may be difficult to quantify for any company. Hyper-connectivity and the ability to channel communications via a single mailbox is a fascinating notion. With this feature remote personnel might be more efficient and respond even quicker to the needs of the customer and ultimately the company when they receive a message. Unified messaging appears ideally suited for a company whose employees are geographically disbursed,  home office based and that cover a large geographical area by car. Messages could be accessed and responded to while traveling between accounts, utilizing time which might otherwise have been wasted.  As the cost of cellular phone air time continues to decline, including the elimination of roaming and long distance charges, the cell phone itself may become the "universal mailbox".

The How

The decision on whether to outsource or implement with your own hardware and software will depend entirely on your current capabilities. What you PBX system is currently like, your messaging software/hardware, and the number of users you expect to have now and into the future. The decision will be based on the economics, security, and the IT resources available for support.

What Should You Do

As revealed in the commentary above unified messaging's value proposition is interesting but defining the monetary benefits less the costs of implementing such technology may prove difficult for many companies. The choice may simply be a strategic one like many other technology purchase decisions.