Unified messaging systems represent the idea of convergence in its ultimate form. UMS, as it's sometimes called, gives businesses one-stop shopping for all their voicemail needs by converting data into one uniform medium. Hence, messages may be accessed through an employee's computer or phone, and e-mails may be heard as spoken text. With these capabilities, unified messaging can be tweaked and modified in any number of ways to fit your business's specific needs.

Some of the greatest proponents of unified messaging are business travelers who are constantly on the go. Just by flipping open their phones or PDAs, these individuals can view e-mails, calendar items, or contact information just as they would if they were sitting at their desks back in the office. Employee productivity is automatically increased--now there's no need to constantly call back to the office to check on scheduling or whether that important client email has arrived. Employees will immediately have access to all new information, in the palms of their hands.

More Perks of Unified Messaging

A particularly useful feature of unified messaging is the capability to synchronize additions or changes. If an employee alters her schedule while on the road, how will her assistant know where she is? Before unified messaging, constant phone contact was the only way to stay in touch. With unified messaging, though, any changes the employee makes to her schedule through her PDA will be automatically updated in her desktop computer. Her assistant simply needs to open her calendar to see any changes the employee has made.

Unified messaging as part of a larger VoIP solution can also offer a great way for those busy employees to stay in touch. Oftentimes employees will have a home phone, a personal cell phone, a work cell phone, and an office phone. What happens if a client urgently needs to reach that employee but she is not next to her office phone? Some VoIP solutions providers will offer options for calls to be forwarded down a list of pre-selected phone numbers so that important calls are never missed. Calls can automatically be forwarded to a home phone number or a cell phone number, or both in succession.