"It may be an obvious statement, but mobile workers need to be able to communicate as successfully as if they were in the office. But the key word there is 'successfully'. What does this actually mean? In a nutshell, it means communicating simply, cost effectively and as easily as if they were sitting at their desks. They also need to communicate in a number of ways, by email, by phone and sometimes interactively using instant messaging, video conferencing or white-boarding.
Whilst mobile email devices such as the Blackberry, or the ability to access corporate systems across the Internet are well-established - along with some other mediums which are provided across disparate platforms and clients, it is fair to say that some of these are undoubtedly more 'integrated' than the others.
But what about a world where all of these communications methods are provided on a single platform, with a single client, thus reducing the elements which a mobile workforce require to more or less one? This is the way in which technology is moving. A combined platform which uses SIP technology to provide not only remote email and file access, video conferencing and instant messaging, but also VoIP is now a reality. And in addition, new mobile technology coming onto the market also enables mobile phones to 'choose' the most appropriate network - VoIP or mobile - to optimise call costs.
With the speed at which these new advances are becoming a reality, resellers must embrace the absolute latest in collaborative technologies, to ensure that they are always ahead of the game. Most solutions on the market today focus on the VoIP element, or on the data-centric element, but few can offer an equal balance of enterprise-quality email and VoIP on a single platform."