The following decade after the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which allowed any communications business to compete in any geographical market, was a period of unprecedented change in the global Information and Communications Technology industry. The explosive growth of the Internet, the unprecedented "boom and bust" in telecom firms, the collapse and restructuring of entire industry sectors, and the development of revolutionary new technologies are only a few of the changes that characterized this industry.
The competitive environment created by Telecom-
munications Act of 1996 also spurred innovation. Among
the innovative undertakings was the prevailing
implementation of Internet Protocol (IP) to carry
information, including voice, over any data network.
Voice and data convergence has since been achievable
and businesses are fast unifying their voice and date
infrastructure to realize the efficiencies of convergence.
But the most salient reason for organizations to switch
to a converged IP network is its inherent power to unify
and further integrate voice and data communications.
To reach the true potential of the IP promise — increasing
business productivity — businesses will require a Unified
Communications (UC) solution that combines business
class Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or IP Telephony
with other communications tools such as Instant Messaging,
Rich Presence, Enterprise E-mail, Calendaring, Contact
Directory, File Sharing, Conferencing, Customer Relations
Management (CRM) applications and Web 2.0 applications.
Business appetite for increased productivity made possible
by Unified Communications coupled with business
executives’ desire to focus on core competencies has
given rise to a new industry: Hosted Unified
Communications. Hosted UC is a service; not a piece
of hardware or software license. It delivers the UC
functionality without requiring business to investment in technology.
Broadcore’s hosted Unified Communications services integrate various communications channels and streamline the management of information flow. Consequently, employees can move seamlessly between their laptops, home phones, mobile phones, and other devices without any disruptions.