Partager via


Why Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging

Communications and collaboration are critical elements of business success. Companies that are able to successfully integrate communication and collaboration processes in their business workflows can lower expenses, increase efficiency, and realize the value of information assets they already have.

Part of this integration process involves integrating different communications methods and systems. Historically, e-mail (and related data, like calendar, contact, and task data), voice mail, and fax traffic have traveled on separate paths through communications networks, and they've been accessible through separate tools: computers, telephones, and fax machines. In the new world of work, employees require easier access to these communication types, leading to the integration of telephony, fax, and e-mail capabilities into desktop and mobile clients. The first set of unified messaging solutions put the emphasis on allowing individual users to originate different kinds of communications traffic, including desktop faxing and e-mail, but lacked an effective set of server-based reception, storage, management, and policy control capabilities. As the market matured, unified messaging systems added fax and voice mail capabilities to existing e-mail systems, but these improved products are typically tied to specific proprietary phone systems.

Microsoft's introduction of unified messaging support in Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 marks the start of the third wave of unified messaging technology: robust, interoperable, server-based tools that integrate with desktop and mobile clients to give information workers access to voice, fax, and e-mail data from wherever they are and allows users to use the telephone to manage their email, calendar, and personal contacts. Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging offers five key benefits:

  • Less wasted time. People are able to quickly send, receive, and find the exact information they need, no matter what form it was delivered in and no matter where they are.
  • One inbox. Exchange Server 2007 seamlessly delivers e-mail, voice mail, calendar data, and fax messages into users' inboxes. Users can sort, manage, and act on multiple message types without having to switch between applications or systems.
  • Anywhere access. Exchange Unified Messaging delivers access from familiar clients like Microsoft Office Outlook®, Outlook Web Access, a variety of mobile devices, and ordinary telephones.
  • Reduced costs. Integrated unified messaging systems allow site and server consolidation, reducing the total number of servers required to provide voice mail and fax service. Consolidation can dramatically lower maintenance and upkeep costs, particularly for organizations with remote or branch offices.
  • Foundation for unified communications. The combination of e-mail, voice mail, and fax capability can be augmented with presence, instant messaging (IM), and real-time conferencing capability to expand the ways in which users can share information and communicate.

Integrating voice mail and fax messages with e-mail and calendaring systems offers some valuable benefits, including reduced costs, improved productivity, and greater ease of use. Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging can help deliver these benefits by unifying voice mail and fax traffic with other data items in users' existing inboxes, then making all of these data items available to users in a variety of ways. By allowing for centralized deployment and management of unified messaging services, Exchange Server 2007 lowers the cost of providing voice mail and fax services while simultaneously delivering services—like voice access to calendar items—that aren't available on other systems.

Comments