When it comes to business phone systems, many company owners, managers and decision makers value functionality over panache. However, sometimes a product comes along from a forward-thinking company that can truly combine both of these seemingly conflicting benefits.
On January 24, Avaya announced that its Flare Communicator – which had previously been offered on a standalone device similar to many popular tablets – was coming to the iPad, making it the first mobile device that supports unified communications software that integrates social tools.
The new version of the Flare Communicator includes the kind of features companies have come to expect from VoIP telephony systems such as email, calling and instant messaging, while allowing offices that have already made investments in the iPad to take advantage of VoIP services.
“This is meant to be much more of a mobile, roaming, wireless remote office that you can set up in an instant,” Lawrence Byrd, director of collaboration solutions, told InformationWeek.
According to the news source, while the current iPad offering doesn’t support videoconferencing like its stand-alone version does, this added feature is likely going to be unveiled in a follow-up release. For now, those who are looking to update their office with the tools that could provide them with a closer approximation of a true multimedia call center may want to invest in the Flare Desktop Video Device, a standalone version produced by the company that is designed to be a master controller for call center professionals.
In recent months, a number of experts had been predicting that 2012 would be the year when unified communications technology began merging with the easy-to-use interfaces that Americans have come to expect from social networking websites. However, while this version doesn’t include this type of directory, it provides a framework that companies can later use to achieve these benefits.
In recent months, a number of experts had been predicting that 2012 would be the year when unified communications technology began merging with the easy-to-use interfaces that Americans have come to expect from social networking websites.
