Think about how much time you spend on mobile devices through the day. For many people, the answer is “a lot,” but the actual number might be more than you think. One study showed that the average U.S. consumer spends 5 hours per day on mobile devices¹. Because of this, the mobile experience is becoming increasingly natural to consumers, with mobile apps dominating their focus. In fact, 92% of users’ time on mobile is spent within apps¹. Consumers are so familiar with their mobile devices that switching to another platform feels unnatural- even having to switch to a mobile browser is an unusual experience, as mobile browsers only occupy 8% of mobile activity¹.

As consumers use mobile devices more frequently, they expect to be able to do everything on mobile that can be done on desktop devices. While smartphone ownership experiences a massive uptick, desktop/laptop device ownership is beginning to slow². With this shift, businesses need to be focused on mobile to provide an optimal customer experience. What does it mean to be mobile-focused? The answer is not so simple. Below, we will outline the three stages of mobile integration. The depth of this integration often corresponds with your customers’ adoption of your mobile application.

As recent events have shown, there is no question that the UC market is in the midst of a rapid transformation. The market’s landscape is changing, as big players exit stage right, and new names come to the forefront. Clearly, the biggest news in the industry is Avaya’s chapter 11 bankruptcy declaration. Don’t forget that only two months before that, Genesys acquired Interactive Intelligence. This same Interactive Intelligence had seen a $41 million decrease in economic earnings over the previous 5 years after moving to the cloud. (Forbes) Earlier in the same year, Aspect Software also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, emerging quickly and repositioning itself in the market as part of the process. 

Despite this apparent turmoil for some of the longest-standing companies in the industry, the cloud contact center market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22.9% by 2022.

So where is this growth coming from? We know that many of the largest players are struggling to maintain pace in the growing cloud sector of the market. 

How does Amazon Chime stack up? Chime vs. Skype for Business comparison.

The Challenger

On February 13, Amazon released a new unified communications service named Chime. This product has been in the works since Amazon's purchase of Biba, a meeting solution provider, in late 2016. Chime is hosted on Amazon Web Services, and has been framed as an attempt to compete with Microsoft's Skype for Business. Is Amazon's product truly a competitor? Will we remember this product as the Skype-killer, or will Chime be met with resounding silence? Here is how the two products stack up on the most important 5 metrics:

Enterprise Connect provides the comprehensive analysis and in-depth sessions you need, covering Unified Communications, Mobility, SIP Trunking, Cloud, Video, Collaboration, WebRTC and more.

We would like to meet you there: Setup a meeting with us here.

Date: March 27-30, 2017
Location: Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center
Orlando, Florida

Learn More: http://www.enterpriseconnect.com

What break out sessions are you attending at Ignite 2016? Join Microsoft and ComputerTalk Friday September 30th at 9am to learn more about enhancing productivity by integrating communications into your everyday business processes.

James Skay, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft will be presenting Drive real-world success with Skype for Business platform solutions.

Join us in room C108/109 or click here to watch the live stream.

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This session highlights real-world partner solutions built upon Skype for Business. ComputerTalk is excited to present ice Contact Center for Skype for Business and will be the only contact center solution showcased. Chris Bardon, Chief Software Architect and Brandon Viamonte, Director US Sales and Partnerships at ComputerTalk will discuss how ice Contact Center can maximize your Microsoft investment and increase business productivity.

ice, Intelligent Communications Exchange, contact center is the only enterprise-class, native Skype for Business contact center. It opens up channels of communication, so your customers, prospects, and partners can contact you in ways that are most convenient for them.

Interested in learning more about ice Contact Center for Skype for Business? Request a demo!

“The primary goal of unified communications (UC) is to improve user productivity and to enhance business processes […] Gartner defines UC products (equipment, software and services) as those that facilitate the use of multiple enterprise communications methods to obtain that goal.” (Marty Parker, http://www.ucstrategies.com/unified-communications-strategies-views/gartner-uc-magic-quadrant-2014-a-clear-picture-of-the-changing-landscape.aspx)

UC allows organizations to meet the growing demands from customers and employees. According to Gartner analysts, a UC solution delivers at minimum telephony, conferencing, messaging, presence and IM, clients, and communications-enabled applications.

Employees are able to complete tasks faster when they can move seamlessly from one device or channel to another. Employees are able to communicate with colleagues from any location, allowing organizations more flexibility and ability to save money.

While UC solutions cover several product categories, they often do not come with all of the communication features that enterprises require. Organizations that face this gap would require flexible UC systems that can integrate with other business solutions. Organizations must understand the capabilities and limitations of UC solutions and the benefits that can come from integrating UC with other business solutions to get the most value out of their deployment.

Software Advice, a free online comparison tool for VoIP software, has recently released a 2015 report on enhancing business processes with UC systems. The data from their report shows that, in order to meet business needs, organizations need more than what traditional UC solutions can provide. According to their analysis, the most common types of software solutions organizations integrate their UC systems with, are Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions (40%) and call center solutions (36%). Organizations are integrating these solutions primarily to enhance screen pops (26%), click-to-call (22%) and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) (16%).

 Case Studies: Top Systems Integrated With UC Solutions