Cisco Systems is integrating its TelePresence video collaboration technology and its unified communications products to create a health care platform designed to improve patient care in virtual physician visits. The platform, which will launch later in March, will allow more collaboration between doctors and patients, Cisco says.
- Cisco Systems is bringing together its TelePresence video collaboration technology and unified communications products to create a platform to enable better patient care in virtual settings. Cisco announced its HealthPresence platform March 1 at the HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management S...

The UC alliance between Siemens Enterprise Communications Group and Polycom comes in the middle of other maneuverings in the market, including Ciscos intended acquisition of video conferencing equipment maker Tandberg. At the same time, Mitel is kicking off a bus tour through the United States to show off its UC offerings, including its TeleCollaboration telepresence software.
- The maneuvering in the increasingly competitive video conferencing space is continuing, with Siemens Enterprise Communications Group announcing that it will integrate Polycoms telepresence technology into its unified communications offerings. The alliance and resale agreements between the two co...

At the ITExpo East 2010 show, Aastra is demonstrating its new MX-One Compact offering, which brings unified communications technology including integrated mobility and productivity enhancing tools to SMBs. The Aastra product is for deployments of up to 300 extensions, and is designed to offer enterprise-grade communications capabilities to smaller businesses.
- Aastra is looking to give SMBs the same communications capabilities as larger enterprises. At the ITExpo East 2010 show in Miami Jan. 20, Aastra unveiled the MX-One Compact, a UC (unified communications) call control manager that offers such capabilities as the integration of mobile phones into...

The Plantronics Voyager Pro UC provides heavy callers with an excellent way to use the same Bluetooth headset for both cell phone- and PC-based unified communications systems. eWEEK Labs tested the Voyager Pro UC WG200/B, which comes with an earpiece and a pre-paired Bluetooth dongle. The system is designed to work jointly with a Bluetooth 2.0-enabled cell phone or smartphone plus a Windows-based PC softphone via the dongle.
- The Plantronics Voyager Pro UC provides heavy callers with an excellent way to utilize the same Bluetooth headset for both cell phone- and PC-based unified communications systems. This can free mobile users from juggling multiple headsets, while delivering excellent voice quality and distance per...

Avaya is unveiling its plans for integrating products acquired from Nortels enterprise business. Avayas plan is aimed at eliminating overlap while protecting Nortel customers, who not only will want to avoid any rip-and-replace scenarios but also will be courted by Avaya competitors. Avaya also said it is keeping Nortels data products, including switches and routers.
- Avaya is rolling out an integrated product road map that officials say aims to protect Nortel Networks customers and create a strong unified communications portfolio. In their plans, unveiled Jan. 19, Avaya officials also said they intend to keep Nortels data product lines, including switches, ...

A month after closing a $915 million deal to buy bankrupt Nortel's enterprise business unit, Avaya is preparing to unveil its integrated road map. The industry will see in which direction Avaya is moving, and Nortel customers will find out the future of their products.
- Avaya was one of the biggest winners in the 2009 fire sale that was Nortel Networks. The communications technology vendor bought Nortel's enterprise business, which includes Nortel's UC (unified communications) products. Avaya on Dec. 18 completed the acquisition, which analysts at the time of t...

The partnership between Siemens Enterprise Communications Group and Shared Technologies is designed to help organizations take better advantage of the business communications set up they now have in place, and to help them plan their move to a UC environment.
- Siemens Enterprise Communications Group is partnering with Shared Technologies to help businesses make the move to a unified communications environment. The five-year partnership is aimed at offering customers best practices for taking advantage of what business communications technologies they...

The Plantronics Voyager Pro UC provides callers with an excellent way to utilize the same Bluetooth headset for both cell phone- and PC-based unified communications systems, while delivering excellent voice quality and distance performance along with reasonable battery life.
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The rapidly changing unified communications market, which is seeing consolidations and partnerships among established players like Cisco, BT and Polycom, is also now getting new entrants like Logitech and Adtran. Both are looking to get traction in the UC space through the SMB sector.
- Adtrans entrance into the unified communications space adds another player to a rapidly changing market. In the past few months, the UC field has seen consolidations, partnerships and new entrants as vendors look to position themselves in a space that is expected to grow rapidly over the next fe...

With enterprises looking for ways to save money, demand for unified communications and VOIP technologies is expected to grow rapidly. Gartner is predicting the unified communications and collaboration market will reach $7.4 billion by the end of the year, a 22 percent jump over 2008, and that HD-based video meeting solutions will replace 2.1 million airline seats annually by 2012, at a cost of $3.5 billion to the travel and hospitality industry every year. A host of companies, from Microsoft, IBM and Cisco Systems to Siemens Enterprise Communications, Alcatel-Lucent and Avaya, are looking for ways to expand their reach in the field. To help getter a better look at this market, eWEEK spoke to Paul McMillan, director of UC technical vision and strategy at the office of Siemens CTO. McMillan said the key to UC is enhancing the collaborative environment.
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Avaya and Cisco Systems were the top vendors in a unified communications market that saw strong growth in the third quarter, according to Dell'Oro Group. However, while the UC space is doing well in the second half of 2009 and is expected to continue growing in 2010, it will be a while before it reaches the pre-recession numbers of 2008.
- Avaya and Cisco Systems were the top vendors in a growing unified communications space in the third quarter, according to research company Dell'Oro Group. In a statement released Dec. 3, Dell'Oro analysts said more than 70 percent of the vendors in the space contributed to the market's growth in...

Skype's Skype for SIP software cleared its interoperability certification with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business, the latest step in the VOIP provider's plan to hedge into the market for business communications. Skype for SIP will help the company expand its revenue streams into enterprise markets, something it has been unable to do under the aegis of parent company eBay to date.
- Skype Sept. 23 said its Skype for SIP software cleared its interoperability certification with the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business, the latest step in the VOIP provider's plan to hedge into the market for business communications. In beta since March, Sky...

Avaya will pay more than $900 million for Nortel Networks' Enterprise Solutions business, which includes Nortel's unified communications technologies. The deal will give Avaya a 25 percent share of the enterprise telephony market, putting Cisco Systems in second place at 16 percent, according to analysts. The deal is part of bankrupt Nortel's decision to sell off its businesses piecemeal.
- Avaya is propelling itself to the top of the enterprise telephony market with its $900 million purchase of bankrupt Nortel Networks' enterprise business. The combination of Avaya and Nortel's enterprise business will give Avaya about 25 percent of the enterprise telephony market, outdistancing C...

Regulators with the Federal Trade Commission approve Nokia Siemens' bid to buy two business units from Nortel for $650 million. Nortel has been under bankruptcy protection since early 2009, and is looking to sell off various businesses. At the same time, Nortel continues to build out its unified communications capabilities, including the latest release of its Communication Server 1000.
- Federal regulators have given the go-ahead to Nokia Siemens Networks' $650 million bid for a part of Nortel Networks' business. The Federal Trade Commission on July 6 put the bid on a list of approved mergers. Nokia Siemens' bid, announced June 19, is part of a larger process that will decide t...