Writing on Forbes.com, David Carr pointed out that full UC setups include a host of features such as IP telephony, presence, email, corporate directories and video conferencing, but claimed smaller firms may not find all of these worth the investment.
'For a small business, some of these features may not be all that attractive or critical. If everyone is together in the same office, standing up and looking around the room may be an adequate 'presence' system,' he explained.
Mr Carr recommended that businesses look at the UC systems offered by vendors and enquire if these can be deployed on a piecemeal basis to acquire the exact communications components they need.
He also said IT managers could develop their own solution by joining together tools that the company already owns or making use of free technologies.
Last month, Freeform Dynamics principal analyst Josie Sephton wrote on computing.co.uk that a UC system should be deployed quickly rather than component by component, as this will allow users to benefit from all its features immediately.
'For a small business, some of these features may not be all that attractive or critical. If everyone is together in the same office, standing up and looking around the room may be an adequate 'presence' system,' he explained.
Mr Carr recommended that businesses look at the UC systems offered by vendors and enquire if these can be deployed on a piecemeal basis to acquire the exact communications components they need.
He also said IT managers could develop their own solution by joining together tools that the company already owns or making use of free technologies.
Last month, Freeform Dynamics principal analyst Josie Sephton wrote on computing.co.uk that a UC system should be deployed quickly rather than component by component, as this will allow users to benefit from all its features immediately.
