Legal first for InTechnology with unified communications launch

It's not often that you get to cover something that's a genuine first but InTechnology have seemingly beaten everyone to the punch with legal's first unified communications (UC) solution with integrated IP telephony. As telephony has always been the missing link in UC up to now, you can see why it's such a significant development - I mean, it can't have been very unified hitherto if the phones were missing. But what's really interesting about the UC movement is that it recognises that all those wonderful tools that have transformed how we communicate with one another - email, voicemail, BlackBerry, etc - have also started to become a bit of a problem. Think about the classic protracted email exchange that takes a week to generate a result when you could have sorted everything in a five minute phone call..you get the picture. In fact, InTechnology estimates that UC could reduce unnecessary communications - and the associated costs - by up to 50%.

Here's more....

Legal market finds voice with first unified communications solution with integrated IP telephony

Data, network and telephony management specialist InTechnology has announced the launch of the legal sector’s first Unified Communications (UC) solution with integrated IP telephony.

Until now, voice has been the missing link in all UC systems but InTechnology has brought together hosted Microsoft Office Communication Server and its enterprise class telephony service at the desktop. It estimates that law firm users will realize a 50% saving in unwanted or superfluous email and voice messages, greatly reducing communication latency, dramatically accelerating the decision-making process and improving employee interaction.

The launch comes at a time when both IT departments and lawyers are struggling to cope efficiently with a growing number of discrete devices and applications and associated messages and calls. A typical user may have a desktop PC or laptop, mobile phone or PDA, office desk phone and instant messaging, all of which are managed separately with multiple contact lists and inboxes.

Add to this the ever increasing quantity of e-mails, phone calls and voicemails to both fixed and mobile devices every day, many of which are generated as a result of email/telephone tag with no decisive outcome, and you risk growing user frustration, technical overload and an unnecessary drain on time and resources.

Available on a pay as you go basis, InTechnology's Hosted Unified Communications Service provides businesses with a unique set of integrated services including e-mail, instant messaging, presence, shared calendars, shared desktops, video calling, conferencing and IP telephony.

Richard Quine, InTechnology’s director of product management, comments:

"The goal of UC is to reduce the time, cost and frustration associated with unnecessary delays in decision making - to bring together all the tools of communication which we use, thereby allowing users to make decisions on how to interact with one another based on the presence status of their contacts.

What’s significant about the addition of voice to the UC offer is that it has the genuine potential to transform how lawyers communicate and collaborate with one another, with their clients and with counsel. This goes beyond the inherent efficiencies of a unified inbox or utilizing the ‘presence’ concept to accelerate the decision making process.

Firms can now leverage new capabilities such as high definition online video and conferencing - these will enable them to save costs, time and carbon emissions by offering a high quality alternative to face-to-face meetings and conferences. It is estimated that regular business travellers spend eleven days a year on avoidable or unnecessary travel – strip out the associated costs, factor in the extra fee-earning time returned to the practice and you are looking at a very substantial return on your investment. And that’s before you even add in the gains and savings to be had from the newly streamlined communication process afforded by the hosted UC platform.”