The communications landscape has changed dramatically over the last decade or so with true Unified Communications finally here.
But back when I started as PR Manager at Nimans things were very different with UC not even on the radar of most industry professionals. For my first day in the job I hurried down south for a major Convergence trade show where Nimans was sponsoring the VIP area. It was my first taste of the communications industry having moved from an agency-based role which was much more generic. I was keen to learn as much as a could and see as many stands and different technologies as possible. But after an hour or so of wandering around my overriding feeling was one of confusion. I couldn’t understand why the show referred to convergence when to be truthful there didn’t seem to be any, or very little anyway.
Sure there was lots of different comms platform and end points and some software, but they were in two distinctive camps, pure voice or data. There was plenty of talk about hybrid systems and how the convergence of voice and data was going to revolutionise the industry – but back in 2006 I struggled to see any hard evidence. It seemed a long way off with traditional PBX platforms maintaining a massive stranglehold on sales and stand presence. There were tin boxes, telephones and headsets everywhere.
Today of course things are very different as true convergence is finally here. But it’s been a long journey to get here as the internet influences and impacts on so much of our daily lives. For me the arrival of the smartphone just over 10 years ago has been a major factor in how IP-based communication has taken over our lives. The blur between home and office-based technology is now so close that they run seamlessly together. Pretty much everyone has a smart phone with instant always-on technology an expectation.
I can remember working life without emails and mobile phones. Sending my first fax as a Journalist to local radio stations seemed so ground breaking at the time and puzzled me how it could actually happen. It was an era when the landline was king.
For a long time Unified Communications meant different things to different people with manufacturers and industry leaders putting their own interpretation on what it meant and what it could do. It many ways UC is now under threat from new variants such as the Internet of Things.
Clearly technology continues to evolve and its impact remains as fundamental as ever. You only have to wander through trade shows to see how much our industry has changed. Gone are the tangible boxes of products you can touch and feel. The big display areas are no more as services and software-based solutions take over. One of my last Convergence shows showcased cars and motorbikes as a hook to get people to a stand. Products are now up in the cloud, as the industry moves into another exciting new era.
The communications journey continues and who knows where it will lead?
Guest Blog by Chris Widocks, PR Manager of Nimans
