Plasmanet Thinks - Monday 30th June 2008

Unified communications is something that Plasmanet has been interested in since we started the company more than 5 years ago.  So it was with interest that I read the editorial in this months AV News magazine. 

Editor Bryan Denyer is dissatisfied with the IT-based definitions that currently dominate.  I have to admit that we are as guilty as the next IT software and consultancy business in believing that you can achieve unified communications with a software solution.  But, as Editor Bryan Denyer points out, this belief misses out the most important person in all of this; the end-user who “...just wants to get on with the job without having to acquire an additional skill set”.   Denyer has therefore plumped for a new definition; “Unified Communications describes multimodal communications across networks and user interfaces that are universally interoperable”.  It’s a bit wordy, but we at Plasmanet agree with the sentiment.  At Plasmanet we strive to find the best solution for the customer given their skill base and their current technology.  Our core product is browser based and can harness industry standard products such as Powerpoint, Excel, and the major call switches so that the need for training is minimised. 

Over the years, responding to the needs of our customers has meant that our business has evolved from delivering pure digital signage, to the extent that we are now experts in data connectivity.  We pull data from call centre switches, websites, newsfeeds, etc and repackage it in a more unified way for the customer.  The ultimate goal is unified communications, but first we must help our customers evolve what they currently have into something that is both powerful and completely accessible to the people that have to use it.  

Sue Finch
Director

Published: 2008-06-30