Unified Communications is a somewhat abstract term that is used in the IT world to describe the linking of several different types of communications together such as your phone, email, instant message, faxing, video conferencing, mobility and most important of all presence (the ability to see the “status” of another person such as “away,” “in a meeting,” “on the phone,” “available,” etc.)

How do you decide if implementing a Unified Communications (UC) solution will build on your organization’s core strategy or not? Drilling down even further, how do you determine what kind of system is the best strategic fit for the culture and strengths of your organization? Beyond that, how do you convince the CEO/CFO/Board that an investment in Unified Communications is a judicious way to build competitive differentiation?

Workshifting is a term coined by Citrix Online to define the growing trend of working from anywhere other than a traditional office. To me it’s a more descriptive term than telecommuting, virtual workers, home office or any of the other terms that are regularly used to describe working from somewhere other than “the office.”