Using Unified Messaging to Stay Connected: Smarter than Captain Kirk’s Messaging System

"Not too long ago, in futuristic science fiction movies and books, there was a concept of a singular communications hub, where people could access every form of messaging. Phone calls, voicemails and faxes were all sent to one line and the recipients retrieved them all at their own leisure.

This idea was prominently featured in the futuristic film Back to the Future II: the future Marty McFly gets a phone call, turns on what appears to be a television and is face to face with his boss, who is making the call. Some heated words are exchanged and the boss sends a fax that simply reads, "You're fired!" which McFly receives from the same device.

This is an example of what is now referred to as unified messaging—a practice that is no longer an abstract idea in the world of science fiction, but a reality that is employed by remarkably diverse people; everyone from businessmen and women to pastors, from teachers, even to everyday high school students are using unified messaging systems to stay connected with their partners, their peers and, possibly, the entire world.

Now, however, the concept of unified messaging is even more extraordinary than all of the science fiction writers of the past could possibly fathom. While traditional communications systems delivered all messaging into several different devices like fax machines, email in-boxes and voicemail services, unified messaging makes every form of telecommunication and electronic messaging media (i.e., email, SMS, fax, voicemail, text, video and picture messaging, etc.) available in a single interface that is accessible from a variety of different devices.

For example, voicemail messages can now be delivered directly into a recipient's email in-box. When people open their email accounts, all of their voicemail messages will be displayed right alongside their emails. This feature allows for new ways to communicate with a variety of parties in a very short amount of time. With voicemail messages, faxes or whatever else one receives readily available in the in-box, one can forward just about anything to any number of people. Friends, family and business partners all over the globe can participate in one line of communication at the same time.

This is the new level of connection that unified messaging offers.
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Joel Black is the General Manager of Diamond Voice, a provider of voicemail, virtual office pbx, third party verification and virtual phone booth services. For more information regarding caller identification override and virtual phonebooth, visit their website at www.diamondvoice.com