communify vs Microsoft Lync vs Cisco UCM unified communications
The unified communications service and technology markets are expected to grow quickly for the next five years peaking in 2018. Microsoft and Cisco are well known as the two major vendors of unified communications technology (Gartner magic quadrant 2012) both with globally established, big price ticket products. There is a low-priced alternative which may have slipped under your radar however which delivers what the big two currently cannot………..low cost, hosted unified communications without compromises.
communify is a hosted unified communications service that integrates all communications 'channels' into a single active web 2.0 interface. It gives you email, HD voice, IM, conferencing, video, file sharing, collaboration, social media integration, groupware, contact centre features, call recording and data sharing. The underlying technology that communify is built on is used by the following orgnisations; British Airways, Ebay, Mecedes-Benz, 20th Century Fox, Acado and Bertelsmann.
Microsoft Lync is a well-established product and with the release of Lync 2013 is the major contender in the unified communications market however it does have several weaknesses relating to telephony, contact centre functionality and endpoint choice.
Cisco Unified Communications products are strong in respect to telephony, video and endpoints but relatively weak on the desktop with no in-house products for email and no central web interface.
Below is a comparison matrix which indicates support of the main components of the respective hosted unified communications offerings:
|
|
Cisco UC |
Microsoft Lync 2013 online |
communify hosted UC |
|
Instant messaging |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Group Chat |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Video |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Outlook support |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Presence with roster |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Ad-hoc conferencing |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Multi-party conferencing |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Encrypted voip |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Phone line status |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
XMPP for 3rd party IM & presence integration |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Single ID for all comms (john.smith@domain) |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Available as hosted web service |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Single web interface |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Email server |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
SIP voip trunks |
Yes |
No uses TCP which is largely unsupported by service providers and considered to give lesser call quality. |
Yes |
|
Call centre features (queuing, ACD, IVR etc) |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Call recording |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Integration with 3rd party SIP applications |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
HD Voice |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Exchange integration |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
SIP endpoints (phones) |
No |
No Proprietary coded SIP handsets |
Yes |
|
Multi-domain |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Multi-tenant |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Customisable interface and white labelling |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Smartphone one click dialling |
No 2 stage calling, client has to dial server then re-dial target number |
No 2 stage calling, server makes a call to the iPhone which has to be answered before an outbound call is made |
Yes |
|
SIP soft phone registration * Eg Xlite, Zoiper, 3CX |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
API control (SOAP, XML) |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
User can self-provision their account to reduce set up admin |
No |
No |
Yes |
*Full support including line status
