ShoreTel, Vidyo and Radvision are making available their UC and video collaboration solutions as apps for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets.
Unified communications and video
collaboration technology vendors are bringing their products to smartphones and
tablets as enterprises increase their demand for high-end communications
capabilities while dealing with employees looking to bring their mobile device
into the corporate environment.
ShoreTel on Oct. 10 is expanding the
reach of its ShoreTel Mobility solution-which enables the integration of mobile
devices with IP PBX systems-to smartphones and tablets running Google's Android
operating systems and Research In Motions BlackBerry OS 6 platform. ShoreTel
will continue its ongoing support for devices running Apple's iOS operating
system, including iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches.
ShoreTel made its announcement less
than a week after video collaboration software vendors Vidyo and Radvision
separately unveiled plans to bring apps for their technologies to the iOS and
Android platforms. At the same time, as part of a
larger WAN optimization announcement, Cisco
Systems officials said that later this month they are making their Show and
Share solution for searching, watching, recording and uploading videos
available to iPad and iPhone users through a free app in the Apple App Store.
The moves come amid the dual trends of
greater enterprise demand for communications tools-including for remote
workers-to improve employee productivity and reduce corporate costs and address
the
bring-your-own-device (BYOD) push, with workers
looking to access corporate data and applications through their personal mobile
products.
ShoreTel's mobile technology comes from
its
acquisition of Agito Networks last year. Agito's
RoamAnywhere Mobility Router enables users to use their mobile devices as they
would their PBX phones. Pejman Roshan was an executive with Agito when it was
bought by ShoreTel. Now ShoreTel's vice president of mobility, Roshan said in
an interview with
eWEEK that until a
couple of years ago, Agito sold its technology primarily for RIM's BlackBerry
devices, which were the mobile phones that businesses typically issued their
customers.
That changed when Apple introduced its
iPhone smartphone, he said.
"When the iPhone came out, there
was a surge of customers who wanted to migrate to that smartphone, and then
later [customers started migrating] to Android," Roshan said.
Radvision officials noted a recent
study by Nemertes Research that said 86 percent of enterprises are seeing an
increase in the number of employees who are telecommuting, and that 43 percent
say their mobility budgets are growing by double digits.
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