IBM and Cisco: Attempt to Unite the Communication Software Developers
IBM and Cisco announced their common effort in creating a unified platform for communications and collaboration.
The idea of this project is to provide the developers of different communication services with one single platform, rather then a series of them and from different vendors. The current platform will be based on Eclipse and OSGi (Open Services Gateway initiative), as stated by the representatives of IBM and Cisco. The new offspring of the two companies will be called UC2, which stands for Unified Communication and Collaboration.
Additionally there were made other announcements on collaborative work. IBM and Cisco are planning to develop a series of application programming interfaces based on the communication APIs from Cisco and on collaboration application from Lotus - SameTime.
The modification for the SameTime planned for this year are integration of such functions as click-to-call and voice mailing. These features will enable instant messaging to and from Cisco Unified IP phones. In addition to this service the companies will offer information on federated presence, a log with calls history and video telephony.
Adam Gartenberg, the offering manager for this software at the IBM Lotus Software Group, said that the UC2 platform will attract many application developers to create various plug-ins for a remote access.
It should be mentioned that Coca-Cola turned out to be among the interested companies and who are willing to implement new software based on this platform into their communication system.
A further step in promoting the software should be a program of certification. The purpose of such program is to certify the UC2 based software, so that it meets the entire range of IBM and Cisco requirements.
A separate announcement from Cisco was that the new UC2 platform will boost up the development of further versions of Cisco's Unified Personal Communicator.
The competitor of IBM and Cisco in the area, and an ally of Microsoft, Nortel Networks, didn't have much success in this field and could not enjoy a great, or any advantage over the ideas suggested by IBM and Cisco.
Tired of the same communication software? How are your business checks? If you want web design, we have a great selection for you to choose from. Even our self inking stamps will have your business up and running in no time!
