Unified Messaging

Unified Messaging (or UM) is the integration of different streams of messages (email, Fax, voice, video, etc.) into a single in-box, accessible from a variety of different devices. It differs from simple multimedia email in that UM systems typically try to integrate telephone-based voicemail as well, and to make the UM mailbox accessible from a conventional or cellular phone.

Unified Messaging was expected by many in the telecommunications industry to be a popular product, first augmenting and eventually replacing voicemail. UM systems were expected to take advantage of the ubiquity of personal computers, and eventually of smartphones and 3G networks. However, UM was slow to gain consumer acceptance, and UM vendors such as Lucent and Comverse were badly hit when the slowdown in the telecommunications industry in 2001 made carriers wary of spending large amounts of money on technology with little proven consumer demand.