Unified Communications - If the PCs on our desks do much more than they did 10 years ago, why don't our phones ?

On a Mobile phone calls are dialled from your phone book - UC allows your PC contacts to be used to place calls rather than re-keying the number into a desk, and identifies your contacts by name when they call you and routes your calls to the best phone. Unified communications is bringing together Voice, Fax, Video, Email and Instant messaging, into one system. So Voice mail which arrives in your mailbox And e-mail which can be read to you over the phone. With UC you can see if someone is around to take a call or answer a message before you contact them - and choose the best medium. And a conversation can move seamlessly from e-mail, to instant message , to data sharing and video conference. Harnessing UC can mean less travel , less frustration and greater productivity.

Eileen Brown is the IT Professional Evangelist at Microsft UK. "I decided that moving into IT was a fairly cool way to combine my hobby with a career after spending 10 years as a navigating officer in the Merchant Navy on Supertankers. I came ashore and had a fantastic time teaching NT 3.51, NT4 and Back Office products to delegates as an IT Trainer and consultant. I joined Microsoft in 2001 and worked as a Systems Engineer in the Enterprise and Partner group, initially focusing on Mission Critical Windows and scale up systems, then moving to the Exchange team. I now manage the team of IT Professional Evangelists and I am also technically responsible for Messaging, Collaboration and Productivity technologies.

However, my life isn't spent entirely at my laptop. Away from work, to pass the time, I make jam and chutney in awesome quantities, tend my flock of chickens, and race around the countryside in my home built 6.6 litre engined cobra replica. Whenever I encounter warmer waters, I scuba dive as much as possible to get away from the phone."

http://blogs.msdn.com/eileen_brown