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Unified interoperability is the property of a system that allows for the integration of real-time and non-real time communications, activities, data, and information services (i.e., unified) and the display and coordination of those services across systems and devices (i.e.,
interoperability Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader def ...
). Unified interoperability provides the capability to communicate and exchange processing across different applications, data, and infrastructure.


Unified communications

Unified communications has been led by the business world, which has a need for efficiency, simplicity, and speed. Rather than a single tool or product, unified communications is a set of products that deliver a nearly identically user experience across multiple devices or media types.
Unified Communications Unified communications (UC) is a business and marketing concept describing the integration of enterprise communication services such as instant messaging (chat), presence information, voice (including IP telephony), mobility features (including ex ...
The system begins with “
presence information In computer and telecommunications networks, presence information is a status indicator that conveys ability and willingness of a potential communication partner—for example a user—to communicate. A user's client provides presence information (p ...
” - a feature of
telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...
technology that “senses” where a user is in relation to the technology. This change has been dominated by telecommunications providers integrating
video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
,
instant messaging Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and trigge ...
, voice, and collaboration.


Unified Communications Interoperability Forum

In May 2010, a number of communications technology vendors founded a
nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
for the advancement of interoperability. Unified Communications Interoperability Forum The goal of the Unified Communications Interoperability Forum is to enable complete interoperability of hardware and
software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...
across huge networks of systems. Th
UCIF
relies on existing standards rather than the authoring of new ones. Members of the UCIF include (*founding member): * HP* *
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
* * Polycom* *
Logitech Logitech International S.A. ( ; often shortened to Logi) is a Swiss multinational manufacturer of computer peripherals and software, with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Newark, California. The company has offices throughout Europe ...
* *
Juniper Networks Juniper Networks, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. The company develops and markets networking products, including routers, switches, network management software, network security products, ...
* * Acme Packet *
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smart ...
* Aspect Software * AudioCodes *
Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data center, networking, software, broadband, wirel ...
* BroadSoft *
Brocade Communications Systems Brocade is an American technology company specializing in storage networking products, now a subsidiary of Broadcom Inc. The company is known for its Fibre Channel storage networking products and technology. Prior to the acquisition, the comp ...
* ClearOne * Jabra * Plantronics * Siemens Enterprise Communications * Teliris


Interoperability

In the broadest sense, interoperability is the ability of multiple systems (usually
computer systems A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These program ...
) to work together seamlessly.
Interoperability Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader def ...
In the
Information Age The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, Silicon Age, or New Media Age) is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during ...
, interoperability is a highly desirable trait for most business systems. Likewise, as homes become more infused with networked technologies ( desktop PCs,
tablet computers A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...
,
smartphones A smartphone is a Mobile device, portable computer device that combines Mobile phone, mobile telephone and Mobile computing, computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities ...
, Internet-ready television), interoperability becomes an issue even for the average consumer. Computer
operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...
s are a prime example of interoperability, wherein several programs from different vendors are able to co-exist and, in many cases, exchange data in a meaningful way. An operating system is also “unified” in the sense that it presents the user with a common, easy to understand computer
interface Interface or interfacing may refer to: Academic journals * ''Interface'' (journal), by the Electrochemical Society * '' Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics'', now merged with ''ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics'' * '' Int ...
for executing numerous tasks. The unified interoperability of computers means that users need not have specialized knowledge about how computers function. A system with the property of interoperability will retain that property well into the future. The system will be adaptable to the rapid changes in technology with only minor adjustments.


Syntactic interoperability

The most fundamental level of interoperability is
syntactic In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituenc ...
interoperability. At this level, systems can exchange data without loss or corruption. Certain data formats are especially suited to the exchange of data between diverse systems.
XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. ...
(extensible markup language), for instance, allows data to be transmitted in a comprehensible format for people and machines. SQL (structured query language), on the other hand, is an industry-standard, nearly universal format for compiling information in a
database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases spa ...
. SQL databases are essential for a business such as Amazon.com, with its vast catalog of products, attributes, and consumer reviews.


Semantic interoperability

Semantic interoperability Semantic interoperability is the ability of computer systems to exchange data with unambiguous, shared meaning. Semantic interoperability is a requirement to enable machine computable logic, inferencing, knowledge discovery, and data federation be ...
goes a step further than syntactic interoperability. Systems with semantic interoperability can not only exchange data effortlessly, but also interpret and communicate that data to human users in a meaningful, actionable way.


Distributed functions and processing interoperability

Distributed functions and processing interoperability focus on the ability to create new products, applications and
operating model An operating model is both an abstract and visual representation (model) of how an organization delivers value to its customers or beneficiaries as well as how an organization actually runs itself. Definition There are different ways of defining t ...
s without traditional intermediaries like
data model A data model is an abstract model that organizes elements of data and standardizes how they relate to one another and to the properties of real-world entities. For instance, a data model may specify that the data element representing a car be c ...
s, databases or large system integrations through establishing a Unified Interoperability framework between normally, diverse and distributed sources, data, technology and other assets. It enables business problems to be solved by connecting interoperable components of any characteristic into single, uniform, global “instruction chain” of functionality. Components use existing IP or applications and so integrate disparate technology to a uniform platform. Configuration models combine runtime processing infrastructure for common and predictable
performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...
, security, resiliency, and availability with the whole process, enabling the uniform exchange of data and consistent processing across components, irrespective of technology, format or location.


Benefits

Unified interoperability offers benefits for every
stakeholder Stakeholder may refer to: *Stakeholder (corporate), a group, corporate, organization, member, or system that affects or can be affected by an organization's actions *Project stakeholder, a person, group, or organization with an interest in a proje ...
in a system. For customers and
end-users In product development, an end user (sometimes end-user) is a person who ultimately uses or is intended to ultimately use a product. The end user stands in contrast to users who support or maintain the product, such as sysops, system administrato ...
of a system, unified interoperability offers a more convenient, satisfying experience. In business, interoperability helps lower costs and improves overall efficiency. As businesses strive to maximize the efficiency of their integrated systems, they encourage
innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a ...
and
problem solving Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...
.


References

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External links


UCIF Official Website
Strategic management Interoperability