Unify, formerly Siemens Enterprise Communications, has today announced details of Project Ansible, a secure and engaging communications and collaboration platform first officially debuted to wide acclaim from customers and analysts in June 2013.
Based on strong interest from customers, partners and carriers, Unify announced an acceleration of the timeline for Project Ansible, including initial customer trials in January and expected general availability scheduled for July, 2014.
As part of today’s news, Unify announced that the platform’s first version will support four communication channels simultaneously – voice, video, text and remote screen sharing. The platform’s first version will also enable users to move multichannel conversations intact from device to device using a simple gesture or ‘call swipe’.
Also, Unify confirmed that the first version of Project Ansible would be delivered as a cloud-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering. Furthermore, Project Ansible will be designed to complement a broad array of existing solutions, including Unify’s own award-winning OpenScape portfolio as well as corporate telephony solutions from other vendors like Cisco and Avaya.
Unify made this announcement in conjunction with the launch of its new brand and updated business vision focused on the future of work. The launch took place in a global web cast and at events in New York and Munich.
Hamid Akhavan, CEO of Unify, said: "We are challenging the status quo of what businesses should expect of enterprise communications technology so that we can answer the call of the new way to work, and help enhance our customers’ business performance.
"The expectations of the next generation of enterprise workers go beyond today’s systems. Customers, partners and carriers are excited about the possibilities they see in Project Ansible and we are moving rapidly ahead. With Project Ansible, we can help existing customers enhance their return on technology investments through an evolutionary approach. We will significantly expand our market opportunity in a move likely disruptive to our competitors by offering the benefits of Project Ansible to their customers."
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Developed with frog after extensive industry and customer research, Project Ansible will reshape the way businesses and their employees interact, communicate and collaborate. The platform pulls together and manages the daily flow of communications into rich and meaningful conversations by aggregating communications across virtually any channel into a single view. Project Ansible features a unique, consumer technology-like user experience that encourages adoption and brings joy of work to users. The new platform also seamlessly integrates into enterprise business processes, providing opportunity for enhanced business operations.
Project Ansible leverages an agile development methodology, where constant customer validation and feedback are critical. To this end, the company announced the establishment of the Project Ansible Customer Advisory Council. The company also said that registration for Unify’s initial beta testing of Project Ansible is already oversubscribed, a further indication of customer, partner and carrier interest in the offering.
Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst at ZK Research, said: "Interestingly, we are seeing an entirely new company – redesigned and ready to go head to head with the industry’s biggest competitors.
"Unify is putting forth the vision, brand and – with Project Ansible – the right platform, to make it happen. The Project Ansible user experience is a great example of how enterprise communication should work and how we as users want to work. It will redefine how we all interact, communicate and collaborate as part of daily work."
