Cisco Adds Mobility To Unified CommunicationsCisco Adds Mobility To Unified Communications

Cisco Systems said yesterday that the latest upgrade to its Unified Communications software will allow users to access features via cell phones. It's about time Cisco added mobility to its IP telephony offerings.Until now Cisco's Unified Communications system wasn't available on mobile devices. With the new upgrade, called Unified Communications system 6.0, users will be able to access most of the features the system has to offer, including company directories and presence. The upgrade also automatically dials mobile phones into scheduled conference calls.

The first release of the new platform will be available this spring for smartphones running on Windows Mobile, Symbian, and the BlackBerry OS. Cisco said it plans to extend access to so-called "feature" phones (i.e. handsets with some Web capabilities), that run on platforms like Qualcomm's Brew in the fall.