One major eye opener for me during my recent trip to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok was the wealth of opportunities available for communications enabled business processes and even simple improvements in personal productivity using unified communications tools. People are hungrier than ever for information on the business impacts of these solutions. It seems that much of the technological adversity is melting away – use of IM, web conferencing, chat and even email responses to customers is being discussed much more than it was in the past.

Is this Western influence? Gen X and Y demand? I’m not sure, but it appears that what was once irrelevant is now top of mind. When I met with a customer, I didn’t just talk about the latest and greatest products – I had a real business discussion about how our solutions could help solve their business problems. Even the simplest things were making eyes light up.

One very simple application was the fact that airline attendants needed to report any challenges or complaints they had experienced on a flight. This often took weeks for HQ to receive since it was a handwritten note. We suggested the use of speech (using any phone device, mobile or otherwise) to record the information. That way, the customer service center could either access it or convert the note into text. The solution saved attendants time and enabled the customer service center to respond to issues more rapidly.

I know this may sound trivial to some, but when it comes to communications enabled business processes, I still believe we don't know what we don't know. Simply translated, we have become complacent with human latency in our processes. It's the norm. But as we all seek to become more efficient in our operations and even more responsive to customers, even the smallest things can make a difference.