That eliminates the need for a VOIP phone at the user’s desk or location. The system also supports auto-forwarding incoming calls to external phones (cell phones, VOIP phones and POTS lines) if needed and can control incoming call handling, transferring calls automatically to voice mail or other extensions.
Of course, all activity is logged, making it easy to track what is going on in the system and how efficiently the system is being used.

Instant messaging is handled by Unison’s proprietary IM client, which is integrated into the desktop. The nice thing about the IM application is that it is intelligent about the users. In other words, the IM client knows whether internal users are busy or are available. For those looking to extend IM beyond the local users, Unison offers an “Intelligent Presence” feature, which supports communication with ICQ, Google Talk, MSN and Jabber.

Perhaps the only thing that could make the Unison Desktop better would be to switch it over to a bunch of plug-ins for Microsoft Outlook. That would allow users to further integrate other services into the environment, ranging from auto-linking to SharePoint to synchronizing content with popular social networking sites, such as LinkedIn or Facebook. What’s more, some CRM applications look for Outlook integration to be effective.

While the Unison Desktop is an excellent application, the lack of integration with third-party offerings may be its undoing. On the other hand, the lack of support for third-party applications does tend to improve security, which is a very good thing, considering that Unison integrates anti-virus and anti-spam technology in its offering.

In brief, Unison does offer what many will consider a better path to unified communications. Although the product does not offer everything to everyone, very few products do. Unison’s Client Server offering has several advantages over other players in the field, including a single server architecture–which is easier to manage, deploy and back up to a unified client that leaves little to be desired.

What’s more, the basic affordability of the product and flexible deployments should help many solution providers convert customers over to Unison’s products. Simply put, Unison does what needs to be done with little fuss and muss, and can only get better over time.