Q&A: Vodafone CTO Jeni Mundy on the rise of unified communications

We can't rewind history to see what would have happened without the recession, unfortunately.

The great thing about things like recessions is that it puts on the table things that otherwise it would have been difficult to get there, and it drives a lot more innovation, it drives a much more courageous approach to the sort of solutions people will look at.

Now I don't think you need to be courageous to look at UC at all. I think the time is right for that technology, the technology is mature, it's there, it works.

We're now really starting to see an increased take-up in it.

What additional functionality would you like to see in UC, if anything at all?

We will see an ongoing roadmap of capability. I think the functionality that matters most to customers is there today. The things that will make the most difference to your business are there today.

That's why we're already making such a big difference to so many of our customers who have already decided to take it.

If the key capabilities are there, how long until the UC market becomes a mature one?

I don't have the stats in front of me around penetration etc, but I think there is a long way to go.

I'm not going to put a timeframe on it, but I think there is an appetite for it, an appetite driven by very real business drivers and we've got solutions for it and I think we can make a lot of very positive difference to a lot of businesses.