Effective communications, many would argue, is the key to business. But finding the appropriate technologies to support effective communications can be challenging for IT professionals. Unified communications is a concept that encompasses a variety of technologies, all capable of working together, and, yes, while communication is a human process, technology can enhance and improve it.

Cisco's Umi consumer TelePresence product really is dead - a fact the company had to reiterate to a disbelieving public this week even though it had telegraphed the move back in April. 

Your office is now optional. A recent study from Infonetics Research projects that enterprises will spend $5 billion on videoconferencing and telepresence by 2015. To accommodate the need for instant connectivity and information sharing at the office, CIOs need to coordinate IT investments with physical space. Vendors like Polycom and Steelcase are teaming up to integrate audio, video and file sharing using multiple ports and display screens at office meeting tables.

Telepresence technology will allow students from across Australia to participate in a simulated mission to Mars, with the Pathways to Space program being launched today in Sydney.

Cisco is making a concerted effort to improve the compatibility of its telepresence gear, something that industry observers say has been lagging, but that is sorely needed if it and other vendors are to succeed.

It could be any meeting room, anywhere, with one major difference: The room, within Sheraton on the Park hotel in Sydney, is a gateway to the world. At the push of a button, we are chatting to colleagues in Toronto, Canada, speaking to each other as if we were seated across the table. We see the nuances of facial expressions, hand gestures and presentations, full-size, clear and uninterrupted.

What it is: Telepresence is a high-definition room-to-room video conferencing system marketed by vendors such as Cisco, Polycom and Hewlett-Packard.