Oracle Communications
Unified Communications Suite

by Faulkner Staff

Docid: 00011517

Publication Date: 2205

Report Type: PRODUCT

Preview

Oracle Communications’ Unified Communications (UC) Suite is a
standards-based, scalable, and secure messaging platform to provide enterprise
employees with access to real-time and near real-time capabilities including
voice, video, screen sharing, calendars, and instant messaging on desktop, Web,
and mobile devices. This
report looks at Oracle’s UC Suite in greater detail.

Description

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The Oracle Communications Unified Communications (UC) Suite is a
standards-based, scalable, secure and reliable platform that provides access to
real-time and near real-time capabilities including voice, video, screen
sharing, messaging, calendaring, instant messaging, and presence on desktop,
Web, and mobile devices.

Oracle’s UC Suite is designed to strike a balance between the need for
sharing information/communications and mitigating the risks associated
with electronic correspondence. It offers integrated software for service
providers to better extend the user experience, with features for
multi-tenancy and delegated administration. It also offers published
interfaces and support for open standards.

UC features Facebook integration, WebRTC support, integration with Oracle
WebRTC Session Controller Signaling Engine (WSC), voice and video calls,
multi-party calls, upgrade functionality from chat to voice to video,
screen sharing, and authentication. It also offers indexing and search
service capabilities, including configuration parameter changes,
globalization and logging, a configuration parameter, and support for
Secure Sockets Layer between Convergence and isshttd Proxy.

Vendor

Name: Oracle
Headquarters
500 Oracle Parkway
Redwood Shores CA 94065
(650) 506-7000
(800) 672-2531
Web: http://www.oracle.com/
Type of Vendor: Application, development, and
database software provider
Founded: 1977
Service Areas: Global
Stock Symbol: ORCL (NASDAQ)

Other benefits include:

Real-Time Indexing and Content Searching – Performs
deep searches with standards-based clients.
Extended Device Support – 24×7, for desktop, Web,
and mobile devices.
Multi-Tenancy – Hosts messaging and collaboration
services for several companies on one server.
Standards Support – Includes Open Internet standard
and modular architecture support.

Figure 1 illustrates Oracle’s UC Suite.

Figure 1. Oracle UC

Source: Oracle

The core products in Oracle Communications’ UC Suite include Messaging
Server, Calendar Server, and Instant Messaging (IM) Server. These and
other Oracle UC products are described in Table 1.

Table 1. UC Suite Overview
UC Suite Product	Features
Messaging Server Secure messaging platform for communities of employees, partners, and customers.	Shared Folder Support – Includes personal, public, and distributed shared folders. Extended Client-Side Security – Includes digitally signing and encrypting messages. Support – Includes IMAP4, POP3, SMTP, SNMP, LMPT, bi-directional SMS, LDAP, LEMONADE, and others. Virtual Domain Hosting – Allows service providers to host messaging for several companies on one server, or corporate IT to host multiple departments within the enterprise. Multiple Client Support – Includes Ajax Web client and support for multiple rich clients, including Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Evolution. Wireless “Push” E-mail – Instant notification of new e-mail on mobile devices. Real-Time Indexing and Searching – Indexes messaging content and performs a search on the message body, including attachments.
Calendar Server Software for managing and coordinating appointments, events, and tasks on a CalDAV-compliant client.	Client Support – For multiple, standards-based clients, including Apple iCal, Apple iPhone, and Thunderbird/Lightning. Recurring, Task, and Group Events – Provides event and task reminders; able to be edited by more than one user. Open, Modular, Standards-Based Architecture – Hosts calendaring for several companies on one server, or corporate IT to host multiple departments within the enterprise. Choice of Data Store – Uses Oracle Database 11g or MySQL 5.5 to deploy large, scalable calendaring. Microsoft Outlook Connectivity – As the desktop client. Alarms and Notifications – For e-mail, SMS, and audio alarms. Plus server-generated notifications for invitations and updates. Lists – Calendar subscriptions and access control lists.
Instant Messaging Server Client and server for secure, real-time communications and presence management.	Java-based with XMPP Support – Supports third-party and open-source clients, components, and other applications. External Network Access – Shares presence and IM with partners, suppliers, and vendors. SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Encryption – Secures access via a browser, whether inside or outside the corporate firewall. Multi-Tenancy Support – Hosts multiple departments within the enterprise on a single server. Voice and Mobile Support – Extends IM capabilities to a mobile phone, and offers the option of turning a chat session into a live voice call over the Internet.
Other Products	Convergence – Ajax client for e-mail, calendaring, address book, IM, and other Web services. Outlook Connector – Uses Microsoft Outlook as a client on the Windows platform with a Messaging Server or Calendar Server. It includes a desktop deployment and configuration program and Outlook plug-in. Indexing and Search Service – Server-side indexing and searches for communicated content, including e-mail attachments. Deployed as a separate service. Contacts Server – A Network Address Book that provides central storage and access for contacts. Mobile Synchronization – Allows users to communicate via mobile devices. It uses Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol supporting real-time push synchronization. Users can access email, contacts, and calendar when offline.

Applications

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Oracle Communications’ UC Suite was developed for the small-to-medium
size business requiring a low cost of ownership; it saves costs by
eliminating many of the fees often associated with a collaborative system
such as software licenses and related hardware, maintenance support,
administrative costs related to consulting, migration, and upgrades, and
product training. The family is useful in service provider, server, and
corporate IT environments, in particular in the aerospace, automotive,
communications, education and research, financial services, healthcare,
life sciences, media and entertainment, professional services, public,
retail, travel and transportation, and wholesale distribution sectors.

Environment

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The UC Suite’s operating system platform and browser support includes:

OS Platforms – Oracle Solaris 64-bit SPARC and x64
10, 11. Oracle Linux 6 and 7, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and 7.
Browsers – Chrome, Internet Explorer,
Firefox, and Safari.
Databases – Oracle Database Release 11g Release 2 and 12c, and MySQL
5.6.

Additionally, its minimum system requirements are listed below in Table
2.

Table 2. UC Suite Minimum Requirements
	Messaging Server	Calendar Server	IM Server
Memory (MB)	1,000 (1GB)	1,000 (1GB)	256
Disk Space (MB)	1,000 (1GB)	500	300
Additional Considerations	Adequate file space for user mailboxes, databases, log files, and message queue directory.

Support

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Support options include Oracle training, consulting, and outsourced
services. Its online support services include a FAQ section, tutorials,
documentation, e-mail support, and a telephone directory. Further support
resources include:

My Oracle Support
Critical Patch Updates and Security Alerts
Technical Support Policies
Support Services Internet Seminars (Advisor Webcasts)
Oracle Product Documentation
Technical Articles

Pricing

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Oracle Communications’ UC Suite is downloadable from Oracle’s Software
Delivery Cloud, at http://edelivery.oracle.com/.
Users can freely download some or all of the components, with the
exception of the Mobile Synchronization Server. Oracle asks that
interested, potential customers contact its sales staff to review
additional pricing considerations by calling (800) ORACLE1.

Competitors

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Oracle Communications’ UC Suite competes directly with Microsoft Exchange
Server, HCL Notes and HCL Domino (both formerly IBM), Cisco’s WebEx and UC
products, HP UC, and Micro Focus’ GroupWise. Other
less-direct competitors include Avaya, Unify (formerly Siemens
Enterprise Communications), Callware, and Polycom.

Web Links

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