<p>The need to replace aging phone systems at the University of Houston is turning into an opportunity to increase access to unified communications-enabled devices.</p><p>"When you start moving those dedicated wires, all that copper, it just doesn't make sense," says David W. Johnson, Houston's executive director of technology services and support. "It was time to make the commitment to go to some other platform."</p><p>Increasingly, that "other platform" of unified communications (UC) a system that integrates text messaging, voice, video, email and presence information across multiple devices is running on smartphones and tablets right along with computers. Both Cisco Jabber and Microsoft Lync offer the ability to tie mobile devices into a university's UC system, allowing users to connect with colleagues while on the go.</p><p>"With my techs, I call their office phone, and they may pick up while out and about on their cell phone," says Dan Thames, a telecommunications team lead at Illinois State University. "If they're in the basement, their cell phone isn't going to get good coverage, but they can take the call on their tablet. It's nice."</p><p><a href="http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2013/04/mobile-devices-are-driving-move-unified-communications-college-campuses">Keep reading...</a></p>