I'm not sure who is selling unified messaging systems, but they seem to
be gathering traction. I've heard a few rumbles around our firm, and
there are some folks looking for this, but the folks in IS who manage
storage are horrified. We've had decent success keeping email volumes
down, but adding in voicemail recordings and faxes (over and above what
we already deliver to some desktops) scares them. HR and General
Counsel have concerns about increased volumes of retained messages.

I'm not particularly opposed to unified messaging systems if someone
also implements a responsible records management component at the same
time. That means that record-worthy messages are retained in an EDMS or
some sort of centrally managed records management system. Frankly, that
ensures that some significant gaps in many programs (faxes and
voicemail) are closed.

However, I think some technologists get so enamoured with the
technology (and hear demands from end-users to implement the
technology) that they forget about the storage nightmare they are
creating (not to pick on Outlook, but I think most Outlook users never
delete anything -- they just create unlimited PST files). And that is
where you'll find most attorneys lying awake at night.

So the issue is not necessarily the technology. Properly tied to a good
recordkeeping system, with *enforced* policies, unified messaging may
well be a benefit to the organization from a records management
standpoint. But if it is just being tossed out there with no policies
or systems to properly retain the records, it is a train wreck waiting
to happen.

Patrick Cunningham, CRM

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