The number of unified communications (UC) trials at firms has jumped more than 20% in the past year — although, there has not been much conversion into actual deployments. Firms report that they understand what UC consists of but show schizophrenic attitudes toward understanding the business case. Don't expect this heavy trial activity to translate into full deployments in the next year because of still-evolving industry standards, unclear vendor road maps, and confusion over the best deployment options. To grab early sales, vendors must link UC to IT buyers' top priority — collaboration — and also prove to business unit buyers that UC improves business processes in their specific industry.