Standalone fax machines were also bought for a group of people to share on a location-dependent basis. Email systems, while originally implemented for LAN-based departmental group use, was personalized for the individual at the mailbox level, and with the rise of the public Internet access, untethered the users from location. Similarly, the telephone, especially in the residential market, is a shared group device tied to a location. But then, along came the mobile, wireless phones. These are now becoming individualized, multimedia devices that are not shared or tied to a fixed location, and can handle both real-time voice interactions, as well as message exchanges.
Unified communications is just that.
It is a communication management service, deployed for groups, but targeting individual users who define their own, personalized solutions. Frankly, we are on that path. And it is a correct statement that UC covers all forms of communication functionality, no one technology developer has a complete UC solution. Maybe it will be the approaching end of shared communications access numbers and devices, as we know them. The tapestry is not complete.