Unified communications platforms typically support some combination of voice, video, instant messaging, file sharing, email, and social media support. Of that grouping, instant messaging is becoming a frontrunner for productive organization that need to share ideas quickly and efficiently, and CounterPath (News - Alert) is trying to lead the field.

CounterPath, a provider of over-the-top communications applications, recently announced the launch of its Bria 4.2 for Windows/Mac and Bria 3.4 for iOS/Android (News - Alert) applications—softphone clients that support VoIP, video calling, and of course, instant messaging. In addition to the release of Stretto 1.7 gateway, they can support instant message history access on any device in addition to more audio and video capabilities CounterPath has added in this set of updates.

Todd Carothers, the executive vice president of marketing and products at CounterPath, commented in his company's announcement that consumer apps have driven concepts that are prominent in this release.

“SMBs and enterprises are constantly under pressure from end users to bring the functionality they use in their consumer applications to the business environment,” Carothers said. “With this latest product launch, we have added key functionality the market demands, including Stretto Sync technology that leverages our messaging platform.”

He further mentioned the key role that Stretto Sync will play in the company's future. The Sync tool gathers a user's history of instant messages and makes it available on any device in real time. This functionality will become important in the months and years to come because CounterPath can use it to manage calling logs and other similar types of information users may need at a moment's notice.

The company cites research from Juniper Research (News - Alert) that says consumers will send 100 trillion instant messages in 2019; that number is expected to grow from the 2014 figure of 31 trillion. If businesses follow the consumer example, then instant messaging is poised to see a lot of growth in the rank and file of offices everywhere. This means that applications such as Bria and Stretto will become extremely important because, first of all, they will provide support for instant communication. Beyond that, they will also push the boundary of what instant communication can be.

Such messages between employees are not meant to lose their place in daily interaction. They will become a primary method of connection, and in case anyone needs to reach into history, they will be there to reveal that information as well.