In the past decade, a sea change has taken place in how voice and data communications are structured, delivered and used by businesses. Here are the top 10 areas Avaya Inc. executives expect to see action in 2010:

1. Regulatory mandated proactive communications. In an era of increasing regulation, proactive communications applications will automatically initiate contact with customers and guide interactions, in compliance with regulatory requirements. Under the Homeowner Modification Program in 2009, for example, Congress mandates that mortgage companies increase their proactive communications with borrowers.

2. Communications monitoring of employees across devices. Businesses, while still respecting privacy standards, will increasingly track phone calls, instant messages and e-mails of their employees to better predict work needs and behaviors. The communications industry will provide much more consistency across multimodal interfaces, whether through iPhones, standard telephones or the Web.

3. Social media and contact centers. Customers will initiate more company interactions via social media tools like Facebook. Basically any consumer with a laptop, desktop or Web phone will have richer multimedia experiences with contact center reps. Conversely, more businesses will embrace mining of the social network, capturing new opportunities to provide service, address issues and promote sales.

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