Blockchain seems almost as top of mind as cloud or AI in 2018, but it's more than the trend du jour. The underlying technologies have been percolating for years, but blockchain's connection to cryptocurrencies tends to overshadow enterprise applications. So far, the most practical enterprise use cases have been around logistics and supply chain management. As ecosystems develop, other applications will follow, including those in the unified communications space.

To better understand the potential for blockchain in communications, let's define the concept. In short, blockchain is a distributed ledger that is shared in the cloud via a peer-to-peer network of computers. It's a decentralized model for sharing information in pieces -- or blocks -- and when linked together, like a chain, they comprise a complete record or transaction.

Because each block is encrypted and only contains one element of a transaction, it has no intrinsic value until linked and validated with the other blocks to complete the chain. The technology is complex, but powerful. Blockchain is incredibly secure by design, making it an attractive model wherever a high degree of trust is required when sharing information.

From here, it's not a big leap to see use cases for blockchain in communications where parties need assured privacy, or sensitive information needs to be shared among teams. Major unified communications (UC) vendors are looking at blockchain in communications, but baked-in applications aren't here yet. As with other UC applications, once blockchain becomes better understood, the use cases will develop -- especially if, or when, existing models for ensuring trust and privacy become real pain points. Given how those scenarios are more likely than not to materialize in today's environment, here are two use cases for blockchain under the UC umbrella.

1. Companywide collaboration When team members are in the same office or department, there's a built-in familiarity and trust that makes collaboration fairly seamless. People know each other, so identity validation isn't really needed, and project-related information is accessible to all. Many organizations, however, tend to be a collection of silos where information is closely guarded, even internally. More progressive organizations are trying to build cultures of transparency, especially when aspiring to become customer-centric. In these environments, silos present a major obstacle for achieving companywide objectives, which usually include improving collaboration and knowledge sharing. Depending on the culture, it may not be realistic to eliminate silos, but even breaking them down a bit can go a long way to supporting cross-functional teams. Here, blockchain would be a prime use case for collaboration. Think about scenarios in which sensitive information within a department could be beneficial for a companywide collaboration initiative, such as customer records, payment histories, financial data and software code. Using blockchain, departments could securely share their most guarded information without having to tear down silos or expose any data for misuse.