Try this for a debate-stirring topic: Unified Communications is the greatest scam since Ponzi.”

Thats the opinion of one Nick Jones, a Gartner analyst who spoke recently at the research firms symposium in Sydney, Australia. According to NetworkWorld, Jones panned UC because the technology contains no clear definition.

“I’ll give you the real definition: Unified communications is the bundle of things a vendor wants to sell you,” he said, as quoted by NetworkWorld.

Because of that, UC does not have an easily discernable business case and stands to fall out of favor as consumer-driven platforms such as Skype and Twitter prove popular, Jones added. He also dissed UC because SMS and MMS services cannot be unified and micro-blogging cant be incorporated.

“No vendor is a single force in this area,” NetworkWorld quoted Jones as saying. “Unified communications is out of date and will always be out of date.”

Jones stance, of course, is likely to be pooh-poohed by the likes of Mitel and other enterprise-oriented UC providers. Still, Jones position is food for thought, and perhaps fuel for some Thanksgiving-dinner discussion.