snom COO Mike Storella (News - Alert) recently shared some thoughts on “The desktop phone of the future: 2012″ in the January 6th edition of the Cloud/Skype (News - Alert)/Lync User Forum Newsletter Issue #121.

The entire piece is well worth a read, some highlights:

In 2011, snom became the first (and remains the only) vendor to bring to market standards-based SIP desktop phones qualified by Microsoft (News - Alert) for use with Lync Server 2010.

We see 2012 as a tremendous opportunity for the desktop phone and Lync. One of the key reasons for Lync’s success thus far, and a substantial reason for future optimism, is Lync’s ability to easily integrate into the current communications infrastructure and the easy activation of voice features.

Lync’s integration and operation is intuitive on existing networking infrastructure, making it relatively easy to install, scale and maintain for our value added resellers (VARS).

As Lync grows, its compatibility with a multitude of different kinds of endpoints, from best of breed vendors, will ensure that VARs will be willing to sell it to clients, that customers will be willing to work with it, and that vendors will be willing to build and promote products supported by it.

While the growth of Lync in 2012 will help existing VARs and qualified equipment vendors, it also has the potential to spawn new business models that will continue its growth. This is a trend we expect to see much more of as cloud-based business applications continue to become staples of business operations. It has already happened in a variety of business functions, including sales/CRM and data storage, and it is now making its way into business communications.

By combining business applications, collaboration applications and communications media, integrated unified communications platforms are making the desktop endpoint more valuable than ever before. As Lync expands its functionality and features, so will compatible desktop phones.

In 2012, we expect the desktop phone – now the integrated communications dashboard – to help Lync establish itself in the corporate IT infrastructure.

snom is a Gold sponsor of ITEXPO East 2012. To be held Jan. 31- Feb. 3 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami, Fla. ITEXPO (News - Alert) is the world’s premier IP communications event. Visit snom in booth #512. For more information on ITEXPO registration click here.

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