[July 25, 2007] Research and Markets: Packaged Applications and Vertical-Specific Modules Help Widen the Appeal of IVR Technologies Tweet DUBLIN, Ireland --(Business Wire)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c63736) has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report: North American IVR Systems Market to their offering. This Frost & Sullivan research titled North American IVR Systems Market provides an overview of current and forecasted spending on IVR technologies, breakdown of market share among leading market participants, and an analysis of spending by end-user verticals and deployment size. In this research service, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the following technologies: IVR systems including those with touch-tone or dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) user interfaces as well as speech-enabled IVR systems, with an emphasis on the future role of speech recognition in the contact center environment. Small and Medium Enterprises Set to Provide New Growth Opportunities Since the commercial introduction of interactive voice response (IVR) a decade ago, market penetration has been consistently increasing with the result that traditional end-user verticals have reached high levels of saturation. For instance, in large enterprises, which have been the largest users of IVR systems, market penetration stands at about 90.0 percent. However, an ongoing replacement cycle of first-generation products within these enterprises and low saturation in the largely untapped small and medium enterprise segment is expected to continue to provide good opportunities to vendors of IVR solutions. Speech technologies offer a proven value proposition as clearly evidenced by the growing number of successful deployments, allowing customers to realize cost savings, enhance revenues, or improve customer satisfaction. Self-service solutions continue to represent the largest growth opportunity for speech technologies. "Over the forecast period, large enterprises will continue to account for the majority of IVR and speech-enabled self-service systems shipped," says the analyst of this research service. "However, there is likely to be increased activity in the small- and medium-sized segment due to various reasons." Primary among these is the growing saturation in the large enterprise segment, whose revenue contribution is likely to gradually decline. Secondly, as voiceXML (VXML) gains traction, the number of ports per system could decrease. VXML represents a fundamental shift in voice application development and VXML-based systems offer the flexibility of starting with a smaller number of ports as opposed to legacy systems, which demanded a minimum of 24 ports. The flexibility to deploy fewer ports could be a significant advantage for customers, particularly smaller ones. Packaged Applications and Vertical-specific Modules Help Widen the Appeal of IVR Technologies While customer satisfaction and retention is as high a priority for small- and medium-sized enterprises as for larger enterprises, their lower call volumes make it difficult for them to justify capital expenditure on IVR systems. Packaged applications with off-the-shelf implementations could be an attractive option for this sector as they are less expensive and easy to deploy, besides reducing time-to-market. "Packaged solutions are well suited for the mid-market consumer that often lacks the expertise to develop speech-self service solutions," says the analyst. "In fact, they can prove to be advantageous for vendors as well since they can gain economies of scale through multiple sales." Customer requirements are expected to become more standardized and refined as vendors go through multiple speech-IVR implementations. As the market matures, vendors will be able to leverage the knowledge and expertise they gain to offer increasingly attractive packaged applications to meet end-user needs. Developing packaged applications with a vertical market focus can help vendors achieve greater market penetration. 1. Communication Services Bundling - Canadian Residential Market -1. Total Market -- 1. Executive Summary -- 2. Research Scope and Objectives -- 3. Research Methodology -- 4. Market Overview -- 5. Industry Challenges -- 6. Market Drivers -- 7. Market Restraints -2. Demand Forecasts -- 1. Fixed Voice: Switched Access vs. VoIP -- 2. Mobile Wireless Services -- 3. Internet Access: Broadband vs. Dial-Up -- 4. Video Services: Cable; Satellite and IPTV -- 5. Bundled Services Adoption: "Double-Play"; "Triple-Play" and "Quad-Play" -3. Revenue Forecasts -- 1. Bundled Services Subscriber ARPU -- 2. Revenues from Service Bundling -4. Key Industry Trends Impacting Service Bundling -- 1. Intensifying Rivalry between Cable MSOs and Telcos -- 2. Regulatory Environment Impact -- 3. Changing Customer Expectations -- 4. Growing Threat from Emerging and New Competitors -- 5. CAPEX to Ready the Networks for Delivery of Service Bundles -- 6. Enhancements in Backend Systems (BSS/OSS) and Customer Facing Systems -5. Competitive Profiles and Bundling Strategies of Telcos -- 1. Bell Canada -- 2. Telus -- 3. MTS Allstream -- 4. SaskTel -6. Competitive Profiles and Bundling Strategies of Cable MSOs -- 1. Rogers -- 2. Shaw -- 3. Videotron -- 4. Cogeco -7. Competitive Benchmarketing: Bundled Service Packages and Offerings -- 1. Bundled Service Offerings of Key Telcos -- 2. Bundled Service Offerings of Key Cable MSOs -- 3. Rating Competitive Bundled Service Offerings -8. Conclusion -- 1. Bundling Evolution: From Discrete Service Bundles to Fully Converged Services -- 2. Strategic Recommendations -- 3. Critical Success Factors List of Figures Chapter 1 IVR Systems Market: Impact of Top Ten Market Challenges (North America), 2007-2013 IVR Systems Market: Market Drivers Ranked in Order of Impact (North America), 2007-2013 IVR Systems Market: Market Restraints Ranked in Order of Impact (North America), 2007-2013 IVR Systems Market: Revenue Forecasts (North America), 2005-2013 IVR Systems Market: Percent of Revenues by Deployment Size (North America), 2005-2013 IVR Systems Market: Percent of Revenues by End-user Vertical (North America), 2005-2013 IVR Systems Market: Company Market Share by Revenues (North America), 2006 For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c63736. Source: Frost & Sullivan [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]