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Study Shows Traditional Telephone System Providers Still Preferred for Migrating VoIP Applications Contact Information:Arthur M. Rosenberg David A. Zimmer +1/310.395.2360 +1/215.491.9966 [email protected] [email protected] www.unified-view.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Study Shows Traditional Telephone System Providers Still Preferred for Migrating VoIP Applications Santa Monica, CA, October 15, 2004 - A new report by The Unified-View provides greater insight into how enterprise organizations are migrating from existing telephone systems towards converged communications, where legacy voice applications have been a key obstacle to such convergence. The new independent report, “Beyond VoIP: Enterprise Perspectives of Multi-modal Communications and Wireless Mobility,” holistically covers many aspects driving the pace of enterprise migration to voice applications, not just the network infrastructure technology of VoIP. This research includes who is making the migration decisions in the enterprise, the relative priorities of converged voice communication functions, and the barriers and expected benefits to the enterprise and its users. It also highlights the increasing impact of wireless mobility upon convergence requirements by end-users. Voice Technology Providers Are Suppliers of Choice for IP Telephony Systems and Voice Application Software Since all leading voice telecommunications providers are now delivering IP-based telephone system products for an IP network environment, their existing TDM customers are depending upon them to support their migration to converged communications. In particular, new voice application products that support a selective migration from legacy TDM equipment are making migration implementation more flexible and cost-effective. The report also shows that medium-to-large enterprise organizations rated a combination of IP Telephony application providers and data network providers as the most likely suppliers of choice for convergence. The primary communication application migration step appears to be the introduction of IP-PBX capability as a logical starting point This tied closely with planned implementations of associated VoIP data networking facilities and the priority need for both Quality of Service and Network Security provisioning to support voice application servers. However, replacing other existing voice applications, such as voice mail and contact center servers, was perceived as a secondary move. Many respondents indicated that they would implement those migration steps after IP-PBX facilities. While IP-PBXs rated very highly, the same cannot be said for the desktop IP telephone sets that are being sold with them. Since communications convergence will require that contacts between people be made regardless of the type of device being used, there appears to be some resistance to replacing existing desktop phones for end users who don’t need the features of unified communications. This will be particularly true for customer-facing contact center staff who must rely on PC-based “softphone” displays to properly handle customer needs. On the other hand, wireless communications mobility, exploiting both cellular services and Wi-FI facilities, is driving interest in using handheld, multi-modal devices in conjunction with such desktop PC “softphones” as replacements for the traditional desktop digital station sets. Newer Capabilities Not Quite Ready for Prime Time According to the survey results, newer real-time/mobility technologies that have not yet been fully developed or standardized by the industry for business users especially in terms of security, ranked relatively low in priority for enterprise migration plans. These include “unified” presence management and instant messaging servers for the enterprise, as well as the “seamless” convergence between cellular services and Wi-Fi access on the enterprise premises. “We think that will change a year from now as enterprise-oriented technology products, especially dual-network wireless devices, are perfected, because unified multi-modal communications are particularly critical to mobile business users,” commented Rosenberg. The new definition of wireless communication mobility now means away from a desktop, rather than on the road, especially in vertical markets like education, health care, and retail sales. This means that every enterprise needs to start planning their own migration to communications convergence. Since the study revealed significant confusion within most business organizations as to how to get started in planning for migration to converged voice communications, the report also provides a logical checklist for getting organized and doing the necessary homework required for migration planning and implementation. The findings in this report have been endorsed by leading voice communications providers to the enterprise markets, including Nortel Networks, Avaya, Siemens, Alcatel, and Mitel. For a free copy of this new Unified-View report, go to www.unified-view.com. For further details of the study findings, contact Art Rosenberg, Principal Analyst of the Unified-View at (310) 395-2360. |