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INNUA Annual Enterprise Communications Study: Businesses Are Pleased with Unified Communications CapabilitiesCHICAGO --(Business Wire)-- INNUA, the independent, international Nortel user's group, today issued the results of its annual survey of more than 500 Nortel customers worldwide that show the inextricable link between business importance and user satisfaction that the majority of customers are realizing with Unified Communications (UC) deployments. Increased productivity, more effective employee mobility, improved customer service and a consistent user experience were the most important factors for deploying UC solutions - attributes that were also identified as the areas of greatest satisfaction. "INNUA is continuing to poll our members to ensure we know their business requirements in order to provide their direct feedback to Nortel - that's what sets us apart as a user-focused association," said Steve Ford, president of INNUA. "The correlation between satisfaction and importance shows that the users of the Unified Communications are happy with the aspects that are most critical to their specific business needs. UC is delivering the advertised results that enterprises need to drive competitive advantage. The results of the study are particularly valuable for benchmarking why companies deploy UC and indicating how Nortel can continue to refine its offerings and expertise in this space to better serve the needs of our members." "Unified Communications solutions provide the foundation businesses require to have a competitive edge in this challenging environment. This study reaffirms our knowledge and insight of the plans as well as the needs of our members and the larger marketplace," said Cindy Phillips, president, INSIGHT 100 inc. "We look forward to working with Nortel to ensure they know our collective pain points and are addressing them accordingly. We appreciate being part of the process that is crafting the very future of business-enabled, real-time communications." Unified Communications: Holding Its Own in Tough Economic Times, is an independent survey and report commissioned by INNUA with INSIGHT 100 inc and conducted by industry analyst Webtorials. It can be downloaded from http://webtorials.com/abstracts/2009-Unified-Communications.htm, and it can be discussed at http://webtorials-feedback.blogspot.com/2009/05/unified-communications-holding-its-own.html. The study is being released to coincide with Global Connect 2009, the yearly INNUA conference for Nortel enterprise customers. Global Connect is being held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center next week, from June 7-10. (Click here to register or follow this link: www.innua.org/global_connect/2009/registration/). Study author Steven Taylor of Webtorials explains the results of the survey: "Our studies are unique in the industry, as we measure the Total Customer Experience, or TCE, by plotting the importance against satisfaction. The outstanding message in this study is that UC is delivering as promised, and the strong, nearly linear correlation between importance and satisfaction is most impressive." Survey Says: UC continues to increase in significance in the market. Sixty-one percent of respondents say they have either started deploying UC, or are on-path to do so within two years. Significantly, however, in terms of relative importance for expenditures, UC moved from fifth out of ten options in 2008 to third out of eleven options this year. Respondents identified the most important criteria for deploying UC as: Increased collaboration and productivity among employees, customers and suppliers (51%) Improved customer service (41%) Increased employee mobility (40%) Reduced costs (35%) The functionalities that were identified as delivering the greatest technological satisfaction mirror the business drivers: Increased employee mobility (41%) Increased collaboration and productivity among employees, customers and suppliers (41%) Improved customer service (35%) Reduced costs (23%) Providing "faster, easier and more efficient communications," UC enables people to connect instantly via voice, instant messaging, telephone and other communications methods. It provides presence capabilities -- the ability to know if someone is available and the best manner in which to contact them -- saving time, enhancing productivity and removing latency. UC also enables enterprises to closely align their business processes with their IT investments. As business benefits become more well-known, the attractiveness of UC solutions will lead to greater adoption. Three-fourths of the survey respondents are based in North America and another 15 percent are from the UK. Nearly half are from the healthcare, government, telecommunications and education verticals. Other key industries include oil and gas, financial, manufacturing and retail. The survey was conducted April 1-30, 2009. Webtorials Editorial/Analyst Division provides in-depth analysis and research in focused areas, including Unified Communications. About INNUA The International Nortel Networks Users Association (INNUA) is an international, user-driven association serving Nortel users worldwide for more than 25 years. We exist to educate and inform telecommunications and IT professionals while providing a professional network for those with common concerns to address and success stories to share. INNUA is one of the industry's largest and most progressive user groups, with a community of nearly 5,000 members in more than 70 chapters around the world. For more information on INNUA, visit www.innua.org. About INSIGHT 100 inc The INSIGHT 100 inc user group, formed in 1985, is a forum of members that have installed Nortel SL-100/CS2100 switching products. The membership, that includes education, government, healthcare, financial and commercial institutions, established this independent association as an environment to share information on a wide range of applications, challenges, solutions, and to identify and resolve common issues. The organization is designed to provide input and influence on Nortel enterprise hardware and software developments and to gain timely information on new communications technology. The group fosters collaboration, knowledge exchange and open discussion between the three entities involved in the forum, SL100/CS2100 users, Nortel, and their distributors/partners. For more information, visit www.insight100.org. |
