voip ip based conferencing presence technology unified messaging

IP-based CommunicatIons
EntErprisEs incrEasingly rEly on Voip, ip-basEd confErEncing, prEsEncE tEchnology, and unifiEd mEssaging. As today’s larger enterprises look to more effectively communicate both internally among workers and divi- formats to be accessed by a single device—are important to their organizations. Meanwhile, 54% indicated sions as well as externally among customers and business partners, many are eyeing emerging IP networking their companies’ use or planned implementation of “presence” technologies that allow network users to and telecommunication technologies such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), IP-based conferencing, pres- know the connection status of other network users. The most important networking initiative for 2007, ence technology, and unified messaging. These are the findings according to a recently conducted Ziff Davis Me- according to the majority of survey respondents (20%), is introducing new collaborative applications. dia survey, sponsored by , of technology decision- makers at companies with 1,000 or more employees.
voiP adoPtion HigH
ExEcutivE Summary
VoIP usage is quite high among large enterprises, according to the survey. A total of 73% of survey Adoption of IP-based communications is widespread among larger enterprises, according to the survey, while close to three-fourths reporting current or planned use of VoIP and IP-based conferencing (video, audio, Benefits of Implementing VoIP On a seven-point scale, where seven is “extremely important” and 1 is “not at all important,” how important is and/or white board). In addition, 72% said that “unified messaging” technologies—allowing multiple messaging or would each of the following benefits of implementing VoIP be to your organization? TOP 3 RATINGS ON A 7-POINT SCALE
Envisioned Networking Initiatives for 2007 Which one of the below do you expect to be the most important networking/telco initiative for your Permitting unified desktop data/ voice messaging systems 57% organization in 2007? Increasing efficiency in telco/ computer systems management 56%
Introducing new collaborative applications 20% Saving money on domestic long-distance calls 56% Improving newtwork storage management 15% Easing flexible processing of employee/ office moves/adds/changes 54% Extending networks for access to roaming workers’ mobile devices Enabling Web-based video conferencing 49% 14%
Enhancing call center services/applications 47% Adding newtwork bandwidth 12%
Saving money on local telephone calls 44% Converging voice and data applications on an IP network 11% Permitting handheld devices to integrate voice and data communications 41% Introducing a new VolP implementation 7% Enabling whiteboard-based conferencing 39% Introducing a new network management system 1% Saving money on international calling 38% Other 7% No initiatives expected 12%
respondents said that they were already using or in the beginning stages of implementing VoIP. Twenty-nine usage seen among business partners. In ranking the top applications for which IP-based video conferencing was percent stated that VoIP was used only in specific loca- tions within their companies, while 12% indicated its or would be used, 50% of respondents indicated train- ing, followed by meetings for planning (47%) and routine use only in specific departments. Twenty-two percent of survey respondents stated that their organizations were group meetings (42%).
On the audio conferencing front, survey results were simi- planning to use VoIP in the future, and another 16% said their companies were at the pilot-implementation stage. lar to that of video insofar as the types of people that were receiving information from an organization. A total of 88% of Just 12% of survey respondents said their organizations had no plans to use VoIP. survey respondents indicated internal employees, while 50% said business partners. Top perceived benefits of IP-based In terms of the perceived benefits that VoIP affords survey respondents’ companies, 57% rated permitting unified desk- top data/voice messaging systems as the most important audio conferencing as cited by survey participants included reducing travel expenses and increasing productivity (each at 50% of respondents). Twenty-seven percent of respondents felt that audio conferencing was more effective than other benefit. Next in perceived importance was increasing ef- ficiency in telco/computer systems management and saving forms of conferencing, while 21% said that it was easier to do than other conferencing types. The most-used applications money on domestic long-distance calls, each of which was cited by 56% of respondents as being important. for audio conferencing are planning meetings (cited by 52%), training (48%), and routine group meetings (32%). EyES on iP-BaSEd confErEncing For IP-based white board conferencing, 80% of survey respondents said that employees comprised the largest group of people that were being given information via IP-based conferencing is also top of mind among large companies. A total of 74% of survey respondents said that they use or plan to use one or more of IP-based video, audio, and white board conferencing technologies. this method of communication. Looking at each individually, 57% of respondents said they used or are planning to use video conferencing, intErESt in PrESEncE tEcHnology “Presence technology” was defined in the survey as that which allows an enterprise’s network user to know when while 34% indicated the same for audio conferencing, and 33% for white board conferencing. another user is connected to the network, and is thus available to receive and immediately respond to a mes- IP-based video conferencing services are mostly used to exchange information internally, with next-highest
sage or to other application output. Here, 54% of survey respondents said that their organizations use or plan to Uses for IP-Based Video Conferencing use this type of technology. A total of 28% said that their companies are currently using presence technology for What is or would be the top two applications for IP-based video conferencing for your organization? users in multiple departments. unifiEd mESSaging of imPortancE Training 50% “Unified messaging” was defined in the survey as technol- ogy that allows e-mail, voice mail, SMS, and other mes- Meetings for planning 47% saging formats to be available through a single device. A total of 72% of survey respondents said that unified mes- Routine group meetings 42%
saging was important to their organizations. Forty-four percent stated that it was important for just some employ- Collaboration on product development 27%
Customer support 11% ees, while 28%
indicated its importance to all employees. A handful of challenges were cited regarding its Sales presentations 10% implementation. Twenty-two percent of survey participants cited cost justification as the number-one implementation Partner support 4% challenge, followed by security issues (21%) and inter-system compatibility (18%). Other 5%
SurvEy rationalE and rESPondEnt ProfilE Challenges in Implementing Unified Messaging The survey results presented in this white paper were obtained in a study conducted for Ziff Davis Media in What do you consider the greatest challenge to implementing unified messaging? December 2006 and January 2007 by InsightExpress LLC, an independent market research company located Cost justification 22%
in Stamford, Conn. An on-line survey was conducted among representative, qualified networking/telco tech- Security 21%
nology decision-makers, and readers of enterprise- related publications published by Ziff Davis. These Inter-system compatibility 18%
respondents represent education, financial services, government, healthcare, IT, media/publishing/advertis- User acceptance 9%
ing, and telecommunications enterprises with 1,000 or more employees; over half of all survey respondents rep- Development cost 7%
resented companies with more than 10,000 employees. In total, 163 respondents qualified and completed the Need for presence technology 3%
survey. Survey estimates are accurate to within +/- 7.6% at the 95% level of confidence. Directory services 2%
Auditing/compliance 2%
For more information on how your enterprise can benefit from the use of IP-based communications technologies, Other 2% Don’t know 15%
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