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Firms continue with unified communications roll-out
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More than a fifth of companies have deployed some elements of a unified communications and collaboration solution, new research has shown. The report, carried out by BT, discovered 22 per cent of respondents have some parts of a comprehensive system in place, with 37 per cent of firms saying their unified communications strategy involves deployment of one application at a time. Furthermore, 29 per cent revealed they intend to implement several unified communications elements at the same time, with IT organisations employing more than 10,000 favouring this approach. The study also reveals that six per cent of businesses examined have deployed a comprehensive system. Rick Blum, director of strategic marketing at the company, wrote in the report: "Most medium-to-large enterprises today require a communications platform that efficiently supports collaboration, streamlines business processes and unites diverse groups." He also pointed out that unified communications and collaboration solutions enable firms to achieve this by allowing infrastructure, mobility, desktop and applications to work together. The research claimed that unified communications has seen an increase in popularity due to new technologies, such as presence, being added to existing applications to boost their uses. Some 80 per cent of respondents said it is very important for their employees to be able to access their network from multiple international and external locations, with 90 per cent recognising the importance of the new technologies in allowing people access through their mobile phones and personal digital assistant. When asked about direct business benefits, 64 per cent said unified communications allowed them to achieve the "very important" goal of increased collaboration. In addition, 61 per cent were attracted by improved productivity which can be gained from the solution, while 55 per cent identified lower operating costs. Some 43 per cent said they considered unified communications to be very important in having an innovative approach to business opportunities, with 41 per cent deploying it to improve access to resources for remote workers. The report noted: "Overall, it is clear that IT organisations expect a wide range of benefits to result from their [unified communications and collaboration] investments, setting a high bar for vendors of these solutions." Earlier this month, research from BT found almost half of companies have deployed IP telephony as part of their business communications strategy, with 51 per cent intending to increase their spending on technologies such as VoIP. Azzurri is helping organisations combine services and applications for converged and efficient communications.  |
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