Abstract
Report Focus
This report focuses on the North American market for VoIP among organizations
in the mid-sized (100-1,000 email users) and enterprise markets (>1,000
email users). We have chosen to define organizational size based on the number
of email users and not employees, since the former tends to be a more
important determinant of technology choices for most organizations. This
document discusses the results of an in-depth market research program
conducted specifically for this report. It focuses on a major primary research
survey of primarily messaging decision-makers in North American organizations.
Key Findings and Trends Discussed in this Report
⇒The Growing Importance of VoIP
During the course of the year, we have seen the importance of VoIP
implementations rise significantly and, based on our research, we expect
VoIP' s importance to increase over the next 12 months. At the same time, VoIP
is viewed as more important than unified communications.
⇒VoIP Adoption Continues to Grow
As shown in the following figure, the proportion of VoIP users will continue
to grow, from 28% of users in 2008 (up from 20% of users in 2007) to more than
50% in 2010. At the same, an even larger proportion of organizations report
that they have deployed a VoIP system.
⇒Cutbacks are Due to Hit the VoIP Industry in 2009
While 40% of respondents indicated that their organization had budgeted for
VoIP in 2009, up from 31% in last year' s survey, the actual numbers spent per
organization are going to be significantly lower. This is not at all
surprising given the current economic downturn and the need that many
organizations are experiencing to focus only on the most critical expenditures.
⇒Marketing Messages Address Technology and Business Arguments
The decision to deploy VoIP continues to be primarily an IT decision involving
IT management, CIOs and, increasingly, CFOs.
⇒User Activity
According to our research, respondents tend to place and receive about the
same number of calls, with the difference being that twice as many tend to be
local calls as they do long distance calls. This translates into a 3,600 calls
per site per day - assuming each employees places and receives 30 calls and
there is a median of 1,200 employees and a median of 10 locations. This could
translate into substantial cost savings, even for smaller organizations.
⇒Who' s Leading?
Cisco continues to be viewed as the market leader in VoIP today, followed by
Avaya and Nortel. Skype was the highest-ranking service, beating out long-time
enterprise providers like Verizon and AT&T. Skype was also the most popular
consumer VoIP service, cited by 50% of the respondents, followed by, MSN (11%)
and Google Talk 13%). Similarly, when it comes to connecting to network-based
VoIP services, none is more desirable than Skype, cited by 42% of respondents.
⇒The “Big Concerns” About Consumer VoIP Services
The most common concern about consumer VoIP services was security (42%),
followed by reliability/quality-of-service (QOS) at 14% and cost at 10%.
Connections to the public-switched telephone network (PSTN) were seen as an
entrance requirement, which mirrors the high importance respondents placed on
PSTN connections for VoIP systems.
About Osterman Research, Inc.
Osterman Research, Inc. provides market research, cost modeling, benchmarking
and related services to vendors of messaging and collaboration products and
services.
We help vendors, IT departments and other organizations make better decisions
through the acquisition and application of relevant, accurate and timely data
on markets, market trends, products and technologies. We also help vendors of
technology-oriented products and services to understand the needs of their
current and prospective customers.
Part of what makes us unique is our market research panel: a large and growing
group of IT professionals and end-users around the world with whom we conduct.
Table of Contents
Chapter - 1
Chapter - 2
- Background and Methodology
Chapter - 3
- Current State of Messaging, IM and VoIP Adoption
Chapter - 4
- Preferences for VoIP Deployments
Chapter - 5
- Desirability of VoIP Capabilities
Chapter - 6
- VoIP Form Factor, Function and Feature Requirements
Chapter - 7
- Factors Affecting VoIP Deployment
Chapter - 8
- Purchase Decisions for VoIP Solutions
Chapter - 9
- Forecast of VoIP Deployment
Chapter - 10
- Vendors of VoIP Solutions
List of Figures
- Forecast of Users Employing VoIP
- Messaging Systems in Use
- Status of the Convergence of Voice and Data Networks
- Penetration of Various Communication Technologies
- Most Frequently Used Consumer/Public VoIP Services
- “Is the use of consumer/public VoIP sanctioned within your
organization?”
- Current Status of VoIP Deployment
- Median Calls Made and Received per Employee per Day
- “Would your organization consider using a consumer/public VoIP
solution instead of an in-house or private VoIP solution?”
- “Would your organization deploy or use a VoIP system that did not
include integration with the public switched telephone network (PSTN)?”
- Importance that a VoIP/PBX Solution be Substantially Lower than the
Existing PBX Solution (or Equivalent) in Place Now
- Preferred Architectures for VoIP
- Preferred Models for the Initial Migration to VoIP
- Initial Preference for Centralized or Distributed Presence/VoIP Services
- Long-Term Preference for Centralized or Distributed Presence/VoIP Services
- Plans for Integrating VoIP With an Enterprise Messaging System
- “Would your organization purchase a VoIP system that did not include
enterprise instant messaging and presence?”
- “Would your organization purchase an enterprise instant messaging
and presence system that did not include VoIP?”
- “Does your organization believe that a VoIP system and an enterprise
instant messaging system should be integrated into the same system or should
they be separate capabilities?”
- Desirability of Various VoIP Capabilities
- Client Devices That Organizations Plan to Deploy in their VoIP
Infrastructure
- Top Criteria for VoIP Handset/Softphone Peripheral Selection
- Importance of a VoIP/PBX Appliance Including a Prepackaged TDM Gateway and
Analog Line Support
- “Is your organization aware of the ability to deliver encrypted VOIP
communications?”
- “How does the ability to deliver encrypted VOIP communications
impact your decision to deploy VoIP in your organization?”
- Value of a VoIP System Based on Whether or Not it Includes a
Presence-Enabled Contact List
- Network-Based VoIP Solutions With Which Organizations Want Their Internal
VoIP Solution to Interoperate
- Expected Level of Satisfaction With a VoIP System at Different Levels of
Reliability Roles Involved in the Purchase/Adoption Decision Process for VoIP
- Sources From Which Organizations Would Likely or Definitely Purchase VoIP
Solutions
- VoIP Penetration in the North American Workplace Market, 2008-2012
- Importance of VoIP in Overall Business Plans and Priorities, 2008-2009
- Importance of Unified Communications in Overall Business Plans and
Priorities, 2008-2009
- Eventual Distribution of VoIP Endpoints by Type
List of Tables
- Importance of Various VoIP-Related Capabilities
- Importance of VoIP-Related Various Standards
- Perceived Potential Benefits of VoIP
- Factors That Would Motivate Organizations to Migrate to VoIP
- Agreement With Various Statements About VoIP
- Organizational Concerns About VoIP
- Importance of Various Sources About VoIP
- Perceived Market Leaders of VoIP Solutions
- Vendors' PBXs in the Installed Base
