9 April 2008
by Joe O'Halloran
A report from analyst firm Canalys shows that the take up of unified communications (UC) solutions among small businesses is growing.
According to Matthew Ball, an analyst at Canalys, UC can potentially save SMBs businesses significant costs and dramatically raise their productivity.
"These are benefits every small business needs at any stage of its life, but they are particularly critical during the challenging economic times in which companies are operating today," Ball said. "Having access to affordable, business-critical solutions is an extremely valuable proposition for small businesses – and for the resellers who serve that market."
In the report Canalys highlighted that UC call control lines provide PBX functionality and that the total market for the sub-100 lines segment (small businesses) in 2007 was 18.4 million lines. Europe accounted for 60 per cent of lines with North America accounting for the other 40 per cent. Market leader was Avaya with a market share of 13 per cent, followed by Siemens, 9 per cent; Aastra, 9 per cent; Alcatel-Lucent, 9 per cent; Cisco, 8 per cent; Nortel, 8 per cent; and Panasonic 7 per cent.
Commenting on the report, Geoffrey Baird, vice president and general manager, Appliances, Mobile and Small Systems Division at Avaya, said, "It's our experience that small businesses need communications capabilities, enabling them to solve problems such as improving productivity and competing with bigger brands or other local companies. We're… committed to working closely with our worldwide network of resellers to bring these newest features to small businesses."
