SMEs bring opportunities for the future of Unified Communication

According to the report, SMEs are increasingly investing in a wide range of enterprise-level and consumer-level communication functions, including IP speech technology and online conference technology that supports voice, web pages, and videos, integrates the unified messaging of voice and data information. Despite this, the report also pointed out that there are still few enterprise users currently implementing a comprehensive, end-to-end Unified Communication System to provide more communication and collaboration features.

More than 1/3 of small enterprises (with fewer than 100 employees) and nearly 3/4 of medium-sized enterprises (with 100 to 999 employees) currently have at least one unified communication component technology. This report shows that SMEs that have implemented unified communication technology have considerable benefits: at least 30% of small enterprises and 55% of medium-sized enterprises plan to add at least one unified communication component in the next 12 months.

IDC researchers pointed out that VoIP technology has laid a solid foundation in the medium-sized enterprise market, and more than 30% of medium-sized enterprises are using this technology. IDC believes that small enterprises tend not to deploy IP speech technology for many reasons, this includes lack of understanding, reluctance to purchase new telecommunications equipment, scrubs about security, worries about poor call quality, and lack of ability to cope with power outages.

"Many small and medium enterprise managers and IT staff attach great importance to communication and collaboration ." JustinJaffe, research director for IDC SMEs and remote offices, said, "SMEs are very interested in some basic functions and specific Unified Communication Technologies. The real challenge for suppliers is how to effectively combine the advantages of Unified Communication with improved business performance. Only by presenting Unified Communication to small and medium-sized enterprises can they bring new and efficient work ."

The report also said that the economic downturn has led people to focus on the importance of cost management, especially medium-sized enterprises looking for online communication models to replace business travel. About 45% of medium-sized enterprises now use some type of network conferencing technology.

In order to support remote office workers, SMEs are increasingly investing in Mobile IT resources such as smartphones, laptops, and multimedia tablets, while they are still cautious about deploying unified communications. However, compared with the IDC survey, the proportion of companies that plan to deploy the Unified Communication System in the next 12 months is still slightly higher.

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