A new report from analyst firm
Canalys shows that the take up of
unified communications (UC) solutions among small businesses is
growing.
According to Matthew Ball, analyst, 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 are an extremely valuable proposition for small
businesses."
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% of lines with North America accounting for
the other 40%. Market leader was Avaya with a market share of 13%,
followed by Siemens, 9%; Aastra, 9%; Alcatel-Lucent, 9%; Cisco,
8%; Nortel, 8%; and Panasonic 7%.
Commenting on the report, Avaya’s Geoffrey Baird, vice president
and general manager, Appliances, Mobile and Small Systems Division,
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."