Which of the following initiatives are likely to be your firm s top telecom/communications adoption priorities over the next 12 months?

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1 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology enables enterprises to streamline and simplify the telecommunications infrastructure by transmitting voice over a data network. Enterprises achieve various benefits from deploying VoIP technology, including increasing employee productivity, reducing costs, and improving user flexibility. Companies use a variety of strategies to deploy VoIP technology and can implement a variety of advanced communication features and functions to further expand the benefits achieved from VoIP solution implementation. Large North American enterprises are pursuing a variety of telecom initiatives in the coming year related to supporting more mobile devices and applications, facilitating employee collaboration, and migrating voice traffic to VoIP (see Figure 1). In fact, 53% of North American companies surveyed by Forrester identified migrating more traffic to VoIP as a critical or high priority, with the same percentage of firms giving these high priority ratings to implementing or expanding collaboration solutions. Mobility initiatives are also a key priority, with 43% to 46% of companies identifying supporting more mobile devices or supporting more mobile applications for out-of-office users as critical or high priorities. VoIP solutions and services are often used as a basis for firms to deploy many of these telecom initiatives. Some companies are also starting to use new types of delivery models to support their technology deployment activities. For example, of surveyed enterprises identify implementing or expanding thirdparty as-a-service solutions using network- or cloud-based delivery as a key priority. In addition, of firms identified implementing or expanding the use of third-party managed services as a priority in the coming year.

2 Which of the following initiatives are likely to be your firm s top telecom/communications adoption priorities over the next 12 months? Critical priority High priority Low priority Not on our agenda Don t know/does not apply Migrate more voice traffic to VoIP 41% 2 Implement or expand collaboration solution(s) 11% 42% 3 Support more mobile applications for out-of-office users 37% 16% Implement or expand a unified communications (UC) solution(s) % Support more mobile devices/smartphones (not laptops) 3 40% Implement or expand IP videoconferencing 33% 42% Support more mobile applications for employees who work in the office 30% 43% Implement or expand use of third-party-provided as-a-service solutions in a network- or cloud-based service delivery model 41% 2 Implement or expand use of third-party managed services 16% 40% The high priority firms place on migrating traffic to VoIP is validated by the results of the custom study commissioned by AT&T. More than half (5) of the surveyed companies are in the process of implementing, expanding, or upgrading VoIP into their communications infrastructure (see Figure 2). An additional of firms are planning to adopt VoIP infrastructure in the future. It is also important to highlight that none of the firms participating in the custom survey were planning to reduce their VoIP adoption activities. What are your firm s plans to adopt VoIP into its communications infrastructure? 41% Not interested Interested but no plans Planning to implement Implemented, not expanding Expanding/upgrading implementation Page 2

3 Results from Forrester s study also highlight significant corporate deployment of and demand for VoIP solutions among North American enterprises. In fact, 70% of North American enterprises have implemented, are expanding, or are upgrading their VoIP services (see Figure 3). In addition, many firms are using other types of IP-based services. For example, between 47% and 4 of firms have deployed or are expanding their use of IP videoconferencing or IP audio conferencing services. Some enterprises are also using IP network access services. In fact, 46% of firms have implemented, are expanding their implementation of, or are upgrading implementation of site-to-site WAN VoIP using T1s, E1s, or PRIs. In addition, 32% of enterprises have implemented, are expanding implementation of, or are upgrading their session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking solutions for WAN VoIP access. What are your firm s plans to adopt the following landline voice technologies/services? Expanding/upgrading implementation Planning to implement Not interested Don t know Implemented, not expanding Interested but no plans Decreasing/removing VoIP (IP phone/softphone and IP/PBX) 4 10% 6% Webconferencing 30% 32% IP audio conferencing 2 2 IP videoconferencing (e.g., telepresence, premisesbased systems, and hosted and bridge services) 2 Site-to-site WAN VoIP (using T1s/E1s and PRIs) 2 2 SIP trunking for WAN VoIP access (as replacement to PRIs) Voice over WLAN (e.g., VoWLAN or VoIP over Wi-Fi) 11% 10% 31% It should not come as a surprise that non-ip phones are the most widely deployed by many firms, with over half of all companies estimating that at least 51% of their employees use non-ip phones on a weekly basis. However, it is important to recognize that many firms are deploying new IP-based landline phones to employees. Forrester s survey results show that 3 of North American enterprises believe at least 51% of their employees use a landline IP phone for work (see Figure 4). In addition, of enterprises estimate that between 26% and 50% of Page 3

4 their employees use landline IP phones for work on a weekly basis. Earlier we showed that a significant number of firms are pursuing mobility initiatives such as deploying more smartphones and mobile devices to employees. Forrester s survey results reveal that of North American enterprises estimate that at least 51% of their employees use a smartphone for work on a weekly basis, and of enterprises believe between 26% and 50% of their employees use a smartphone for work at least weekly. Using your best estimate, what percentage of your firm s employees use the following at least weekly for work? None 1%-10% 11%-2 26%-50% 51% or more Don t know Use a smartphone for work 1% 33% 2 0% Use a softphone (computer client) for work 26% 52% 6% Use a landline non-ip phone for work 6% 1 52% 1% Use a landline IP phone for work 10% 2 3 1% VoIP solutions enable firms to cost-efficiently and conveniently deploy a wide variety of basic and advanced telephony features to help improve employee productivity. Results from AT&T s custom survey show that some VoIP features and functions, such as three-way conferencing, call forwarding, and electronic messaging, are widely deployed by many North American enterprises (see Figure 5). For example, 5 of survey participants had implemented or were expanding implementation of three-way conferencing, and 50% of enterprises were in the same deployment stages for call forwarding features to automatically redirect calls to another number. Other VoIP features are less commonly deployed today, but they represent the next wave of feature deployment opportunities to enable firms to achieve additional value from their VoIP deployment. For example, 3 of firms have implemented or are expanding implementation of videoconferencing features, and 2 of enterprises are integrating VoIP functionality into their mobile device solutions. VoIP-enabled mobile device integration enables companies to support VoIP features over smartphone devices and will Page 4

5 improve productivity of the growing number of employees who use smartphone devices for work-related activities. What types of VoIP features and functions are you using or planning to deploy? Expanding/upgrading implementation Planning to implement in the next 12 months Interested but no plans Don t know Implemented, not expanding Planning to implement in a year or more Not interested Three-way conferencing 33% 1 Call forwarding 1 31% 1 1 Electronic messaging 23% Videoconferencing Mobile device integration 1 6% Skills-based routing Companies achieve a variety of benefits from deploying VoIP solutions, including lowering costs, streamlining communications infrastructure, and enabling a flexible working environment (see Figure 6). Lower overall costs are the top benefit of VoIP deployment, with 62% of firms already achieving this benefit. Other key VoIP solution benefits that have been achieved by at least 50% of enterprises include lowering total cost of ownership and creating a flexible working environment. Companies often find that the benefits of VoIP solution implementation are even broader than they had initially expected. For example, nearly half (4) of firms improved employee productivity by deploying VoIP features; however, only of companies identified this benefit as one they expected to achieve when they initially deployed VoIP. In addition, 57% of enterprises were able to streamline their communications infrastructure as a result of using VoIP solutions to consolidate onto one network; however, only of firms had initially expected to achieve this benefit. These results highlight how important it is for firms to consider the broad range of benefits that can be achieved using VoIP solutions, as well as to identify methods to measure and capture these benefits. In some cases, benefits achieved from VoIP solution implementation are not as high as firms expected. For example, 53% of enterprises expected VoIP solutions to simplify administration and maintenance activities; however, only of firms achieved this benefit. Maintenance and administration simplification is often Page 5

6 driven by the method used to deploy VoIP solutions. If a firm uses a hosted VoIP solution there are administrative portals and consoles to help simplify the administration process. What are the benefits you expect to achieve/you have achieved from deploying a VoIP solution? Lower cost overall 50% 62% Lower total cost of ownership Streamlined communications infrastructure as a result of consolidating onto a single network 5 57% 57% Expect to achieve Creation of a flexible working environment Improved employee productivity due to easy accessibility of advanced features 4 50% 4 Have achieved Simplification of administration and maintenance Integration of phone system with mobile devices 42% 53% Makes current investments more efficient 11% 2 Other 3% 0% So, as we look to the future, how do VoIP and IP-based solutions and services fit into overall corporate telecom priorities? The custom survey results show VoIP-related initiatives do, indeed, have a key role in the future telecom priorities of many companies. Over half (53%) of North American enterprises identify integrating communication features as a critical or very critical priority in the next 12 months, which will drive demand for SIP trunking solutions to facilitate communication feature integration (see Figure 7). VoIP solutions to improve employee productivity are also a critical future telecom priority for 31% of enterprises. In addition, implementing unified communications functionality and incorporating new IP conferencing capabilities into existing telecom investments are also important to many firms, with nearly 30% of enterprises rating these initiatives as critical or very critical future telecom priorities. VoIP-enabled mobility initiatives are also gaining momentum, with approximately 2 of firms stating that converging mobile services with fixed communication services are critical or very critical telecom efforts in the coming year. Page 6

7 Which of the following initiatives are likely to be your firm s top telecom/communications adoption priorities over the next 12 months? Very critical Critical Somewhat critical Not critical Not on our agenda Don't know Integrate communication features 40% 2 Integrate productivity solutions into your VoIP service 4 Implement unified communications (UC) functionality 21% 4 6% Incorporate new IP conferencing capabilities 23% 4 1 Converge mobile services with fixed communications services 3% 21% 46% 23% Implement SIP trunking service with integrated access for PBX and key systems 37% 2 Implement a hosted VoIP solution 1 32% 26% 1 This Technology Adoption Profile was commissioned by AT&T. Forrester leveraged its Forrsights Enterprise And SMB Networks And Telecommunications Survey, Q1 2010, isolating responses of North American telecommunications decision-makers at large enterprises with more than 1,000 employees. Forrester Consulting supplemented this analysis with custom survey questions asked of 78 North American telecommunications decision-makers. The custom questions focused on identifying VoIP implementation plans and the benefits achieved from deploying VoIP solutions. Respondents were also asked about their future plans to deploy various types of VoIP, unified communications, mobility, and IP conferencing capabilities. The supplementary survey was conducted in March For more information on Forrester s data panel and Tech Industry Consulting services, go to , Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester, Technographics, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. For additional information, go to [1-HKHKCH] Page 7