New Research Shows Majority of North American Enterprises Operate Complex Communication Environments in Drive Towards Digital Transformation

• 75 per cent of enterprises use multiple vendors to provide telephony, some have five or more
• Over 70 per cent of users leverage a combination of two or more communications devices
• Communications without borders key - on average 40 per cent of all enterprise voice traffic ends up in a group conference call, the percentage increases for larger organizations
• Quality of service highest requirement over and above external collaboration, mobility and global access
• 66 per cent of end-users slow or late adopters of emerging tech, highlights need for legacy integration
• Click here for infographics

ALE, operating under the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise brand, has made available new analysis of results from a recent Wainhouse Research survey of North American enterprise IT decision makers and UC&C users. It provides unique insights into the complexity of communication environments in North American enterprises and the shifting expectations of end-users.

Enterprises operate in increasingly complex communication environments, with 75 per cent of those surveyed using two or more PBX vendors, and 33 per cent using two or more UC vendors. The deskphone continues to be the primary enterprise communications tool, used by 84 per cent of respondents.

However, the devices in use have diversified, with upwards of 70 per cent of end-users using a combination of a deskphone, PC and mobile device. The survey also points to the importance of group collaboration and reveals 40 per cent of voice traffic terminates on an audio bridge. This figure rises in larger multinational organizations and in industries such as finance.

Workforce expectations from enterprise communications continue to rise, with 90 per cent of respondents ranking quality as highly important. Other top end-user requirements include scheduling functionalities (70 per cent), the ability to collaborate with external users (63 per cent), mobile access (54 per cent) and the availability of international and toll-free numbers (39 per cent).

Despite these end-user demands, just 34 per cent of respondents consider themselves early adopters of communications technology, with 66 per cent of respondents preferring to wait until new technology is proven or they are forced to upgrade.

Nicolas Brunel, Communications Executive VP, ALE
“The results of this survey clearly show the shifting expectations of the end-user, where a solution that simply works is no longer acceptable. Users demand borderless functionality, higher quality and simplicity from their enterprise communications solutions, and an increase in mobile workforces means these expectations also apply to conference and team collaboration functionalities.

“With a continued global focus on digital transformation, decision-makers are having to balance the demands of users with the need to maximize ROI of existing on-premise communications platforms. To deliver a unified user experience and enterprise-grade functionality with minimal disruption, enterprises should look to open architecture CPaaS offerings that integrate with existing multi-vendor platforms and user devices.”

Click here to view the Wainhouse Research whitepaper.