Enterprise Telephony Sales Fell 4% Last Year

Enterprise telephony market fell four per cent last year as businesses held off purchases, says Infonetics

Sales of unified communications (UC) applications leapt 20 per cent last year, defying a slowdown in the wider enterprise comms market, according to Infonetics Research.

The market watcher found that global sales of enterprise telephony and UC fell four per cent to $8.7bn (£5.8bn) in 2014 as businesses continued to hold off new purchases and upgrades of PBX equipment.

The UC applications segment provided the one bright spot, however, growing 20 per cent on the back of demand for tools to boost workforce productivity.

Infonetics tracks sales of PBX phone systems, VoIP gateways, UC applications and IP phones, a market bossed by Cisco, Avaya and NEC – although Microsoft leads the UC space specifically.

Globally, PBX revenue sank six per cent in 2014, with line shipments falling three per cent.

“The enterprise telephony market continues to be tough,” said Infonetics analyst Diane Myers.

“Just as we see one area begin to improve, it’s offset by slowdowns in geographies or market segments. Underscoring the declines are not only slowing businesses purchases but also competitive pricing, which has created unpredictable swings.”

CSM sees this as a golden opportunity. The products that we represent, namely ShoreTel, Avaya, and Grandstream, are VoIP products designed and engineered to operate as UC systems, providing all the functionality that businesses require of their new phone systems. Customers with legacy systems from Nortel, Siemens, and Comdial should take advantage of these new UC applications to boost worker productivity, increase mobility connections, and drive growth. Contact CSM now to learn how.

*This article is resourced from channelweb.co.uk