New Wainhouse Research Survey Reveals Microsoft Has a Commanding Lead in Unified Communications Race

Wainhouse Research has published a new report, "Rich Media Metrics 2007," which is an assessment of customer trends and preferences in the Rich Media Conferencing and Collaboration space. In a June 2007 survey of companies large and small, 160 end users revealed which unified communications platforms users are considering buying and which they are rejecting.

Survey responses indicate that Microsoft has a commanding lead in the enterprise unified communications space with 48% of those surveyed stating that they are currently using or considering to use Microsoft OCS within their organization as compared to 35% currently using or considering to use Cisco UPC and 24% currently using or considering to use IBM Lotus Sametime.

"This survey shows what companies are and are not buying with respect to unified communications products," said Dr. E. Brent Kelly, Partner and Unified Communications Practice Manager at Wainhouse Research. "One surprising statistic is the huge mindshare Microsoft has generated over all other unified communications solutions."

In addition to revealing which unified communications systems companies are using or are considering using, survey respondents revealed how broadly IP telephony was deployed throughout their organizations. Fewer than one in five respondent companies had IP telephony deployed to 50% or more of their employees. Furthermore, softphones and audio conferencing bridges were the most popular add-ons to IP PBX purchases.

The Wainhouse Research Rich Media Metrics program is a series of surveys intended to measure customer attitudes, preferences, and buying/deployment trends across a wide variety of conferencing and collaboration issues that span unified communications, videoconferencing, streaming and webcasting, as well as managed services.

For more details, see http://www.wainhouse.com/reports or contact Sara Fargo, Wainhouse Research Client Services, at sfargo@wainhouse.com or 1.781.934.6165. The graphic displayed in this release may be downloaded from http://www.wainhouse.com/images/rmm2.gif .

About Wainhouse Research

Wainhouse Research ( http://www.wainhouse.com ) provides strategic guidance and insight on products & services for Real-Time Unified Communications. The global client base includes established and new technology suppliers and service providers as well as enterprise users of voice, video, streaming, and web collaboration solutions.

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Contact: Sara Fargo Wainhouse Research Client Services Email Contact 1.781.934.6165