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In March 2005, Computerworld invited its online visitors to participate in a short survey on IP telephony. The goal of the survey was to better understand the challenges of IP telephony and how different-size organizations are addressing those challenges. The survey was commissioned by ShoreTel, but data was gathered and tabulated independently by Computerworld Research. The following report represents top-line results of that survey.
Profile of Respondents
Total Respondents: 388
All 388 respondents were qualified through screening questions as being based in North America and being personally involved in evaluating IP telephony systems for their organization as either a decision-maker, technical evaluator or business/cost justifier. In addition to the 388 IP telephony managers polled, on whom the results in this paper are based, we received results from 189 end users of IP telephony. These responses will be shown only in the analysis of one question about end-user preferences, to illuminate any differences between IP telephony influencers and end users.
Company Size Breakdown (IP Telephony Influencers):
Small (1-200 employees): 40%
Midsize (200-2,000 employees): 40%
Large (2,000+ employees): 20%
Enterprises Rate Importance of IP Telephony Features, Management and Applications
Executive Summary
The results of this survey clearly show that IP telephony is now a reality in the enterprise. A full 24% of organizations polled have already deployed IP telephony, with another 27% actively implementing, testing and evaluating systems now and 31% gathering data. Any IT or telephony managers implementing new phone systems without considering IP telephony would be in the minority. The survey also found that:
- The primary challenges facing organizations related to managing their phone systems are incompatible systems and the costs associated with moves, adds and changes. Organizations looking to upgrade should therefore make sure new systems will handle moves, adds and changes in a more cost-efficient manner. These issues present an even greater challenge in larger enterprises, making it that much more crucial that managers find an IP telephony solution provider that has considered these challenges.
- It is no surprise that system reliability, ease of use, scalability and ease of management are the primary system capabilities most important to IP telephony influencers. Enterprises reviewing IP telephony solutions should therefore review product and system architecture, as they will be the primary determining factor for system reliability. Ease of use for end users will be best determined by a trial deployment by the shortlist vendors to gather feedback before making an enterprisewide decision.
- Not surprisingly, the IP telephony managers who responded to this survey cited audio quality and telephone set ease of use as the two telephone capabilities their end users would find most important. When end users were asked the same question, they answered almost identically. This shows that those buying phone systems are closely aligned with the end users they support. The key purchasing consideration will be to find systems that meet both the end user and system manager requirements.
- When asked specifically which management functions they're looking for, IP telephony managers made it clear they're looking for simplification. The top two functions desired were a way to simplify moves, adds and changes, and a single interface to manage the phone system. The survey showed that midsize organizations are particularly interested in these and other management functions.
- In terms of additional telephone system applications, respondents favored conferencing and mobility.
Conferencing was given particular value, especially among larger organizations. This indicates that IP telephony managers should take into account a system's conferencing capabilities or ability to scale up these abilities at a later date.
Enterprises Rate Importance of IP Telephony Features, Management and Applications
IP Telephony Implementation
One quarter of organizations polled currently have an IP telephony system deployed at their organization. A large percentage of organizations (46%) are in the process of testing/evaluating or are gathering data related to IP telephony, and an additional 17% don't seem to have it on their radar screens right now.
Already deployed 24%
Implementing now 12%
Testing/evaluating 15%
Gathering data 31%
No current project 17%
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