BT surveys on UC

Hot on the heels of its VoIP survey, BT is now reporting companies are taking a "phased approach" to adopting unified communication (UC) and collaboration (UCC) technologies. We're going to stick with UC for this discussion since the "collaboration" part is typically rolled into the UC tent.

The largest segment of survey respondents - 37 percent - will implement one UC application at a time. The next largest segment - 29 percent - plans to implement several UC applications simultaneously, with the latter approach the favorite of 42 percent of IT organizations supporting over 10,000 employees.

Survey respondents will look for help in implementing UC from multiple vendors, especially those who demonstrate technology leadership and the ability to integrate products from multiple vendors. Nearly half of those IT organizations will turn to service providers such as (ta-da!) BT.

Also, 22 percent of respondents reported implementing some aspects of a comprehensive UC solution, while 21 percent have no UC underway; the latter cite organizational and cultural issues as roadblocks to UC adoption. Over the next two years, a half dozen UC components will be implemented by a majority of those organizations responding, with unified messaging and presence being implemented most often in the coming 12 months; desktop video conferencing, "immersive video," document management and workflow are also on the to-do list.