Study: Unified Communications provides 4X the ROI

A study carried out about Frost & Sullivan--commissioned by Cisco and Verizon--found that collaboration tools like VoIP, instant messaging, and high-definition video meetings resulted in cost savings averaging four times the return on investment for firms using the IP platforms.

Frost and Sullivan surveyed 3,662 decision makers in small- and medium-sized business as well as enterprises in various parts of the world, finding that 44 percent had deployed some form of unified communications. The study found that the advanced communication through VoIP phones and telepresence led to faster product and solution development. The study mentions that the findings support the theory of 'network effect' where the more users there are on the network, the more value gained from the networking technology.

Beyond the benefits of using UC technology, the study also found that the businesses surveyed were looking to increase their investment in IP communications. Forty percent of the companies that already deployed some form of UC were planning on increasing their investment despite the weak economy, while 80 percent of the companies that had not deployed UC were planning on doing so in the next 2 to 3 years.

For more:
- read the release [1]

Related articles
How will the Cisco/Tandberg purchase affect Polycom? [2]
Cisco buys TANDBERG for $3B [3]
Verizon kills Hub VoIP product [4]