Survey of Businesses Indicate Uptake of Hosted Communications Services, Video, Unified Messaging and VoIP
June 28 2007 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Interactive Intelligence Inc. (Nasdaq:ININ), a global developer of
business communications software, released customer survey findings
this week showing hosted communications services, video, unified
messaging, and voice over IP deployments on the rise. �Though our
survey results showed several communications technologies on the
rise, by far the most significant uptake in the near-term was
hosted services, with 90 percent of our customer respondents not
currently using them, but a full 72 percent stating that they plan
to use them in the future,� said Joseph A. Staples, senior vice
president of worldwide marketing for Interactive Intelligence. The
survey, which was sent to a sample of the company�s more than 2,500
global enterprise and contact center customers, also showed video,
unified messaging, and VoIP on the rise. �When survey respondents
were asked, 'What new technologies are you currently evaluating for
your call center?' the greatest response was video,� Staples said.
�I think this shows that contact centers continue to look for that
competitive advantage � technologies that will separate them from
the rank-and-file call centers � and video is clearly one of them.�
According to survey results, more than 56 percent of respondents
stated that unified messaging is a 'key priority' for their
organization. �The unified messaging findings indicate that perhaps
this application has finally hit its stride,� Staples said. �What�s
particularly interesting is that, among those who had not yet
deployed UM, the primary reason listed was �no perceived benefit.�
Clearly, vendors must do a better job of showing customers
measurable ROI, which we think is possible if UM applications are
offered as part of a broader, �all-in-one� unified communications
architecture.� Other noteworthy findings included the increasing
adoption of VoIP, with nearly 70 percent of respondents indicating
they had already deployed the technology in some portion of their
organization, and of the remainder, 56 percent indicating that they
planned to deploy it over the next 12 months. The VoIP-related
findings are consistent with other third-party industry surveys,
many of which show that 80 percent or more of businesses today have
incorporated IP somewhere in their networks. The VoIP findings are
particularly significant when combined with respondents� top
evaluation criteria for new communications solutions, which is open
standards. �These results seem to underline the need for vendors to
deliver VoIP solutions using the open SIP standard, which contrasts
sharply with the many IP PBXs offered today that come with a few
proprietary SIP extensions leading to vendor lock-in,� Staples
said. Perhaps the most important overarching message that resulted
from the Interactive Intelligence survey is that companies are
getting more creative in using technologies to retain their most
valued customers. �Our survey results showed that the increasing
need to improve customer loyalty was the main trend impacting
businesses over the past year,� Staples said. �This is in line with
other aspects of our survey showing the uptake of relatively new
technologies, such as video, to both personalize and make more
convenient the customer experience. This means companies are
demanding more flexible, highly customizable applications � the
kind that can be created and modified in-house. Business
communications solutions that use open standards, are
software-based, and can be easily managed and customized are the
ones that will fit this bill moving forward.� The Interactive
Intelligence customer survey targeted contact center and IT
managers from among its 2,500 global customers. The survey asked
for written responses to 44 questions focused on business
communications technology trends. Of the customer survey responses,
the largest portion represented the financial services industry
(17.4 percent), followed by insurance (11.6 percent), then computer
services/hardware/software (10.1 percent), with the rest
diversified among other verticals. The majority of responses came
from North American companies, with the remaining representing
Europe, the Middle East and Africa. To download a free copy of the
complete survey, visit:
http://www.inin.com/products/profiles/surveyresults.pdf. About
Interactive Intelligence Interactive Intelligence Inc. (Nasdaq:
ININ) is a global provider of business communications software and
services for contact center automation and enterprise IP telephony.
The company was founded in 1994 and has more than 2,500 customers
worldwide. Recent awards include the 2006 Network World 200, CRM
Magazine�s 2006 Rising Star Excellence Award, Network Computing
Magazine�s 2006 Well-Connected Award, and Software Magazine�s 2006
Top 500 Global Software and Services Companies. Interactive
Intelligence employs approximately 525 people and is headquartered
in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company has five global corporate
offices, with additional sales offices throughout North America,
Europe and Asia Pacific. Interactive Intelligence can be reached at
+1 317.872.3000 or info@inin.com; on the Net: http://www.inin.com.
This release contains certain forward-looking statements that
involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially are described in the
company's SEC filings. Interactive Intelligence Inc. is the owner
of the marks INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE, its associated LOGO and
numerous other marks. All other trademarks mentioned in this
document are the property of their respective owners.
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