Exclusive Unified Communications survey results

Among the 32 percent of IT buyers surveyed running unified communications solutions, increased productivity (64 percent) and faster response time and delivery of information (50 percent) are most frequently cited as major benefits. The survey, conducted across 413 CIO.com visitors involved in technology purchases at their organizations, also finds that 35 percent of IT buyers are planning to implement unified communications within the next five years (20 percent have no plans to implement unified communications and 13 percent are still undecided).

Unified Messaging, desktop videoconferencing, telepresence top technologies of interest

IT buyers most frequently cite unified messaging (47 percent), desktop videoconferencing (46 percent) and telepresence technology (45%) as technologies they are actively researching or have on their radar screens. VoIP (27 percent), corporate videoconferencing (25 percent) and IP telephony (25 percent) are the most frequently cited unified communications technologies slated for upgrades in the coming year.

Ease of use critical factor for unified communications implementation

Ease of use (79 percent) is overwhelmingly cited as a critical factor when deciding to implement unified communications solutions followed by ROI (57 percent), level of service (54 percent) and price (51 percent). When it comes to driving unified communications strategy, half of IT buyers surveyed say the CIO is primarily responsible while roughly one in five say responsibility falls with senior non-IT management (9 percent) or line of business owners (9 percent). Only 12 percent of respondents have a team representing various business functions (6 percent) or a dedicated product champion (6 percent) driving unified communication strategy at their organizations.