Frost & Sullivan: Awareness Strategies Must Be in Place to Uplift Prospects for the South American Enterprise Communication Markets

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, May 13 /PRNewswire/ — In recent years, unified communications (UC) and Internet protocol (IP) telephony tools have rapidly gained ground in the South American enterprise communications market. Companies in the region are increasing investments, particularly in the UC arena. However, a cloud of confusion hangs over the definition of UC and many end users are skeptical about the tangible benefits the solution can provide. Considering the region’s cultural issues, deeper market penetration of the product necessitates the introduction of proper promotional tactics to spearhead the wider adoption of the technology.

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This new analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.conferencing.frost.com), Voice Enterprise Communication Trends in the South American Telecom Market, based on a survey of carriers, broadband and Internet providers, and mobile operators, aims to assess business communications priorities, problems adopting new technologies, status of different technologies, and investments priorities in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides a brief synopsis of the research and a table of contents, then send an e-mail to Catalina Rossini, Corporate Communications, at catalina.rossini@frost.com, with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and country. Upon receipt of the above information, a brochure will be sent to you by e-mail.

Our end-user research, finds that most telecom end-users of new enterprise communications technologies will keep investing in IP telephony and UC. While over 50 percent of companies interviewed already have some type of IP telephony deployed, more than 15 percent are considering adopting it, and above 85 percent are considering increasing investments in UC.

“In the short term, companies seem to be prioritizing applications that allow them to cut costs, but with some level of business improvement,” says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Raphael Ayres Barone. “IP telephony has proved to be advantageous for cutting call costs and with it, UC can be a major business process changing tool, especially when its main benefits of efficiency, collaboration, and cost cutting are considered.”

Vendors will require as much information as they can gather directly from the target market to better position their products and devise new strategies. Current and future investments in both technologies have become critical for the telecom end user.

Earlier, the strategies implemented for UC were not very organized, and the concept itself was vague and undefined. Many services came to the spotlight, particularly during 2008, encouraging companies to demand more information. It is crucial for UC providers to strive toward greater visibility of the advantages and promote understanding of the unified communications concept. The absence of such a strategy can have detrimental effects on market progression.

To help expedite the uptake of UC, vendors must take into account factors such as South America’s differences from the rest of the world, the large number of small and medium companies in the region, and the need for generating strong ROI in the short term. Promoting the right idea from a customized point of view will be the key.

“Some vendors have resorted to collaboration to demonstrate UC,” explains Barone. “So far, the strategy has been successful, but along with it, providers will have to focus on productivity, mobility, efficiency gains, and demonstrate immediate ROI among other benefits that a company could acquire through UC.”

Some verticals such as the financial and telecom segments have begun to exhibit more interest in UC applications. Besides these sectors, the government and services segments have emerged as potential areas of focus for UC solutions in Latin America.

“When asked about future plans for IP telephony, more than 75 percent of the interviewees said they will increase investments,” notes Barone. “In addition, almost 90 percent of the companies said they would increase investments in UC.”

Road shows and aggressive marketing campaigns must be unleashed to push adoption of UC to the next level. As end users are becoming more result-driven, leading companies in the market for IP telephony and UC have developed interesting strategies by offering a variety of solutions as well as integrating their equipment with other providers.

Voice Enterprise Communication Trends in the South American Telecom Market is part of the Conferencing and Collaboration Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: Latin America enterprise communications solutions, understanding the unified communications market in Latin America, Latin America contact center solutions market, Latin America web conferencing services market. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

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Voice Enterprise Communication Trends in the South American Telecom Market

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    Contact:
    Catalina Rossini
    Corporate Communications - Latin America
    P: + 54-11-4777-4777
    F: + 54-11-4777-0071
    E: catalina.rossini@frost.com

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan