Audio and Web Conferencing to Display Strong Growth

  

  

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It isn’t any surprise throughout the global economy that business travel is down. Too many companies are dealing with tighter budgets, scaled down operations and even fewer personnel to handle the daily business activities that drive revenue and keep the business viable in the market.

The challenge for the enterprise is to continue to drive effective communication and collaboration between colleagues, partners and customers. When face-to-face meetings are not possible or too expensive, these companies must rely on audio or Web conferencing in order to get the job done.

Research Shows Growth

A recent study released by Wainhouse Research reveals that Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) is expected to see significant growth throughout the global economy, presenting significant opportunity for those vendors operating in this space.

The report, "Worldwide Unified Communications Services Forecast" predicts the audio conferencing services market is also expected to see significant minute usage growth. The challenge for those players in the audio conferencing market is that the average selling price has fallen due to increased competition. New advancements in technology could change the playing field, benefitting end customers in the long run.

“Large companies who now outsource both email and audio/Web conferencing will be looking at adding presence-enabled messaging and conferencing as well as click-to-call and click-to-conference capabilities," said Wainhouse Research Senior Analyst and Partner E. Brent Kelly, in a statement.

The Economic Impact

The current state of the global economy is playing a significant role in the projections for UC and especially audio conferencing. The technologies that make up Unified Communications deliver considerable cost savings within the enterprise. As vendors educate clients on optimizing current implementations with available advancements, revenues will grow.

Challenges still remain, however, as companies have fewer resources to spread among their different divisions. Unless they are provided with hard dollar advantages in technologies, they are likely to put off implementation until the recovery is in full swing or at least their individual market enjoys growth.

Audio Conferencing Delivers Value

One advantage of audio conferencing is that it takes very little effort or even cost to implement the technology option into the enterprise and make its use a priority. Robust solutions available today from leading vendors integrate easily into current technology platforms and drive productivity and collaboration without driving significant change in the current culture.

At the end of the day, face-to-face meetings with always be the preferable communication method, but it is also the most expensive. To remain competitive, companies need technologies that enable them to drive productivity efficiently or risk obsolescence.