Small and Medium Enterprise Business Communications in the UK

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Demand for new products and services, including unified communications

Convergence and unified services

Figure 7

What is your understanding of the term 'convergence' as it applies to the world of telecoms?

Customers' understanding of the term convergence is clear. Interestingly, only 20% associate the term with unified billing, despite the majority understanding it as converged delivery across all networks. Presumably, that means that they see convergence as getting multiple services across any one existing network, but still being billed individually for the networks that they use (fixed, mobile or internet connections).

Having largely understood what convergence means, do respondents want a unified supplier? Apparently, 6% already have one (see figure 8 below), but a far greater number - 57% - routinely try to minimize the number of suppliers they use in any field, but in this case they don't feel that there is a simple and cost-effective enough solution for them. That majority would seem to indicate a market that is wide open for the right offer.

This is particularly relevant given the result in figure 4 in which 55% wanted to achieve greater control of their telecommunications services - a unified suppler should be one distinct path to achieving that aim.

Figure 8

Which of the following best describes what you think about how your telephony, mobile and internet requirements are supplied