Small and Medium Enterprise Business Communications in the UK

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Demand for new products and services, including unified communications

Location-based services

Location-based mobile services enable a seamless transition between mobile, wireless and fixed line communication options, charging a mix of different rates for usage depending on location (fixed indoor, mobile outdoor, typically). Do respondents see value in this sort of solution? 70% do, but for different reasons - 20% want (again) to take advantage of new products and services, 18% regard convenience as the paramount concern, and 32% see the facility as a cost-reduction opportunity.

Figure 15

Which of the following would prompt you to move to a location based solution?

Figure 16

What would deter you from moving to a location cased solution?

But there are potential problems associated with location-based services, the most important of which is concern over Quality of Service (QoS), cited by 55% of respondents as a potential deterrent.

The two charts above give a clear indication of both the desire for, and concern with, location-based services; the chart below analyses the major concerns by company size. Unsurprisingly, the smallest (single-person) companies are much less likely to see clear benefits for their business.

Concerns about security rise directly in line with company size (by employee numbers), which is again unsurprising given how larger companies need to operate and control both company information and telecoms usage.

Figure 17

What would deter you from moving to a location based solution?

There would appear to be some work for vendors to do to convince businesses on the subject of location-based services, But despite the concerns, it seems likely that such services have a strong potential future, particularly if they can harness the desire for least-cost routing expressed in figure 13.