Telecommunication manufacturers continue to focus on SMBs telephony market in 2008.

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According to a study conducted by Database and analyst group, TelecomTactics, a division of T3i Group LLCThe telecom, more manufacturers are focusing on small and medium business while introducing new telephone systems. More than two-third of new telephony business introduced in 2008 were targeted at small and mid-size businesses.

Database and analyst group, TelecomTactics, a division of T3i Group LLC, findings:

Small and Mid-size Business (SMB):

Leading manufacturers like Aastra, AltiGen, Avaya, Cisco, Epygi, ESI, Grandstream, Mitel, NEC, Nortel, Panasonic, Toshiba and Vertical Communications have introduced nearly 20 new platforms in 2008.

Some telephone manufacturers introduced new products in their existing product families while other telephone manufacturers entered new market segment by introducing their new products.

Here are some telephone manufacturers who introduced new products in their existing product families.

• Toshiba’s Strata CIX1200, Nortel’s Business Communications Manager 450 (BCM450) and Epygi’s QuadroM 32x introduce a higher capacity version within their respective product families, and also provide an affordable migration for the installed customer base.

Here are some telephone manufacturers who introduced new product in new market segment

• Grandstream, which is actually a designer and manufacturer of SIP phones, IP Video phones and analog adapters and gateways since 2002, entered the VoIP system market in 2008 with its first IP PBX - the GXE502x for smaller businesses. AltiGen which is actually a business phone system provider that previously focused on SMBs and distributed businesses opened a new market with the MAX Communications Server that is a software-based VoIP phone system for larger businesses.

Top applications for SMBs in 2008 focused on business continuity with capabilities that facilitate collaboration and the ability to reach others quickly and efficiently. Manufacturers are focusing on time-saving improvements and cost savings possibilities with new unified communications software.

Larger Enterprises:

Though SMB systems dominated in 2008, larger businesses were not completely overlooked. Manufacturers introduced several new enterprise-level systems, including software-based VoIP phone systems from Aastra and AltiGen.

• The Aastra 5000 IP telephony software, based on open standards and the Linux operating system, scales from 500 to 150,000 users (15,000 per server) and can accommodate 2,000 sites.
• AltiGen’s MAX Communications Server (handles up to 5,000 users or 1,000 users per single server) is a software-based VoIP phone system that runs on standard Intel-based servers and integrates with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 unified messaging and Microsoft Office Communicator

2008 Rollouts

Source : T3i Group LLC, Tarifica TelecomTactics TelecomWeb InfoTrack

In 2008, more than two-third of new telephony business introduced were targeted at small and mid-size businesses. With the current economic landscape, do you think the trend will continue in year 2009? Will manufacturers continue to focus on SMBs?