T3i Group Report Says 2008 Growth in Global Contact Centers Increases Probability of 2009 Shipment Declines

Despite slight growth last year, T3i Group forecasts deeper declines for 2009.

Parsippany, NJ (PRWEB) June 18, 2009

T3i Group's latest research on contact center shipments shows 2008's growth in global agents, though slight at 1.6%, was due in part to customers accelerating purchases in anticipation of budget cuts. In addition, Canada's 17% market growth reflected Cisco's success in the Canadian service provider market, which is unlikely to be repeatable in 2009.

Consequently, T3i Group forecasts deeper declines for 2009 than would result from the current recession alone, identifying three other factors that will slow global contact center growth this year:

• The increasing percentage of contact center budgets being spent on self service and agent productivity improvement
• The declining outsource growth rate
• Adoption of hosted contact center solutions in lieu of capital expenditures

According to T3i Group's "InfoTrack for Converged Applications Full Year 2008 Global Contact Center Report," shipments of Internet Protocol (IP) agents grew from 62.7% of new shipments in 2007 to more than 70% in 2008, demonstrating the rapid maturation of this base technology. T3i Group analysts estimate IP agent penetration (of new agents) will reach 91% globally by 2013, with the majority of non-IP agents being add-ons to older systems.

Although down 3.7 points from 2007, Avaya continued to lead every global region with 37.6% of the total shipments. Genesys, Cisco and Mitel experienced the largest gains, but only Cisco grew in every region.

Canada and Asia Pacific (APAC) agent shipments experienced double-digit growth, and the United States was up 1%, whereas the Europe Middle East Africa (EMEA) and Caribbean Latin America (CALA) regions were down (with CALA attributing its downturn to several manufacturers that could not duplicate 2007's growth in 2008, particularly in Brazil).

"Last year was tough for new CPE-based agent sales. Of the top five global manufacturers, only two grew their shipments in 2008, and the remainder declined 16%. This year will be even worse," said Ken Dolsky, Senior Program Director for the InfoTrack for Converged Applications (ICA) program at T3i Group. "I expect 2009 will show who has real marketing and sales power," he concluded.

Related Reports

This report is one of several contact center analyses published by T3i Group. Others include:

• Global IVR (CPE-based) Shipments and Market Shares for 2008 and 1H09
• Shipments and Shares of the Hosted Contact Center and IVR Markets for 2008 and 1H09 (also includes shipments/shares of hosted IP telephony and messaging markets)
• Global Market Demand (primary customer research) for Hosted Contact Center and IVR (also includes demand for hosted IP telephony, messaging and key unified communications applications)
• Contact Center Shipments and Shares by Country for Eastern EMEA for 1H08 and full-year 2008

For more information about "InfoTrack for Converged Applications Full Year 2008 Global Contact Center Report" or for any of the reports listed above, go to http://www.telecomweb.com/ICAccFY08 or contact Bonnie Fairbrother (bfairbrother @ t3igroup.com, 973/602-0181).

About the InfoTrack for Converged Applications (ICA) Program:
InfoTrack for Converged Applications is an ongoing market and competitive intelligence program focused on telephony-related applications which are quickly evolving based on IP (converged) technologies. These applications are recognized by manufacturers, resellers and end-customers as important tools to improve employee productivity and increase external customer satisfaction, thus adding value to an IP-based telecommunications infrastructure. ICA databases and models are used to track, analyze and forecast application endpoint and system shipments, installed base, market shares, manufacturer revenues and industry trends. For more information about the ICA program, please visit http://www.telecomweb.com/marketresearch/convergedapps/.

About T3i Group LLC:
T3i Group LLC provides market research, data, analysis, and consulting and advisory services to the telecommunications industry. It has clients in 46 countries and conducts its business through four operating units: InfoTech, which publishes reports that analyze shipment, revenue, market share and other pertinent data of importance to telecommunications equipment manufacturers; TelecomTactics, which maintains a database of the features and functionality of major telephony systems; Tarifica, which maintains a database of pricing-related information covering 400 telecommunications carriers operating in 130 countries; and TelecomWeb (http://www.t3igroup.com), which serves as T3i Group's primary delivery mechanism for distributing its reports, analyses and data to subscribers.

T3i Group LLC is headquartered in Parsippany, N.J.; with additional offices in New York City; London, England; and Cherry Hill, N.J.

Press Contact: Debra Baker, 301/905-7703

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