Nemertes Impact Analysis:

Aastra (TSX: AAH) announced a new version of its Solidus eCare contact center solution that now includes a SIP-based UC client, InTouch, and a “Lite” version, aimed at contact centers with fewer than 50 agents. This move emphasizes the growing demand for UC applications for all size contact centers to quickly reach subject matter experts and meet changing customer preferences in how they communicate.

More than half (52%) of organizations plan to bring UC into the contact center and 46% plan to support virtual contact center workers. A key requirement is to deliver a solution that provides both agents and SMEs outside the walls of the contact center common access to tools such as presence management, corporate directory searches and instant messaging.
Impacts:

Enterprises: Evaluate scalable contact center solutions that extend routing and enable multi media support: calls, e-mails, SMS, internet collaboration, fax and Web chat, beyond the walls of the contact center.
Vendors: Your product must support multiple UC applications. Focus on SIP-based solutions to facilitate deployments across multiple sites or mixed PBX environments.

Investors: Demand for UC in the contact center bodes well for vendors with a strong UC focus, including: Privately held Aspect, Avaya and Interactive Intelligence, as well as Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU), Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) and ShoreTel (NASDAQ:SHOR).

By Katherine Trost, Research Analyst

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