The 2008 Nemertes Research PilotHouse Awards dinner for VOIP and Unified Communications were held Monday, November 10, 2008 at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco.

PilotHouse and Innovator Award winners were recognized and honored for their achievements.

Nemertes 2008 VOIP and Unified Communications PilotHouse Innovator Awards

Nemertes presented Innovator awards to 16 organizations that have effectively leveraged VOIP and UC to improve their operations. The awards are based on a multi-faceted point system, evaluating several criteria such as how efficiently organizations are implementing VOIP and how many UC applications they use. These companies include American Family Insurance Group, BAE Systems, Inc., Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Dallas, Cadence Design Systems Inc., City of Oakland, Finisar Corporation, Georgia Technology Authority, Insight Financial Credit Union, MaRS Discovery District, McKesson Corporation, Monsanto Company, New York Life Insurance Company, Olin College of Engineering, Safeway Insurance Group, Sempra Energy, and Shaw Industries Group, Inc.

Nemertes 2008 PilotHouse Awards - Top VOIP Providers

For the past five years, Nemertes has asked IT decision-makers to rate their VOIP vendors. This year marks our largest project ever. We have a plethora of ratings — 555 to be exact — for 24 different VOIP vendors.

These ratings are incredibly useful for companies evaluating a new VOIP strategy, or those reassessing an existing one. They also are integral to companies evaluating unified-communications options, as VOIP is a key part of any UC strategy. And, they help vendors evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their competitive positioning.

What makes this project so different from any other research available? The results are based 100% on the views and experiences of actual customers of several VOIP vendors. Nemertes’ staff determines the methodology, conducts the research and analyzes the findings. But we have no influence over how any given vendor performs. The opinions rest with real customers. In addition, no vendors sponsor this research.

Click here to see a list of the winners.

Nemertes 2008 PilotHouse Awards - Top Unified Communications Providers

As part of Nemertes’ Unified Communications and Collaboration research project, 443 IT executives from 426 companies rated their unified-communications vendors. PilotHouse Awards recognize vendors who received the highest average scores in several categories. UC decision-makers rated their vendors on customer service, value, technology, product features, and management tools.

Best Overall UC Vendors

• Microsoft Corp. - Winner
• Cisco Systems, Inc. - Finalist
• IBM - Finalist

Congratulations to all the winners and guests.