It is now December and, as usual, reports and press releases are starting to talk about the trends, more or less technological, for 2023. In the field of hybrid work, we hear talking about a slowdown in the trend, not in the adoption but in the design and spending for these systems. But not everyone agrees.
Poly, an undoubtedly qualified observer in the Unified Communication world, estimates that there is still space for growth, and has focused on certain trends, in particular the need to make structural what has been forced by necessity over the past two years. Corporate IT spending, according to Poly, has grown steadily since the pandemic: Gartner’s forecast (www.gartner.com) points out that in 2023, global spending in the communication services category is expected to increase by 2 per cent. As remote and hybrid working continues to expand, investment in the UC&C segment is expected to remain a priority for companies.
Interest in unified communications is expected to focus mainly on video conferencing, collaboration and UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) technologies, thus stimulating demand for certified UC products. The goal for companies, therefore, will be to invest in high-quality audio and video systems capable of ensuring maximum compatibility with these platforms, in order to provide an increasingly rich user experience.
Companies must be able to combine different working models (remote, hybrid and presential) offering an equal experience for each employee. UC&C solutions must be easy to install and manage: companies are expected to invest in collaborative solutions with voice over IP and video conferencing capabilities, while in the personal equipment universe, audio devices and portable UC speakerphones will be the most popular solutions. According to Ahmed Sousa, Head of Systems Engineering at Poly: ‘As a company with extensive experience in the UC&C sector, we continue to see a clear trend: the demand for unified communications solutions continues to grow. Large, medium and small companies, call centres and customer care services, which have adopted UC&C solutions before and during the pandemic, will continue to invest in unified communications transformation projects in the near future. Enterprises are increasingly aware of the benefits of advanced UC systems, which offer employees a more flexible, convenient and efficient way of working wherever they are“.
