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Global Tabletop Audio Conferencing Endpoints Market: USB Appliances for Softphone Conferencing Begin to Make Major Impact on the Market
Frost & Sullivan, Jan 2012, Pages: 93
This study covers conferencing endpoints that sit on a conference table or used as a personal conferencing device, which provide high-end audio functionality such as echo cancellation and full duplexing. With increased penetration of Unified Communications and use of audio services such as Skype, the market for universal service bus (USB) audio conferencing endpoints is showing high growth. Because of the importance of the USB market, Frost & Sullivan has segmented this study into USB appliances for connection to a computer with softphone capabilities and non-USB, IP/TDM appliances that function directly with a voice network.
Major Research Findings
While the majority of this growth came from global pent-up capital spending, some growth was the result of new purchasing patterns that focused on personal conferencing in the desktop and executive office. This new trend has driven growth in USB appliances that take advantage of softphone applications and other unified communication platforms. Because this trend is expected to continue, Frost & Sullivan has decided to include more USB appliance revenue in its forecasts than in the past and has divided the market into two segments: USB and non-USB. For both segments, developing global regions will continue with higher than average revenue growth rates, as has been the case in the market for several years. However, in some regions, particularly Asia Pacific, the user preferences and use cases tend to favor USB appliances than in North America and Europe. Because of this, revenue growth of USB is expected to be particularly pronounced in those regions.
Market Definitions
A tabletop audio conferencing unit is defined as an integrated, portable product which, when connected to a suitable communications network, enables one or more people at a location to engage in a high-quality telephone conversation with other parties at a far-end location.
Each unit includes a speaker, microphone, and an optional keypad and/or software interface for user control. Also incorporated are technologies to ensure audio quality, such as audio noise reduction, echo cancellation, and anti-clipping.
Each unit can be connected to a communications network in a number of ways:
- RJ45 cable connection to a digital IP desktop phone
- RJ45 cable connection to in-wall phone outlet
- LAN connection via Ethernet cable
- LAN connection via wi-fi
- Computer connection via USB cable
Key Market Trends
Continuing from recent years in this market, the highest growth rates will be in developing areas of the world and those with high economic growth with developing economies. BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) have those characteristics and should lead the growth in audio conferencing service usage and, correspondingly, tabletop device implementation greenfield deployments that are rare in many other countries because hiring and overall growth has diminished.
Beyond macroeconomic drivers, the increased usage of personal conferencing products that can connect via USB, IP, circuit-switched, or even mobile have a higher growth rate than the traditional “group” tabletop product lines.
While integration of audio conferencing into unified communications is driving the adoption of new types of tabletop units, there are two distinct usage cases for this: IP units with optimization for UC platforms such as Microsoft Lync, and USB units that maximize UC softphone capabilities. The advantage of IP is that it is always on and is not dependent on data networks outside the audio infrastructure, such as an IP PBX, while USB has a generally lower price point and is more fully integrated with the virtual desktop.
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