Infonetics Research [1] is currently giving Cisco [2] and Microsoft [3] the lead in the battle for the unified communications market, but it's a battle that has just begun.  Avaya and Nortel also are recognized in the hunt for more UC dollars, according to the "User Plans for Unified Communications: North America 2008" study.

Companies are not yet convinced Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 is the way to go. Instead, they're sticking with their existing IP PBXes and layering UC applications on top. Microsoft is seeing success by leveraging their penetration in email messaging and desktop environments but incumbent IP telephony players (code for Cisco) are also faring well. 

More UC opportunities are anticipated for vendors because many buyers don't know who and/or what they will be buying two years out. Infonetics conducted interviews with 80 medium and large organizations based in North America, with more than 80 percent of those interviewed already adopting some type of UC solution.

In rating Avaya, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and Nortel, there were no clear winners, with all vendors getting knocked down for interoperability. Companies interviewed said they were adopting UC for improving employee productivity. UC is expected to start as a convergence of voice and email, with companies taking on more complex projects over time.

Is the desk phone dead? There's some data to suggest a decline in the use of the desktop handset, but it may take up to five years to be sure of any trend

For more:
- Check out Infonetics "Cisco, Microsoft locked in battle for unified communications market [4]" release

Related articles:
Dialogic: TDM Lives! SBCs doomed! Shopping! UC domination! [5]
Cisco vs. Microsoft in unified comms [6]