50,000 IP Telephones shipped to India
Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, has announced that it had shipped 50,000 IP telephones to India. Cisco Systems had introduced its range of IP (Internet Protocol) phones in India in 2001 and since then, has emerged as the leader in the Indian market.
"It is a significant accomplishment that Cisco has reached the 50,000 milestone in India. This is a strong proof point that IP communication systems are being adopted quickly by Indian enterprises and that companies are recognizing that IP architecture provides competitive advantages," said B Ashok, Senior Vice-President - IT Services, Cisco Systems (India & SAARC) in Chennai.
"There is no doubt in anyone's mind today that the future of voice is lP. Cisco will look to build on its technology and solutions expertise in lP-Telephony by offering solutions to Indian customers who are primed to address customer communication needs," he added.
Commenting on Cisco's success in the lP-Telephony space in India, Ashok, said, "Cisco bet early on IP being the future of voice communications. We have benefited greatly from being the pioneers of this technology in India and globally. Today, Cisco's IP Communications systems are helping more than 14,000 organizations globally; realize the potential to reduce costs and increase productivity and business flexibility. Now, our customers in India are able to realize the benefits delivered by a converged communications infrastructure."
Cisco's leadership in the Indian lP-Telephony space is "driven by the large scale adoption
of its lP-PBX. solutions by Indian enterprises, as well as the adoption of IP-based
solutions hy Indian IT Services & IT-enabled Services organizations. The spurt in the call
centre and business process outsourcing businesses in India has fuelled the IP telephony market, which is expected to record a 100 per cent growth this calendar year. The IP telephony market, according to IDC, is set to touch $60 million mark this year as compared to $30 million last year. The Indian IP telephony market is already seeing the highest growth in the domestic telecom sector and is expected to register an average of 60% (CAGR) over the next 3-5 years.
lP-based solutions will enable companies to deploy key services sueh as video conferencing, collaboration and other value-added options such as directory integration, XML integration, calling party name and number, calls received, missed calls and dialed calls and extension mobility, Ashok said. Cisco works with its partners to deliver these services to its customers in an easy-to-programme and easy-to-use platform, at a touch.
Cisco's current portfolio of IP phones (7900 series) are standards-based communication appliances that intemperate with JP telephony systems based on Cisco Call Manager or Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) call processing technologies. This family of JP and wireless II' phones provide a complete range of communication devices designed to take full advantage of a data network, while providing the convenience and ease-of-use of a business phone.
In April 2004, Cisco had globally announced the shipment of its 3 Millionth
lP-Phone, which marks another major milestone demonstrating Cisco's strong and sustained market momentum, Ashok pointed out.
In August 2002, Cisco announced that it had shipped 1 million IP phones, an accomplishment that took the company three and a half years to achieve. One year later, in July of 2003, Cisco announced that it reached the 2 million mark. Just eight months later, in April of 2004, Cisco's shipments increased from 2 million to 3 million IP phones, displacing more than 6,000 traditional business phones every business day.
RR
