18×8, Vonage Top IHS’ List of Top UCaaS Providers in North America
Unified communications as a service is taking hold in the workplace as a more cost-efficient and feature-rich alternative to the traditional PBX.
2Three Times a Charm for 8×8
8×8 has topped IHS’ list for three years in a row, and for three reasons, according to Diane Myers, senior research director for voice over IP (VoIP), UC and IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) at the analyst firm: “Its large installed base of UCaaS seats, financial position and continued execution on its market strategy.”
3Vonage Reaches No. 2
The company has broadened is UCaaS portfolio rapidly through acquisitions, including Simple Signal and iCore Networks in 2015.
4West Drops to No. 3 from No. 2
The company entered the communications services business in 2003 when it bought InterCall, and now has processed 64 billion telephony minutes, and facilitated 159 million conference calls and 290 million 911 emergency calls.
5Innovation, Customers Drive RingCentral
The company has the largest installed base of UCaaS customers, according to Myers. It also is the most innovative when it comes to products, and has been active in buying companies, such as Glip last year, and partnering with others, including Pexip.
6Mitel the Consolidator
Under CEO Rich McBee, Mitel has been aggressive in pivoting toward mobile and the cloud. The company has been an active buyer, acquiring Aastra Technologies and Mavenir. It now is in the processing of buying Polycom for $1.96 billion.
7Verizon Sees a Future in the Cloud
Verizon Enterprise Solutions has been moving into the cloud aggressively with the help of partnerships with vendors such as Cisco Systems, announcing in December 2015 it was providing new services based on Jabber and WebEx.
8Star2Star Reaches No. 7
Star2Star Communications turns 10 this year. It’s a small company—252 employees and $43.5 million in revenue in 2015—but it is making a name for itself in the UCaaS space.
9Broadview Brings It All Together With OfficeSuite
Broadview Networks offers its OfficeSuite platform to unify customers’ communications in the cloud, and the Website MyOfficeSuite as a central place for managing it all.
10ThinkingPhones Becomes Fuze, Hits No. 9
ThinkingPhones bought Fuze in November 2015, and three months later took the Fuze name and closed a $112 million round of funding.
11Nextiva Makes It Onto the List
The privately held UCaaS provider broke into the top 10 on the strength of its installed base of seats, according to IHS analysts.
12Close, but Not Quite There
Just missing making it onto the top 10 list were Comcast, ShoreTel, Cox, CoreDial and Windstream, the analysts said.
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