In-Stat and Wainhouse Research say that unified communications products and services will account for $48.7B in sales by 2012. Unified communications include presence, instant messaging, IP telephony, audio conferencing, web conferencing, mobility services and video conferencing. The prediction is notable because it is more than double the spending on unified communications services in 2007. Currently, the market is worth $22.6 billion.

Unified communications has received a growing interest from network managers, CIOs and other network professionals, not only for its abilities to improve productivity, but also its impact on the corporate network. As workers become more mobile, businesses will need to adopt and adapt their unified communications strategies in the face of dramatic changes expected in the field in the next five years.