HILVERSUM, The Netherlands, September 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- Integration of PC and Phone is Key in Improving Enterprise Business Communications

Research commissioned by NEC, a global leader in enterprise business communications, shows that business is hampered by a lack of communication skills and tools.

With employees exchanging more and more information through various means such as mobile phone, e-mail and IM, it is becoming increasingly challenging for organisations to ensure their staff are able to handle the sea of information and use the various methods of communication efficiently.

A lack of communication skills amongst staff is considered a key barrier preventing organisations achieving optimum effectiveness. A major annoyance is calls or messages ignored or left unanswered. Customers being transferred numerous times when calling in to an organisation, is also letting business down.

The biggest frustration with current telephone systems in place is not having the details of missed calls, while the lack of integration between the phone and IT systems is another big hick-up.

Across all countries respondents (41%) feel that a better integration between PC and phone would improve communications within their business. Though respondents expect new technologies such as IM will enable quicker responses, they are concerned customers will come to expect quicker reaction accordingly.

Many respondents (50%) felt a call identification system would improve communications within their business, as would a missed call alert function (44%).

"The solutions we offer overcome these barriers", says Paul Kievit, President of NEC Philips Unified Solutions. "Our UNIVERGE(R)360 approach places people at the centre of communications, making them more efficient, responsive and decisive. With our complete set of advanced applications, terminals and servers, including the newly introduced UNIVERGE SV8000 Series, this makes us uniquely positioned to truly change the way businesses communicate."

The research was conducted by Redshift Research across 7 European countries (Belgium, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, UK).

More information and supporting images:

http://content.nec-philips.com/hq/pressrelease/132

NEC Philips Unified Solutions is a leading provider of comprehensive communications solutions to organisations of all types and sizes and is part of NEC's global enterprise communications activity. NEC Philips Unified Solutions is headquartered in Hilversum, the Netherlands, and serves its customers through a global network of sales organisations and business partners. For more information: http://www.nec-philips.com.

For more information please contact: Robert van Amerongen, NEC Philips Unified Solutions, Tel: +31-35-689-1521, Email: robert.van.amerongen@nec-philips.com