Long-Term Impacts of Evolving Cloud Communications Trends on Telecom Operators

Long-Term Impacts of Evolving Cloud Communications Trends on Telecom Operators


Trusted Voice and Integration Services Drive Growth for Providers in a Collaboration-First Market
Frost & Sullivan’s 2023 IT decision-maker (ITDM) survey was conducted to gain insights on the following end-user organizations’ priorities:
• Current communications and collaboration technology adoption rates and future adoption plans
• Current adoption and future demand for Microsoft Teams Phone and Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile, as well as public switched telephone
network (PSTN) enablement of Teams environments
• Preferences among available PSTN deployment options, including Direct Routing, Operator Connect, and mobile/native dialer offerings.

The overall research objective is to measure the current use and future decision-making behavior toward communications and collaboration solutions across industry verticals, customer segments, job roles and geographic regions. More specifically, this study provides analysis on adoption trends and strategic opportunities for telecommunications operators, service providers and technology vendors to grow in the Bring Your Own Carrier (BYOC) ecosystem.


  • Research Objectives
  • Research Methodology and Structure
    • Research Methodology
    • Respondent Demographics
  • Introduction and Industry Opportunity
    • Introduction
    • The UCaaS Disruption: The Merging of Telephony Services and Cloud Applications
    • The UCaaS Disruption: The Rise of UCaaS Resale Models
    • The Microsoft Effect and the Telecom Opportunity
  • Microsoft Teams Phone and Telecommunications Trends
    • Cloud or Mobile PBX Services Adoption
    • Current Cloud or Mobile PBX/UCaaS Solutions/Providers
    • Future Cloud or Mobile PBX/UCaaS Solutions Providers
    • Current and Future Enterprise Telephony/Business Call Control Environments with Microsoft Teams Phone in Use
    • Regional Adoption and Future Plans for Microsoft Teams Phone
    • Adoption and Future Plans for Microsoft Teams Phone and External PSTN Calling Among Vertical Markets
    • Adoption Analysis of Microsoft Teams Phone and External PSTN Calling
    • Preferred Methods of Connecting Microsoft Teams to the PSTN
    • Preferred Method of PSTN-enabling Teams Phone Analysis
  • Reframing Voice Services in a Collaboration-First Market
    • Importance of a Fully Integrated UCaaS Solution
    • The Collaboration-First Market
    • Approaches and Responsibilities for Voice Services Integration
    • Customer-managed Communications Infrastructure
    • Provider-managed SBC Services
    • Session Border Controller as a Service
    • Integrated Calling Plans
    • Carrier-integrated Services
    • Reframing Voice Services in a Collaboration-First Market
  • Key Findings
    • Key Strategic Takeaways
  • Appendix
    • Why Is It Increasingly Difficult to Grow?
    • The Strategic Imperative 8
    • Growth Opportunities Fuel the Growth Pipeline Engine

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