Cisco fights for 'fair share of SMB pie' with unified communications gear

Cisco this week unveiled two unified communications products optimized for small and midsize businesses, a market Cisco admits it needs to increase share in.

The products

The products, rolled out at the Cisco Partner Summit here, are designed to provide clients with more affordable business-class collaboration systems than those sold to larger enterprises. Cisco has an 8% share of the $33 billion total addressable market for SMBs and midsize companies, Cisco executives at the conference said.

"The average SMB keeps their phone system 15 years," says Steve Hilton of Analysys Mason. "The price points [of the new Cisco products] are good for both developed and developing markets."

The 320W as well includes a 4-port Gigabit Ethernet switch with VLAN support, a Gigabit Ethernet WAN port to connect to the Internet, and a built-in 802.11b/g/n wireless access point.

The 3000 features voicemail

The 3000 features voicemail, conferencing, the ability to park or hold calls, auto attendant, single number reach, extension mobility, and the ability to connect business calls and voicemail messages to telework employees. It works with the Cisco Unified SIP Phone 3905, which includes fixed keys for redial, transfer, hold and resume, speakerphone, volume toggle, and a PC switch port to reduce cabling installation requirements.