The Hindu Business Line : Cisco ships 100,000 IP phones to India

CISCO Systems on Wednesday announced that it has shipped 100,000 IP (Internet Protocol) phones in India by the end of December 2005. Cisco had introduced its range of IP phones in 2001 in the country and is the market leader, according to market studies.

"Reaching the 100,000 milestone in IP phone shipments speaks volumes about the cost and productivity benefits offered by IP communication systems. In just over a year, we have doubled our shipments in India and this reflects the growing acceptance of IP telephony in the enterprise voice market. There is no doubt in anyone's mind today that the future of voice is IP. Cisco will look to strengthen its technology and solutions expertise by offering solutions that address communication needs of its Indian customers," said Mr B. Ashok, Senior Vice-President - IT Services, Cisco Systems (India & SAARC).

The company said that large scale adoption of its IP-PBX solutions by Indian IT Services & IT-enabled Services organisations and as well as traditional sectors such as banking and finance and manufacturing had resulted in the numbers picking up.

In November 2005, Cisco had globally announced the shipment of its six millionth IP-Phone. Over 80 of Cisco's 30,000 customers have already deployed more than 5,000 IP phones. Cisco IP phones displaces more than 12,000 traditional phones every business day, a release said.