A survey of frequent mobile phone users carried out by communications software company Aricent has found that the vast majority are willing to sacrifice cost and quality of service in favour of convenience. The study found that phone users are keen to embrace converged services, which can include applications such as a single phone book and contact list for all devices. Aricents survey findings also indicate that despite the continuing emergence of new applications, the address book remains the primary killer app on a mobile phone.
The study, which polled 110 attendees at the 2007 NXTcomm conference in Chicago this in June, found that nearly half (51%) of respondents choose to use their mobile phone, rather than a fixed line, at home, solely due to the convenience of the mobile phones address book. Almost two-thirds (60%) of respondents said that that they choose to use their mobile phone instead of a landline at work for the same reason.
When queried about their preference for one or multiple phone numbers, an overwhelming majority of respondents (79%) indicated a desire for a shared fixed and mobile phone number for work use. 55% expressed interest in a shared office and personal mobile number, and 48% for a shared office and home number. 49% said they would prefer a shared number for nearly all of their communications devices, including office, home, work and personal mobile.
Respondents also indicated that 52% of their total mobile voice calls are made in the office or at home, and additionally replied that nearly three quarters of their total mobile connections were voice connections only.
Regardless of their personal usage patterns and habits, consumers continue to grow increasingly savvy and are likely to be very receptive of next-generation technologies such as femtocells, voice call continuity, and multimedia services says Aricent Vice President, Marketing, Jashojit Roy. The results of this survey strongly support Aricents position in the market and offer evidence that Aricents communications software products will see strong adoption as equipment manufacturers, device manufacturers and service providers continue to build out their next-generation architectures.”
You can see the results of the survey here.