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Eastern Management Group Study Finds Open Source PBX is 18 Percent of North America Market

BRIDGEWATER, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Open Source PBXs accounted for 18 percent of the 15.88 million line market for business telephone systems in North America in 2008, based on a new Eastern Management Group study "2009 Open Source PBX Market Forecast". This represents a 40 percent growth of Open Source PBXs in the last year. Open Source now accounts for a larger slice of the market than any single manufacturer of PBXs, and eight percent more than Nortel, the largest traditional vendor.

"A market shift is under way and has been since Open Source PBXs arrived", said John Malone CEO of the Eastern Management Group. "Traditional telephone system manufacturers are now, largely unknowingly, competing for a bigger share of a shrinking market." Since Open Source PBX software may be downloaded for free on the Internet, many people historically, and incorrectly, conclude its existence resides solely in laboratories and technology companies according to the study. However, notes Malone, "When the fog lifts, we find Open Source is the PBX of choice for a large and growing share of the commercial marketplace."

Eastern Management Group determined OS PBXs are used in every industry. Forty percent of businesses that installed Open Source PBXs in 2008 were not technology companies, but organizations such as, Government, Schools, Retail, Medical and Finance. Large and small businesses are installing one or more Open Source PBXs. Hundreds of companies surveyed have more than a thousand employees. Dozens have more than 20,000.

Driving the growth of Open Source PBXs is its inexpensive price. The cost of a system may be 40 percent below that of a traditional PBX or key system, which is compelling for IT managers who previously might not have thought of acquiring an Open Source PBX. The study "2009 Open Source PBX Market Forecast" is available from the Eastern Management Group.

About the Eastern Management Group

The Eastern Management Group is a global research and consulting firm advising clients in the telecommunications industry. For more than a quarter century, the Eastern Management Group has proven itself the leading provider of market information to 450 clients worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.easternmanagement.com