Future of VoIP 'rests with large companies'

Whether voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is set to make the jump into the mainstream or not depends on decisions made by the largest companies in western Europe and the US, it has been suggested.

According to a report from ABI Research, these firms will play a pivotal role in future expansion of the market, with hosted services set to be a central part of that growth.

Originally, hosted VoIP telephony held most appeal for smaller firms as they rarely have a large enough IT department to cope with running a system in-house, unlike larger firms who may have the budget to set up and manage their own IP PBX.

However, the attraction of hosted PBX systems may be set to increase.

ABI Research vice president and research director Stan Schatt said: "Increasingly, hosted services will interest larger organisations and will be offered by a greater number of service providers as premises-deployed, small-business VoIP solutions become more cost-effective."

He suggested that the advanced features which can be offered by hosted services may begin to attract larger firms which may be wary of losing market share to smaller companies using the better communications technology.

Posted on: 2007-09-26, in: General VoIP

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