VoIP adoption continues to rise

More and more US companies are switching their telecommunication services to VoIP, at least in part, according to new figures.

A study conducted by Infonetics Research found that the market potential in America, which is arguably ahead of the UK and Europe for VoIP uptake rates, remains strong over the next few years.

In addition, so-called unified communications (UC) are continuing the drive into integrated systems that link VoIP with normal phones, mobiles, emails and messengers like Blackberries - keeping workers connected in a number of different yet easily accessible ways.

But companies are being slow to pick up on UC, despite the potential benefits in streamlining their business practices.

"We have all these great tools, but they work in isolation from each other," said Matthais Machowinski, directing analyst at Infonetics.

"To achieve their full efficiency, they will need to be integrated into the phone."

Mr Machowinski added that firms may take as much as a decade to catch up with technology as it took that long for VoIP to go from being a brand new product to a major communications tool for business.