Traditional telephone companies 'to be replaced by VoIP'

The days of the traditional telephone companies are coming to an end as voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is putting an end to their long dominance of communications, it has been suggested.

Such are the widespread advantages of switching to VoIP systems in places of business that most decision makers "expect to exploit it in the near future", said David Brunnen, forum leader of the Communications Management Association (CMA).

He added that some organisations may be cautious of making the jump to VoIP, perhaps wanting assurances that they will still have rapid response times to calls or are still unsure of the security implications of a voice-data converged network.

He predicted: "Business communications will increasingly be a blend of many IP-based applications and include text, graphics, video and other sensory enhancements."

And in addition, Mr Brunnen said that customers may already be using VoIP unwittingly as it has been embedded into the core systems of many telecommunications companies.