VoIP and IP PBX services see growth

Worldwide revenue from hosted VoIP and managed IP PBX services increased 52 per cent to $24 billion (£12 million) in 2007 after a leap of 66 per cent in 2006, research has found.

The numbers came from Infonetics Research, a communications market research firm, which expects growth to continue in double-digits until at least the end of 2011.

It also found that VoIP services are outpacing IP PBX by some margin, with residential services behind the growth.

"While VoIP services are being embraced by consumers worldwide, businesses have been comparatively slower in their adoption due to various roadblocks," said the directing analyst for enterprise voice and data at Infonetics, Matthias Machowinski.

"This is about to change, though, as technical issues are resolved."

He gave an example of PBX manufacturers adding SIP trunking interfaces to their equipment.

"These kinds of developments will boost the overall VoIP business services segment for years to come," he added.

Another highlight from the report was that North America and EMEA had the largest growth in residential VoIP subscribers between 2006 and 2007.

EMEA was equal with Asia Pacific and North America in 2007 but is expected to go ahead and lead until 2011.