Hosted VoIP tops one million in the US

Hosted Voice over IP (VoIP) in the US topped one million connections at the end of last year, a new report claims.

According to analysis firm Frost & Sullivan's study titled North American Hosted IP Telephony Service Markets, the number of hosted VoIP lines could also grow to 3.6 million by 2014.

Elka Popova, the firm's global program director, said that many companies opt for unified communications such as VoIP due to an ability to secure a complete package from a single provider.

Ms Popova added that firms are also increasingly seeking hosted solutions which allow them to focus on "core business processes" while also testing new applications "without making a capital investment".

"Further, providers should seek to develop an eco-system of partnerships to jointly enhance market awareness and be able to offer customers a range of interoperable solutions and capabilities," she added.

According to a report by research firm TeleGeography, there was an estimated 35 million consumer VoIP lines in Europe at the close of 2008.