Demand for VoIP to grow during the downturn

Despite the current economic downturn, the market for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) will grow strongly over the next five years, new research reveals.

According to a new report by Infonetics Research, the VoIP service market grew by 33 per cent in 2008 to surpass $30.8 billion (£20.554 billion).

The study also reveals that in the first three months of 2009, service providers have experienced a 40 to 50 per cent increase in year-on-year demand for IP Centrex.

Diane Myers, the firm's directing analyst of service provider VoIP and IMS, said that consumer and business demand for VoIP endures in the downturn due to the "cost savings they provide".

"We expect hosted UC [unified communications] services to take off, with worldwide revenue doubling between 2009 and 2013, and we forecast SIP trunking service revenue to hit an 89 per cent compound annual growth rate from 2008 to 2013," she added.

In other news, TMCnet's Stefania Viscusi recently pointed out that companies deploying VoIP can boost their customer's experience while also cutting costs.