Businesses strengthened VoIP in 2009

Many businesses already using IP telephony solutions spent last year fortifying the proportion of their voice services dedicated to VoIP phones, In-Stat has said.

According to research by the market intelligence company, this meant that many companies did not expand their VoIP solutions to new locations.

In-Stat's research also found that the proportion of businesses with VoIP capabilities but no traditional TDM voice services rose in 2009.

Hosted telephony, such as IP Centrex and broadband IP telephony, proved popular with businesses in 2009, at the expense of IP PBX.

In-Stat warned that, while the economy and high-tech investments are showing signs of recovering slowly, patience may be needed in anticipating improvements in IP equipment investments.

The healthy growth of the IP telephony solutions market will continue over the next few years, IBISWorld said recently.

George Van Horn, senior analyst at the industry market research company, said that the growth of the VoIP market is expected to "stay strong" in the near future.

He identified enhanced call quality, increased broadband access and the rising profile of the technology's benefits as the drivers for the market over the next few years.