VoIP services market to double by 2015

The global market for business VoIP services will double between now and 2015, a new report by ABI Research has shown.

According to the analyst's predictions, the value of the market including SIP trunking, hosted IP PBX and managed services will exceed $20 billion within five years' time.

Last year, the market displayed strong growth, despite the economic situation, as companies looked at ways of cutting their communications costs.

Subha Rama, senior analyst at ABI Research, explained: "The trend of companies outsourcing their communications infrastructure has taken off in earnest, as enterprise decision-makers look for cost savings without having to compromise on features and functionality."

The expert explained that SIP trunking has seen considerable growth in its installed base and revenues over the past 18 months, due to its promise of centralised management and administration.

"Overall, the growth momentum seen in 2009 was sustained in the first half of 2010 as companies continued to shy away from capital investments," Rama added.

According to ABI Research's forecast, the market will grow at a compound annual rate of between 13 per cent and 19.6 per cent over the next five years.