VoIP News

IP PBX is the IP telephony solutions platform that European organisations are most likely to opt for, IDC has said.

A recent survey by the IT market intelligence firm found that over 36 per cent of the companies polled had adopted IP PBX managed services.

This was followed by broadband-based VoIP solutions and dedicated hosted telephony, according to the Evolution of IP Telephony in Western European Vertical Markets: An IDC Survey.

The IDC report also found that, while over seven in every ten businesses are aware of IP telephony, familiarity is very different depending on business type.

While 80 per cent of companies in healthcare, transport, and manufacturing are familiar with VoIP, only 60 per cent of media, government, retail/wholesale, and utilities/oil and gas organisations are.

However, VoIP adoption is almost the same across all business types, with uptake ranging between 18 to 28 per cent in seven out often sectors.

Healthcare and transport are the only sectors with an adoption level over 30 per cent.

Hosted PBX is being adopted by enterprises to meet their VoIP needs because of the business-specific benefits it can offer, market intelligence company In-Stat said recently.

Posted on: 2010-03-10, in: IP PBX

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IP telephony solutions are still the fastest growing part of the enterprise voice market, Synergy Research Group has said.

VoIP solutions made up almost 70 per cent of the total telephony market last year, according to figures from the market research company.

The rest of the total telephony market was made up by legacy sectors such as PBX and KTS telephone systems.

However, the enterprise voice market, which includes IP PBX, IP/TDM PBX, and VoIP phones, fell by over 23 per cent in Western Europe in 2009.

The growth in the fourth quarter of 2009 was stronger than any quarter since the fourth quarter of 2007 though, while the second half of the year showed solid improvement.

Increased competition and limited customer spending due to economic turmoil meant that the prospects of IP telephony vendors varied over the course of the year.

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

The market intelligence company's research also found that the proportion of businesses with VoIP capabilities but no traditional TDM voice services rose in 2009.

Posted on: 2010-03-10, in: General VoIP

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Smartphones are fuelling a growing demand for mobile data, ABI Research has said.

The technology market intelligence company has predicted that mobile internet revenues will grow as take-up of VoIP solutions and other web-based smartphone apps accelerates.

Stuart Carlaw, vice president and CRO (Chief Research Officer) at ABI Research, said: "The growing popularity of internet-capable handsets will drive the increasing adoption of mobile data among consumers".

Mobile internet service revenues are forecast to grow 9.4 per cent year-on-year between 2009 and 2015, driven by smartphones used in conjunction with the like of IP telephony solutions.

Mobile internet revenues in developed markets like Western Europe grew 17 per cent between the third-quarter of 2008 and the third-quarter of 2009. This trend is expected to continue in 2010.

Sales of smartphones were vigorous in 2009, despite a drop in handset shipments. Smartphones are predicted to drive the anticipated growth in mobile internet revenues in 2010.

VoIP phones are making the transition from the fixed-line to the mobile space, RCR Wireless News said recently.

Dan Meyer, editor at the wireless communications news and information source, said that VoIP is "the latest technology advancement creeping from the wired to the wireless world".

Posted on: 2010-03-10, in: General VoIP

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A new body - BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK) - has been formed to make sure that UK users can enjoy next-generation VoIP traffic by 2012, along with a host of other benefits which nationwide, two megabit per second broadband will bring.

The body - BDUK - was launched earlier this month by the Treasury.

Stephen Timms, the UK's minister for Digital Britain, said: "Taking advantage of new technologies like next-generation broadband is vital to the growth of the UK's economy and it's important that all homes and businesses can access the opportunities faster speeds bring."

The plan to offer 2Mbps (megabits per second) broadband to all UK households by 2012 will allow for next-generation VoIP communications across the country, easing and lowering the process and costs of calling the UK using a digital phone service from the UK.

It is hoped that the body will also serve as an effective overseer of the ISPs and telecoms as they play their part in upgrading the country's ageing broadband infrastructure for greater VoIP traffic effectiveness.

Posted on: 2010-03-09, in: Broadband

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Almost four out of five people believe that access to the internet, which supports VoIP traffic, is a fundamental right, according to a poll conducted for the BBC World Service.

The survey of over 27,000 adults across 26 countries found strong support for universal net access, aligning the views of the public with those of the United Nations, which is pushing for universal access to the internet.

Universal access to the internet makes it possible for a globe-spanning, intra-country VoIP network, which would cut international calling costs dramatically.

Along with this, in the report 50 per cent of surveyed individuals strongly agreed that access to the internet should be a fundamental human right, while 29 per cent somewhat agreed.

Only seven per cent of people disagreed with this belief, underlining the importance of the internet to consumers across the world.

The news should come as no surprise to most consumers, who use the internet for a variety of things. However the widespread support is encouraging and suggests that almost four in five people, worldwide, are also pro-VoIP.

Posted on: 2010-03-09, in: Broadband

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