Mass migration to VoIP, driven by applications

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 15 March 2006 15:30

Business IT - Technology

Integrated Research says its annual international VoIP survey shows four out of five organisations moving to IP telephony, and that this 'mass conversion' is being driven as much by IP applications and enhanced communication capabilities as by circuit-switched PABXs nearing the end of their life.

 Kailem Anderson, product manager, IP telephony products for Integrated Research said: "The results of the 2004 survey showed the key factors driving IP telephony adoption were the reduction of operating costs and the perception that IP telephony had come of age due to enhanced features such as video conferencing - I think those comments are justified by the 2005 Survey results, and I believe they continue to be the key factors.

"IP-based video conferencing was of immediate interest for 70 percent of those surveyed and this shows a clear willingness to exploit the enhanced capabilities that IP telephony provides over traditional telephony."

A total of 1,232 executives participated in the online study in late 2005. The US accounted for 34 percent of respondents; Europe, Australia/Oceania and Asia, Africa and the Middle East accounted for the remaining 66 percent.

Seventy-eight percent of those surveyed were at various stages of VoIP deployment or adoption. Only six percent were unsure of their plans to adopt the technology. One percent of deployments were considered to have failed, half during the testing or pilot phase and the remainder failing shortly after going 'live'.

The survey also showed Cisco's dominance of the market increasing from 43 percent in 2004 to 62 percent in 2005, and more organisations choosing to self deploy by up-skilling staff in the new technology rather than rely on systems integrators.