A new report has identified business VOIP (voice over internet protocol) as one of the three telecommunications technologies likely to demonstrate the most rapid compound annual growth over the next half-decade.
The report, by telecommunications research organisation ATLANTIC–ACM, predicts that the growth in business VoIP will compensate for what it sees as the likely decline in more traditional business phone services.
The other two telephony areas predicted in the report as showing strong growth over the same period are machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions – whereby communications and connections are facilitated between different types of device – and business fibre optic cable relays.
The report, named ‘Data-Driven Developments: US Telecom Wired and Wireless Sizing and Share 2012-2017’, represents the 18th study of its kind looking at the status of the US telecommunications sector.
The study bases its findings on an analysis of performance indicators for 31 telecommunications products, focusing in particular on the activities of 33 major carriers operating in the telecommunications sector.
The report’s positive assessment of the future growth of business VoIP in the US broadly mirrors the outlook for the industry identified by forecasts for many other countries around the world, including the UK.
Most commentators agree that the benefits to most enterprises of adopting business VoIP and other internet protocol (IP) telephony products are likely to steer many of these firms away from landline-based business phone systems in the near future.
As well as the potential cost savings of switching to business VoIP, there are also advantages offered in terms of greater flexibility and scalability for business phone systems.
In addition, the IP telephony foundations of business VoIP can offer easy access to other premium services, including video conferencing.
The growth of business VoIP has also been greatly precipitated by the lower entry costs available through the services of a host business VoIP provider or VoIP reseller.
