Take up of hosted IP telephony and hosted business VoIP is expected to grow significantly over the next decade, according to a new report on the future development of telephony, communications, and business phone systems in the US by research organisation Companies and Markets.
Whilst the report notes that some IP (internet protocol) telephony and business VoIP (voice over internet protocol) services will still be implemented on-site using bought-in hardware, it predicts that the provision of IP telephony and business VoIP via a remote host such as a specialist business VoIP provider, or a VoIP reseller, will account for 20% of total business telephony by 2020.
Companies and Markets says that the adoption of hosted IP telephony and business VoIP is likely to grow as awareness of the advantages of a hosted system increases and as access to hosted telephony becomes more widespread.
The report notes that take up of hosted business VoIP is already strong and growing among small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
Among the advantages usually cited for adopting VoIP via a VoIP provider or VoIP reseller are: guaranteed 24-hour technical assistance; built-in disaster recovery measures; and elimination of the need to invest in what would otherwise be expensive premises-based telephony hardware and software. (Even where traditional exchanges are in situ these can easily be adapted to receive VoIP through the installation of relatively inexpensive session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking equipment).
However, in addition to these established reasons for choosing hosted business VoIP, the report also predicts that many IP telephony hosts are in future likely to respond to growing competition in the market by seeking to significantly improve their services.
Among the improvements predicted by the report are: additional value package deals with greater built-in flexibility; improved user features; and continued enhancements in quality of service.
