A new and influential report claims that demand for hosted IP telephony services among companies in the US and Canada is likely to increase substantially over the next few years.
Whilst IP (internet protocol) telephony has already made significant inroads in the field of enterprise communications – particularly in regard to voice calls made and received via business VoIP (voice over internet protocol) channels – the new report, by independent analysts Frost & Sullivan, says that the attraction of hosted IP telephony is now widening to larger firms.
The report claims that this is down to both a growing awareness of the advantages of hosted IP telephony and an increase in the number of features now offered by host IP telephony firms. These factors, it says, are leading many more enterprises to strongly consider adopting or switching to a hosted platform for their communications needs.
The report cites some of the latest attractive features offered by host IP telephony systems, including the capacity to use the same phone extension regardless of location, built-in phone number directories, remote identification by a user of the current availability or status of any other user and conference calling between three or more callers.
The report also points out that the high quality of services now offered by most host IP telephony providers is an added attraction for many firms.
The overriding conclusion from the report, perhaps, is the challenge it proffers against the traditional view of hosted IP telephony as being solely a service for smaller businesses.
While it is certainly true that a host business VoIP provider or VoIP reseller can ensure that smaller companies benefit from business VoIP without the need for large amounts of investment, there are also many other value-added services offered by host IT telephony companies which, the report says, appeal equally to larger firms.
