The ITExpo East 2011 officially began yesterday, and the event will feature several sessions on IP telephony aimed at businesses and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) resellers.
Prior to the event kicking off, a pre-conference discussion by the Cloud Based Communications Panel took place at the Gansvoort Hotel, Miami, to discuss what the technology can do for internet based business phone systems.
Many small to medium businesses are choosing to make the switch to IP telephony and take advantage of the flexibility it offers when integrating mobile phones into a company’s network, and the significant reduction in running coasts, especially when making an overseas call.
The panel was made up of several big players in the cloud computing arena, including David Yedwab, a communications analyst, Interactive Intelligence director of marketing Tim Passios and Chief Executive Officer for website TMCnet Rich Tehrani.
Yedwab observed that the increasing uptake of cloud based computing is forcing many major players in the field of technology to formulate a way to incorporate it into their overall strategy.
He also noted how several big names were in the process of doing just that. American communications firm Verizon has recently acquired Terremark, a company specialising in web hosting and cloud computing, and online retailer Amazon’s recent dealings in cloud space.
He concluded:
“There are all kinds of opportunities for companies to use offsite computerized IT services so they don’t have to invest in capital expenses to build onsite capacity.
“Where they may not need a full servers-worth, where they can share, where it can be implemented overnight or almost instantaneously.”
The implications for many small to medium enterprises are profound. As cloud computing allows employees to access important data and work from anywhere in the world, it makes the idea VoIP based business phone systems an even more attractive prospect.
ITExpo East 2011 is set to run until 4th February, and attendees are excepting many new major announcements regarding IP telephony.
