Demand for VoIP increasing

The traditional PBX telephone exchange has been connecting businesses for decades. But the writing is on the wall, as more cost-effective and easily-managed voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technologies increasingly penetrate the enterprise.

Smaller companies that did not already have an elaborate telephone switching system are adopting VoIP systems rapidly, spurring strong market growth, especially in North America. That region should maintain its market share dominance and technological edge through the study's forecast period, 2004-2010.

But larger enterprises that have legacy PBX systems have a decision to make: do they rip out an expensive legacy system and write it off? Or do they build a 'bridge', and make a gradual migration to VoIP?

The latter choice is common, and provides an opportunity for vendors like Cisco, Avaya, Alcatel and Nortel Networks - companies that already have considerable expertise in conventional PBX systems.

An upcoming ABI Research report debates the migration to SIP for delivery of VoIP services and equipment integration. The report also presents a benchmarking model for enterprise VoIP costs, analysing enterprise characteristics and determining the best VoIP model for several case studies.