Will VoIP technology continue to grow in 2011?
Posted on Thu, Oct 14, 2010 @ 11:00 AM
As seen on BestinUC.com
Studies indicate the VoIP space has seen steady growth in 2010, with revenues increasing 8% in the first half of the year. By the end of 2010, the overall revenue projection for VoIP technology is expected to reach 13% more than 2009 revenues.
These projections seem to be holding true.
Dave Casey, CEO of Dallas-based Westron Communications, a unified communications and VoIP integrator, saw a 25% increase in VoIP-related revenue in the first half of 2010. "Organizations are now replacing first generation VoIP solutions purchased 5-7 years ago," said Casey.
There are several probable causes of growth in this space, including new products on the market in 2010, as well as hosted providers now offering unified communications and mobility products and services. The number of businesses seeking VoIP technology continues to grow as the availability the of new products come to market.
"The explosion of VoIP products available gives us business owners and operators what we’ve always wanted--choice,” said Scott Strochak, President and CEO of Xtelesis, a California-based integrator.
Eastern DataComm, New Jersey-based integrator, also saw growth in 2010, although, many “companies are holding off on implementing until the economy shows signs of sustained growth,” said Paul Zimmerman of Eastern DataComm. Zimmerman also said growth in 2010 at Eastern DataComm could be directly related to new product and service offerings, including a Network Performance Monitor for its IP PBX clients.
The continuous run of new, easy-to-use products keeps businesses interested. “Our suppliers have continued to introduce new products, primarily in the application area, that have continued to build interest and growth in the sale of VoIP systems,” said Casey.
With options for both VoIP hosted PBX systems and on-premise IP telephony solutions, businesses are able to cut costs with VoIP, compared to using traditional high-priced voice lines.
Strochak also contributes growth to brand names, like Skype, which have made the “jump from the consumer market to the business market with their SIP trunk offerings.” Seeing familiar brands make the jump increases a company's comfort level to consider new technologies. And, growth in the VoIP space is just getting started.
“We expect growth to continue through 2010 and into 2011 as more and more companies feel comfortable without their traditional phone company,” said Strochak.
Integrators across the country are expecting continued growth in unified communications. At Westron Communications, Casey anticipates his sales will be even better than predicted for the east and west coast since the Dallas-Ft. Worth market normally adopts new technology at slower rate, and there are still many legacy systems to be replaced. Businesses on the east and west coasts have been quicker to replace legacy systems with digital PBX.
Although initial costs may be daunting to some businesses, companies will see higher productivity and long-term cost savings by implementing the latest technologies coming to market.
“Even in challenging economic times, there are hard dollar savings to be realized in adoption of these newer collaboration methods,” said Casey.