Virtual Office Resource

A recent study by ABI Research revealed that the value of the overall global business VoIP service market, which includes VoIP integrated access, SIP trunking, hosted IP-PBX (News - Alert)/IP Centrex and managed IP-PBX services, is forecasted to surpass $20 billion by 2015, almost double its current figure.

The study, as part of Enterprise Communications Research Service, “analyzed key trends in the service provider market in terms of growth, technology evolution, demand patterns by vertical and horizontal industries, and competition.”

Last year, the business VoIP market exhibited elevated growth in terms of both volume and value – quite the opposite from the direction the economy was taking overall.

 “The trend of companies outsourcing their communications infrastructure has taken off in earnest, as enterprise decision-makers look for cost savings without having to compromise on features and functionality,” said senior analyst Subha Rama. “Among VoIP access technologies, SIP trunking, with its promise of trunk consolidation, centralized management and administration, and application federation across enterprises, has seen considerable growth in terms of installed base and revenues in the last 12 to 18 months.”

This development can be attributed to many companies replacing their legacy phone systems with hosted VoIP technologies. Rather than in the past when hosted VoIP services were targeted toward small- to medium-sized businesses – especially companies with 25 to 50 employees – today hosted IP PBX services are being adopted by a number of firms, including larger enterprises in search of legacy replacements. When considering a new telephony investment, businesses have begun to compare the benefits of premises-based IP PBX systems to hosted IP PBX services.

“Overall, the growth momentum seen in 2009 was sustained in the first half of 2010 as companies continued to shy away from capital investments, opting, instead, for the OPEX (News - Alert) model of hosted VoIP services,” added Rama. “The forecasts suggest a 13 percent CAGR in terms of revenues and 19.6 percent CAGR in terms of lines between 2010 and 2015, despite growing competition from low-cost providers and price pressures in the market.

Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet copy editor. Previously she was assistant to the editor at The Darien Times, a weekly newspaper in Darien, Conn., where she edited submissions, did page layout and design and helped manage the newspaper�s website. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi