In spite of steadily expanding adoption rates among businesses and consumers, myths about voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) technology are still rampant. Some of these misconceptions are so persistent, it’s likely they are preventing adoption rates from going even higher.

Recent surveys indicate the average consumer can’t even correctly define VoIP, much less understand the technology’s impact on their communications systems. One survey from Hello Operator found 71 percent of consumers can't define VoIP. Age isn’t as much of a factor as one might think, with 55 percent of respondents between 25 and 35 years old unable to define VoIP. Additionally, a full 10 percent were incorrect when they tried to define it.

It follows that many people may lack the necessary information to deploy VoIP solutions, whether for personal or business use. Concerns about VoIP services during power outages remain an issue often cited by survey respondents, yet many did not know it wasn’t an issue with direct connections to a router or landline Ethernet port.

Security and privacy were also big concerns among certain demographics. The effect is felt both in the consumer and certain aspects of the business VoIP market.

“Small-business owners really act a lot like consumers in many regards,” said Dennis Peng (News - Alert), vice president of product at Ooma, a provider of residential and business VoIP service. “They shop in many of the same channels; they purchase the same technology and use consumer-type solutions for their businesses.”

According to Infonetics (News - Alert) Research, business adoption of VoIP services will grow at a rate of 7 percent through to 2017. While VoIP adoption rates remain steady, the study results indicate lack of accurate information that could be preventing higher growth in the marketplace.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC (News - Alert)) estimates 47 percent of residential customers who have a wireline voice service are now using VoIP and that nearly 38 percent are buying that VoIP service from someone other than their incumbent phone company, according to its Local Telephone Competition report.

In comparison, the FCC found that only 15 percent of business voice lines are using VoIP. The report states that incumbent carriers have the edge for providing business voice services overall, with 57 percent market share of business wireline customers.