While the Voice over IP (VoIP) market is very competitive, there is good news for wholesale VoIP providers and other carriers. In-Stat (News - Alert) said in a new report out Wednesday that IP telephony is no longer an emerging technology, but has become a mainstream choice for businesses worldwide.

 

During the first half of 2007, sales of VoIP lines solidly outpaced traditional lines among businesses, representing more than 80 percent of total shipments, In-Stat said. This, In-Stat analyst Norm Bogen said, indicates that the initial technical and operational challenges associated with VoIP are a thing of the past.

 

“ROIs are proving the economics to be solid, and the productivity gains associated with the technology are, and will continue to exceed, those that could be realized with traditional telephony,” Bogen said in the report.

 

The new battleground for vendors is now unified communications, In-Stat said. In the IP-PBX arena, one of the bigger events of 2007 was Microsoft’s (News - Alert) entry into the marketplace with its Office Communications Server 2007 product that includes VoIP capabilities.

 

In-Stat reached these conclusions in its report, Worldwide PBX (News - Alert) Update: It’s All About IP. The report includes a five-year lie shipment and revenue forecasts for both traditional and IP lines.

 

To learn more about the VoIP market, please visit the Wholesale VoIP channel on TMCnet.com, brought to you by Dalcom Telecom (News - Alert).