VoIP, UC Markets Poised for Rapid Growth

Market research firm Infonetics Inc. recently published three reports on voice over IP and unified communications that show a bright future for the purveyors of IT communications technologies.

IT and telecom resellers hard hit by the recession in 2009 will be encouraged by Infonetics March 2010 survey of North American enterprises indicating a significant increase in IP PBX sales, with no signs of slowing.

What’s more, the research firm is predicting that 2010 is going to be a better year for VoIP vendors and service providers alike. The latest research indicates businesses are increasingly embracing a hosted services model with interest in hosted voice across business classes.

The company also reports an uptick in business VoIP sales. While residential VoIP sales have remained stable, business VoIP saw some growth at the end of 2009 and into 2010. The research firm expects business VoIP to make up one-third of VoIP service revenues by 2014. That should be good news for solution providers that can ramp up for growth that will likely follow as the economy improves.

However, there is even better news for those looking at unified communications; Infonetics is predicting that market will top $1 billion as early as 2013.

The three reports also show that most phone extensions today are delivered via IP PBXs, and businesses said they expect to increase their phone extensions at a slightly higher-than-normal growth rate over the next two years. Infonetics says solution providers should find plenty of opportunities to deliver IP phones, services and VoIP solutions to businesses of all sizes.

While the forecast seems upbeat, solution providers still will be faced with some challenges, such as what platforms to place their bets on, choosing between hosted and on-premises solutions, choosing between UC and business VoIP and, most importantly, finding the funding to prepare for what may be the next renaissance in business communications.