By 2010, 32 million corporate employees in Western Europe will be connected to VoIP

32 million corporate employees across Western Europe will be connected to a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system by 2010, according to a new report – VoIP versus Mobile: forecasts for the future of enterprise voice’ – from Analysys, the global advisers on telecoms, IT and media (www.analysys.com).

According to Analysys, spend on VoIP systems and services will grow by over 17% per annum for the next five years, reaching EUR12 billion in Western Europe and, by 2010, 1.6 million corporate employees in Western Europe will have discarded their traditional fixed office phone and have only a mobile phone handset.

“New technologies and novel approaches are causing fresh disruption in the enterprise voice market as vendors attempt to deliver the new ultimate goal of enterprises: to reach anyone, anytime, anywhere,” says Margaret Hopkins, the report’s author. “VoIP has become the de facto future of voice systems, and, consequently, vendors are ceasing development of the older TDM (time division multiplex) systems.

“VoIP systems allow users of softphones to have their office phone wherever they plug in their laptop, and mobile solutions, including email and smart phones, can now behave as if they are extensions on the company’s private telephone network (PBX),” adds Margaret Hopkins.

However, says Analysys, enterprises cannot necessarily justify spend on VoIP outside of the contact centre unless they need a new voice system anyway. “Existing TDM equipment cannot compete with the new features but it works adequately for most situations. It is only in the contact centre, where performance is closely monitored, that upgrading to VoIP can be justified,” adds Margaret Hopkins.

The new report looks at the drivers of change in the enterprise voice market, and the convergence of fixed and mobile solutions. Overall, spend on enterprise voice systems and services is expected to fall at the rate of about 1.3% per annum, with VoIP and mobile spend growing at the expense of TDM. (Chart available to journalists on request).

“Deployment has started of ‘mostly-mobile’ systems, in which almost all employees use mobile phones for all voice communications,” says Hopkins, “In effect, new ‘mostly-mobile’ systems are VoIP systems in which there are no IP handsets – thus eliminating one of the big costs of migration to VoIP.”

The new report examines the current state of enterprise voice systems. It details the improved functionality VoIP and mobile systems can bring and includes case studies of corporate voice networks to show how far this functionality meets the communications managers’ needs. The report contains forecasts of spend on fixed and mobile voice services, equipment, management and connectivity for European enterprises of 20–499 and 500+ employees for 2005 to 2010.

The report is available to purchase online at http://research.analysys.com/store, priced at GBP1700 (approximately EUR2450). For more information, telephone Analysys on +44 (0) 1223 460600 or email research@analysys.com.

About Analysys (www.analysys.com)

Analysys provides strategy and management consultancy, information services and start-up support throughout the telecommunications, IT and media sector. Our firm grasp of market dynamics, our distinctive combination of creativity and rigour, and our renowned objectivity enable us to consistently exceed the high levels of quality and innovation which our clients expect. We have over 160 staff in offices in Cambridge, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Singapore and Washington DC, and work with associates in Auckland, Melbourne and Vancouver.

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