VoIP growing up as a secondary telecoms tool

VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) services are slowly growing in the business world but often as secondary lines and consumers appear to be oblivious its benefits entirely.

That’s the opinion of Trefor Davies, chief technology officer (CTO) of Timico and council member of the Internet Telephony Service Providers’ Association (ITSPA).

He says that consumers have not yet realised using VoIP in their homes will significantly reduce the amount of money they spend on telephony, while many business owners and office managers have taken up the technology but only has a back up to traditional communication methods.

“VoIP is there in the background for many primary line services, but sometimes not until you hit the exchange and it is therefore invisible to end users,” he said.

"Another reason it's not taken off in the consumer world is because naked DSL (digital subscriber line) is not available. People have to have an analogue line to have a DSL, so they would be effectively paying for two voice line rentals if they had analogue line and VoIP.”

However, he added that VoIP penetration is certainly growing slowly and that has to be taken as a good sign.

“The technology is used in so many digital and online application areas, such as gaming and social networking platforms,” Mr Davies said.

A recent study conducted in the United States found that user numbers have risen from nine million in 2009 to around 29 million at the end of 2011 and satisfaction rates stand at 98 per cent.

In the UK, Amy Cravens of research company In-Stat predicted earlier this year that VoIP usage in the business world will triple during 2012 and continue to increase unabated during the remainder of this decade.

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Posted by Steven Gaskill