By Sharla Sikes

VoIP communication seems to be the new status quo for small and medium businesses in the United Kingdom, according to recent studies. A recent poll by Extreme Networks Inc. and Data Integration showed that 59 percent of 115 firms with more than 500 employees were using VoIP systems for their communications needs.

The poll also showed that 88 percent of participating companies were happy with their VoIP services. 27 percent plan to switch to VoIP in the next three years.

IP video, however, was less popular, with only 32 percent of the companies polled currently using the technology.

“While the advantages of converged networks for voice applications are apparent to most business, there is a significant lack of understanding when it comes to the benefits of video in the enterprise,” said Paul Phillips, regional director at Extreme Networks UK and Ireland.  “This could be down to the false start caused by early, and expensive, video solutions, or the lack of understanding of its future benefits. What is clear, however, is that it is the industry’s responsibility to assist corporates in considering all the business advantages in deploying and maintaining a highly available converged network.”

Some of the benefits cited included lower costs and environmental impact.

The report suggests that consumer education could close the gap between VoIP and IP video implementation.

I wonder if it isn’t simply need. Many companies may not have a business model where videoconferencing capability is a benefit, and could be reluctant to spend the money to equip their offices to handle it.

While VoIP and IP video are technologically sound, economical services that many companies can benefit from, there is still a greater impact in some business circles of face-to-face contacts.

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