By Sharla Sikes

So where’s the VoIP industry going right now? Well, it’s all still up in the air, but overall it’s good. Industry experts are calling 2007 a good year for the VoIP industry. With Microsoft’s launch of OCS 2007, traditional phone systems are expected to decline steadily through the next few years. With every passing year, not only does new technology become more reliable, but consumers get more comfortable with new technology, making them willing to give emerging communications technology a try.

Predictions say the rest of 2007 will be “interesting.” Nobody expects assive shifts to VoIP technology or hordes of consumers and small businesses abandoning traditional networks, but VoIP is expected to continue gaining momentum.

There’s been hitches in the ride, like Verizon’s lawsuit against Vonage, and 911 troubles with many VoIP providers.

Still, the trend is toward growth.

“A number of important developments are sure to inject a jolt or two of excitement into the enterprise telephony market this year,” said Infonetics’ directing analyst Matthias Machowinski.

Vendor consolidation may play a part: Market-leader Avaya was recently purchased by two private equity firms. Inter-Tel and Mitel are expected to merge, as well, though the bidding war changes rapidly.

And of course, Microsoft, who waited until the VoIP industry was a sure thing before developing its Communications Server package, is set to up the ante.

Despite Infonetics Research info that revenue for VoIP equipment slipped slightly, that decline is not an indication of the state of the industry.

“This is a seasonal effect more than anything else,” said Stephane Teral, principal analyst at Infonetics Research. “A lot of people expected that the first quarter wouldn’t be that great. The fourth quarter was very robust so we expected some kind of slowdown.”

He says that overall, the market for VoIP equipment is strong and steady at 14 percent growth.

Related Content

Subscribe to the post comments feeds or Leave a trackback