Large UK firms turn to VoIP

Large UK enterprises are increasingly deploying network-based telephony services, new research has found.

A survey of UK businesses employing over 500 people found that nearly 60 per cent run IP telephony on a local area network, 88 per cent of which are happy with their VoIP platform.

An additional 27.2 per cent of respondents to the survey by Extreme Networks and Data Integration expect to implement VoIP technologies within the next three years.
Despite the high adoption rate of such services for voice, only 32 per cent run IP video technologies, 85 per cent of which are happy with the deployment.

Although video conferencing has been touted as an answer to the environmental impact of business trips, 43 per cent of respondents fail to see any clear benefits in 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."

According to the report, there is a growing need for market education into the range of benefits, which include lower costs and higher green ratings.