Business VoIP - A Survey

Business VoIP - A Survey

Business VoIP - Introduction

In 2005, sales of IP lines outstripped those of traditional (TDM) telephone lines for the first time, indicating that Voice over IP (VoIP) is starting to hit the mainstream. Now that the technology and sound quality are just as good as traditional telephony, IP is finally a viable solution for businesses looking for more from their communications infrastructure. To find out more about different phone system options for business, click here.

This article by Alireza Mahmoodshahi, CTO, COLT Telecom, examines the trends that are shaping this huge migration to business VoIP and what the change means for business.

The Survey

For businesses, migrating to IP telephony depends on several different factors and there are also many types of service to choose from.

- Do you have the resources to manage it yourself?

- Do you outsource to a service provider?

- Do you need to have an IP PBX onsite anymore?

- Should you opt for a low-cost internet-based service?

VoIP has been in the headlines a lot in the last year and so we commissioned a survey to gauge what midsize companies across Europe really think about IP telephony - what plans they have for deploying it, and their views on the different options available to them, in particular managed IP telephony.

The survey sampled 600 heads of IT in businesses across seven European countries: UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands. It focused on businesses employing between 251 and 1,000 staff across a range of sectors including financial services, manufacturing, retail, public sector, IT and professional services.

Interviewees were asked what their key business drivers would be for opting for IP telephony, when and if they plan to deploy it and the type of service they would favour for their business. The researchers also asked respondents what they thought the pros and cons of a hosted service would be.

The Findings

• Over half (56%) of European businesses said they have installed Business VoIP or plan to do so by 2009 – but this varied dramatically from 85% in the UK to just 42% in Spain

• The earliest adopters of Business VoIP were found to be in Italy and Netherlands – 29% and 19%, respectively, are already using IP telephony

• Cost savings is the most commonly cited benefit of installing a Business VoIP solution(70%), but almost 50% of respondents also highlighted ‘more productive working’ and ‘business efficiencies’ as top benefits of installing IP telephony

• 21% of respondents said they would choose a managed service when installing IP voice

• The IT sector was found to be the most enthusiastic about IP telephony (67% will be using it by 2009)

Firstly, the research shows a real movement towards business VoIP, but a mixed picture across Europe. More than half of respondents either have deployed or plan to deploy new phone services in the next three years (56%), and 11% plan a pilot in the next year.

However, whereas businesses in the UK appear to be the most interested in Business VoIP, followed by those in Netherlands and Belgium, businesses in France, Germany, Spain and Italy are being more cautious. At least half of respondents in these countries said they are not looking at IP telephony yet.

Unsurprisingly, the promise of lower costs came out as the main business driver for adopting IP telephony today across all countries and vertical sectors (70% selected this). But the research also showed awareness that IP telephony is not just about cost savings. ‘Allowing employees to work more productively’ and ‘gaining business efficiencies (reducing the time and effort spent managing the phone service)’ were selected by almost 50% of respondents as key business drivers in all countries.

Though reducing operational costs is a major benefit, we at COLT believe the long-term benefits of IP telephony will be around managing your communications infrastructure in a more efficient way and above all, allowing staff to work smarter.

On the question of how midsize businesses plan to deploy IP telephony there is an equally interesting trend: there is significant interest in a managed approach, where a service provider manages the IP PBX for the customer, either onsite or hosted in a data centre (21% favour this). We are seeing that the managed services model is becoming increasingly attractive for medium-sized organisations.

Finally, when asked about the benefits of hosted Business VoIP services in particular, the prospect of reducing upfront capital investment and gaining more predictable costs were seen as the biggest benefits (60% selected these), although access to skills not available in-house, and greater security and reliability, were also popular benefits.

To find out more about the benefits of VoIP, click here.

Similar Findings From Other Research

COLT conducted a separate survey at the beginning of 2006 of 350 businesses with 250 to 1,000 employees in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, with the specific aim of exploring attitudes to the pricing of Business VoIP services. The findings were very similar:

• 46% of respondents were considering a move to IP Voice

• Over half (53%) anticipate moving to IP in 2006 or 2007

• Cost savings are perceived as the main driver for deploying Business VoIP for 88% of respondents.

Additionally, those surveyed also felt that flat-rate pricing, inclusive of local, national and international calls, is a more attractive proposition than per-minute pricing. COLT was the first European service provider to launch a flat rate pricing plan for its business VoIP service, offering unlimited local, national and international calls for a flat rate per person per month package.

Summary

Business VoIP took its time to take off, and for long periods during the past decade, many businesses were nervous about making an investment in technology which had yet to be proved.

However, recent surveys have shown that business VoIP solutions are thriving, and companies of all sizes are making investments in the future of their business communications, improving the way they interact with their customers, suppliers and other relationships, as well as making internal communications more simple and efficient; and most importantly, realising huge cost savings on their bottom line. This is a trend which is set to continue to thrive over the coming months and years.

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