Enterprise VoIP in 2008 an uphill battle

VoIP News [1] notes the impact of VoIP technology for reducing operating costs and long distance charges, but there's a long way to go before there's a majority of businesses that are all IP. Infonetics Research puts adoption rates in 2005 at 36 percent of large, 23 percent of medium and 14 percent of small North American businesses.  By 2010, Infonetics predicts almost half of small companies and two-thirds of large organizations in North America will be using VoIP products and services.

So what's the hold up? Businesses are reluctant to get rid of their legacy handsets for more costly IP-equipped ones, even though they buy into the idea of the value to migrate to an IP telephony system. Most enterprises choosing to migrate are doing so because they can keep their existing (legacy) investment, operating in a hybrid mode.

There is also confusion about what VoIP is really able to offer while fuzzy catch phrases such as unified communications only generate more skepticism. Apparently, businesses need to be convinced of the competitive advantages of VoIP-based technologies so they'll let go of their still-working legacy gear.

For more:
- VoIP News State of Enterprise VoIP in 2008 [2] piece

Related articles:
Mobile Enterprise VoIP: Has its time finally come? Maybe, maybe not [3]
Comcast takes aim at business [4]
Cisco leaps to No. 2 enterprise VoIP vendor [5]