VoIP on the verge of becoming commonplace

The future is looking rosy for the use of voice over IP (VoIP) within companies with almost half of IT managers thinking the technology will be commonplace within the next three years.

The latest research also shows 13 per cent think it will take three to five years and 9 per cent think it will take "over five years".

The study, which polled 100 UK IT managers at various size organisations, also showed over a quarter - 26 per cent - reckon it is already widespread.

Alex Crane-Robinson, services director at Vanguard, the consultancy that commissioned the research, said this quarter are almost certainly early adopters. Even they, however, are probably working with hybrid systems that combine old-style PBXes with IP systems.

"They are doing that to protect their existing investment," he said. "Incrementally increasing functionality is possible and of course there's the common reason of 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'."

There is widespread belief that the main manufacturers of corporate VoIP equipment have addressed early production issues. However, the issue of who is taking the lead in selling IP PBXes - traditional telecoms equipment vendors or networking equipment companies - has yet to play out.

Though the move to IP should in theory favour vendors that have been computer-centric, Vanguard's Crane-Robinson said often it is the telecoms players, with their knowledge of legacy telephony infrastructure, winning more business.

Only three per cent of the IT managers polled said they think VoIP will never become go mainstream.