
Demand for VoIP is expected to grow over the next five years, but the technology needs to improve and evolve, the International Data Corporation (IDC) has announced.
The IDC has said demands on pre-sale design and post-sale service and support will provide challenges over the next few years as the industry continues to grow.
In addition, while price will continue to be important for the success of VoIP against its market competitors, service providers will also be required to evolve the technology in order to achieve successful integration with exiting enterprise applications, the IDC added.
VoIP services research manager Will Stofega has commented that some flaws existed in early implementations leading to customer cancellations.
But the IDC believes those events form a necessary component of VoIP's evolution.
"IDC expects the value proposition to evolve from a communications service to a business process tool," the market intelligence provider added.
According to the Report Buyer, VoIP's popularity is greatest in corporate and government markets, but "real breakthrough" in the mass market will take place when next generation networking standard broadband networks deliver "triple play business models".