Allied Business Intelligence Says Toll Bypass Remains Strong as New Enterprise IP Telephony Applications Emerge

OYSTER BAY, NY -- Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has come of age and is now a consideration in any new enterprise telecommunications system installation or upgrade. Next-generation technologies are expected to deliver operating cost savings, improved employee productivity, and Web-based applications not possible in the circuit-switched world. However, toll bypass, using VoIP equipment to divert enterprise telephone traffic from the public network to corporate data networks or even the open Internet, remains the largest application of VoIP in the enterprise. Allied Business Intelligence (ABI) has found that this application represents over 90% of VoIP deployments today and will still cover about 50% by 2007. Premise-based VoIP gateways are a key element in any enterprise VoIP installation. From 1 to 4-port gateways for small office/home office (SOHO) applications, up to 4 T1/E1 capacities for larger enterprises, this market is expected to grow from 4.3 million ports in 2001 to 47.6 million ports shipped in 2007, according to findings in the new ABI report "VoIP Gateway Market for Enterprise and SOHO Applications." "Now that VoIP has the full attention of telecom and IT managers in small and medium enterprises, vendors will need to deliver carrier-quality solutions, including VoIP gateways, at price points palatable to enterprises," said ABI senior consulting analyst and report author Julia Mermelstein. "Smaller capacity gateways will be the bridges that connect legacy and next generation equipment of businesses as they evolve their telecom systems to IP." ABI's study provides a practical assessment of the overall market for VoIP in the enterprise, with quantification of the enterprise market for premise-based VoIP gateways. Projections are by geographic region, gateway capacity, and application. The report addresses the markets for gateways for small and medium enterprises, branch offices and SOHO, gateways embedded in PBX products and board-level solutions.