US VoIP services have topped the $20 billion mark in first half of the year.
It seems that there may have been some truth to VoIP services being an affordable alternative to traditional phone systems.
Businesses and homes have been capitalising on the internet telephone system and more growth is set for the second half of the year.
Home use is still where the majority of the revenue is coming from, with the number of subscribers growing 14% from the end of 2008 through until the first half of 2009.
Businesses are expected to get involved with VoIP more and more as unified communication grows; unifying all company correspondence.
The Avaya 4621SW is perfect for your classic business desk phone – but comes with the advantages of low cost VoIP calling through a 10/100 Base T Ethernet connection. It includes a separate auto-negotiation for each port and integrated switch for PC connection.
The Avaya 4261SW IP has a large graphic display (168 x 132 dots) and 3 fixed feature keys: Conference, Transfer and Redial. There is also 3 application feature buttons: Dial, Call Log and Web Browser. The phone comes with a headset jack and desk stand. There is multi-language support to enable global user application.
The main features of the Avaya 4261SW:
• Full duplex speaker phone with Auto Echo – Avaya IP office compatible
• 10/100 BaseT Ethernet with seperate auto-negotiation for each port
• Intergrated switch for PC connection – with phone over PC priority
• IP Address Assignment – DHCP Client or Statically Configured
• Support for Simple Network management Protocol (SNMP)
• Multiple language support built-in: English, French, Italian, Spanish & KataKana
• Downloadable firm-ware for true investment protection
• Infrared (IrDA) Port
• Large screen graphic display (168 x 132 dots)
• 24 Programmable DSS / call appearance / feature keys
• 4 application feature buttons along bottom of display Speed Dial, Call Log, Web Browser, Options
• 10 Fixed Feature Keys: Speaker, Mute, Hold, Volume Up, Volume Down, Headset, Conference, Drop, Transfer and Redial
• Microsoft NetMeeting compatible
• Call Log Application
• Special Speed Dial Application
• Web Browser (WML)
• LDAP Directory
• 8 Ring-tone options
• Message Waiting Indicator
• Hearing aid compatible
• Built-in Headset Jack
• Wall Mountable / Desk stand with 7 positions
Please note, this phone is only compatible with Avaya IP Office / Avaya Communication Manager, and is not suitable for home use.
Garrett Smith, a blogger from smithonvoip.com suggests desktop VoIP phones are still highly relevant.
In regard to a post by Dave Michels on pindropsoup.com, Smith discusses how personal and business communications have “become increasingly fragmented,” and that there is a wider choice in the present day of how to get hold of someone.
This evolution has in turn limited the possible growth for desktop VoIP phones. However, desktop VoIP phones are not being wiped out. As Smith states, desktop VoIP phones are still the most appropriate enabler of business VoIP calling.
He indicates this is because the phone call is “an experience,” and one that is tied directly to a desktop VoIP phone. Desktop VoIP phones will face competition – although these new competitors still have to change prosumer habits, a task not easy to do.
To maintain their power as the preferred medium of enabling a call, desktop VoIP phones will need to evolve. As manufacturers are continually creating new and developing existing products, this is sure to happen.
Smith agrees with Michels on the fact that people love their mobile phones as they are becoming rapidly more relevant to users. So it is suggested that some partnership between the mobile phone and desktop phone that meets the needs of the prosumer is likely.
Overall, Smith agrees that the “evolutionary fragmentation of communications will limit the potential growth of the desktop VoIP phone over time.” But, that this is apparent in all other forms of communications too due to technology advancing and continual evolution. The market winner will be the product that is most relevant to the user – and currently that is the desktop VoIP phone.
In the communications industry, Hosted VoIP Telephony has become a big deal and a hot topic for discussion.
Hosted VoIP’s widespread adoption as the primary way to communicate could be ‘unassailable’ in the future.
This solution to a company’s communications could really revolutionise the way that we communicate with each other and will be a part of the future of many businesses. VoIP allows companies to reduce the costs associated with telephony, at the same time as saving money – which is at the forefront of many companies right now.
According to Tom Fellowes, who is the Sales Director at Spitfire Technology Group, Hosted VoIP’s popularity and use is increasing and he firmly believes that Hosted IP will become a priority for small companies.
Even the connectivity providers have observed an amazing growth in the popularity of hosted solutions.
Carl Churchill, Director at Murphx, thinks that these hosted solutions will represent a significant part in the future of the communications industry.
Last month Alcatel-Lucent launched a new secure VoIP solution. The new secure VoIP technology, is designed to protect medium and large sized firms from attacks on IP networks, whilst maintaining the quality of service.
The new offering from Alcatel-Lucent combines their firewall technology – VPN Firewall Brick – with their telephony platform.
The new secure VoIP solution boasts firewall technology developed by Bell Labs and was originally created to safeguard the US Government’s classified networks.
With the vulnerabilities posed to VoIP networks growing and that fact that the majority of VoIP networks are deployed by communications teams and not an experienced IT teams, the need to ensure that communication solutions are secure by default is becoming more necessary. VoIP can really benefit a business by reducing communication costs, but it has to be secure in order to really be a truly profitable investment.
The Alcatel-Lucent VoIP solution works by dynamically pin-holing, which basically means that only once a call has been set up, is it assigned a port. Traditional firewall solutions are not VoIP aware and therefore, several ports are often open during the call, threatening the security of both voice and data.
This new and exciting technology from Alcatel-Lucent will ensure that businesses can use VoIP, safe in the knowledge that their business is protected, at the same time as saving them money.
