When you see reports like these two, the first from ABI Research and then another from Infonetics you can understand why cBeyond purchased client Aretta Communications last week as the market for both hosted VoIP and Unified Communications are only going to grow. This then has to be viewed as only good news if you work with companies like Level3, Global Crossing, and the like, as well as companies like Simple Signal, Telesphere, InPhonex, Junction Networks, CallTower, M5, MegaPath and others who sell hosted Unified Communications or VoIP. The same for Cisco, Avaya, Microsoft and ShoreTel, as the arms merchants always make money in a war and the war is basically the next generation IP centric folks vs. the larger more entrenched iLECs like ATT, Verizon, Sprint, etc., in the USA and the international carriers like Telstra, BT, FT, SingTel, etc.
A couple factors are driving the growth
1. Remote Workforce
2. Cloud Services
3. Cheaper costs for minutes
4. Ability to manage based on policy
5. Collaboration-conference calling, presentation, presence
When you look at all that is moving over IP, and how PRI's and T1s can be replaced far more efficiently with dedicated data networks it starts to make sense. But, all UC and Hosted VoIP are not created equally. There are differences starting at the on premise router and how the carrier manages the traffic and their own network. So like anything, "buyer beware." Price is not the only consideration which is where pal Tony Greenberg's company, RampRate comes into play with their SPY Index and other tools that help companies decide where to best put their IT spend. The data that RampRate has assembled and how their team negotiates on commitments enables IT managers and more importantly, CFO's, to better understand what they're paying for, and ensure what they are really getting.
