By Debbie Hunter, Channel Manager at 3Com SA
In a South African telecommunications marketplace that has been filled with a lot of hype around the deregulation of VOIP, it`s interesting to note how very little has been said about the technology`s natural progression throughout the last few years.
Despite the numerous and unquestionable benefits that come with deregulation, VOIP has been around for a while, albeit beneficial in a hop-on, hop-off fashion. There are already a number of South African companies that have been benefiting from the technology`s tangible ROI for few years.
So, with deregulation the market has actually become more mature in accepting VOIP. Needless to say, companies are now more interested in VOIP, but this is also part of a natural progression that is helped on by the hype cycle.
People are now more readily assessing whether their networks are VOIP-ready, and as with most technologies, some are finding that deployment is the next step, while others choose to remain on the sideline, waiting for their peers to start reaping the benefits.
Again, and contrary to market perception, VOIP is not limited to the larger enterprise market space. SMEs, which are so much more cost-conscious, should definitely consider it. Most VOIP players have offerings that cater for the SME marketplace, which are more cost-effective and obviously suited to its needs.
Obviously a two-man business shouldn`t consider VOIP, but we`ve already seen medium-sized businesses with 50 to 100 users benefiting from the technology`s cost-saving potential.
We`re also seeing system integrators now increasingly offering VOIP as a complementary offering to both smaller and larger businesses which in turn is strengthening their overall service offerings.
Generally, we`ll see a spike for the time being in VOIP adoption, with some market sceptics waiting for it to fail, while other companies will continue to benefit from its increased maturity, reaping the benefits as time progresses.
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