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Business VoIP is one of the key factors helping to accommodate the current trend towards working away from the office, according to a survey by US technology publication, NetworkWorld.

The survey focussed on a sample of 600 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the US to discover the extent to which at least one staff member regularly works away from the main office, whilst performing just as effectively as if he or she were still sat at their office desk.

Growth in the IP telephony market for the first quarter of 2011 is a significant factor in year-on-year growth in the business phones systems market as a whole, according to a new report by Infonetics Research.

The Infonetics report shows that the market for IP (internet protocol) telephony, worldwide, grew by almost one per cent in comparison with the last quarter for 2010. According to the report, the strong performance by IP telephony has contributed towards an eight and a half per cent year-on-year growth in the worldwide market for business phone systems as a whole.

A new report based on research by respected analysts, Frost & Sullivan, reveals that business VoIP is currently helping many firms to better their performance, which in turn helps them to achieve a higher turnover.

One of the main advantages attributed by the report to business VoIP (voice over internet protocol) is its capacity to facilitate much easier access to video conferencing, thereby enhancing communications between both those within the same organisations and those working for different organisations. Through such video conferencing it is much easier for instructions and concerns to be presented and followed up effectively; and for important deals to be made.

Business VoIP is quite rightly portrayed as a means of securing immediate financial advantage, as it can of course significantly reduce a firm’s monthly phone costs. It also however provides companies with many other, more long-term benefits, most of which can also enhance customer satisfaction and, ultimately of course, customer loyalty.

The key lies in the fact that unlike traditional business phone systems, business VoIP (voice over internet protocol) does not require physical switches and wires for every change or adaptation; and its flexibility even extends to allowing staff to use the same extension outside the confines of the office building.

UK telecommunications giant, BT, has reached an agreement with US company Motive for the deployment of the latter’s sophisticated quality control management system, ServiceView, across BT’s entire broadband network.

The ServiceView system will provide BT’s customer service representatives with a complete visual picture of its broadband cable feeds, thereby enabling them to quickly locate and identify any faults that might occur. The system also offers built-in automated fault diagnosis and rectification capabilities.

New figures on the state of the telecommunications services industry worldwide have shown the sector to be functioning extremely successfully, with VoIP provider revenue being cited as helping towards the strong combined global performance.

The figures, based on a report by telecommunications market analysts, Ovum, reveal that in 2010 the total combined revenue from telecommunications services providers based around the globe stood at an impressive $1.85 trillion, a rise of four per cent on the previous year.

UK telecommunications infrastructure and service provider, BT, has attributed much of its recent increase in profits to the successful roll-out and take-up of its high speed broadband service.

The company has posted figures showing an incredible 71% increase in profits for the 2010-11 financial year, making a year-end pre-tax total of £1.7 billion.

A survey by management consultants, Inzenka, has found that whilst take up of internet protocol (IP) telephony has increased over the last few years, many smaller firms are still failing to capitalise on the trend, with a good proportion expressing misinformed reservations about the technology.

The survey, carried out in the US, found that between 2008 and 2010, IP telephony take-up by small and medium sized enterprises increased from 17% to 27%; a rise of 59%. Most of the take-up however was made by businesses with over 100 employees.

Major UK telecommunications network supplier, BT, is recruiting staff from among former military personnel to work on the installation of its high speed broadband fibre-optic cable connections.

Via its network engineering division, Openreach, BT is planning to integrate the ex-service staff into a mobile unit with responsibility for cable installations across the country. The new recruits will work alongside the 3,000 or so full-time specialist engineers currently assigned to the project.

A recent survey has shown that the low cost of calls made via business VoIP connections may possibly also contribute to cheaper legal bills for both businesses and consumers.

Law firms questioned in the US by consultants, Mattern & Associates, have revealed that clients are increasingly querying – and in some cases declining to pay – charges relating to telephone calls made in the course of legal casework.