2/17/2009 -- Voice over IP (VoIP) has been a hot growth segment for Cisco Systems Inc., Alcatel-Lucent and other vendors.

Not only have networking and telephony players posted encouraging growth numbers in the VoIP -- and broader IP Contact Center (IPCC) -- markets, but the VoIP segment in particular seems primed for ongoing growth, in spite of otherwise unfavorable economic conditions.

Not everyone is so sanguine about VoIP, however. Take market watcher In-Stat, which recently projected that the ongoing economic crisis will slow VoIP growth. "IP continues to be a partial voice solution for most businesses with VoIP, particularly among larger businesses," said David Lemelin, In-Stat analyst, in a release. "Therefore, there is significant room from growth even among businesses that have already adopted it."

Right now, In-Stat said, just over one-third of business adopters in the U.S. use VoIP exclusively; a far larger number use it in tandem with conventional telephony offerings. On the other hand, just under one-third (32 percent, to be precise) of enterprise shops say the economic crisis has caused them to rein in their VoIP deployment plans. On the whole, enterprise customers are more likely to go the partial VoIP route -- with mixed VoIP and conventional telephony solutions -- with SOHO shops more likely to go IP-only. --Stephen Swoyer