5/23/2005 -- If a recent survey from researcher In-Stat/MDR is to be believed, corporate decision-makers have VoIP and other emerging telecom services on the brain.

Nearly half of the corporate leaders who responded to In-Stat’s latest executive poll disclosed plans to purchase emerging telecom services—such as VoIP and Integrated Access Services—in the next 12 months.

As a result, In-Stat says the stage is set for increased adoption of integrated access services and other IP services—especially in companies with 1,000 employees or more.

In-Stat’s research buttresses a similar report from market watcher Infonetics Research, which found that North American VoIP revenues topped $1.3 billion in 2004 and were expected to grow by 1,431 percent by 2009.

VoIP, in particular, might sound like a slam dunk, but carriers and other service providers must also be careful about how they package it and other emerging telecom services. For example, says In-Stat, selling each service individually probably isn’t the best approach—at least if feedback from survey respondents is to be believed. Instead, most decision-makers appear receptive to purchasing IP services in tandem with integrated access offerings.

What’s driving executive interest in VoIP and other emerging telecom services? The usual stuff, more or less: security, connectivity needs for remote workers, and a desire to support or enhance employee collaboration. -Stephen Swoyer