VOIP technology is becoming increasingly popular as businesses seek to provide employees with latest telephony services, connect remote workers and keep costs under control, but the associated security threats must be recognised and guarded against, according to a new guide from managed security company, Redscan.

The guide, Securing Voice Over IP systems/a> sets out the major security risks that businesses which use VOIP systems and software can encounter.

Market research firm Infonetics Research released its third quarter (3Q10) Service Provider VoIP Equipment and Subscribers and IMS Equipment and Subscribers market share and forecast reports.

ANALYST NOTE

"The number-one story that will come out of 2010 for the IMS and carrier VoIP equipment markets is China, where conditions are driving volumes up and pushing prices down. There are large network transformation projects underway in China, so demand for equipment is very strong, but at the same time, vendors are willing to push the pricing limits to get into strategic accounts. In the third quarter of 2010, every product category except media servers was impacted by pricing pressures, so while shipments were up for most segments, total worldwide revenue took a hit. Looking at the long-term prospects, the network elements that are best poised for solid growth are those that facilitate the migration to all-IP networks, such as session border controllers," notes Diane Myers, directing analyst for VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research.

Rebtel announces part two of a two-part survey conducted on their behalf by Harris Interactive online in September, which measured consumer sentiment on International calling services and providers.

According to the study, 1 in 4 U.S adults make international calls, and of those who spend money to make such calls, the average spend is approximately $34 every month. With an estimated 235 million U.S. adults, this works out to roughly 58.8 million Americans shelling out nearly $1.98 billion on international calls outside of the U.S. monthly and $23.8 billion annually.

According to new data from ABI Research, enterprises are ramping up their investments in VoIP technologies, both on customer premises equipment and hosted VoIP. VoIP technologies are part of enterprise communications products and services that include fixed mobile convergence, contact center, IP/TDM PBX, messaging, and conferencing and collaboration. The integrated unified communications suites market, which was adversely affected by the economy, is also poised to see some consistent growth to reach revenues of $4.8 billion by 2015.

IP PBX vendors are expected to ship just over 35 million IP lines (including native IP and hybrid lines) worldwide during 2010. IP telephony shipments will continue to see robust growth throughout the forecast period as enterprise communications systems converge on the IP platform.

Market research firm Infonetics Research released its updated 2010 VoIP and Unified Communication Services and Subscribers market share and forecast report, which now includes an IP Centrex/UC Provider Tracker highlighting deployments by provider, region, service, and platform. As part of the service, Infonetics earlier this year released scorecards for the top IP Centrex and IP connectivity service providers via its North America and EMEA VoIP Service Provider Leadership Matrix reports.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report "North American VoIP Access and SIP Trunking Services Markets" to their offering.

This strategic analysis is part of Frost & Sullivans continued coverage of the conferencing and collaboration marketplace. Within this analysis, Frost & Sullivan has identified industry challenges, market drivers, restraints, competitive factors, revenues, market shares and key market trends within the North American VoIP access and SIP trunking services market. With extensive primary and secondary research, this analysis provides VoIP access and SIP trunking service providers with a detailed look at the current and changing dynamics in the fast evolving VoIP access and SIP trunking services marketplace.

Latest global business VoIP services forecasts from ABI Research shows that the value of the overall market, which includes VoIP integrated access, SIP trunking, hosted IP-PBX/IP Centrex and managed IP-PBX services, is set to double over the next five years, to exceed $20 billion by 2015.

In 2009, the market displayed growth trends counter-cyclical to the direction the wider economy was taking, to register high growths in terms of both volume and value. The new research forecasts and market analysis are part of ABI Research’s ongoing analysis of the service provider market for business VoIP services.

Despite lingering questions about overall quality of service, enterprises are becoming more comfortable with the use of SIP trunking as a low-cost alternative to legacy telecom services, a change that will result in a growth in deployment from 8.5 million SIP trunks in 2009 to 24.3 million trunks in 2013, according to the latest report published by Heavy Reading IP Services Insider, a subscription research service from TechWeb's Heavy Reading.

The number of mobile VoIP minutes carried annually on 3G and 4G networks will rise from 15 billion minutes in 2010 to 470.6 billion by 2015, finds a new report from Juniper Research.

Mobile VoIP traffic will see steady rises in all regions over the forecast period, but particularly in developed markets, due to the increasing ubiquity of 3G networks.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Mobile VoIP: Technology and Business" report to their offering.

This report examines the technical, regulatory and business aspects of VoIP on mobile networks. It analyzes the key aspects of the HSPA, HSPA+ and LTE technology and highlights its challenges and opportunities. It evaluates current standardization efforts in 3GPP bodies on IMS and VoLGA and the status of regulatory requirements in different countries. The business impact of each of the technology, standards and regulatory restrictions are presented. A survey of the key players - client and infrastructure - and their offerings are presented. Potential deployment trends are examined based on the current VoIP solutions in the market.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "USA - VoIP Market - Analysis, Statistics and Forecasts" report to their offering. Strong subscriber and revenue growth rates have positioned VoIP firmly on the US telecommunications map. Since the entry of Comcast and other cable companies, VoIP services have been emerging apace. In 2010 the US cable companies were providing telephone services to more than 20 million subscribers. Non-facilities based, or pure play, VoIP providers, such as Skype, are making strong inroads into the US VoIP market.

Appia Communications has released a new white paper listing five important dos and don'ts for companies and organizations considering -- or already using -- VoIP for their phone service.

Appia is a nationwide provider of remotely-managed communication and networking services, including hosted VoIP. Entitled "The Dos and Don'ts of Hosted VoIP" the new white paper is in response to feedback from organizations across the country, said Victor von Schlegell, Appia's president.

By 2012 over half of mobile VoIP users will reside in North America and Europe. A new study from Juniper Research has found that Mobile VoIP services will develop significantly faster in developed markets due to the direct correlation between 3G roll outs and the take up of mobile VoIP. This is the case even though mVoIP traffic volumes may eventually be higher in developing markets due in part to the calling patterns of migrant workers, according to the study Mobile Voice Strategies: mVoIP Opportunities & Business Models, 2010-2015.

Spurred by the lure of low cost, the unregulated and unprotected Internet–based telephone services are expected to produce major insurance losses according to a report issued by NJ-based telephone technology development and licensing company, Emerson Development.

The report, “VoIP Security Review: Insurance”, states that the discount VoIP telephone service, which is rapidly being adopted in the U.S. and throughout the world, is causing a shift from the reliable, secure traditional telephone network now in use, to an Internet environment of extreme risk.

Mobile VoIP is no longer just hype, but has become a credible threat to traditional voice revenues. Considering that it is only a matter of time until Internet protocol becomes the principal transport for various access technologies, an ambitious group of mobile VoIP start-up companies are creating a paradigm shift in the way users communicate with each other, with voice services moving to a true Internet era of Telco 2.0.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Impact of Mobile VoIP on Next Generation Cellular Networks, finds that that at the end of 2008, approximately $605.8 million of mobile VoIP revenues were generated in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. This is expected to grow to $29.57 billion by 2015. The technologies covered in this research service are high-speed packet access, third-generation long-term evolution, global system of mobile communications, IP multimedia subsystem, HSPA+, general packet radio service, VoIP and SIP.