Infonetics Research releases its annual North America Business VoIP Services Leadership Matrix, which analyzes and ranks the top service providers in the North American hosted PBX and business IP connectivity services markets.

ANALYST NOTE

"This year the top ten providers in both the IP Centrex and business IP connectivity markets represent a broad mix of incumbents, cable operators, and competitive service providers. This cross-section of providers offers a good set of options for businesses looking at voice over IP services. Service providers hoping to succeed in this fast-growing market, particularly with hosted PBX, need to know that the most critical factors for success are financial stability, proven experience in hosted PBX deployments, and quality service and support. At this stage in this market, the fundamentals are much more important than the bells and whistles, especially when going after larger enterprises," emphasizes Diane Myers, directing analyst for service provider VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research.

BUSINESS VOIP SERVICES MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

• There are over 100 service providers offering business VoIP services in North America
• Many of these providers have fewer than ten thousand IP Centrex subscribers or IP lines/trunks, and are content to sell their services within a small niche or geographic market
• The top IP Centrex service providers overall are, in no particular order: 8x8, New Global Telecom, and Verizon Business
• The top IP connectivity service providers overall are, in no particular order: AT&T, Cbeyond, and Verizon Business

REPORT SYNOPSIS

Service providers ranked in the North America Business VoIP Services Leadership Matrix include: 8x8, AT&T, BroadView Networks, Cbeyond, Comcast, Cox, Education Networks of America, Global Crossing, M5, New Global Telecom, Nuvio, Paetec, Smoothstone, Time Warner Telecom, Verizon Business, and XO.

The matrix ranks the top IP Centrex and IP connectivity service providers in North America based on criteria critical to determining market leadership, including number of IP Centrex subscribers and/or installed base of IP connectivity lines/trunks, financial stability, market strategy, service capabilities, and support options. The leadership matrix determines which service providers currently lead the market and are best positioned to succeed long-term.

The VoIP services matrix is an addendum to Infonetics Research's VoIP and Unified Communication Services and Subscribers biannual worldwide and regional market share and forecast report.

A VoIP services leadership matrix for service providers in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) will be published by Infonetics in August.