A majority of corporate executives now predict that they will implement voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), according to the 2004 survey and report on networking and business strategy from AT&T in co-operation with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The EIU survey of 254 senior executives worldwide on the future of corporate networking reveals that 43% of respondents report that they are currently using, testing or planning to implement VoIP within the next two years, and another 18% believe they will implement it in the long term.

Specific cost savings realised through VoIP and additional promise of greater functionality and flexibility than conventional fixed lines finally positions VoIP as a true rival to the dominance of today's fixed line telephony.

According to the paper, a typical roadmap for VoIP implementation covers three main stages:

• Enable the underlying data network to ensure voice security and high quality.
• Plan for the interoperability of equipment during a migration toward VoIP.
• Drive the adoption of new applications made possible by IP-enabled telephony.

These and other findings are presented in a new report called Voice over IP comes of age, which is available to download now.

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