Led by small offices, home offices and small businesses, the rate of VoIP adoption in the enterprise segment is growing, according to a Dublin, Ireland-based IT market research firm.

 

Officials from Research and Markets say more and more enterprises are looking into IP telephony to offset rising telecommunications costs. Yet the emergence of VoIP will be a gradual transition, the firm says, rather than a wholesale swap of PBX (News - Alert) installations.

 

“In consumer segment cost savings, mobility, simplicity to use and management and access to advanced communication capabilities will drive the adoption of VoIP,” officials from Research and Markets say.

 

Since PC-to-PC communication software came to the market in March of 1995, VoIP-based services have emerged as a serious competitor to Public Switched Telephone Network.

 

Many of the technologies and products available for those who have embraced VoIP communications offer a leg-up over the old telephone systems.

 

For example, as TMC Vice President and CTO Tom Keating (News - Alert) reports today in his blog, Callpod has released a new Drone USB Bluetooth adapter – pictured right – that turns a mobile phone’s Bluetooth handset into a headset and microphone for a PC or Mac, allowing users to receive Skype (News - Alert) or other VoIP calls.

 

“Just connect the Drone into the USB port of your computer, and it will immediately connect with your Bluetooth headset or headphones to provide streaming music and voice over a 328-foot range,” Keating writes. “When a Skype call comes in, Drone switches over to the call automatically. It supports the A2DP Bluetooth profile.”

 

Yet – unlike Keating – most SOHO and SB customers are not tech-savvy, Research and Markets says, so friends and family are most influential for those smaller businesses.

 

“But after they adopt the service, a large percentage of customers use advanced features,” the research firm reports.