The Future in Australia

The future of VoIP in Australia looks likely to mirror the overseas experience. As technology improves and awareness increases, individuals and businesses will continue to adopt the various types of internet telephony available. As we wrap-up this series of articles on VoIP, we take a look at what the future might hold for its usage in Australia and how to keep up with this ever-evolving technology.

The Home
VoIP usage is closely tied to broadband usage. Although possible over good dial-up connections, VoIP really becomes effective over even the lowest standard of broadband connection. Broadband availability and usage levels will continue to steadily increase in Australia over the coming years. As a result, more and more people will look towards the various forms of internet telephony due to the significant cost savings available.

For the foreseeable future though, people are more likely to be looking at VoIP as a 2nd phone line, or for home office purposes, rather than as their primary phone. There is also likely to be an increased use of VoIP “hard” phones to send or receive calls from anywhere around the world using the same number.

While there are already a large number of VoIP service providers, this number will continue to increase. The average consumer will also start to gain more exposure to service options as the major ISP’s, together with the large telecommunication companies, further develop and promote their VoIP plans. The various software and hardware options are already becoming known and are sure to be adopted in increasing numbers over the next decade.

The Office
The immediate attraction of VoIP for businesses is the likelihood of reduced phone costs. The other advantages though are starting to become known and businesses of all sizes will look at internet telephony for their future needs. The ability to link both phone and data into one infrastructure network will have particular appeal to larger companies. The additional applications that can be provided, with things like video-conferencing and unified messaging systems, will also draw attention.

Already larger companies around the world are using VoIP as the basis for completely changing their office set-up and even workforce requirements. While not likely to be standard in Australia for several years, we can expect to follow world trends and see a more flexible and mobile workplace. Phone calls made from laptops and sophisticated call-management systems are likely to become more prevalent.

News/Resources
The knowledge and usage of VoIP in Australia is likely to increase pretty rapidly over the next few years. Here are some on-line resources to keep up with what’s happening in this field:

• ZdNet
• Network World Fusion
• VoIP Calculator
• VoIP News
• Oz VoIP
• VoIP Watch

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