In brief: Experts argue against voice/data convergence

Forrester Research has bucked the trend with a report that predicts the end for the voice/data convergence boom.

The company argues that management complexities will offset any savings likely to be made from running both services on the same network. The cost of guaranteeing bandwidth, plus the slow carrier development of integrated services means convergence will be curtailed in most organisations.

The report claims corporate voice services cannot get much better, so there is very little incentive in replacing existing systems. According to Forrester, "multiple networks will live forever".