IP bringing voice and video to desktop, says BT

Organisations that are using resilient IP VPN networks are now looking beyond secure and speedy data transfer to functions such as IP telephony and video to the desktop.

According to the latest research, two-thirds of businesses in the UK and Germany see benefits in deploying video to the desktop - mainly to save time and money and build relationships through videoconferencing.

The study was carried out by Vanson Bourne and commissioned by BT but the telco realises companies are uncomfortable being early adopters and are likely to move to voice over IP (VoIP) services first, especially if they have been using IP VPNs based on MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) which allows for greater flexibility across different types of network.

John Blake, head of hosted IP telephony at BT Global Services, said: "Lots of customers have built MPLS networks, have had at least a year of stability, and now are more confident to put voice on top of that. The main thing they want to see is that someone has done it before."

As always, there are early adopters - BT likes to tout its contract with mortgage bank Abbey - but barriers include the age-old fear of change and a desire to get the most out of existing equipment. Analysts have pointed out many users will have a hybrid strategy for some time of adding IP functionality to traditional PBX phone systems.

Some of the few early examples of moving whole campuses to pure IP come from the equipment vendors themselves, companies such as Avaya, Cisco and Nortel - all key partners of BT and other service providers. However, yet again there is the prediction that next year will be the year of VoIP.

BT denies it will cannibalise its existing - and significant - voice revenues, saying there will be some substitution but IP allows added services and often leads to upgrades to faster, more expensive pipes into premises.

Then, the theory goes, the market opens up further. "We want to get customers beyond voice to multimedia and further applications," Blake added.

The new research also showed German respondents are more concerned with cost and time savings video-to-the-desktop can bring whereas the UK sample looked more to enhancing relationships with customers and colleagues.

BT claims to have around 1,200 or so MPLS customers globally now and claims to be winning contracts around the world from companies based in North America and Asia, not just those with regional offices there. Other network providers are making similar global claims.