Difficult to understand telephony of the future

Seven out of ten people believe that usage of IP telephony will increase during 2006. Some companies hesitate to install IP telephony because they think it is difficult to understand. At the same time, one out of two managing directors considers investing in IP telephony if they could receive help and support for the service. The possibility to integrate solutions for data and telephony is what they find most attractive about telephony services of the future. These are some of the findings of Telia’s Trendspotting Survey for 2006.

Many companies, and even some private consumers, have started to call over the Internet with IP telephony. There is a strong interest in IP telephony and IP-based solutions are opening up new possibilities for integrating mobile and fixed telephone service, for example. However, the survey conducted by Telia also clearly indicates that many people (34 percent) believe that it is difficult to understand what IP telephony is and how it functions. “Today, when most companies are dependent on modern communication services, it may be risky to buy a solution when you are not sure of its potential benefits or limitations. We are one of the leading suppliers of IP solutions and we can provide the knowledge and help that companies need when they dare take the step to an IP-based telephony solution,” says Tommy Ljunggren, responsible of IP-solutions in TeliaSonera Sweden. More are positive if they could receive support and help In Telia’s survey, 18 percent of the companies responded that they would be interested in investing in an IP solution during 2006 with or without support or help. When offered support and help for the changeover process, more than twice as many people – 41 percent – replied that they could consider an investment in IP telephony. Managing directors who responded to the survey were extra positive to this (48 percent). Many companies in the survey thought it would be interesting to change to an IP solution if they could integrate their data and telephony services (58 percent), although the main reason for changing was the hope that costs could be reduced (69 percent). About Telia’s Trendspotting Survey 2006 In this survey, Telia has polled 2,161 people at companies in Sweden about their use and view of modern communication services. All of Sweden is represented in the survey. The respondents are customers of Telia. The survey was conducted from January 30, 2006 to February 3, 2006. _______________________________________________ For further information journalists can contact: Press Office, TeliaSonera Sweden, +46 (0)8-713 58 30