IT contractors may be required to help increasing numbers of firms move to using voice over internet protocol (VoIP) communications systems, claims a leading VoIP hardware provider.

The global recession has prompted many businesses to rethink their telephony systems, while more will follow, claims Tan Aksoy, chief executive officer and founding director of Telappliant.

Cost savings using VoIP mean that service providers are seeing increasing interest in hosted VoIP services across all sizes of businesses, including large enterprises, according to market research and consulting firm Infonetics Research.

But VoIP systems offer more than just financial savings, Mr Aksoy claims.

"The enquiries are as expected – people looking to save costs, people looking to work smarter. The VoIP proposition is not just about saving money, it's about things like being able to work from home when it's snowing without impacting the business," he said.

Infonetics Research believes that businesses will make up a third of all VoIP revenue by 2014.