Companies are becoming increasingly likely to roll out voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) systems, which could require IT contractors to work on the project.

David Lemelin, practice leader and senior analyst at In-Stat, has claimed that every business is likely to be using VoIP technology by 2020, whether this is instant messaging, internet protocol private branch exchange or hosted IP solutions.

He said that the growing number of people working from home will be one of the key drivers behind this growing trend.

The large number of different options that are currently on the VoIP package could increase the number of firms requiring IT contractors to roll out the systems, as there is unlikely to be a standardised version, he asserted.

Mr Lemelin added: "Many flavours of VoIP exist and are being embraced by entire enterprises as well as individual users."

Recent figures published by In-Stat showed that hosted IP centrex has now surpassed broadband IP telephony as the leading revenue generating, carrier-based business VoIP solution.