In an article at TMCnet , cyLogistics president Don Witt this week predicts that a struggling economy in 2009 will lead to a surge in VoIP deployments.

"The stock market meltdown will increase VoIP growth," Witt writes. "More and more executives will be under the gun to cut costs. There are a number of ways to cut costs but one way to cut costs tends to jump out at you: the PHONE BILL. This will force many companies to take the digital/VoIP plunge. As a result, VoIP sales will increase significantly over the next year or two."

"While it is too early to have actual numbers to support this theory, the channel activity tends to indicate this trend as a reality," Witt adds. "Reseller and carrier activity has increased significantly. The increase in VoIP sales will increase on a worldwide basis. We think that this will continue through 2009, making 2009 an incredible growth year for VoIP communications."

TMCnet's Tom Keating agrees. "There are indications that not only enterprises, but also municipalities and schools are deploying VoIP to save on costs," he writes. "In fact, I recently came across one town right here in Connecticut (Enfield), which recently deployed VoIP, resulting in dramatic savings... while one example doesn't make it the rule, I do think companies, municipalities, etc. are looking to cut costs, and VoIP is one sure-fire way to do just that."