The number of large U.S. companies with networks that integrate voice and data services will grow from current levels of 27 percent to 48 percent in the next 12 months, according to International Data Corp. (IDC). The demand for these "single-pipe" networks is being fueled by the convenience of managing both voice and data traffic on a single network. But the rise in voice and data integration will be more modest in Europe, where the number of large companies with integrated voice and data networks is expected to grow from its current level of 21 percent to 27 percent within a year. IDC's analysis comes from a recent survey of WAN managers at companies with more than 100 employees.
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