"Voice over IP is following the classic technology growth curve: an initial burst onto the scene followed by a lull. [But] now it's heading towards a steady, positive growth," says Dana Gardner, a research analyst for Gartner. "The reason it's now gaining momentum is that the technology and the management tools have matured." A number of IP-telephony vendors are rolling out new products that offer the best in converged voice, data and video applications and hardware. Driving some of these leading products is Session Initiation Protocol, or SIP, an emerging standard that supports this convergence. "Companies looking at this technology should realize that the next wave of communications will be based on SIP," Elizabeth Herrell, an analyst with Forrester Research told CRM Daily. "SIP is making possible [greater] new levels of connectivity than the existing standards could ever possibly do." At its most basic level, the newer standard facilitates the integration of many technologies and devices onto a single platform, which then streamlines the management of these various channels and reduces their complexity. more..