Both within the industry and beyond, this is not a time without challenge or uncertainty. But it’s reassuring to know that, whatever the external factors, some technological trends proceed on course and to expectation – of which AVoIP is undoubtedly one.
In its most recent analysis on the subject, issued in September 2025 and available to view in full on YouTube, Futuresource Consulting confirmed that intention to invest in AVoIP solutions remains robust. “100 per cent of the end-users we interviewed who don’t currently have an element of AVoIP in their setups told us they intend to onboard some form of integration for the future,” explained senior market analyst Helen Matthews. Moreover, this positivity around adoption isn’t confined to one geography, but is a global phenomenon.
HOLDING BACK
However, in the short-to-mid term, there are less positive factors to contend with. Matthews notes that there was a dip in the uptake of AVoIP encoders and decoders between 2023 and 2024, while shrinking budgets across public and private sectors mean that organisations are facing tighter financial constraints. As a result, there has been a tendency towards what she calls ‘a fix and mend’ policy, or keeping existing infrastructure going rather than investing in overhauls. Redundancies across IT departments have also left some teams without the bandwidth or expertise to support AVoIP configurations.
Matthews also cites concerns around security – despite the leaps and bounds made in this area – and ongoing industry fragmentation that has meant potential customers continue to be confronted by a host of protocols and standards. She believes buyers are right to be cautious.
She adds: “They don’t want to risk being locked into a single ecosystem or purchasing gear that could be obsolete within a decade. And as such, many potential AVoIP end-users are utilising a wait and see approach where they delay investment until the market reaches a greater rate to maturity, to ensure their investments stay relevant for years.”
Pam Taggart, vice president of content creation at AVIXA, explains that the most advanced adoption is being seen in corporate environments, where IT teams tend to lead the way, and in education, where campus-wide systems benefit from IP’s scalability and remote management. “Entertainment venues and live events are also strong adopters,” she comments, “as are security and life safety systems, which are growing fastest thanks to smart building and city initiatives. The Asia-Pacific region, especially India, along with the Middle East and Latin America, are seeing the quickest growth, often moving straight to IP-based solutions”.
STANDARDS UPDATE
If it’s now a given that AVoIP is the backbone of modern signal distribution in settings such as lecture halls and conference rooms, there is less consensus over which specific protocols and standards individual customers are basing their installations around. Nonetheless, a handful of technologies are leading the way in pro AV at this time.
For example, SDVoE is becoming more commonplace in parts of the market as the number of related solutions increases. SDVoE addresses the full 7-layer OSI stack and offers solutions at every layer, with the SDVoE Alliance noting: “We take the very best of what the IT industry gives us for moving bits from place to place – TIA-568 cable plants, Ethernet, TCP/IP and IGMP, then add SDVoE on top.”
If the popularity of SDVoE underlines the growing presence of IT stakeholders in pro AV, then the implementation of ST 2110 and associated initiatives such as IPMX could be said to do the same for broadcast. Based around existing standards work from organisations including the Video Services Forum and AES (notably the AES67 standard for audio over IP interoperability), ST 2110 was concisely explained to the market and has thereafter enjoyed an impressive adoption trajectory in large swathes of broadcast.
Now, with sector-specific provisions for control, copy protection, connection management and security, the IPMX (IP Media Experience) initiative is bringing ST 2110 to pro AV.
For Futuresource, Matthews describes IPMX as a potential answer to the current fragmentation, citing its versatility, support for multiple codecs, and ability to assist users to avoid vendor lock-in. She adds: “In enterprise, which is increasingly investing in broadcast-grade equipment, this solution is particularly valuable as it allows them to utilise the quality of ST 2110.”
COMPETING TECHNOLOGIES
Of course, there are plenty of other technologies competing for pro AV’s attention, of which NDI – the video connectivity tech developed by NewTek but available on a free-to-use basis – is the most notable at present. Indeed, Matthews notes that ND HX, a version of NDI that uses H.264 compression to deliver high-quality video at lower bandwidths than standard NDI, is now built into 56 percent of IP-supporting professional PTZ cameras.
Taggart says the shift to IP is being propelled by technologies like Dante for audio and standards such as SMPTE ST 2110, IPMX and NDI, which are valued for interoperability. “The industry is moving towards more unified protocols as customers demand simpler, more integrated systems,” she explains. “Software and cloud management are becoming more important, enabling remote monitoring and AI-driven automation. As AV and IT converge, cybersecurity and network management are gaining focus. In the next few years, expect further standardisation, more cloud and AI integration, and a move towards flexible, IP-based solutions across all segments.”
Industry fragmentation means that it could be a while before a greater market consensus emerges. However, the underlying conditions are encouraging: Matthews notes that 2025 was a stronger year than 2024 for encoder and decoder vendors thanks to an increase in minor upgrades and hybrid solutions. Suggesting that some customers are thinking more long-term about expanding IP requirements, there is also rising demand for 10GB+ network solutions capable of supporting broadcast-grade requirements.
RISING CONFIDENCE
Meanwhile, the ability of technical teams – which may well include professionals drawn from IT as well as ‘pure’ pro AV backgrounds – to engineer and maintain IP networks continues to grow. It appears that IT networking literacy is gradually improving across the professional AV space, so for many moving away from single point-to-point set-ups across AVoIP workflows is becoming less intimidating.
Marty Sacks, EVP of sales, marketing and strategy for Telos Alliance, provides a clear delineation of IP’s current phase in pro AV. “AVoIP has gone from an experiment to an everyday solution,” he says. “Most new AV projects at least consider AVoIP. Universities and corporate spaces are leading adoption because they need flexibility; live events and houses of worship are close behind.”
Asked to what extent adoption is being driven by the popularity and widespread use of ST 2110 and NDI, in particular, Sacks responds: “I think it’s pretty clear that these standards were what the industry needed to consider AVoIP as a serious option. ST 2110 set the bar in the broadcast, and NDI made it accessible for smaller systems, but let’s not forget IPMX, which is largely based on ST 2110. These standards provide confidence and show that networked AV isn’t risky anymore. It’s proven tech
that does the job well.”
NEXT PHASE
Sacks has a clear notion of what will constitute the next major phase in the story of AVoIP in pro AV. It is a view informed by a host of recent launches from the Telos Alliance brand portfolio, including the Minnetonka AudioTools Server for file-based audio QC and compliance, and Jünger Audio’s flexAI Cloud implementation for cloud-native, automated, real-time audio processing and immersive audio.
“The next step has to be making AVoIP simple to manage, with easy setup, solid security and gear that plays well together,” he believes. “Really, what we want is for AVoIP to be invisible! People want to think about the work they’re doing, not about switches and protocols and CAT-6 cable. If we do that for AVoIP, there’ll be no stopping it – the same as with AoIP in other segments of the industry.
“We can see that the workflow advancements and innovations made for the professional broadcast market will improve operability and multi-vendor platform integration in the pro AV space.”
Peter Fitton, solutions architect at Ross Video AV Solutions, reckons that the corporate AV sector is moving towards the adoption of IP technologies at a strong and steadily increasing pace.
The need for flexible meeting spaces, hybrid events, digital signage and multizone content distribution is pushing many organisations to reconsider older signal routing approaches based on SDI or HDMI. “NDI, and more recently IPMX, are the technologies most often discussed or specified in new designs,” he says.
Of IPMX in particular, Fitton notes that many corporate AV integrators are now specifying equipment as IPMX-ready, or demanding compatibility with NMOS control systems to avoid vendor lock-in. He says: “The open standard orientation of IPMX appeals strongly to customers who want long-term flexibility and future-proofing. IPMX promises vendor interoperability, standardised control and discovery, content protection, support for compressed and uncompressed video, and compatibility with future transport formats.”
Brian Grahn is regional sales manager for South West US and digital marketing specialist at Clear-Com. Invited to assess the rate of adoption of IP in pro AV, he says the vast majority of new-build projects rely on IP-based communications. “From smaller ‘standalone’ systems to larger campus-wide integrations, they all revolve around some kind of IP-based connection, especially for control and interconnectivity with other audio systems, and offer the scalability needed to operate more complex productions than ever.”
AGNOSTIC APPROACH
Standards-wise, Grahn cites continuing use of older technologies including MADI, which was originally standardised all the way back in 1991, alongside more recent developments such as Audinate’s Dante media networking technology and the AES67 audio IP interoperability standard. Consequently, a degree of agnosticism remains desirable – not to mention commercially savvy – for vendors addressing pro AV.
Grahn adds that while legacy digital standards such as MADI remain widely used in audio console systems, Dante has effectively become the default standard for connecting audio sub-systems. “In the last year, AES67 has now become more prevalent across the board, and I believe it’s important for manufacturers to stay agnostic with the ways they interface any IP technology to allow for the most flexibility for integrations,” he argues.
There is a consensus view that the ability to remotely manage and monitor AV systems, including AVoIP deployments, will continue to become more critical. Not only does this complement a more hybridised approach to work, it also allows companies to cut their maintenance costs and – where technicians are required to work over large, geographically dispersed estates – reduce travel expenses and environmental impact.
More generally, it is beyond doubt that AVoIP is now playing a crucial role in the broader AV-IT convergence. Indeed, it could be argued that the increasingly universal deployment of IP technologies in both markets is the primary driver of convergence. With shared methods of connectivity and transportation, it becomes easier for manufacturers to focus more firmly on feature-sets and address both markets equally, with software delivering specific customisations where required.
Visitors to the IBC, NAB and ISE trade shows in recent years will have become increasingly aware of this trend, and indeed the convergence was even more apparent during ISE 2026.
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