As we approach the closing of another year, the market trends are showing what has worked, what needs improvement, and what can be expected looking forward. The hosted VoIP market in particular demonstrated some growth opportunities for service providers, and we can thank cloud-based delivery models for that.
It wasn’t all that long ago when it was common for businesses to invest in their own hardware for routing voice traffic over a broadband connection. Now, however, businesses are increasingly adopting managed solutions that deliver communications as a service, rather than as a piece of equipment that demands an experienced IT team to install and maintain.
While the technology has changed, lending itself to be more commonplace in businesses all over the globe, VoIP still has its fair share of obstacles. The folks over at GetVoIP note that lack of trust, a crowded landscape and approaching change with trepidation are to blame for said obstacles. The traditional premise-based solutions have left many decision makers unable to make the jump towards newer, improved technologies, but Frost & Sullivan’s (News - Alert) comprehensive report paints a pretty positive picture for the VoIP market overall.
The report has projected that between 2013 and 2020 market growth will hold steady with a CAGR of 27.4 percent. That steady uphill climb means that the future is bright, even if it leaves a lot of unanswered questions of how far is still left to go.
It’s accepted that VoIP has been around long enough to not be an emerging technology, but rather a societal norm. VoIP makes landlines seem archaic, and in its hosted form, it is that much more attractive. With tighter budgets and fewer IT resources, the cost of third-party hosting is worth every penny.
Infonetics reported the sales of hosted PBX (News - Alert) and unified communications (UC) rose 13 percent in 2013 over 2012. 2014 and beyond is going a similar route, and it’s all good.
What that means for service providers in the industry is demand, but because the market is a bit saturated, it could mean confused customers who aren’t sure which providers can meet and exceed their needs.
It is up to the service providers to focus on quality, security, reliability and price. For hosted VoIP providers, it all comes down to knowing how to deliver what the customers want. For these, it really is about survival of the fittest, not to mention the most reliable and affordable.
Edited by Alisen Downey