In an environment where Facebook Messenger accounts for nearly 10 percent of the world's known supply of mobile voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) calls, it's easy to take a step back, look at the wider market with that number in hand, and wonder: is there any point to the enterprise-only app when the business-to-consumer (B2C) app is doing every bit as much business?
Indeed, the B2C app is clearly on the rise these days. Facebook (News - Alert) has made great strides with VoIP calling thanks to its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp, and this move has led to a lot more generalized acceptance of VoIP as a platform, according to some sources. The global VoIP market is expected to reach $76.1 billion by the end of this year alone, fueled by a major growth pattern in session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking—52 percent compounded annual growth between 2011 and 2015—and the near doubling of rates found in unified communications and hosted business VoIP. This growth shows no real signs of stopping, but the sheer success of Facebook / WhatsApp have made some wonder if enterprise VoIP can keep going.
The short answer here is yes . . . with an “if.” While there's clearly a case here for consumer apps being used for business purposes — indeed, that happens a lot of times in the small and medium-sized business (SMB) market, though mainly toward the small — there's plenty of room here for the enterprise app to succeed. Essentially, the key point is to look at what business owners want in a VoIP app; if it's all just a matter of cost savings, then the enterprise app is doomed.
But more often than not, some suggest, the enterprise is looking for more out of VoIP than just cheap calling. Where is the redundancy capability, the continuity of operations, which business requires in a platform like WhatsApp? Where are the extra features, the hunt groups and the find-me-follow-me systems and all those great extras? Not often are these built into simple B2C apps, because the C part of that equation has no real need of these.
That's not to say the danger has passed; just look at Skype (News - Alert). Skype started out as a B2C app, but with some expansion, Skype — and Skype for Business, by extension — has blossomed into a powerful tool for business users. Yet even here it illustrates what it takes for a B2C app to be sufficiently powerful enough for enterprise users. Skype for Business integrated into several other Microsoft (News - Alert) products like Office, and gave the system extra power for the enterprise user.
Yes, with an if; that's the short answer in the question of “can the enterprise app survive the rise of B2C?” Yes, it can survive, if it keeps its focus on the customer and provides the necessary tools that enterprise users need. Yes, it can, if it has the necessary power to blow the B2C app out of the water. Yes, it can, if it makes its value statement loud and clear and can readily demonstrate why that free app may be free, but it won't do half the things that need to be done. That's how an enterprise app survives in the face of rapidly growing B2C.