There's never been a better point to make the switch to VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) for both households and businesses than there is right now.

In fact, the VoIP sector has seen a 16.7 percent increase in growth during the last five years, according to recent data from IBIS World.  Further analysis from IBIS noted that VoIP saw “massive growth” early on in the past five years, even though residential growth has “flattened out.” And although regulations and “the dominance of companies like Google (News - Alert) threaten the industry,” the growth in mobile broadband networks are hopeful signs for VoIP. Cable companies will likely often bundle VoIP service with cable service, as well.

The result is a promising outlook in the sector. “Businesses will slowly but surely turn to VoIP for voice needs,” the report predicts.

The four largest providers in the United States represented some 60.6 percent of the sector’s revenue during 2012. They include: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Enterprises and Vonage (News - Alert). Vonage, unlike the others, is a non-cable VoIP provider.

The growth in the VoIP sector has long been predicted by advocates of VoIP.

“For people in the VoIP industry, there’s no surprise there,” according to a recent report appearing on VirtualStrategy.com. “VoIP is an increasingly popular option for landline phone service, and VoIP use is constantly on the rise, especially in the business world.”

In addition, VoIPReview.org has listed key reasons to switch to VoIP. These relate to lower costs, added services, and easier installation and use.

Switching from a traditional phone provider to VoIP service can lead to 80 percent savings on monthly phone bills. Also, many VoIP providers install and activate VoIP service for free. The actual installation is often plugging a phone into a jack, which anyone can do. VoIP service is typically contract-free without the extra fees and restrictions found with traditional service. VoIP users can even add or eliminate phone lines and extensions each month as needed. Long distance and international calls are cheaper with VoIP, too. Many VoIP companies offer free and unlimited calling in the United States and Canada and International calls are cheaper in most cases with VoIP. For example, AT&T’s (News - Alert) international pay-per-use plan charges $3.49/minute to call a landline in China. VoIP charges two cents/minute.

Also, VoIP lets users send or receive calls anywhere there is Internet access or a phone connection. Find me follow me, call forwarding, mobile apps, and voicemail to e-mail mean VoIP users will not miss vital calls ever again.  VoIP users get call waiting, call forwarding, call screening and three-way calling as part of plans without any hidden expenses as well. 

But a word of caution. Without a VoIP switch in place, companies won’t see as many advantages. One example is Sippy Softswitch. The software package provides a complete network management solution for VoIP carriers on a single platform. It leads to service providers offering scalable and reliable VoIP networks and call routing capabilities to maximize the performance of small and large packet voice networks alike. Further, Internet telephony service providers (ITSPs) will find the software lets them provide services with low initial costs and competitive operating costs thereafter.

So in conclusion, make the switch to VoIP this year. But don’t forget appropriate VoIP switches.

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