The idea of moving voice traffic to the Internet has been a comparatively popular one for a long time, and now, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service has reached a fever pitch. A host of providers have stepped into the action, and consumers—both business and residential—have more choices than ever. That's set to turn into many more businesses taking providers up on the deal, according to a report from ihotdesk, which spotted growth in the field already and projects more such growth to come.
ihotdesk noted that reports from Infonetics (News - Alert) Research put the global market for VoIP service at almost $70 billion in 2014, which represented a growth of three percent over the preceding year. This growth was mainly brought about from business VoIP service revenue, which actually managed to offset losses in growth on the residential side of VoIP service. This is especially noteworthy considering that business VoIP represents just 38 percent of the total market.
But there were more details to make the picture even more noteworthy; revenue from business VoIP service grew fully 9.7 percent, whereas residential VoIP subscribers grew just five percent from the previous year. That made it clear: business VoIP was growing at a much faster rate than its residential equivalent, and shows that business VoIP is likely to be the main source of growth in the future market.
Part of this is actually due to how services are packaged; in many parts of the world, VoIP services for residential users actually comes bundled with triple-play packages, and in some cases, for no cost. This makes it easier for residential users to get started right away, though at the cost of reduced revenue per user. While business VoIP users don't often get those same perks, some have access to a wider array of services, which in turn helps drive revenue.
Infonetics Research (News - Alert)'s Diane Myers, who serves as research director for VoIP, offered up some comment on the results of the studies, saying “Business voice services are the driving force within the VoIP services market as the move to IP positively impacts cloud, trunking and managed services across all business segments. Larger enterprises in particular continue to actively evaluate cloud unified communications while also migrating to SIP trunking for premises-based deployments. And there are no signs of it slowing down.”
What's particularly interesting here is that everyone seems to be getting in on the action when it comes to VoIP service. Both business and residential are seeing gains, but residential VoIP is losing revenue thanks to the bundle pricing options. But both business and residential VoIP users see the value herein, calling on VoIP service to allow access to cheap—sometimes even free—long-distance calling, and inexpensive international calling. With business going more global and thus needing the means to stay in touch, it makes VoIP service a particularly valuable concept. Whether it's keeping in touch with a global workforce or just maintaining contacts with suppliers and customers, having access to that international connectivity can be very valuable.
It's not surprising to see VoIP on the rise throughout the business field, though it is surprising to see the odd measures in price structures producing such unusual results in terms of revenue. Still, one thing is clear: VoIP in general is on the rise and will likely continue to be for some time.