Recent research and analysis tells us that the cloud market in Australia is ready to hit $650 million by 2020, and it’s all thanks to SMBs getting on board with VoIP, softphones, and cloud and mobile apps.
According to WhaTech, forecasts from Telsyte’s Australian Enterprise Communications (News - Alert) Market Study for 2015 also say that cloud communications, including VoIP, will see a 30 percent market penetration due to more service options from both traditional and non-traditional providers.
Knowing what we do about VoIP in the telecommunications space, the reasons for this promising forecast aren’t a surprise.
“Instant messaging, presence and e-mail integration are the most deployed UC applications, but Web collaboration and BYOD integration are becoming more important as organizations look to modernize their business and support next generation employees,” says Telsyte Senior Analyst Rodney Gedda, according to WhaTech.
VoIP enables a range of applications not previously made available, such as the multimedia contact center and integrated Web and audio conferencing. Converged applications such as UC can take advantage of VoIP and enable companies to not only increase revenue and decrease costs, but enhance productivity and improve customer service.
VoIP services already include mechanisms for forwarding voice mail to E-Mail and other features used in a UC system. With VoIP, there is more scalability and better integration than with UC-type products that rely on traditional phone services.
The growing adoption of VoIP also makes it easier for companies to employ more features in their phone systems. These are most certainly reasons why the Australian market is about to see a jump.
“Unified Communications (News - Alert) is increasingly seen as a path to optimizing IT and enhancing business flexibility. This indicates a marked change from communications being seen as a cost center to more of a productivity platform,” Gedda said.
A lot of businesses are familiar with the concept of IP-telephony, but UC pushes it a step further. UC takes IP telephony and data and expands it to incorporate other types of communication as well, like voice, data and video with business applications such as instant message streams, faxes, e-mails and voice phone calls.
There is no doubt that the way in which VoIP services are delivered is changing how businesses communicate. With its low costs, the convenience and portability and advanced communication features, VoIP benefits everyone from individuals to small offices and large enterprises.