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Global Enterprise VoIP Market Will Reach $194 Billion in 2024

  By Tracey E. Schelmetic, TMCnet Contributor

Today, businesses are becoming increasingly attracted to business voice over IP (VoIP) as a way of saving money. Enterprise VoIP’s low maintenance costs coupled with higher flexibility and better feature sets are appealing to businesses of all sizes that are looking to avoid adding salaries for IT support staff. It’s also worth noting that while VoIP may have been possible once only for companies located in large cities with good Internet infrastructure, wider connectivity and increased Internet penetration in semi-urban and satellite cities – particularly in regions with developing nations -- that have occurred in recent years is making it possible for all but the most rural companies to take advantage of VoIP.

A recent study by Persistence Market Research titled, “Global Market Study on VoIP Services: Increasing Hybrid Cloud Communications in Small and Large Enterprises to Drive Market Growth over the Forecast Period, 2016 - 2024,” has found that the global VoIP services market was valued at $ 85.9 billion in 2015 and is anticipated to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.5 percent from 2016 until 2024, when it’s expected to reach $194.5 billion in value. The report segments the research data by call type, end use, configuration, services, and region.

Growth of the enterprise VoIP market will vary by region. The study found that while the Asia-Pacific (APAC) VoIP services market will account for the highest market value share in the global VoIP services market by the end of 2024 end, it’s the Latin American VoIP services market that will see the fastest growth. Growth in North America, which already represents 27.0 percent of the overall market as of last year, is expected to experience about 8.5 percent CAGR over the forecast period, and this growth can be attributed, in part, to the increase of the “bring your own device” (BYOD) business model. Growth in Europe is expected to be at 8.4 percent, just behind North America, and much of it will be attributed to small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) choosing VoIP, as well as expansion of the unified communication market in Belgium.

As could be expected, barriers to growth in enterprise VoIP will largely be a factor of Internet connectivity, according to Persistence Market Research analysts.

“Factors such as fluctuations in Internet quality may affect market growth and can be a prominent restraint,” wrote the analysts. “During peak hours, the network may be congested due to many subscribers using Internet services in a locality through single-cable network line and unsatisfactory contract proposals are some of the major factors expected to restrain growth of the global VoIP services market during the forecast period.”

According to the report, the market is and will continue to be led by large enterprise VoIP players such as Vonage, 8x8 (News - Alert) Inc., ShoreTel Nextiva Inc., RingCentral Inc., West Corporation, Verizon Communications Inc., Thinking Phone Networks, Inc., Inphonex LLC, and Phone Power LLC.