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Was 2015 Really the Year of VoIP?
In September of 2014, market research group TMR released a study analyzing the benefits of VoIP technology and the growth of VoIP adoption.
The study claims that, “The global VoIP services market will expand at a 9.7% CAGR during the forecast period of 2014 to 2020,” which led many experts in the field to announce that 2015 truly would be the “Year of VoIP.”
We have seen articles nearly every year for the last decade announcing that this is the year for VoIP. Well, are we there yet?
FreedomVoice definitely agrees that the demand for VoIP services is still on the rise, especially with the increasing popularity of mobile VoIP. After all, the numbers don’t lie: A report published last year by Infonetics Research states that there has been a 43% growth in the VoIP market in just the past 4 years.
Keeping these stats in mind, the report further projects that the VoIP market’s growth will reach $74.5 billion by the end of 2015. Hosted PBX and unified communications saw double-digit growth in 2013 and 2014, and we expect to see the same for 2015.
As we are now at the end of 2015, let’s look back at the major points of this study, and evaluate whether 2015 really was the year of VoIP. Here are some of the study's main points:
Demand for VoIP Services
According to the VoIP services study: “Rising demand for affordable communication services across the globe, and improving wireless and wired network infrastructure is fueling the growth of [the] VoIP services market.”
We think that as more people learn more about VoIP, demand will continue to increase.
Cost of VoIP
The VoIP study stated: “The major factor contributing to the growth of the VoIP services market is its price performance.” Additionally, as more and more businesses and individuals start to utilize the technology, the price will go down even more.
Just as landline phones were originally cost prohibitive, the VoIP equipment prices will continue to decline until VoIP is actually the most cost effective telecommunications option.
VoIP Features
According to the VoIP services survey: “These services provide features such as rich media and voice quality, and phone number portability. Moreover, VoIP is capable of providing service mobility, integrated applications, user control interface and other rich features.”
An additional feature the survey didn’t mention is the increased security with VoIP, due to the ability to host VoIP networks on private servers outfitted with security measures that protect and encrypt data. This feature in particular had many more companies signing up for VoIP in 2015.
Going forward, some companies may even demand that all conference calls be conducted using VoIP.
VoIP Ease of Use
The 2014 VoIP survey found, “VoIP services are easy to install, use and troubleshoot. The VoIP service finds its application across end-use segments such as residential, mobile network providers and corporate.”
Because VoIP systems often use existing high-speed Internet networks, most installations are plug and play. As high-speed internet networks spread, so will VoIP.
VoIP Going Forward
The VoIP survey concluded: “The VoIP services market is expected to foresee continuous growth in the coming years. Additionally, the rising competition among the telecommunication service providers and Internet service providers across the industry is fueling the growth of the market in terms of product and service differentiation."
Conclusion
It’s clear that the future of VoIP is very promising, and VoIP has been growing. We think VoIP will continue to grow at an exponential rate.
We are certain 2015 was one of the years of VoIP. The market saw healthy growth in 2015 and it will see even more going forward. The U.S. has been very aggressive in its push for VoIP adoption, and worldwide adoption of the technology is increasing. With such great universal growth, it’s more likely that 2015 will be part of the “decade of VoIP” instead of just the year of VoIP.