It is prime time for VoIP solutions developers. The market is heating up and is expected to exceed USD 55 billion by 2025 by which time PSTN may be something you get to see only in museums. Be that as it may, even within VoIP solutions there are specific trends that stand out.
1. VoIP and 5G
Covid 19 may have put a damper on VoIP solution development and on 5G going mainstream. It is delayed but it is inevitable given its low latency and that it uses frequencies between 30 GHz and 300 GHz, bringing a 20x speed increase compared to 4G. It is smile time for cloud service operators and for IoT to flourish. In turn, that will spawn more developments in VoIP such as remote healthcare, remote production and autonomous vehicles.
2. Communication divide blur
Or in other more prosaic words Unified Communications. We are still used to compartmentalizing fax, voicemail, voice, email, chat and SMS. By 2021 and thereafter the dividing lines will blur and VoIP development will become an inclusive activity with no discrimination among communication channels. WebRTC, in this context, should really take off.
3. WebRTC
This much talked about tech has been fluttering its wings since 2011 but now is the time for it to take off. Airlines are grounded due to covid 19, but the pandemic has created a stampede for work from home conferencing solutions. WebRTC fits the bill perfectly and with the current crop of powerful multicore processor based computers and smartphones, WebRTC (a cpu intensive tech) should easily handle conferences with hundreds of participants. Push WebRTC and you have what you to keep your team working.
4. AI
All roads lead to AI in the future and with smartphones now truly deserving the appellation of being smart, we can see AI being used more and more in VoIP solutions. From providing smart security, traffic control and codec handling in SBCs to intelligent call routing in IPBX as well as in analytics, AI will, as they say, make good things better in 2020. VoIP developers that can include AI in their offering are expected to thrive and shine and they are the only ones worth choosing.
5. Hosted comms
Forget about pride of ownership and boasting that my VoIP tech is better than yours. Prudent companies will favor hosted communication solutions even though running costs are higher. After all they do not have to dig into their pockets right now and they do not have to bother with upgrades. In a way, hosted services keep VoIP solutions developers on their toes because a client can leave if something better comes along.
6. Video Conference as a service
Zoom is having a field day right now with a huge subscriber base for its video chat-conference solution. There are others that are better, more secure and feature rich but slightly more expensive. Eventually, conferencing is expected to become a norm and companies will switch to hosted video conferencing that is stable, capable of handling loads and water-tight secure.
7. Security in VoIP
VoIP is full of holes. It is the nature of the beast. However, VoIP solution developers are working hard on improving security through better firewalls, anti-malware, VPNs and artificial intelligence inclusion to keep networks secure. Here again, VoIP solution providers that are active in AI, ML, blockchain technology solutions and in providing carrier grade services will be in demand.
8. Blockchain
AI can do only so much for improving security. The key player will be blockchain technology for authentication as in WebRTC logins that will provide access to chats as well as documents. There are exciting developments on the blockchain front in the shape of ENUM VoIP protocol based on Emercoin blockchain. Its chief attraction is decentralization and infinite scalability as well as fast resolution of queries. It enables fast and secure communications and access to VoIP services on demand. Blockchain, for example, is perfectly suited for contracts with built in expiry on execution. However, you need to communicate over open lines that water down security a bit. Now you can have blockchain communication and contract exchange/signing/execution in one go.
9. Mobility
From being an add-on or extension to the usual call center/IPBX offerings we should see mobility moving to the center of the VoIP stage. Today’s mobiles are more than capable in terms of CPU/GPU/RAM and more users in the younger generation would prefer using mobiles for office work. Concatenate this with Covid’s distancing mantra and this should lead to a rise in mobility VoIP solutions.
10. Call center software
Again it is Covid 19 that influences a more pronounced shift towards omnichannel call center software as being in use everywhere, not just in call centers.
Enterprises are rediscovering the advantages this software brings and VoIP solution providers may offer “lite” versions to suit various target markets.
In 2020 and beyond, it will be a VoIP woven business fabric that will thrive.
